Well known television personality and adventurer Bear Grylls has announced that he is bringing his Survival Academy to the U.S. giving outdoor enthusiasts an opportunity to learn how to survive in the wilderness using techniques that Bear has developed himself. If you’ve ever watched Man vs. Wild, I’ll leave it up to you to decide if that is a good thing.
All kidding aside, the program does offer to teach attendees how to survive in the backcountry. They’ll learn such skills as how to tie nots, navigate through wilderness terrain and how to administer emergency first aid. They’ll also learn how to find food, build a shelter and travel safely through tough environments. There are a variety of course options available, including 24-hour options for adults and families, as well as a five-day ultimate survival option that will test the skills that are learned.
The U.S. version of the survival academy will kick off in November and will take place in the Catskills Mountains of New York state. The actual official dates have not been made clear just yet, but you’ll find more information on the course on the Bear Grylls Survival Academy website. No word on U.S. pricing yet either, but the 24-hour adult course costs £349 in the U.K., which roughly translates to about $530.
From what I can tell, Bear won’t actually be teaching the course but will instead have certified instructors running the seminars. They’ll use his approved techniques but how much direct influence he’ll have on the actual training remains to be seen. I’m guessing that the techniques that will be taught will resemble more traditional survival training and not the kind of extreme stuff that Bear is known for on his television show.
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It seems expensive for the program it is (the 24h course and the 5 day program).
Most of survival skills can be learned from the internet, survival guide books where you can practice the skilss at your own pace (fire, shelter etc…)
In my opinion, it feel like people will pay half the price just for the marketing of BG's brand.
I'm sure for newbies, it can be interesting to learn and do what they could have seen in BG's series.
But don't be fooled, survival can only be learned by experience as beyond some basic tecniques and instruction, it's your mind that will make the difference between getting out, being rescued or even living.
To increase this, you need to spend time ALONE in the wild, first a day and slowly increase to about 2-3 weeks.
5 days with other mates and an instructor won't help to check whether your mind will crack or when.
My advice would be to learn by yourself and perhaps do a 48h out in the wild with an experienced survival teacher who would be there to help if you are lost or correct you and improve your skills where needed.
But if you have the money and no time, I believe you'll have a nice course in the outdoors.
Also, it has to be remembered that, some skills learned (like food learning) might only be applied in a local area. A desert, the tundra or arctic area is different.
For proper knots and rapelling etc… course, I'd say there are so many cheaper and proven alpine clubs to teach that. In the short amount of time provided browing lots of survival areas, it's just seeing the surface. Impossible to learn and practice in such a short time. To be confident, one need to master, learn, forget than learn again until it cannot be forgotten.