In college, I became interested in primitive living skills and living off the land. A number of back-to-basics authors were gaining popularity, including Tom Brown, Jr., with his books about his childhood adventures and training by the Apache Indian grandfather of his friend Rick (some of which is questioned today, but his books had lots of skills). Also, books by Larry Dean Olsen (the Mormons have a very strong survival/self-sufficiency ethic). Also discovered Edward Abbey (Desert Solitaire was written in 1968).
Inspired by these books, some friends and I would practice the skills and then go out on breaks into the North Carolina mountains, mainly Pisgah National Forest, split up, and then camp solo for 3-4 days, while trying to bring and use the least amount of equipment.
In 1994, I worked for a program called Earth Knack Primitive Living Skills, run by Bart and Robin Blankenship, some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. The school is still in business and is now located in Crestone, Colorado. That summer, I attended a month long Instructor Training course with them, and lived on their farm, in the barn. We hunted and fished, wore buckskin clothes, ate veggies from the farm, and I worked for them for that year, also teaching skills at the Rabbitstick Rendezvous, a week long seminar in Idaho hosted by the Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS).
In my time with Bart and Robin at Earth Knack, I learned a lot of primitive living and survival skills, including: deer/elk skinning, tanning and smoking hides; making clothes and boots from buckskin; building bows and arrows; building a wide variety of shelters; making fishing gear and traps; flintknapping knives, arrow heads, and other tools; sheep kills; fire making with hand and bow drills; pottery making and willow weaving; making and using atlatls and rabbitsticks; foraging for edible and useful plants; animal tracking; and making natural fiber cordage.
I also had the opportunity to work with some fascinating people: Atlatl Bob (https://www.outsideonline.com/1888881/what-about-atlatl-bob), Felt Man Jack Fee, Jim Halfpenny, Cattail Bob, and Cody Luskin, among others.
