Thread: Survival training?

Originally Posted by RimfireNZ

Perhaps they're separate things entirely but I'm thinking:

* First aid.
* Edible and medicinal plants.
* Water treatment/collection.
* A bit of trapping/snares etc.
* Fire starting without any aids.

You know, just basic stuff that I should be a lot more well versed in than what I am. I'm really just asking if anyone has had any places to recommend.

I had a quick squiz at some of the mountain safety courses. Some of them might be what I'm after.

Ok, MSC courses are very dependant on the leader, can be a bit hit and miss. Also, you need to do the intermediate or advanced versions to get real practical experience. For instance, shelter - on the intermediate we only built a shelter, on the advanced you actually have to sleep in it for a night...

Trapping & snares involves a lot of experimentation and learn by making mistakes I see you're in Auckland. So the biggest problem is going to be to find a rural area where you can experiment, close enough to check traps regularly, and not catch the neighbourhood cat

Water collection in NZ not a problem, there too much Other parts of the world you need this.

Fire-starting, get a survival book from the library, and try every technique. Practise makes perfect. Every time I go overnight camping, I try to make fire using damp wood or a different technique. Rubbing sticks together is bloody hard, use a flint etc to start of with. Inner tube patches, cotton wool smeared with Vaseline etc. I think itis more important to learn where to get semi dry wood and tinder than creating a flame...

Plants is the big issue, there is a guy in Otaki that teaches wild food gathering. Otherwise chat to your local marae, some of the old guys have amazing bush skills and are more than happy to share.

Post your experiments