Advanced Survival Class for Expert Survivalists

Name: Advanced Survival Class
Brand: PFS Classes
SKU: 2026APR23
Price: 700.0 USD
Availability: InStock

About Our Advanced Survival Training Course

The Advanced Survival Class from Self Reliance Outfitters is designed to test the skills of experienced outdoorsmen and survival practitioners. It is an intensive, multi-day wilderness survival program that will test your capabilities further and ensure you learn how to lead and live in difficult survival situations.

During this course, attendees will be put through challenging, scenario-based training environments that are built to simulate real survival conditions, growing on what is taught in our Beginner or Intermediate courses. You'll learn to make decisions under stress and manage complex challenges that force you to go beyond your core understanding of survival.

For those who seek to assert their mastery while learning to build their confidence as survivalists and leaders, this advanced training course is for you.

Who this class is for:

Our advanced wilderness survival course is for those seeking the highest levels in outdoor survival skills and emergency readiness. They include:

Pathfinder Students: Individuals who completed our basic and intermediate survival training courses. They join in order to deepen their skills and learn how to apply them in tougher, more complex survival scenarios.
Professional Outdoorsmen: These include guides, instructors, search and rescue personnel, and other professionals who work often in the wilderness. Our course can help them grow their leadership abilities while honing their fieldcraft so they can effectively assist in survival situations.
Preparedness Leaders: Preppers, community organizers, and preparedness educators looking to enhance their survival knowledge and wilderness skills. We'll help them learn strategies that they can use to guide others during emergency situations.

What you'll learn during our survival courses:

Here are some of the high-level wilderness survival skills taught in our practical training course:

Multi-Day Wilderness Survival Strategies

Surviving through multiple days and nights with limited resources is an immense challenge and a true test of your survival skills. Students will learn how to plan and execute effective survival strategies and advanced bushcraft techniques that ensure they and their group can endure extended stays in the field.

Survival Decision-Making Under Stress

Difficult survival situations will involve managing rough group dynamics and heavy questioning of your leadership ability. Students practice making decisions under high-pressure scenarios, testing their ability to manage resources and coordinate with other members of their group.

Complex Navigation

Students will enhance their basic navigation skills by diving into advanced techniques specifically designed for remote wilderness travel. As part of the course, their training will include navigating with maps and compasses over diverse terrains, planning safe routes using terrain features and natural navigation methods.

Advanced Shelter Systems

Students also learn how to construct robust shelter systems that can handle extended stays in the wilderness. They will learn to make primitive shelters using natural resources around their camp and turn them into warm, dry, weather-resistant shelters that fit the terrain and climate and put those to their advantage.

Expert Fire-Crafting

Fire is an essential in long-term survival scenarios. In this course, students will sharpen their fire-making skills by exploring both traditional and contemporary techniques, such flint and steel or bow drill friction firemaking. Our training program teaches you several different ways to maintain fires over several days and against various weather conditions.

Prerequisites & recommended experience for this class:

This course dives deep into advanced survival skills, so it's essential for students to come equipped with a solid foundation in wilderness survival. Here are our necessary prerequisites and recommended experience for those want to take our expert survival skills class:

Prerequisites

Students should hold Pathes or certificates of completion from our Basic Survival class, then our Intermediate Survival class, or they should have equivalent experience in wilderness survival training.

Please remember: this is NOT an introductory or intermediate class. It is only for individuals who have hands-on experience in camping, hiking, and outdoor survival.

Recommended Experience

Individuals who would like to join our course on advanced wilderness survival skills, but haven't been a part of our previous courses should have a reliable level of experience in these skills and activities:

Regular backcountry camping
Bushcraft practice
Longstanding experience building primitive shelters in a variety of weather conditions
Ownership of and strong familiarity with survival gear from cutting tools, canteens, and field cooking equipment.
Comfortable with hiking or outdoor adventures with a light pack for extended periods

To ensure your safety and wellness throughout the course, please only join if you are strong experienced with the skills and knowledge necessary for these activities.

