Survival Team Challenge

Led by Joe O'Leary - author of The Wilderness Survival Guide

 

This challenge is suitable for:

• Management and leadership development training.
• Small enthusiastic groups who enjoy a challenge!

Survival and bushcraft training can be an incredibly grounding experience. Nothing can ‘de-clutter’ a busy brain like going right back to basics for 24 hours or more. ‘Back to basics’ in this instance means exactly that – your total focus must be (and can only be) on providing shelter, warmth, water and food for you and your fellow survivors.

This is less of a cosy, ‘tea and biscuits’ instructional kind of course and more of a guided challenge for those who prefer full immersion into a subject. A crash course if you like, in all the core survival skills with a realistic edge to the training.

You must be prepared for a physically and mentally demanding experience but for those who ‘grasp the nettle’ also an incredibly revealing and rewarding one.

You will be given very little kit to work with, relying mainly on your wits and ingenuity. Other than sensible outdoor work clothes and footwear your issued kit will consist of a small knife, folding saw, a metal cooking pot, a plastic bag, a short length of strong cord, basic rations, wool blanket, a water bottle plus some emergency items.

Knowledge weighs nothing and with such limited kit, will most certainly tip the odds in your favour. Therefore, the training exercise will begin in camp with a detailed briefing designed to get you thinking about your priorities in a survival situation, covering any essential safety points and introducing you to the wealth of natural resources at your disposal. You will then hit the trail with the goal of navigating your group to a new location hidden deep in the woods, where your survival challenge will begin in earnest.

Once on the trail, your instructor will accompany you throughout the exercise providing support and advice where needed (and possibly additional challenges too…). During the 24 hours, you can expect to gain practical experience in the following skills…

• Survival priorities – formulating a realistic plan based on your fundamental needs.
• Basic navigation including improvised methods of direction finding.
• Safe and efficient use of sharp cutting tools.
• Building a warm, weatherproof emergency shelter.
• Lighting a fire by improvised means using only natural resources.
• Locating and procuring safe drinking water.
• Identification of useful trees and plants.
• Finding and manufacturing improvised bindings and cordage.
• Foraging for wild food.
• Harvesting wild meat – survival trapping (theory only).
• Preparation and cooking of wild game.

As a training course, this challenge will be intensive to say the least, however in order to really develop your ingenuity and resolve, instruction in the field will not be given in the traditional sense. In most instances you will be shown a finished example of a certain survival technique or given basic written instructions. It’ll be up to you to fill in the gaps and still achieve your aim.

As a management and leadership development exercise, you can expect to explore the following…

• Ability to remain calm in a testing scenario, keeping a clear head - making good decisions under pressure.
• Best use of time management to achieve a difficult task in an allotted time frame (in this case, basically by nightfall – there is no plan B!).
• Planning a strategy and effective execution of it to achieve goals.
• Evaluate a situation and prioritise resources.
• Think laterally to solve unfamiliar problems.
• Work with extremely limited resources and still achieve your goals.
• Take into account strengths and weaknesses within a team to delegate, prioritize and develop responsibility.

---

The Wilderness Survival Challenge is a 24 hour training course available for small groups of five or less.

Duration and group size can be increased if required – please contact joe@wilderness-survival.co.uk

Some peak season weekend dates may be available if you book early (but will cost more) please get in touch to discuss your ideas.

---