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Survival & Earth Skills Courses

First you need to know how to stay alive (survival), then you can learn how to live with nature. (earth skills) Science education in school can only take you so far. To truly understand our place in the world we need to start from scratch, and learn what it takes to live without modern technology.

Modern Survival (survival 101)

Dates to be announced

Location: Lost Creek Outdoor School, Cornucopia, WI

These are the practical everyday survival skills everyone should know. What if you get lost in the woods or stuck in the middle of nowhere in the middle of winter? Emergency shelter, fool-proof fires, signaling, and psychology will be covered. This course covers what you should be doing the first hour to 72 hours of a survival situation. You will get the chance to build your own emergency shelter and stay the night in it.

Tuition: $230 covers food, materials, camping.

Wilderness Survival

Dates to be announced

Location: Lost Creek Outdoor School, Cornucopia, WI

What happens if you lose key items such as your stove or tent while traveling deep in the wilderness? What if you get injured and can't walk out? What physiological factors affect how you should think, move, and act? Wilderness Survival assumes that you will be out for an extended length of time. (More than 3 days) We'll add to the topics covered in our Modern Survival course, looking at options for clean water, food, and primitive methods of making fire and other necessities.

This course is great for those who have taken our "Modern Survival" course or for those with some survival experience but want a taste of more primitive survival options.

Tuition: $230 covers food, materials, camping

SNOWCAMP (Intro to Winter Camping & Survival Skills)

January 9-12, 2025

Location: Lost Creek Outdoor School, Cornucopia, WI

We're working in conjunction with Stone Age Man to offer this introductory level winter camping/survival course. Read more about it here and register.

Earth Skills Series

Sometimes referred to as Traditional skills, aboriginal skills or primitive skills, this is the knowledge and skills of our ancestors; how to gather raw materials from nature and make what you need to live comfortably outdoors with minimal technology. 

Earth Skills are practiced with the goal of living outdoors on a full time basis. BUT you need to know the foundational skills too. The first step in the process is to take either Wilderness Skills, or Earth Skills 1. Once you have these foundational skills under your belt you can move up to Earth Skills 2, 3, and 4.

Earth Skills I: 2 days

Dates to be announced

Location: Lost Creek Outdoor School, Cornucopia, WI

This course is similar to our Wilderness Survival course in that we start with the foundational skills, but with an emphasis on long term living.

  • The survival priorities

  • Introduction to friction fire

  • Food and water safety

  • Basics of plant ID

  • Shelter basics

  • Knife and hatchet safety and use

Earth Skills II: 2 days

Dates to be announced

Location: Lost Creek Outdoor School, Cornucopia, WI

  • Insulation-dependent shelters

  • Friction fire: Honing bow-drill and introduction to hand-drill and other fire starting methods

  • Edible plants I

  • Introduction to primitive trapping

  • Cooking without metal basics

Earth Skills III: 3 days

Dates to be announced

Location: Lost Creek Outdoor School, Cornucopia, WI

  • Fire-dependent shelters

  • Cooking containers - pottery, wood bowls, etc.

  • Food preservation and storage

  • Edible plants II

  • Intro to wood carving - Spoon carving

  • Introduction to hunting tools

  • Basic basketry

Earth Skills: 4 day challenge

Dates to be announced

Location: Lost Creek Outdoor School, Cornucopia, WI

Prerequisite: Earth Skills 1 & 2.

An introduction to the hunter-gatherer life, you and your teammates will take only what you've made in prior classes and live off the land for a few days. You will be required to use your skills for real.

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