March 7th, 2013 at 1:47 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, texas outdoor education, the combat medic, outdoor survival, field medicine, tracking, bushcraft, scouting, disaster preparedness, readiness, survival scenario, survival gear, weapons, herbal medic)
In today’s podcast, Sam Coffman talks with his former Green Beret buddy, Mykel Hawke.
This is an introductory podcast, and one that we hope to continue on a more regular basis, so in this podcast, we learn more about Mykel, to include:
- What is the history behind the Green Beret Survival Manual that Mykel wrote?
- Is it still in print? Why is it a good book to buy if you want an overall picture of survival?
- What projects does Mykel have going on?
- What products (knives, hats, etc.) does Mykel have out right now?
- What is the latest on his upcoming survival show with Travel Channel?
- Why is land navigation so important and how does it play into the new show with Mykel and his wife?
- What land navigation classes do we have coming up at The Human Path, and why should you be interested in learning and practicing this skill?
Join Mykel and Sam in the future as they discuss more survival topics and skills.
Upcoming Land Navigation course on March 16th
Spring Scout Training Course
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February 26th, 2013 at 2:01 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, texas outdoor education, herbology, Outdoor Fitness and Self Defense, outdoor survival, green homesteading, self sufficiency farming, trauma medicine, field medicine, tracking, scouting, disaster preparedness, readiness, health and nutrition, economic collapse, self sustainability, eco building, prepping, intentional community, community, societal collapse, herbal medic, texas herbal medicine)
In today’s podcast, Sam Coffman is interviewed by Ed Corcoran from Survival and Beyond. Sam and Ed discuss general survival topics such as:
- The concept of “civilization” and how we have lost touch with who we are as humans
- The idea behind The Human Path as a school
- The importance of the topic of community as part of any realistic survival training
- Herbal medicine and its place in a post-disaster or remote setting
- Modern medicine as compared to herbal or natural medicine
- Wilderness vs. Urban survival and cummunity sustainability
- Speculation on what might be most likely looming in our future as a species
- What role does our culture play in forming our perception of reality?
Find out what's going on at The Human Path!Our class calendar
Facebook page
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December 27th, 2012 at 9:21 am (survival skills, urban survival, primitive living, fire-building, the human path, permaculture, texas outdoor education, herbology, the combat medic, martial arts, Outdoor Fitness and Self Defense, primitive hunting, wild food sources, outdoor survival, green homesteading, aquaponics, self sufficiency farming, long-term food storage, trauma medicine, field medicine, tracking, bushcraft, primitive bowmaking, nature spiritulity, scouting, disaster preparedness, readiness, parkour, health and nutrition, economic collapse, power shortage, survival scenario, weapons, self sustainability, pet survival, eco building, homestead livestock, prepping, homesteading, intentional community, community, societal collapse, gardening, herbal medic)
In today's podcast, Sam Coffman discusses the entire structure of classes and programs at The Human Path.
He addresses many of the questions that people have about how the program is structured at The Human Path, to include:
- What are the differences between core classes and peripheral or elective classes?
- What are the 4 paths or specialties that a person can follow within the core curriculum?
- What specific things do students learn in each of the specialties?
- What makes The Human Path so different from other survival schools?
- How does learning these skills make a difference in day-to-day life?
- What is the difference between Urban and Primitive tracks of instruction?
- What are the "Four A's" of survival that are a part of the core curriculum?
- How does a student move up from level 1 to level 2 in a specialty?
- How are concepts like teamwork, leadership and community taught as part of the classes?
The next Urban Core Basic class is January 25 - 27th, 2013.
Check out the Winter 2013 schedule for the next 2-3 months!
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January 11th, 2012 at 4:11 pm (survival skills, urban survival, the human path, texas outdoor education, outdoor survival, tracking, scouting, readiness, survival gear)
In this first podcast episode on optics, Sam Coffman talks about binoculars. He answers questions such as:
- How do binoculars compare to spotting scopes?
- How do you answer the question, “What’s the best pair of binoculars for me?”
- What is magnification vs. objective size?
- What kind of magnification do I want?
- Does magnification effect other things besides what I can see?
- What is FOV? How important is that?
- What effects twilight performance, and how important is it?
- What else should I be thinking about if I’m buying binoculars?
This is one of the topics covered during The Human Path Urban Core Basic class. Sign up here for the next UCB class!
