Having been prompted (thanks Ed!) I have finally remembered to post this review of a course I attended last November with Survival School:
Review: Survival School UK weekend course
5-7 November 2004
I booked for this course on the advice of a friend who had completed several courses with this company. I always find that personal recommendations are the best gauge for any kind of purchase, but as is always the case, people have their own preferences and what one thinks is the best thing since sliced bread, another hates. That said, I very much enjoyed the course and found it very useful, informative and fun!
Now the details. Ive only ever attended DGs Hunter course, and never any other bushcraft-type course, so have nothing to benchmark or rate this one against. In my experience of attending events and courses of other kinds though, I have always found that any event that meets or exceeds your expectations is one you enjoy and will want to repeat, so its all about expectations
I found that Jonny Crockett (who runs the school) was very friendly and more than willing to discuss the course contents or any areas of concern, prior to the event. This was a great comfort to me, never having any experience of this sort of thing.
Prior to the event, I was sent driving directions and a kit list, so I knew where to go and what to pack. Having spoken to Jonny about it, I knew that we would be sleeping in natural shelters and not using tents, so I also brought a Bivi bag, which was not on the list. Being very food-oriented, I also brought a selection of herbs and spices, as well as a few bits of snack food. I had also previously established with Jonny that all food would be provided on the course, as the website and joining instructions make no mention of the catering arrangements.
We were met in the car park of Escot House, and once all participants had arrived, given a thorough safety briefing before being walked through the grounds, over the fields, and into the woods where we would spend the next 40-odd hours. First instruction was the safe use of knife and saw, after which we were all issued with a Frost Mora and a folding saw, unless we had brought something similar of our own, which a couple of us had.
After this we were sent off to find tinder, kindling and firewood, then shown how to light a fire.
Once the fire was lit we were shown the various areas that we could use for sleep a number of bashas had been set up, and there were various natural shelters that had been built by previous participants on courses, including a large multi-sided shelter where we had lit the fire, and which would be our base for the weekend. Some chose the kennel shelters, some the bashas and a couple of us went for the communal shelter.
Having set up our kit, we were then shown how to remove the breast meat for a pigeon without using a knife Ive prepped many pigeons in my life but had never seen this before (I missed the demo on DGs Hunter course), and found this a quick and easy way to get the only really decent meat off this bird. This activity was not compulsory we had been told that this was our course and at no time would you be pressured to take part in anything that you felt uncomfortable with although even our Vegan participant got stuck right in with the dismemberment!
This was to form part of the evening meal, and we were then given a box full of vegetables which were duly chopped up and placed in a pot. The pigeon was roasted on the fire using shovels! After dinner drinks were provided by the Grand Fir pine needle tea and very nice it was too.
There was plenty for all (although I was glad of my stash of seasonings), and when our instructors Jonny and Karen left us for the night, it wasnt long before we all drifted off to bed.
Next morning Jonny and Karen arrived with a box full of flour and some eggs breakfast! The eggs were boiled, and we made flat breads on the shovels, with the addition of some windfall apples, hazelnuts or sweet chestnuts that they had also brought with them.
With breakfast over, the days activities consisted of cutting techniques and shelter-building, foraging, snares, fire-lighting and fish prep, the latter being lunch! The evening meal followed the session on mammal preparation rabbit in this case. After dinner, some people moved to the shelters that they had built earlier in the day time to test their skills, as it rained overnight, though not heavily.
After our second attempt at the flat bread, we checked our snares (no catches this time) and went through knife and ax sharpening techniques, cordage, and finally water purification, before being offered a nice sauna in the steam hut that had been prepared.
Now, Ive said that its all about expectations, and that we all have our own goals. If you are looking for a bushcraft course that offers all the modern conveniences while you learn your wilderness skills, this is not the course (or company) for you. If you are looking for a survivalist course that teaches endurance survival or evasion, this is not your course. If, however, you are looking for a course that will teach you the basics of bushcraft and wilderness skills in a natural environment, and are willing to undergo what could be described as some minor hardships, then book this course. Everyone was friendly, I found all the sessions useful, and all of our many questions were answered.
For those whod like to know what I class as minor hardships (each of these points applies for the course I attended, and at that site only the conditions may be different on other sites or courses offered, and you should check if you are at all concerned):
- there was no 'wet weather' base - if it had rained during the day, there would have been nowhere to shelter... (The communal shelter had sides, but no roof)
- there was no latrine facility - the arrangement was that you walked into the wood with a stick, dug your own hole, and afterwards marked the spot with the stick...
- although all food was provided, all cooking was done by the participants, and no seasonings or 'luxuries' such as sugar, cooking oil, etc. were provided. This meant that since the only cooking utensils were two large stockpots and three shovels, we essentially ate either boiled meat and vegetables (with no salt), or the meat was 'dry roasted' on the shovels. Cooking in this manner often makes perfectly good food fairly unpalatable, and this was something that was commented on by the other participants. The trout that was ponassed, however, was marvelous!
