My Bio

Green Earth Survival Training

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Some background info:

I’ve been practicing what people now refer to as “survival skills’ since my childhood days in Kentucky. Hunting,trapping and fishing for wild game was simply a way of life and sometimes a major contributor to our daily meals. Things that we now take for granted - like running water, air conditioning and heat at the touch of a button simply was not available or we couldn’t afford it. For years we cooked on a wood stove and heated our humble abode with a fireplace, using wood, which we had to cut and haul ourselves or that fine KY resource -coal ( when we could afford it)

For water we carried it from a natural spring or later from a open well. For a hot bath we had to first heat the water on a wood stove and then pore it into a metal wash tub. Like most folks in those parts of KY we took things like that for granted and really never felt that we were poor or lacked for anything.

During my time in the military I was fortunate enough to attend several of the USAF’s highly acclaimed Survival Schools –SERE (Survival/Evasion/Resistance/Escape) plus Jungle, Water and Desert and as an added bonus, POW Survival Camp. (that's one I can't say I really enjoyed) The specialized training that I received from these courses not only came in very handy during my 5 Vietnam tours with Air Rescue and the 20th and the 21st Special Operations Squadrons (Awarded Silver Star, 3 each Distinguished Flying Crosses, 5 each Air Medals) but they also laid the foundation and background for my present passion – teaching and passing on survival skills to future generations. While working as a commercial diver (35 years) I also devoted some of my free time as an assistant Instructor at the Pine Barrens Survival School in New Jersey where I was able to fine tune and add to my survival training knowledge and teaching skills.

I’m always on the look-out for better teaching methods, new skills to learn and teach and ways to expand and enhance my knowledge. I practice primitive skills like flintknapping, friction fire, making cordage, primitive trapping, hunting with ancient weapons like blow guns, rabbit sticks, the Atlatl and my latest passion, or obsession as my wife labels it – making and playing the Native American wood flute. When I hunt now-a-days I use Black Powder guns, (that I build myself) or primitive weapons including the Native American Blowgun. Anything I harvest is used -the meat for food, the fur and hides for clothing. Feathers, bones, claws, hoofs, teeth - I try and make use of it all, the same as our ancestors did.

I’ve just recently received my certification as a Florida Naturalist and I plan to continue with that line of education, especially in the field of Ethnobotany as I especially enjoy learning and trying different edible plants.

I'm a member of a State recognized Native American Indian Tribe - The Ridgetop Shawnee of Eastern Kentucky. My ancestry is Cherokee, not Shawnee, but both tribes are being accepted. ( Now I can blame my Indian blood as my excuse to hang out in the woods )

First and foremost - I consider myself a student. There's no such thing as a true expert in anything. There's always new skills, new techniques and new materials for those willing to listen, look and learn.

Here's my current favorite bit of home spun philosophy:

The fire grows dim.

The ashes grow cold.

But - in the ashes; a ember may be found.

And - from the ember; a fire may be born.

And - by the fire; a story can be told.

And - from the story; a lesson can be learned.

Credit - Steve Watts/

Seeya in the woods.