Required & optional/recommended gear:

Having the right gear is a necessity for our advanced survival skills training. Students need to show up prepared with these essential pieces of equipment to safely take part in all field exercises:

Require Gear (Note: All Gear is Required to Complete This Course)

Ohio Fishing License for Summer & Fall Classes
Ohio Hunting License for October through February classes
Knife
Swiss Army Knife or multitool
Folding saw
Mil Spec Poncho
Swagman or Poncho liner
100' Bankline #36
30' of Tubular Webbing 1" wide
1" roll duct tape
Cold Steel Shovel
Analog watch (NO Digital Watches)
(1) 30 L dry bag
(1) Bic lighter
(1) Fresnel lens
(2) Water bottles and one up or (2) canteens and one cup (minimum is a Stain Steel 32 oz cup)
(1) Rapid Deployment Ridge Line System
(2) 6 foot pieces of 550 paracord
(1) headlight with spare batteries or charging brick (Headlamp must have a red light mode)
(1) Compass with sighting mirror
(1) H-3 Tritium Lensatic Compass - Brunton
(1) Notebook
(1) Pencils
(1) Pair of Leather Gloves
(1) Spare Pair of Socks

Optional Gear

Prescribed medications (Only)
Bug Sprays (especially those that repel ticks)
First aid items made for outdoor environments (especially ones for poison ivy)
Extra clothing appropriate for weather conditions in the area

Excluded Gear

No Food
No Water
No Cell Phones
No Toilet Paper
No Tobacco

Please Note: Any equipment you order from Self Reliance Outfitters for this course must be purchased no later than two weeks prior to the class so that you can receive your gear. Orders cannot be shipped to the school property for pick up.

Why you can trust wilderness survival training courses from SRO:

Self Reliance Outfitters is more than just a retailer of survival gear. The Pathfinder Schoo is a hub for real, effective survival education. Our survival training school has empowered thousands of students of all skill levels to hone their bushcraft and survival skills.

Our advanced survival training for experienced practitioners is crafted to ensure that students walk away with practical, field-tested skills they can apply in actual wilderness scenarios. Need more details? Here's what also makes our advanced survival class stand out:

Instructors with Decades of Survival Experience

Our advanced survival training course is taught by experienced instructors who have spent years immersed in the great outdoors. They are seasoned survival experts who have dedicated their lives to mastering, practicing, and teaching wilderness survival.

Your instructors will share and showcase skills they've personally relied on in real-life outdoor situations. Students get the chance to ask questions, observe techniques up close, and receive real-time coaching while honing their own abilities.

Real-World Scenarios for Field-Tested Survival Skills

The best survival training really takes place outside, in conditions that resemble actual survival situations as closely as possible. In the course, we put you through training scenarios that might involve:

Navigating through unfamiliar terrain with just a few tools
Building shelters while dealing with unpredictable weather
Managing resources during extended survival situations
Collaborating with a team to tackle survival challenges under pressure

These activities push students to think critically, adapt their strategies, and put their knowledge into action. By training in realistic conditions, you gain invaluable experience and practice in life-saving skills you can use to live off the land and survive in deep nature.

A Course Designed for Real Preparedness

At the heart of Self Reliance Outfitters' mission is a genuine desire to help people become more capable, resilient, and self-sufficient in any wilderness scenario. Our advanced survival course is designed to confirm that you have all the practical skills necessary for long-term survivability in the open wild.

Honing your skills under real-world conditions will ensure your techniques are refined, make your instincts and decision-making skills more accurate and effective, and provide you with more confidence in all types of environments and situations.

Self Reliance Outfitters is dedicated to delivering top-notch survival education, as well high-quality survival gear gear made to elevate their wilderness skills.

Advanced wilderness survival training FAQs

How physically demanding is the advanced survival class?

This course will be physically challenging, often working in rugged terrain. Attendees of the class should feel at least comfortable with hiking, spending long hours outside, and engaging in hands-on activities like building shelters and gathering firewood.

Is the course safe for participants?

Yes, our instructors are qualified and equipped to ensure your all-around safety. They will supervise and guide you throughout the course, and make sure that no one is ever put in uncontrolled survival situations, like losing direction in the wild. Our training scenarios are designed to push students to their limits while ensuring that safety remains a top priority.

Will I receive some form of certification after completing the course?

Yes. For those who graduate at 80% or higher, they receive an Advanced Patch and a certificate of completion, signed by the Pathfinder School's instructional staff. Individuals can also get Continuing Education Units (CEU).

What age should I be to attend the advanced survival training course?

Students must be at least 18 years old in order to join the advanced course. We do provide other courses for younger students, as well as our free Pathfinder Youth Camp.

Is there a cancellation policy?

Yes. If you need to cancel your place in a class for the Pathfinder School, you have up to 30 days before the start date to receive a refund. This provides us time to provide that open spot for another student.

If you do not arrive for your class, your registration fees are forfeit and you will not receive a refund.

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Prepping for classes

Honestly, while I have most everything for my upcoming classes, I found that the quality and price to be excellent. Highly recommend for anyone!

If your thinking about the course do it.

