Survival Training

Getting the skills needed in order to get prepared for emergencies can be a challenging task. There are many organizations that teach skills relevant to survival. Government agencies like Police, Fire Departments, Military Organizations and Paramedics can provide many relevant skills for their employees. Many universities may also offer courses related to survival like emergency medicine and psychology. If you are not working for a government agency where you can learn and train this type of skills you must find a way to get these skills from an alternative source.

NGO:s and CERT
Different Non Governmental Organizations (NGO:s) like the Red Cross can offer courses and training like CPR and First Aid. These organizations also run special groups that can support the regular resources of a society in the case of extraordinary events and disasters. These groups can be an opportunity to network and learn to know other people with relevant skills. Community/ Emergency Response Teams (CERT) are a resource organized by governments as part of Civil Defense. These teams get training from first responders like Paramedics, Fire Departments and Police. CERT acts as volunteers to provide extra assistance in case of large scale emergencies that can overwhelm state resources. For children and youth organization like the Scouts can provide the opportunity for the learn wilderness survival skills in an early age.

Family and Friends
Many people may have outdoorsmen, hunters, fishermen, farmers, and other people with survival related skills that they can learn from. If you have a family member or friend that’s involved in this type of activities may be an excellent way both to learn some new skills and getting to know them better. This will give you an opportunity to learn skills and tricks from people with experience and see what type of equipment that they are using, what clothing they use and get to know your local terrain. Of course there is also the option of simply engaging in these activities without any previous experience and learning by doing. But this process may be problematic, frustrating and dangerous. If you decide to go camping or hiking without any previous experience, don’t go alone. Bring some friends and notify someone where you’re going and when you expect to get back. There are also non-profit organizations that are involved in outdoor activities that you may join.

Networks
The Transition Network is a network that works to teach people self sufficiency, self reliance, canning and other skills. Some of the threats that they envision are Peak Oil and resource depletion. This type of groups does not only offer the possibility to learn skills but also offers an opportunity to get involved, network and get to know people with similar interests.

CollapseNet is a site that has been launched by Michael C. Ruppert after the release of the movie “Collapse”. Ruppert has previously written the newsletter and blog “From the Wilderness” and the books “Crossing the Rubicon” and “Collapse”.

Professional Survival Schools
The United States
ESEE / Randall’s Adventure and Training (RAT) offers courses in Jungle Survival in Latin America but also offers survival courses in the United States. ESEE /RAT also produce their own line of knives and survival kits like the ESEE-3, ESEE-4 and the ESEE Pocket Kit.

Tom Brown is one of the most famous survival instructors in the United States. Brown has a written a number of field guide for Wilderness Survival, Urban Survival and Tracking. Brown also runs the Tracker School where students can learn tracking and wilderness survival skills. Brown has also designed the Tom Brown Tracker knife. The knife is produced by Tops Knives has been seen in the movie “The Hunted”.

The United Kingdom
In Great Britain the company Trueways Survival School started by John Wiseman author of “The SAS Survival Handbook” offers a number of sources in survival. The company offer courses intended for Military Personnel, Civilians, Preparing for expeditions, wilderness survival, urban survival and a course on how to survive a complete breakdown of the modern society. The company also sells survival related equipment on their homepage.

Sweden
In Sweden the company Cold Skills Collection offers some training courses related to survival and crisis preparedness. The company also sells survival related equipment and clothing.

Summary
Military Personnel, Police, Fire Department and Paramedics and other first responders will learn many skills related to survival from their profession. For those how are not engaged in a professions where they will learn relevant skills learning survival related skills may be both more challenging and very expensive. Taking courses at professional survival school can be an interesting alternative but such courses are often very expensive. Learning outdoors skills from friends and family can be a much cheaper alternative and an excellent opportunity to get to know these people on a more personal level. Joining networks, CERT and nonprofit organizations may also give you the chance to learn and practice skills and get to know new people with similar interests as yourself.