Wilderness Course

Lesson 1 • Core Survival Priorities

Introduces the universal survival priority order: protection, rescue, water, food. Students apply this framework to triage any wilderness emergency scenario.

Lesson 2 • Wilderness Hazard Awareness

Identifies environmental, biological, and terrain hazards common across wilderness settings. Connects hazard recognition to proactive risk reduction.

Lesson 3 • The Survival Mindset

Develops mental resilience and decision-making under stress. Anchors the chapter by establishing psychological readiness as the foundation of all survival action.

Lesson 1 • Natural Navigation Techniques

Introduces sun, star, shadow, and vegetation cues for direction finding without instruments. Serves as a backup system when map and compass are unavailable.

Lesson 2 • Route Planning and Execution

Applies map and compass skills to plan safe, efficient routes across varied terrain. Students practice handrails, catching features, and error-correction strategies.

Lesson 3 • Compass Fundamentals

Covers compass anatomy, declination adjustment, and bearing measurement. Students integrate compass use with map reading to determine and follow precise headings.

Lesson 4 • GPS and Digital Navigation Tools

Introduces GPS device operation and offline mapping apps as supplements to traditional skills. Emphasizes battery management and the primacy of map-and-compass proficiency.

Lesson 1 • Heat Loss and Thermal Principles

Explains conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation as mechanisms of body heat loss. Grounds all shelter and clothing decisions in physiological heat-balance science.

Lesson 2 • Layering and Clothing Systems

Applies thermal principles to base, mid, and shell clothing layer selection and management. Reinforces that clothing is the first line of shelter before any structure is built.

Lesson 3 • Site Selection for Shelter

Covers criteria for choosing a safe, effective shelter site including wind, drainage, and resources. Poor site selection negates even a well-built shelter.

Lesson 4 • Natural Material Shelter Builds

Teaches debris hut, lean-to, and snow shelter construction using only found materials. Students practice each design and evaluate insulation effectiveness.

Lesson 1 • Fire Lay Designs and Management

Covers teepee, log cabin, star, and long fire lay designs for different purposes. Students match fire design to cooking, signaling, warmth, or wet-weather needs.

Lesson 2 • Fire Science and Safety

Explains the fire triangle, combustion stages, and wildfire risk management. Safety and environmental responsibility frame all subsequent fire-craft instruction.

Lesson 3 • Tinder, Kindling, and Fuel Selection

Identifies and prepares tinder bundles, kindling grades, and fuel wood by moisture and density. Proper fuel preparation is the most common failure point in fire starting.

Lesson 4 • Modern Ignition Methods

Covers ferrocerium strikers, waterproof matches, lighters, and fire-starting aids. Students practice each method under adverse conditions to build reliable ignition skills.

Lesson 1 • Biological and Chemical Water Hazards

Identifies pathogens, protozoa, heavy metals, and agricultural runoff as water contaminants. Risk assessment determines which purification method is appropriate.

Lesson 2 • Purification Methods and Tools

Covers boiling, chemical treatment, filtration, and UV purification with effectiveness data. Students select and combine methods based on identified contaminant types.

Lesson 3 • Hydration Physiology and Needs

Covers dehydration stages, daily water requirements, and signs of hyponatremia. Establishes the physiological urgency that drives all water-procurement decisions.

Lesson 4 • Finding Water in the Wild

Teaches terrain reading, vegetation cues, and animal behavior to locate water sources. Covers collection from dew, rain, and transpiration bags as supplemental methods.

Lesson 1 • Fishing and Aquatic Food Sources

Covers improvised fishing methods, gill net basics, and harvesting aquatic plants and shellfish. Aquatic environments often provide the most reliable wild food in many regions.

Lesson 2 • Edible Plant Identification

Covers universal edibility testing and identification of widely distributed edible plants. Students apply a systematic identification process to avoid toxic lookalikes.

Lesson 3 • Caloric Needs and Starvation Physiology

Explains metabolic rate, caloric deficit effects, and the body's fuel-use sequence during starvation. Frames food procurement as a long-term survival priority after water.

Lesson 4 • Insects, Grubs, and Small Invertebrates

Identifies high-protein invertebrate food sources and safe preparation methods. Insects offer the highest calorie-to-effort ratio of any wild food procurement method.

Lesson 1 • Wound Care and Infection Prevention

Covers irrigation, debridement, closure options, and dressing selection for wilderness wounds. Infection prevention is the primary wound-care goal when evacuation is delayed.

Lesson 2 • Musculoskeletal Injury Management

Teaches assessment and field management of fractures, dislocations, and sprains. Students improvise splints and slings from available materials to enable patient movement.

Lesson 3 • Environmental Illness and Injury

Covers hypothermia, hyperthermia, altitude illness, and lightning injury recognition and treatment. Environmental conditions are the leading cause of wilderness medical emergencies.

Lesson 4 • Patient Assessment System

Teaches scene safety, primary survey, and secondary survey for wilderness patient assessment. A systematic approach prevents missed injuries and guides all treatment decisions.

Lesson 1 • Group Management and Leadership

Applies survival and planning skills to multi-person group dynamics and leadership responsibilities. Students design a complete expedition safety plan integrating all course competencies.

Lesson 2 • Visual and Auditory Signaling

Covers signal mirrors, ground-to-air symbols, whistles, and fire signals for attracting rescuers. Students practice each method and learn optimal deployment timing.

Lesson 3 • Pre-Trip Planning and Risk Assessment

Teaches hazard identification, trip itinerary filing, and contingency planning before departure. Proactive planning prevents most wilderness emergencies before they occur.

Lesson 4 • Electronic Signaling Devices

Covers PLBs, satellite messengers, and emergency beacons including registration and activation. Electronic devices dramatically reduce rescue time when used correctly.