This 4-day, 3-night course introduces the survival mindset by blending the essentials of your kit with skills for creating useful items from the natural landscape. You’ll learn how to supplement or replace expendable gear with what nature provides, giving you the confidence to be better prepared in an emergency—or simply to enrich your camping experience.
Registration deadline: 2 weeks prior to class start date.
Topics Covered:
- Tools and tool maintenance
- Crafting wooden tools for survival
- Building hasty buck saws from natural materials
- Bow drill fire-making
- Flint and steel & “next fire” mentality
- Non-conventional water collection and disinfection methods
- Debris huts and natural shelters
- Raised bed construction
- Resource selection and use
- Medicinal trees and plants
- Preparing medicinal simples
- Cordage making
- Sun compass and solar navigation basics
- Handline fishing reels
- Deadfall traps
Duration: 4 days, 3-nights
Class Limit 18
Age Requirements
- Students must be at least 13 years old (any younger must have prior authorization from the school)
- Students under 18 must attend with a registered adult
- Minors may not be repeatedly left alone at camp or placed under the supervision of staff
- A parent or guardian may be asked to leave the course if a minor is repeatedly left behind
- Anyone bringing a minor who is not their child must provide a signed Emergency Care Authorization form from the child’s parent or legal guardian
Additional Class Information
Please review the following before attending:
- Start time: 8 am (first day of class)
- Class meeting location and arrival instructions - Click Here
- Complete required gear list - Click Here
- Cabin rental information - Click Here
- Cancellation and rescheduling policy - Click Here
For questions regarding classes or gear lists, please contact our Lead Instructor, Ty Barker, at (304) 237-2173 or by email at tybarker73@yahoo.com. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM EST.
About our School:
- Access to our 4,500-acre forested training facility
- Professional instruction from trained wilderness survival instructors
- Potable water at base camp
- Port-a-Pots located approximately 400 yards from base camp
- All Instructors are WFA or WFA Instructor Level Certified
- HAM radio and satellite emergency communications
- Certificate of Completion or Certificate of Training, as applicable
Visit our Instructor Bio page - click here
Disclaimer:
Please make sure you take all gear with you at the end of the class. If gear is left behind, we will not be able to ship it to you, and will be considered abandoned.
Customer Reviews
I had a blast and learned a ton. This isn't the first class I've taken and I already have my next class scheduled.
I recently completed Bushcraft 101 at the Pathfinder School, and I can honestly say it was one of the best educational experiences I've ever had.
To give some context, I walked into this class as a complete novice. I had no real bushcraft experience. I had watched videos, read a few books, and spent months preparing my gear, but I had never received formal instruction or practiced many of these skills. I was honestly nervous about whether I would fit in or even be able to keep up.
From the moment the class started, those concerns disappeared.
Dave Canterbury, TY Barker, and Nich Gatton created an environment where complete beginners could learn with confidence while still challenging those with more experience. They never made anyone feel out of place. They explained not only *how* to perform each skill, but *why* it mattered, and they took the time to answer questions throughout the course.
Over the four days, I learned proper tool safety, how to sharpen and maintain my knife and axe using a sharpening puck, tree identification, campcraft, tripod construction, fire craft, camp cooking, and many other foundational bushcraft skills. One of the biggest lessons I took away wasn't just a technique—it was learning how to think differently in the woods and how to approach problems with simplicity and purpose.
What impressed me most was how hands-on the course was. We weren't just listening to lectures—we were practicing the skills ourselves. That made the learning stick in a way that books and videos never could.
If you're someone like me who has been interested in bushcraft but feels intimidated because you have little or no experience, don't let that stop you. Bushcraft 101 is exactly where you should start. Come with an open mind, be willing to learn, ask questions, and you'll leave with knowledge and confidence that will stay with you long after the class is over.
Thank you to Dave Canterbury, TY Barker, Nich Gatton, and the entire Pathfinder School team for an unforgettable experience. This course has given me a solid foundation to build on, and I fully intend to continue my training and return for future classes.
This is a well organized comprehensive course.
“Basic” does not mean easy. The time requirements add appropriate stress to simulate a survival situation. Instructors are top notch and truly invested in teaching. That said, come prepared. This class would be very tough without dirt time to practice the fundamentals skills before the class.
I just came back from the Bushcraft 101 course (3/2023) I had read the books but to be able to put the book teaching into actual hands-on teaching with really awesome instructors made it worth all of the difficulties I faced being the only 1st time student. But.....would I do it all over again? Definitely, and I'm hoping to attend the Advanced Bushcraft course once it's available to take. Until then, there are others courses that I'm looking forward to. Not only do the instructors teach what is in the course curriculum but throughout there are practical tidbits that you pick up along the way. Looking forward to more time at the Pathfinder School
Have not been to that particular class yet but the Basic Survival was awesome. I plan to do the bushcraft 101 then the Intermediate class. The instructors and venue is absolutely perfect, the training is truly the best you can get in this field.
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
- Press the space key then arrow keys to make a selection.