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October 6th, 2011 at 11:41 am (survival skills, urban survival, primitive living, the human path, texas outdoor education, Outdoor Fitness and Self Defense, outdoor survival, tracking, scouting, disaster preparedness, readiness, survival scenario)
You do a thorough check for high-speed avenues of approach as well as your own E & E possibilities from this location if necessary, and decide to bed down in the first spot you found with some great natural cover and concealment, as well as being a decent natural shelter that wouldn't take much work to become a refuge from even a serious rainstorm. However, the weather looks like it will be dry and clear during the day anyway, so rain is probably not an issue.
You dig a scout fire-pit and make a hobo stove out of a large can you found. You gather enough small pieces of dry wood (mostly the ashe juniper) to boil several pots of water, and go about restocking your water supply as well as hydrating fully.
You still have about 3/4 of the food you started with, but you're hungry and don't want to eat the food you're carrying if you don't have to. You don't really have time to look around too much for animal food, but there are a number of things that are presenting themselves to you as possible easy food. Describe how you would capture/harvest & prepare for eating, the following possibilities that you see here:
1)
2) 
3)
This is the final part of this disaster scenario. Post your comments here and we will reply at the end of the day with feedback.
To see the first part of this disaster scenario, check out Episode 057.
Part two of the scenario, click here for Episode 058.
Part three of the scenario, click here for Episode 059.
Part four of the scenario, click here for Episode 060.
We'll be returning to our regular podcast routine on Monday October 10th with a very cool interview on modern-day homesteading!
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October 3rd, 2011 at 11:53 am (survival skills, urban survival, primitive living, the human path, texas outdoor education, Outdoor Fitness and Self Defense, primitive hunting, wild food sources, outdoor survival, tracking, scouting, disaster preparedness, readiness, survival scenario)
**just joining us? This is part of an ongoing survival-scenario challenge that we posted last summer via Facebook. We are re-posting it now for the new people who've joined us since then. We will have these from time to time with different scenarios that people can offer feedback on to test where their knowledge/skills are at. Just post below on the podcast site, and we'll reply at the end of each day.
Part 3:
You walk all night in a southwesterly direction, and walking along back roads that you are not completely familiar with. At one point during the night you hear what sounds like a protracted gun battle, maybe 1/2 mile or more to the west of you in what you think is a small town, but otherwise you encounter no problems. You have passed many ranches and farmhouses, but are concerned that you might get shot at if you walk up to, or enter someone's home. You decide that if you could find natural water, the best thing might be to hole up for the day, get some much-needed rest, maybe in a spot where you can observe a farmhouse or two and see if there are people who would be helpful to your situation.
Your water supply is running low, and of course you'd like to find some place to hide out during the day that's near some natural water, but you haven't seen any yet, even though the area you're traveling through seems to be mostly woodlands and farmlands.
It is an hour or so before dawn, and you happen to hear a bird call to the southeast that sounds like this.
(If the above link to the bird call doesn't work, you can also reach it directly - http://www.thehumanpath.com/media/sound/Scenario_Part3.wav)
Question 7:
What bird is this?
Question 8:
Would hearing this bird at this time of day bear any significance to your needs?
Question 9:
Are there any general habits of many bird species at a given time of day that would indicate location of water? What are those habits?
The next part of this disaster scenario will be posted next week. Post your comments here and we will reply at the end of the day with feedback.
To see the first part of this disaster scenario, check out Episode 057.
Part two of the scenario, click here for Episode 058.
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September 28th, 2011 at 5:28 pm (the human path, texas outdoor education, martial arts, Outdoor Fitness and Self Defense, tracking, nature spiritulity, scouting)
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"Awareness" is a term that is used in many different contexts. For instance, "Situational Awareness" is a term used to often describe an awareness that is specific to self-defense. In another context, "Sensory Awareness" refers to an awareness of your outer environment through your 5 (or more) senses.
In this episode, Sam Coffman talks about the importance of awareness in general and demonstrates an exercise to help you become more aware. |
Adaptability and awareness are two of the most important survival concepts you can integrate into your daily life. Adaptability requires skills and knowledge (and practice), whereas awareness really just requires practice, and is something you can do on your own, right now. Plus it doesn't even cost anything! 
One exercise that will help you integrate more awareness into your own life involves a breathing exercise that is based on the concept of "Chi Kung." This breathing & awareness exercise that Sam talks you through will help you:
- Enter a heightened state of relaxed awareness
- Learn to work with your own breathing in order to gain greater sensory awareness of your external world
- Use breathing and relaxation to become more self-aware
This is one of the awareness exercises we work with at the Primitive Core Basic, and is very easy to learn and begin integrating into your own daily routine if you would like to improve your personal awareness levels.
