AOC Survival Series: Introduction to Survival Skills

Ever wonder what you would do if you were lost, injured, or for whatever reason "stuck in the woods" and had to spend (survive) the night when you had not intended to do so?

Join us for a educational and fun survival skills training session. The focus of the event will be to learn and practice survival skills necessary for an overnight "lost hiker" scenario (and how to survive for 72 hours) - while at the same time have a great time camping out. We will be camping at established (primitive) camp sites on the Chattahoochee National Forest.  You can spend the night in a survival shelter you will build, or in your tent - the choice is yours based on how realistic you would like it to be.   The more hands on you are the more you will get out of this. Either way it will be similar to pioneer camping in that your car will be parked close by and if you wish you can bring all the creature comforts you typically would on a car camping trip.

Day 1: Starting around 10am the essential topics will be covered (priorities, first aid,  shelter, fire, water), with time for foraging for materials, building shelters, and starting fires, etc. We will also need to gather/process fire wood. We will discuss and demonstrate various shelter types, as well as methods to start/build fires.  We can then enjoy the evening sharing knowledge or survival stories, and socializing around the campfire.

Day 2: we will cover additional topics as time permits.

Primary Topics:

• *   Survival Priorities (Rule of 3's)
• *  Shelter (5 W's of site selection)
• *   Fire
• *   Water procurement/purification
• *   Daypack essentials (5 C's)

Addtional potential topics:

• *   Signalling for rescue
• *   Navigation/orienteering
• *   Survival gear/emergency kits (10 C's)
• *  Important knots
• *   Wild edibles
• *   Primitive fire techniques
• *   Smart phones as survival tools

Keep in mind that we must follow the rules of the National Forest. As such, we will limit our activities to comply with these rules - such as not cutting live trees (must be dead and down). See 'additional notes' for link to National Forest rules.

It is recommended to do some reading on survival topics which interest you prior to the event (see 'additional notes' for links).
Some materials will be provided, however you should bring items you wish to utilize for skills you wish to practice. See "Recommended items to bring."

Feel free to contact trip leaders with any questions on gear prior to the event.

Keep in mind that the trip leaders are not 'certified' survival instructors, but have lots of experience and knowledge they wish to share.

The forest service roads are gravel, and are passable in a standard car.

There is very limited/no cellular reception at this location. If you are planning to use your phone for navigation to/from the event, then you will want to ensure you have the off-line maps of the area loaded on your phone.

The event will be located in the Chattahoochee National Forest, approximately 6 miles from Nimblewill Church. Detailed directions to the exact location will be provided to the registrants a few days before the event. The Forest Service roads that you will travel to get to the event location (camp) are gravel and well maintained. They are passable with standard passenger vehicles, as long as they don't have super low ground clearance - i.e., don't bring the sports car.

There are NO restroom facilities, so it will be necessary to bring equipment for proper waste disposal.

There is a creek next to the camping area for water.

Other info:
http://www.wilderness-survival.net
http://www.zulusurvival.com/courses/survival- course- introduction/survival-priorities/
http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Survival.htm
(this site has a link to download the US Army Survival Field Manual from which much of the site's content was taken)

National Forest Rules: Click here

If severe weather is predicted this event may be cancelled