GB2 Wilderness Training Program
The GB2 Wilderness Training Program is a program of courses designed to take a student with little to no experience in the wilderness and teach them the skills they can rely on in the forests and woodlands. The GB2 System of Training™ recognizes that the majority of people are accustomed to modern living and very heavily reliant on gear. This training system seeks to meet a student where they are and take them through a progression of skills that allow them to be less reliant on gear, and more self- and nature-reliant with less and less gear.
The Wilderness Training Program includes the Wilderness Skills Course, Bushcraft Skills Course, Winter Skills Course, Primitive Skills Course, Master Navigator Course, and the Wilderness Medicine Course. The program is self-paced, and includes 27 Training Days with considerable time to practice skills between courses.
Critical Skills Training for the Wilderness
The GB2 Wilderness Training Program starts with the foundational Wilderness Skills Course (101). This is a basic-level course that is fully equipped. Students will learn what to pack, what not to pack, and how to safely and effectively use every item. This is a prerequisite course for most other courses as it sets a solid foundation for each subsequent course to build upon.
Students will learn a variety of different skills and techniques:
- Start a Fire with Lighters, Matches, Ferro Rods, and Solar
- Tie useful Knots and Lashings, and build efficient Shelters
- Find Water in the wild and make it safe to drink
- Identify Useful, Edible, and Medicinal Plants
- Primitive Trapping Principles and Techniques
- Campfire Cooking
- Wilderness First Aid
- Map Reading and Land Navigation
- Emergency Signaling
- Knife and Folding Saw Selection, Safety, Use, and Maintenance
The second course within the GB2 Wilderness Training Program is typically the Bushcraft Skills Course (201). This is an intermediate-level course that is still fully equipped, but begins training students to use natural resources to craft useful items from natural resources, a vital progression towards replacing gear and becoming more self- and nature-reliant. In addition, students will reinforce skills learned during the Wilderness Skills Course, and add additional skills during this course.
Students will learn additional skills and techniques:
- Start a Fire with Solar and Traditional Flint and Steel
- Introduction to Bow Drill Friction Fire
- Additional Knots and Lashings
- Building Hybrid Shelters with Natural and Man-made Resources
- Additional Useful, Edible, and Medicinal Plants
- Improved Primitive Trapping Principles and Techniques
- Processing, Cooking, and Preserving Fish and Game
- Making Useful Tools out of Natural Resources
- Green Wood Carving
- Self-Mapping Techniques
- Axe and Bucksaw Selection, Safety, Use, and Maintenance
The Winter Skills Course (201) may also be the second course within the GB2 Wilderness Training Program, depending on the students schedule and the seasonal availability of this course. The Winter Skills Course can be taken at any time after a student completes the foundational Wilderness Skills Course. This is an intermediate-level course that is fully equipped and supplemented with gear that is critical for cold weather training. This course offers exposure to, and training in, extreme cold weather conditions. In addition, students will reinforce skills learned during previous courses, and add additional winter-specific skills during this course.
Students will reinforce skills and techniques:
- Start a Fire in Extreme Cold Weather Conditions
- Build Warm, Efficient Winter Shelters
- Finding Water in the Winter
- Identify Useful, Edible, and Medicinal Winter Plants
- Winter Trapping Principles and Techniques
- Processing, Cooking, and Preserving Food Resources
- Cold Weather First Aid
- Map Reading and Land Navigation with Snowshoes
- Emergency Signaling
- Axe and Bucksaw Selection, Safety, Use, and Maintenance
The Primitive Skills Course (301) is an advanced-level course and one of the most challenging within the GB2 Wilderness Training Program. This course strips students of all gear except the clothes on their backs. It is a “Knife-Only” course, but students have to earn the knife. It strips away all reliance on gear and teaches the student to provide for their needs with only natural resources. In addition, students will reinforce skills learned during previous courses.
Students will learn additional skills and techniques:
- Making Useful Stone Tools
- Improved Natural Cordage
- Bow Drill with Natural Cordage
- Hand Drill Friction Fire
- Bamboo Fire Saw Friction Fire
- Primitive Shelters
- Natural Water Containers
- Rabbitsticks
- Primitive Hunting Implements (Atlatl)
- Processing Game with Stone Tools
- Cooking and Food Preservation Techniques
- Primitive Navigation with no Map or Compass
One of the most critical skills in the wilderness is the ability to navigate. The Master Navigator Course (101) is a combined basic, intermediate, and advanced-level course that strips away everything else and focuses entirely on Map Reading and Land Navigation. It can be taken at any time it’s available during the program. This course starts at the beginning with learning to effectively use a map and compass. Then it takes away the map and teaches students how to make their own useful maps. After that, both maps and compasses are removed and students learn to navigate with the sun, moon, and stars. In addition, students will reinforce skills learned during previous courses.
Students will learn:
- Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Map Reading
- Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Land Navigation
- Route Planning and Execution
- Locating Unknown Points
- Navigational Aids
- Self-Mapping
- Crafting Compasses from the Landscape
- Solar Direction Finding
- Shadow Techniques
- Lunar and Celestial Direction Finding
- Completion of Multiple Land Navigation Routes
- Night Navigation
The Wilderness Medicine Course (101) is designed to give you the ability to handle the most common wilderness injuries that you may encounter in the backcountry. It is framed in the context of a remote situation in which the Emergency Management System (EMS) would not be readily available and could be hours or even days away, forcing you to rely on yourself and your own training and skill level until help arrives, or you can make it out to safety and higher medical care. This course can be taken at any time during the program. You will learn to treat common wilderness injuries using dedicated medical equipment, as well as improvising with common backpacking and camping items from your kit that you may have available.
Students will learn additional skills and techniques:
- CPR/AED
- Assessing Injuries
- Controlling Bleeding
- Tourniquet Selection and Use
- Bandaging and Dressing
- Wound Care
- Fractures, Sprains, and Strains
- Splinting Techniques
- Burn Care
- Blister Prevention and Care
- Bites and Stings
- Environmental Injuries
