Month: August 2022 (Page 4 of 4)

Vital Survival taught by Craig Caudill

I’m always wary of online courses, some have been excellent and others have burned me. I sit here on a cold wet day after almost three months in a leg brace and walking frame going a little stir crazy after running out of books and decided to give Vital Survival a go.

The course covered the basics of gear essentials, personal assessment and mindset development, personal and group security, individual first aid kits, sheltering in place and sheltering on the move, water procurement, food procurement, communication and critical decision making, along with practice vs training, included are intro to edible and medicinal plants and knots.

I went through most of the course in a day and a half however Im sitting here with no other entertainment other than my staffy harassing me for attention. For someone that works and has little spare time most of the sessions last between 10 to 20 minutes and can be covered one or two a night. Therefore the $99 USD or $140AUD yearly subscription would be worth it. I paid the monthly or $15AUD rate.

Ive done a lot of training so much of the material I had done before including the edible and medicinal plants section which is a stand alone course on the Outdoor Core website. However i still found it entertaining and lots of material was covered. To someone that hadn’t done any outdoor training I would highly recommend it and it is one of the cheapest courses that I have found on the net.

If I learn just one thing from a course that I haven’t seen before I’m happy. However Craig has set me on another path that I wasn’t interested in previously to doing Vital Survival and that is more along the lines of Outdoor Leadership. Several sections of the course involved talking about critical decision making and self development. Which I found very interesting.

I’m now on a path of looking more into mindset and growth patterns in terms of advice such as read, study, learn, continue to grow. Its also interesting seeing teaching methods from other wilderness instructors.

“Its just a thing” Dealing with stress techniques that I came away with, that hit me the most. I’m also looking into a book Called Left of Bang. See link below. So Ive spent six hours and came away looking into a different part of Bushcraft that never interested me before. That is something that excites me!

I look forward to seeing what additions are made to the courses in the future.

“This life will never be without storms. Stop fearing the storm. Build your inner shelter”.

Yasmin Mogahed

I was watching Brooke Whipple on the Girl in the Woods YouTube channel where she recommended the book One Second After by William R Forstchen. When ever anyone says to me this book will change your life. I at-least have to look it up. The Glass Bead Game and The Celestine Prophecy were two other such books.

One Second After arrived yesterday so I wanted to write this down and see if in fact it altered my perceptions in some way when I started reading it.

In 2009, Forstchen’s latest work, One Second After, was released. Based upon several years of intensive research and interviews, it examines what might happen in a “typical” American town in the wake of an attack on the United States with “electro-magnetic pulse” (EMP) weapons. Similar in plotting to books such as On the Beach and Alas Babylon, One Second After, is set in a small college town in western North Carolina and is a cautionary tale of the collapse of social order in the wake of an EMP strike.

Postscript 03/AUG
It took me three days to finish the book and it was indeed a life changer. If I mention specific parts of the book it will ruin it for others. You realize just how fragile our system is and without an ongoing supply of meds most of the population wouldnt last two months. Ive lived in some pretty feral area and i still predict more than ever that the middle class would turn within a week being optimistic more like three days without food. In all honesty I really wonder how many people would actually work together anymore after what I saw at the beginning of covid. Disease on top of food and you saw how peoples attitudes changed and paranoia reigned. I probably wont read the next two novels, they go more into the military side but A Good Read.

As I was reading this book I am reliant on 25 meds a day. I had one day left of dog food before I can get it delivered at the end of the week not counting dry food. I always try and stay ahead with my own and my staffys meds. A book like this brings home a lot of realities. If an EMP hit today Im in a walking frame and brace with atleast another 3 months of rehab to stretch and strengthen the knee.

An EMP wont do damage, you dont have to invade, or you have to do is sit back and let the targeted populace destroy itself.

When I first tore my quad tendon I txted a few instructors to let them know I would have to put off training for a few months. That has become till after summer now. First day at rehab and I couldnt bend the knee as far as I would have liked.

I had arranged to do a few days of primitive fire lighting with Rick J Peterson and the first thing he said to me was look after your mental health first. I thought a few months in a brace and walking frame peace of piss Ive been through worse but after a while or the amount of pain trying to hobble around and just not getting anything done eats at you.

I talked to a doctor once after some other surgery and was asked how do you deal with stress? Beer! How do you deal with pain? Beer! How do you deal with depression? Beer! but the thing is i dont like drinking anymore.

I came across something on my youtube feed I kept going past and finally in a moment of boredom clicked on and wanted to share by Shawn Boland. The fucking bluff Creek Chronicles, however under that link youll find some great stuff on mental health. Enjoy.

Rick J Peterson

https://rickjpetersen.com/

Bluff Creek Chronicles

Mental Health