If your thinking about taking it to the advanced level and taking the course my advice is start at the basic level and go through the basic, intermediate, then advanced. It well give one a great feeling of accomplishment but also set you up for success knowing what's expected of you and how hard your going to have to work outside of the classroom to pass. It's a great program I've been to alot of training programs schools etc for alot of others things and this is the place you want to be if your wanting to learn survival. This program will give you self pride and achievement. At the end of the day it comes down to do you want it or not no one can teach you that but this school will give you the tools to succeed that's for sure. 5 stars for the school and for every class they put on. Money well spent.

Dig twice as deep as you think you ought to...

This last week I have been in Ohio for the Pathfinder Advanced course. It's a survival course and it's meant to be a true test of self. Over the last several months, I've been working up to this and it's the 7th course that I've taken between Pathfinder and Flint and Steel. During this course you bring no food, no water, no redundancies, no fire starters... You are coming to the woods of Ohio to learn what it is like to be truly self-reliant in a "controlled" environment. I put quotes because you are out in and around the property, but you are not in the presence of instructors or safety for many hours of the day as you navigate the terrain, gather resources, and build the tools you need for the course. You will get very little sleep, very little comforts, and well depending on the season... very little time with dry feet and a warm corpus.

Be Prepared Mentally & Physically..

This class is a culmination of all the survival classes taught at the Pathfinder School. If you have not prepared yourself physically through fitness training and mentally by gaining confidence and proficiency in the basic skills, this class will be difficult if not impossible. You need to accept ahead of time that you will be very physically engaged while completing your deliverables and will most likely endure some periods of dehydration, lack of calories, insufficient rest and mental stress. While all this sounds rough, when you are in it you learn to push yourself to the next level and beyond. I believe that is the whole goal of this class, to push you beyond what most people would ever push themselves. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to participate in this class and that I completed it successfully. There was a time or two That I thought I may have to tap out, but the instructors would not give up on me and that was just the motivation I needed to push on to success. When you enroll in this class just know that you will be challenged and be prepared for whatever challenges (and surprises) the instructors have in store for you. When you do complete this course, you will have a feeling of accomplishment that you will not soon forget and the overall experience will be one you will never regret.

Good work Dave to you and all your team!

I would like to take the time to write about the Pathfinder Advanced Class I just recently completed.

As an Australian and due to my work, I am very fortunate to have been able to travel to many different countries and have the opportunity to visit and attend various survival/bushcraft schools and courses worldwide.

I had already completed a Pathfinder Primitive Skills Course and the Basic Survival Class and was impressed with the school's emphasis on putting newly learnt skills under pressure through the implementation of timed deliverables (tasks).
The Advanced class was a continuation of the basic skills of survival/bushcraft, utilizing these timed deliverables except at a more advanced level and at a faster pace, combined with food and sleep deprivation.
The 5 day course saw a huge range in temperature from 68 F (20 C) down to 20 F (-6C) which is bloody cold for an Aussie who just stepped off the plane from Hawaii.

The first day of the course was revision of core skills through demonstration; bow drill fire, navigation (PAUL method), natural containers and cordage, bow making and using trash as useful resources.
Sun up on the second day saw the beginning of the 4 day test phase, commencing with a shake down and stripping of any equipment not on the kit list, no water & no food, then it was go go go.

After a long navigation exercise in our two man teams and arrival at our first base camp, the deliverables (tasks) began and they came at a continuous pace. New tasks were added all the time, regardless of whether or not the last one was completed in time. An 80% pass rate was needed to pass the 40 plus deliverables assigned. One by one the 5 C's (cutting tool, combustion device, container, covering, cordage) were taken away and substitutes had to be found from around us. Groups who did not succeed at friction fire at first were not able to purify/boil water to drink, have fire for warmth or complete other deliverables that fire was needed for.

That’s how it was for the 4 days, with no food or sleep except in 2 hour pickets to man the fire.
The last night was particularly cold and on the last day it snowed, a novel experience for an Aussie.
The course was grueling at times and the lack of sleep and food really took their toll on energy levels and by the 3rd day we were all knackered and the simplest things became a chore.

Every team had their own instructor to aid and guide them through the course. All the instructors (Chris, Darin, Brian, Jimmy and Jamie) were great and worked patiently and tirelessly with all teams.

I learnt a lot on the course and a lot about myself. The course and its timed deliverables really did put our already learned skills under pressure and to the test which is exactly what would happen in a real scenario. These timed deliverables from my experience are unique to the Pathfinder School. I would strongly recommend any of the Pathfinder School courses to anyone wishing to learn reliable, retainable and practical survival and self reliance skills.

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Advanced Survival Class