Survival course - Arkansas

Teo wanted to do a survival course as we were meant to spend a month in the jungle in Ecuador but we never got there.... So for his birthday we decided to try and see if we could organise a day out where we would be taught the essentials of survival skills.... We were lucky to find Jeff (www.ozarkmountainpreparedness.com) who does all sorts of courses on survival and outdoor cooking and who managed to do a custom course for us and the kids....

He moved to the Ozarks 2 years ago from Utah where he owned a gun shop and prior to that was a fire-fighter for 6 years .... so he was well equipped. His house is in the middle of 22 acres of woods and the perfect setting for the course.

So the kids learnt what to do if they get lost:

1- don't panic, relax and do not go from where you are without indicating the way you went so the rescue team cam work easier... keep busy and do not sulk!!!!

2- get a fire going to prove to yourself that you can take control of the environment around you... this is good for the morale, will keep you warm, will be able to cook whatever you catch, will enable you to signal and will keep predators away.... he taught us the oild fashion way (flint and metal)and some other stuff too... he taught the kids the basics of what you need for a fire... (fuel, heat and oxygen)

3- get water.. here he showed us where to find the water around you and how to purify it....

4- make your shelter ... here we made a lean to shelter but he also had some examples of what other teams have made like raised shelters, winter shelters etc...

5- get some food. This was great as we rummaged through the woods finding plants to eat... we sampled some and we can now recognise them which is fun...

The kids enjoyed the course greatly and so did we as it was a nice family day out.... we might come back for some shooting practise as Jerry has a lot of guns and I would love to do target shooting! I kind of fancy the outdoor cooking too....

and once again

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDS!!!!!!