I hope that this review is useful to those thinking of attending a course such as this.
Review: Survival School UK weekend course
5-7 November 2004
I booked for this course on the advice of a friend who had completed several courses with this company. I always find that personal recommendations are the best gauge for any kind of purchase, but as is always the case, people have their own preferences and what one thinks is the best thing since sliced bread, another hates. That said, I very much enjoyed the course and found it very useful, informative and fun!
Now the details. Ive only ever attended DGs Hunter course, and never any other bushcraft-type course, so have nothing to benchmark or rate this one against. In my experience of attending events and courses of other kinds though, I have always found that any event that meets or exceeds your expectations is one you enjoy and will want to repeat, so its all about expectations
I found that Jonny Crockett (who runs the school) was very friendly and more than willing to discuss the course contents or any areas of concern, prior to the event. This was a great comfort to me, never having any experience of this sort of thing.
Prior to the event, I was sent driving directions and a kit list, so I knew where to go and what to pack. Having spoken to Jonny about it, I knew that we would be sleeping in natural shelters and not using tents, so I also brought a Bivi bag, which was not on the list. Being very food-oriented, I also brought a selection of herbs and spices, as well as a few bits of snack food. I had also previously established with Jonny that all food would be provided on the course, as the website and joining instructions make no mention of the catering arrangements.
We were met in the car park of Escot House, and once all participants had arrived, given a thorough safety briefing before being walked through the grounds, over the fields, and into the woods where we would spend the next 40-odd hours. First instruction was the safe use of knife and saw, after which we were all issued with a Frost Mora and a folding saw, unless we had brought something similar of our own, which a couple of us had.
After this we were sent off to find tinder, kindling and firewood, then shown how to light a fire.
Once the fire was lit we were shown the various areas that we could use for sleep a number of bashas had been set up, and there were various natural shelters that had been built by previous participants on courses, including a large multi-sided shelter where we had lit the fire, and which would be our base for the weekend. Some chose the kennel shelters, some the bashas and a couple of us went for the communal shelter.
Having set up our kit, we were then shown how to remove the breast meat for a pigeon without using a knife Ive prepped many pigeons in my life but had never seen this before (I missed the demo on DGs Hunter course), and found this a quick and easy way to get the only really decent meat off this bird. This activity was not compulsory we had been told that this was our course and at no time would you be pressured to take part in anything that you felt uncomfortable with although even our Vegan participant got stuck right in with the dismemberment!
This was to form part of the evening meal, and we were then given a box full of vegetables which were duly chopped up and placed in a pot. The pigeon was roasted on the fire using shovels! After dinner drinks were provided by the Grand Fir pine needle tea and very nice it was too.
There was plenty for all (although I was glad of my stash of seasonings), and when our instructors Jonny and Karen left us for the night, it wasnt long before we all drifted off to bed.
Next morning Jonny and Karen arrived with a box full of flour and some eggs breakfast! The eggs were boiled, and we made flat breads on the shovels, with the addition of some windfall apples, hazelnuts or sweet chestnuts that they had also brought with them.
With breakfast over, the days activities consisted of cutting techniques and shelter-building, foraging, snares, fire-lighting and fish prep, the latter being lunch! The evening meal followed the session on mammal preparation rabbit in this case. After dinner, some people moved to the shelters that they had built earlier in the day time to test their skills, as it rained overnight, though not heavily.
After our second attempt at the flat bread, we checked our snares (no catches this time) and went through knife and ax sharpening techniques, cordage, and finally water purification, before being offered a nice sauna in the steam hut that had been prepared.
Now, Ive said that its all about expectations, and that we all have our own goals. If you are looking for a bushcraft course that offers all the modern conveniences while you learn your wilderness skills, this is not the course (or company) for you. If you are looking for a survivalist course that teaches endurance survival or evasion, this is not your course. If, however, you are looking for a course that will teach you the basics of bushcraft and wilderness skills in a natural environment, and are willing to undergo what could be described as some minor hardships, then book this course. Everyone was friendly, I found all the sessions useful, and all of our many questions were answered.
For those whod like to know what I class as minor hardships (each of these points applies for the course I attended, and at that site only the conditions may be different on other sites or courses offered, and you should check if you are at all concerned):
- there was no 'wet weather' base - if it had rained during the day, there would have been nowhere to shelter... (The communal shelter had sides, but no roof)
- there was no latrine facility - the arrangement was that you walked into the wood with a stick, dug your own hole, and afterwards marked the spot with the stick...
- although all food was provided, all cooking was done by the participants, and no seasonings or 'luxuries' such as sugar, cooking oil, etc. were provided. This meant that since the only cooking utensils were two large stockpots and three shovels, we essentially ate either boiled meat and vegetables (with no salt), or the meat was 'dry roasted' on the shovels. Cooking in this manner often makes perfectly good food fairly unpalatable, and this was something that was commented on by the other participants. The trout that was ponassed, however, was marvelous!
I hope that this review is useful to those thinking of attending a course such as this.
