Field Craft
Field Craft is the heart of survival training. All the skills that are required to stay alive in your environment are part of Field Craft. Finding water, food and shelter along with building a fire is just the beginning. But let me be clear, SPIKE is never about just surviving. SPIKE is all about thriving in every situation you may find yourself in.
This phase of SPIKE will teach you the most modern and ancient skills, as well as the tools available for wilderness survival. Survival is a mindset and with the skills you will gain from SPIKE, your chances for survival in the wilderness or the concrete jungle will improve exponentially. Once you gain these skills I suggest you get out and test them. Practice and evolve these skills so they become part of you. When you are stressed, weak, tired, cold, hungry, wet and disoriented is not the time when you want to try and become proficient in fire making. Repetition is the mother of skill. So practice, practice, practice.
Along with the basics of fire making, finding food, collecting water and shelter building, SPIKE Field Craft will go into depth with outdoors skills. Hunting, tracking, trapping, skinning and tanning will provide you with food and clothes or bedding. Using animals to pack your load, hunt or provide security are also a part of SPIKE Field Craft. When dealing with two legged or four legged critters it is nice to have some that are on our side and ready to help. A properly trained dog can be a great asset in our lives but especially in a survival situation. They are great companions and can lift our spirits, protect us and help us find our way or find others that may be lost.
Pioneering and mountaineering are fun skills to learn and practice. Starting with rope work you will learn how to make rope from natural or manmade materials. Knowing how to make knots and the purpose of each is a great set of skills to know. Camping and boating or just securing your Christmas tree to the roof of your grocery getter, these skills will come in handy. Making 550 cord bracelets, belts or leashes is a great way to practice with rope. A home made rifle sling or tab for your folding pocketknife will make you the envy of your SPIKE Team friends.
Ropes are also used for rescues and assaults as well as recreation. Starting with the basics of making a Swiss Seat from rope may seem silly when so many companies make hi-tech rappelling harnesses from modern materials, but SPIKE is all about learning the old skills along with the new. If you don’t have a modern climbing harness available you can now make your own. You will learn the Australian rappel, belaying, suspension traverse and so much more. With your new found SPIKE skills, rock climbing just got a lot more exciting.
Along with our online presence and information sharing SPIKE Team will be offer some Skill building hands on training sessions in the near future. Please sign up for our mailing list and receive up date on courses and when new articles are added to our site.
These skills save lives and knowing them will improve your life. Building a fire in a back yard pit or woodstove at home still takes skills and offer an opportunity to test your own knowledge without the stress of being in a life or death situation. All these skills can be used recreationally or under distress. Lets hope they are never required for the later.
Get prepared and Stand Ready with SPIKE Team!
