SURVIVAL SHELTER AND MORE
Little Bennett Regional Park, Clarksburg, MD
Saturday, March 8th
Survival shelter, with a side of navigation and fire-craft, & orienteering for dessert
No tent, no sleeping bag – no problem! This class will give you new confidence to explore your home planet, armed with the know-how to improvise your most important survival necessity directly from the landscape. Without shelter, for much of the year, you might not last a single night.
In addition to teaching the traditional debris hut structure, this course presents some invaluable innovations on that basic design, which make for a much better shelter: both easier to build and significantly warmer – including a simple way to make a door. We will also practice some basic navigation techniques and, briefly: 5-minute fire, in the interest of preparing our dinner after class.
After class, participants will have the option to do night-orienteering individually or as a team. I will not be instructing this - I will be out running it - but the Quantico Orienteering Club will be providing free instruction for beginners. Learn more here.
In addition to teaching the traditional debris hut structure, this course presents some invaluable innovations on that basic design, which make for a much better shelter: both easier to build and significantly warmer – including a simple way to make a door. We will also practice some basic navigation techniques and, briefly: 5-minute fire, in the interest of preparing our dinner after class.
After class, participants will have the option to do night-orienteering individually or as a team. I will not be instructing this - I will be out running it - but the Quantico Orienteering Club will be providing free instruction for beginners. Learn more here.
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11:00 – 12:00:
12:00 – 13:30: 13:30 – 16:30 16:30 17:00 17:15 17:15 – 18:00 18:00 – 19:00 19:00 – 22:00 |
Meet & eat lunch. (lunch not provided, bring your own, and snacks if needed)
Some basic navigation & map reading. Using a map to find likely shelter locations. Principles of shelter construction. Exploring & finding/evaluating good shelter locations with navigating/map reading. Examining/gathering shelter materials. Build shelter. Head back to parking area. Return to vehicles. Go to campground. 5-minute 1-match fire, build a fire. Campfire Dinner: hot beverages, cook your own hot dogs, smores... ($7 if not taking class) Night-Orienteering with QOC. (Not my event, I will be a participant) Orienteering was developed as a military training exercise, and is now even an Olympic sport, which consists of speed navigation from control to control. It's really fun! The Quantico Orienteering Club (QOC) is a well-established club, that puts on great events. They provide detailed maps and free beginner instruction; they loan out compasses free, and charge very reasonable prices. I will not be instructing the orienteering – the QOC offers that free of charge to beginners. I am planning to run a course solo. |