Awareness is a skill or practice that is very important to the Scout specialty. To check out the scout fitness and awareness classes, show up at this first Scout Fitness class of the fall: http://www.meetup.com/san-antonio-wilderness-living-and-survival/events/35366222/
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August 24th, 2011 at 11:57 am (survival skills, primitive living, the human path, texas outdoor education, primitive hunting, wild food sources, outdoor survival, tracking, bushcraft, primitive bowmaking)
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Joshua Hamlin teaches and practices primitive skills and wilderness survival consistently. Aside from teaching for various US schools, he also is an instructor at the annual Bios d'Arc Primitive Skills and Knap In every fall in Missouri - http://www.boisdarc.info/.Joshua's YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/WildPrimitiveSkills - is filled with educational videos on various primitive skills that you might not find in other places on YouTube. |
| In this episode, Sam Coffman and Joshua Hamlin discuss Joshua's experiences when he put himself to the test and lived off the land for 2 years using only primitive tools. They talk about the mistakes he made and what he learned from them. They discuss the importance of making mistakes in a "safer" environment because of what can be learned by those valuable experiences. |
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August 15th, 2011 at 12:31 pm (survival skills, primitive living, the human path, texas outdoor education, primitive hunting, outdoor survival, tracking, bushcraft)
| This is the final episode of three podcasts in which Sam Coffman discusses primitive living skills and bushcraft with Dave Scott.
Dave Scott is the co-founder and a lead instructor at Earth Native Wilderness School - http://earthnativeschool.com/ |
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| Dave has been involved in Environmental Education since 2003 and, in addition to Earth Native Wilderness School, has instructed at several wilderness schools across the country including the Wilderness Awareness School (http://www.wildernessawareness.org/) and Alderleaf Wilderness College.
Bird Feathers: A Guide to North American Species and is currently working toward his Master’s Degree in Environmental Education. As an educator, Dave’s passion is to help his students reconnect with the natural world through wildlife tracking, increased sensory awareness, wilderness survival skills, and the development of a strong sense of place.
Today Sam and Dave discuss:
- the ongoing mysteries of tracking that give great fulfillment. Good trackers never run out of things to learn.
- Upcoming Earth Native programs:
- Youth Monthly Program, 1 Saturday per month for 5 - 11 year old kids
- Pathfinder Internship Program, 3 times a week over 9 months
- Cyber Tracking Program
- The benefits of working with multiple schools and teachers that help students to create a more balanced and well-rounded individual.
Episode 028: 'Bushcraft and Primitive Skills in a Fast Food Era'
Next up, The organic art of bow-making with instructor Jason Shrader! |
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August 12th, 2011 at 10:39 am (survival skills, primitive living, the human path, texas outdoor education, primitive hunting, outdoor survival, tracking, bushcraft)
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This is the second episode of three podcasts in which Sam Coffman discusses primitive living skills and bushcraft with Dave Scott.
Dave Scott is the co-founder and a lead instructor at Earth Native Wilderness School - http://earthnativeschool.com/
Dave has been involved in Environmental Education since 2003 and, in addition to Earth Native Wilderness School, has instructed at several wilderness schools across the country including the Wilderness Awareness School (http://www.wildernessawareness.org/) and Alderleaf Wilderness College. |
| Dave is currently one of only 15 individuals in North America qualified as a Track and Sign Specialist through the Cybertracker Conservation evaluation system, an international standard for gauging and enhancing in-field knowledge of wildlife behavior and track and sign identification.
Dave is also the co-author of Bird Feathers: A Guide to North American Species and is currently working toward his Master’s Degree in Environmental Education. As an educator, Dave’s passion is to help his students reconnect with the natural world through wildlife tracking, increased sensory awareness, wilderness survival skills, and the development of a strong sense of place.
Today Sam and Dave discuss:
- how viewing your surroundings as a native or indigenous person would will increase your awareness
- all primitive skills are inter-related
- passing nature-based skills on to future generations is giving back to the earth and keeping that knowledge alive
- self sustaining concepts that are viewed as 'radical' by today's society are well understood by those who lived just 2 generations ago as a common way of life
- nature-based skills have been lost to our and our parent's generations -- by bridging the gap between the past and future generations, we can fulfill our duty to pass that knowledge on
- even 'radical' holistic practices carry weight: pharmaceutical companies spend a small fortune employing plant botanists researching medicinal plants in the wild
Yesterday's Episode: 'Bushcraft and Primitive Skills in a Fast Food Era' |
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