For those that don’t know or need reminding...this is a challenging four days and nights in the woods, just you, the clothes you stand up in, a belt knife, a folding saw, one billycan, three metres of strong cord, a cloth bag for filtering water and a modest portion of venison. Everything else you need for the entire duration must be found, foraged or made from the surrounding countryside. It’s important to realise that this is a test of your skill and knowledge BUT it’s not your end of school exam. It’s something to work towards but it shouldn’t be viewed as your ultimate final test! As everyone who has attended the Hunter Gatherer Challenge in the past will testify, it’s a stepping stone, a training goal, a measure of how far you’ve come and how far you’d like to go. It’s designed to show you what you’ve learnt and bring it all together in the most natural way possible as well as highlight any areas that need work or attention. Several people have even come back to do it again after working on those weaker areas! The challenge is particularly good for those who intend to pass on their knowledge as it provides a refreshing personal perspective of wilderness living, relying on wild plants for food, wild resources for your comfort, in fact total self reliance. After all, if you’re aiming to instruct wilderness living skills, you should be speaking from personal experience! Some people just treat the Hunter Gatherer Challenge as a personal ‘re-set’ button, bringing their focus back onto the most essential elements of life and reminding themselves how truly capable and self sufficient they are after all the nonsense and excess gumf of modern life has been stripped away. However, the challenge format, the training and work building up to it (or even just challenging yourself generally) can also be quite daunting. While it’s that very aspect that appeals to some, to others the fear of ‘failure’ can be overwhelming which is why the “I completed the Hunter Gatherer Challenge” club is currently such a small and exclusive one! I’d love to see more people taking part! So, if you’re out there somewhere, using the challenge format as a bushcraft training system but delaying actually booking a place because you feel you could improve at this or get better at that....unfortunately the reality is that you’ll ALWAYS feel there’s more to learn. At least, taking part in a worthy challenge like the Hunter Gatherer will show you exactly where those improvements can be made and you never know...you might actually be pleasantly surprised at how well you do! You have nothing to lose (apart from around half a stone ) and everything to gain so give it a go!! Dates: 29th September – 4th October Cost £325 Contact me if you’d like to take part or would like more information. You can view a gallery of last years challenge here. |