Survival 101 — 1-Day Beginner Survival Workshop

Survival 101 — A 1-Day Foundation Built Around the Skills That Actually Keep You Alive

Survival 101 is a one-day, Saturday workshop covering the foundational skills every person needs to handle an unplanned night outdoors. This isn't a gear demo or a lecture — it's a hands-on introduction to the same 8 Survival Priorities framework Joshua Enyart has taught military and civilian students for three decades, compressed into a single day for anyone who wants a real starting point before committing to a multi-day course.

What You'll Learn in One Day

The Survival Priorities

Every skill taught in this workshop maps back to the 8 Survival Priorities — the decision framework that tells you what matters first when something has gone wrong. Students leave with the mental model, not just a list of skills, so the training holds up under stress instead of falling apart the moment plans change.

The 8 Essential Kits™ — Packing for the Priorities

Knowing the priorities is only useful if your gear supports them. This section covers the 8 Essential Kits™ framework — how to pack deliberately for each priority instead of throwing gear in a bag and hoping it's enough.

How Body Heat Is Lost

Most cold-weather injuries come down to a failure to understand how the body actually loses heat — conduction, convection, radiation, evaporation, and respiration. Students learn to recognize which mechanism is working against them in the field so they can address the actual problem instead of guessing.

The 4-Layer Clothing System

Building directly on body-heat mechanics, students learn the base, insulating, shell, and outer layer system professionals use to regulate temperature in changing conditions — and why cotton and improvised layering get people into trouble.

Fire

Students work through ignition methods, tinder selection, and fire lay principles — the redundancy mindset that keeps a single lost lighter from becoming a survival problem.

Knots

A hands-on introduction to the GB2 Knot Progression™ — Joshua's system for learning functional knots as related structures instead of a memorized list.

Shelter

Site selection and construction basics using natural materials — the shelter principles that determine whether a shelter actually regulates temperature or just looks like it does.

Water Procurement

Locating, collecting, and treating water in the field — the practical half of water procurement that most people skip past until they need it.

Emergency Signaling

Ground-to-air signals, mirror signaling, and the behavioral discipline — staying put — that gets people found faster. Covered in depth in Wilderness Survival Signals.

Tool Safety, Selection, and Use

Proper grip, cutting mechanics, and safety protocols for the belt knife — the tool decisions and habits that prevent the most common backcountry injuries.

Instructor Credentials and Safety Infrastructure

Survival 101 was built by Joshua Enyart — a former Army Ranger and Green Beret with three decades of professional instructor experience. Instruction follows the same crawl-walk-run methodology taught across the full GB2 curriculum.

Safety infrastructure matches every GB2 field course: on-site Medic Station with appropriate medical equipment, dedicated medic and Search and Rescue staff on every event, and all instructors CPR/AED certified and Wilderness First Responder certified at minimum. The course is fully insured.

Who This Course Is For

No prior experience required. Survival 101 is built for anyone who wants a real, hands-on starting point — hikers, hunters, preppers, and families — before deciding whether to commit to a multi-day course.

How This Course Fits the GB2 Curriculum

Survival 101 is the entry point to the GB2 course lineup. Students who want to go deeper move into the Wilderness Survival Course (4-Day Foundation), and many pair this workshop with Joshua's book, Surviving the Wild, as a study reference.

Course Details

Survival 101 runs one full day (Saturday) in Columbia, TN. Two sessions are currently scheduled: April 17, 2027 and October 2, 2027. Survival gear will be provided for your use during this training. You may, however, bring your own gear if you want to get familiar with it.

View all scheduled dates and locations at the Live Training Events & Courses collection.