SURVIVAL TRAINING
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Age Limits and Fitness Levels

How old and how fit do I have to be to come on a course?

All course participants must be over the age of 16, of reasonable health and basic fitness.  With the exception of the Instructors Survival course and the Mountain Rescue Survival course, survival training does not require any particular level of fitness.  That said, being fit and healthy will undoubtedly add to your enjoyment of any of our courses. 

As a rough guide, if you are able to walk/jog 5 km over trails or rough terrain in an hour, you will not be overly stretched physically.  Drop us an email if you have any questions on your fitness or need some advice on how to get fitter for one of our courses.  Please contact us directly if you have any special requirements that might need to be catered for. 

If you happen to be over 65, we may require a medical from your doctor before accepting your application!

Location of Courses

Where do your courses take place?

All of our courses listed take place close to Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape but with enough notice, we can conduct a course in whichever part of the country suits your needs.

I live in Johannesburg.  Can you come to Gauteng to run a course if I can get 20 colleagues together?

Absolutely.  We will need some lead time to establish a suitable training area and overall course costs will be higher to account for logistics and travel but yes, we can definitely come to you!

Schools

My school is sending an expedition to the trek through the rainforests of Madagascar.  Can you give us an idea of what equipment we should take and can you give us some training?

Yes, we can.  Anthony himself has led three separate school expeditions to various rainforests around the world and is able to put together Survival Training tailored to your destination.  He can also deploy on the expedition if required.  He can also travel to a school to conduct expedition Survival Equipment preparation and classroom based Survival presentations.

Course Safety

What if someone gets injured?

Most courses take place close to Plettenberg Bay and as such excellent medical facilities are close by.  All instructors are also qualified first aiders.  In the unlikely event of serious injury, the nearest helicopter medevac facility is in Oudtshoorn, about 30 minute’s flight time away.  Instructors Survival courses and Mountain Rescue Survival courses are geographically wider ranging and as such we deploy with trained medical staff.

Course Equipment and Kit lists

What kit do I need to bring and how do I know what’s worth buying and what’s a waste of money?

As one might imagine, you won’t need to bring much in the way of equipment for any of our survival courses. 

Prior to each course, you will be emailed a list of equipment that you need to bring.  Some of the items you will be able to buy from our shop and might prefer to buy equipment that we have tried and tested rather than from your local outdoor shop.  For example, we make our own ‘Tarps’ which are extremely lightweight and strong.  We also sell a high quality flint and steel fire starter that are not easily obtainable in local shops.  Erez is designing and working on a survival knife that he aims to be able to sell to students mid 2012. 

Your most important piece of equipment, your Personal Survival Pack (PSP), we will help you put together before and during your time with us.  By the end of your training course, you will have your own tried and tested PSP that you absolutely know is going to work in a real survival situation.

Food and Drink

How much food do I need to bring along?

Most people try to turn up for Survival Training with stashes of food and drink hidden away in their packs.  Rest assured, you will not starve during your short stay with us.  Sure, you might get a little hungry from time to time, but that will only serve to heighten your appetite for the survival food that will definitely come your way at some point.  Also guaranteed is that we will find your food stash before the course starts and, if you’re lucky, we’ll give it back to you at the end. 

Timeout

What if I need to call timeout?

If you’ve had enough and it just isn’t for you, you can call timeout at any point.  This very rarely happens but often we’ll find a solution, even if it means you helping Nathan out on the admin support side of things so that you still feel part of the show. 

Very rarely will a person find it all too much and have to go home.  In the unlikely event that this does occur, we’ll arrange a partial refund depending on the circumstances.

Weather

What if the weather gets too bad?

It’s rare for weather to get too extreme in South Africa and it hasn’t yet happened on one of our courses.  In fact generally we like the weather to be challenging.  On a Winter Mountain Survival course last year we had Berg Winds which made life all too easy.  

If you can get through a course when the weather is tough then you’ll feel better prepared for the real thing.  That said, if weather deteriorates to the point where people are no longer learning then we’ll call ‘Timeout’.

Course cancellation

What if the course gets cancelled?

If the course needs to be cancelled for administrative reasons, students will receive a full refund.  If a course is cancelled for safety or weather related reasons, refunds will be negotiated based on actual training completed.

Satisfaction

Will I enjoy myself?

Absolutely!  Everyone gets something out of training like this.  It’s a lot of fun learning new skills, getting a little dirty and eating stuff you wouldn’t normally look at. 

You’ll have done something that most people never get a chance to do; the closest others will ever come is watching Bear Grills on Discovery. 

Got any more questions? Click here to send us an email.