Dougs advice from the courses section on this sites home page:

>Nothing beats hands-on training. Good survival training significantly increases the odds in your favor. It's also a lot of fun and can be a character building experience as well.

Except where otherwise indicated, most of these companies offer general wilderness survival education, as well as a myriad of other related courses. Some offer these courses at multiple locations, not just at the address listed. Most can accommodate groups or organizations and many will custom tailor a course to your requirements and hold it at a location convenient to your group.

Note also that many civic, outdoor and wilderness sports oriented and aviation organizations, community colleges, universities and the like offer survival courses. A call to area outdoor sports specialty shops will often turn up a number of local options. While the quality varies, most are pretty good, reasonably priced and even the worst one could imagine would still be much better than just relying on book knowledge.

The are many "outdoors" schools and courses that are aimed more at developing character than teaching survival skills. Organizations like Outward Bound and others do an excellent job, and most of us could benefit from such an experience, but if survival knowledge is your goal, aim for a school or course that is geared towards survival. Some may also be designed to help you develop and grow in the same way as do these others, but the emphasis is on survival and survival skills.

Investigate the course and schools you are interested in thoroughly. Ask for references from prior students and check them out. When assessing references, take into account their experience level vis-a-vis how they rate the experience. Ensure the curriculum and instructional philosophy matches your needs, interests and physical condition. Find out who, exactly, will provide instruction and what is their background and experience.>

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