Dave and Pathfinder Family,
I have been educated in survival skills since my early youth. My Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader served as a U.S. Marine during Korea, and our Troop was run just like a small military unit. These skills were further honed during my military service in the U.S. Army during the Gulf War Era, and now are a common sense way of thinking to me.
It becomes very difficult to teach ‘civilians’ the things that we take for granted – decades of training that we have had to use in practical application. What complicates things even more is the lack of attention people pay to such things as they go through daily life with technology and the false belief that their needs will always be taken care of by local government.
My wife has always been a city dweller and has had no special training. My son, who is 15, showed no interest in doing anything that didn’t involve video games or texting on his phone. Your video series on YouTube changed everything for them, and I would like to believe that this education has gone far to help their survival in situations that may arise in the near future.
During the last two years, Harrisburg has seen its share of wicked weather. We have been without power for days at a time, and at one point we were stranded in our car for 36 hours. These small inconveniences do not break my stride, training kicking in almost instantly to overcome the situation and provide safety for my family. Both my wife and son showed an interest in learning more, but I found it impossible for me to even begin teaching them the basics.
I located your videos and started to watch them with the family as a part of our daily ‘family time’. Kathryn fell into step easily and learned very quickly from your informative and interesting content. Joshua, who loses interest in things quickly, can’t be pried away from the information presented. He even seeks out information on his own, and has started to put together his own Bug Out Bag.
A portion of the money he earns doing odd jobs in the neighborhood gets set aside for his gear. He is currently saving for a ‘Pocket Hunter‘, as well as a decent knife and camp ax. He has picked up hawk throwing very quickly, and maintaining tools has become second nature to him.
I wanted to thank all of you at the Pathfinder School for providing something to my family that I could not. You have a teaching style that has helped me to get my family interested in their own survival. If and when we need these skills, I will have partners to assist me instead of having to worry about pulling the weight of three.
I wish you and your families a great holiday season. Thanks so much for providing such a valuable service!
Sincerely,
Paul T.