I absolutely love training with Nature Reliance School. I have been attending classes with them for 5 years now. I take a couple new classes or repeat my favorites every year. It’s always fun and kinda goofy, but serious and filled with knowledge and practical skill building at the same time. I took the Level 2 Survival Course with NRS in January of last year. I do not want to give away every detail, because the firsthand learning experience is the best. I highly recommend going to this course or finding one similar if you are not near Kentucky. I would be happy to answer any detailed questions if you send me a message as well.
The class started with a weigh in because our gear (including food and water) had to be under 25 pounds (~11 kg). My complete gear list is below.
The “cadre” – our teachers for the course, had a fire going all weekend in a nearby dry cabin in case anyone had shelter failures or an emergency. But for the first night we all had to camp on our own without fire. We could pick any spot in a slanted area with sparse trees and lots of fluffy snow. I had an emergency bivy that could be hung as a low A-frame which is what I chose to do between two trees. I pinned one end of my bivy closed with some wood found on the ground and kept all my warm down items in a garbage bag until bed time. When I went to bed I used my boots to keep the other end of the bivy open to keep the condensation low. I had to use hot hands between my socks and down booties to warm up, but I actually slept pretty ok even though it got down to maybe 17°F (-8°C). I slept until 7am and survived the first night alone in the snow.
Another activity for the first night was to learn how to make Figure 4 Traps. We made some out of Honeysuckle and tested to make sure they would work. We did not actually use them for hunting though. We talked about where you would set them and how you would disguise them if you were actually hunting for food.
The next day we decided that we would change camps for the next night. We got into groups of four and selected a new site to fit the group and allow for a long fire, designed to burn all night with minimum maintenance. We spent the morning moving shelters and collecting firewood, as we would need a lot for the long fire. The rest of the class took a break from collecting firewood to learn how to and participate in the processing of quail. To be honest, I had waited awhile to take this class because I was specifically not excited about this activity. Even though I support eating meat (and think it is healthy) and think hunting is the ethical choice over the meat industry, I do not eat much meat out of personal preference. I only eat seafood, occasionally, and that is because I think it is healthy to get some animal protein – but I am happier eating my fruits, nuts, and veggies. The director left it up to me if and how I would like to participate. I decided to keep collecting firewood and not participate at all. In the end, I was a bit disappointed in myself that I did not at least observe for the useful survival knowledge.
The rest of the day consisted of collecting more firewood, walking and looking for animal tracks, melting snow for drinking water, and contributing our snow melt to the freshly processed quail stew being prepared for those who participated in that activity. Everyone decided to turn in at their camps pretty early, many of them had not slept much and we had a pretty active day. I went to sleep quickly but woke up not long after due to the cold. The snow had melted and refroze underneath my setup, leaving a ground that had much less insulation than the fluffy snow from the previous night. I tried to convince Dan to take a break and let me tend to the fire. But instead he built the fire closer to me to warm me up. He was the camp hero for the night and kept our fire going all night.
The next morning we made stick bread over our fires and it was a yummy treat. All we did was mix flour and water in a ziplock bag and then cook a glob of it over the fire with a stick. It was everything in the moment though. We recapped what we learned that weekend and took another nature walk before packing up, making sure our long fires were completely out, and dispersing any evidence of our camps. Remember to leave no trace, my friends, and to get outside!
Gear List1
- Gossamer Gear Mariposa 60 – This is a bag I use for backpacking and while it is light and comfortable to carry, something a bit more rugged would have been better for class that you can throw down in the snow and not soak through right away. But I kept everything I did not want to get wet in a trash bag and it was fine.
- First Aid Kit
- Gauze roll and gauze pads
- Bandage wrap
- Medical gloves
- Safety pin and blister pads
- Water purification tablets
- Splint
- Aquaphor (great for chaffing and chap lips)
- Tweezers
- Ear plugs (these were the only thing I actually used in my kit)
- Food bag – I packed more but this is what I ended up eating in class
- 2 instant coffee single serving packs
- 2 LMNT single serving packs
- Pack of ramen noodles
- A bag of roasted salted mixed nuts
- A bag of BARE dried fruit (banana and apple chips)
- 2 VERB protein bars
- Block of white cheddar cheese
- Packed Clothes (did not wear to class and included in my weight limit)
- Personal Hygiene
- A small refillable bottle with Dr. Bronner’s soap
- Toothbrush and floss
- Hand sanitizer
- Backpacking shovel, biodegradable wipes, and extra ziplocs for trash
- Fire Items
- 2 lighters
- 1 farro rod from Bigfoot Bushcraft
- A tin of Bigfoot Bushcraft fire starter
- 1 packet of fastfire
- Fire straw with duct tape and jute twine wrapped around the case
- Sleep System
- Emergency Bivy
- Enlightened Equipment down quilt
- Nemo foam sleeping pad
- Water Supplies
- Clean water container
- Dirty water container
- Water filter
- 1 metal water bottle
- 3-4 liters of water. As much as I could carry and stay under the weight limit.
- Cooking Supplies
- Compass
- NRS Shamanese companion knife
- Hot hand warmers
- Garbage bag to keep all my down items dry but still fluffy
- Notebook
- Clothes (worn to class and not part of the weight limit). My only regret here was not having better socks. I slept in everything except the GORE-TEX jacket and boots and added a pair of hot hands between my socks and my down booties for sleeping.
- Base layer (wool pants and a synthetic shirt because my arms get itchy!)
- Down vest
- Lightweight ski jacket
- Snow pants
- GORE-TEX military jacket that had been issued to Dan in the army
- Toe socks covered by ski socks
- Muck boots
- Gore-Tex gloves
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