Emergency survival situations can occur anyplace, anytime.
From a day hike into the forest to a riot in the city, there may be a time where you or your family must make it through the night under extreme conditions.
In situations like this there is nothing that builds positive mental attitude, gives comfort and makes the situation more tolerable than a warm fire.
However, creating a fire can sometimes be a challenge.
Lighters, matches and primitive skills can all fail you in numerous ways. You might not have an ignition source on you and thus have to fall back on sticks and stones which, by the way, require a lot of things to be just right and a lot of practice.
The Sparkie Fire Starter is a solution to all of these problems and just might mean the difference between life and death.
The Sparkie is a true survival/emergency tool. It’s lightweight, works when you need it and has a lanyard hole so you can attach a dummy cord!
Because of its design, the Sparkie is a true one-handed fire starting device, which comes in handy when you’re injured or trying to protect your tinder from the elements.
Unlike its big brother, the “Blastmatch,” the Sparkie flint doesn’t rotate with each strike, so it has a tendency to wear out faster. However, its other attributes far outweigh this negative. Just the sheer fact that it weighs almost nothing makes this one-handed device a thing of beauty.
Because of the Sparkie’s ease of use, reliability and ease of carry, it has obtained a place in Reggie’s Recommendations.
Reggie’s Recommendations are reviews of survival and rescue products personally tested by Mountain Shepherd’s own Reggie Bennett.
Reggie is not paid or compensated in any way for reviewing these products.
That means you get a real, honest, unbiased opinion on a product that might save your life one day.
One of the worst-case scenarios for a stranded individual is for the situation to turn dark rapidly. Whether you’re a stranded motorist, a lost hiker or a downed pilot, night makes fulfilling life-sustaining tasks difficult.
This problem has been solved by the Streamlight Company and its Sidewinder flashlight.
The Sidewinder is a fully articulating, waterproof flashlight sporting multiple light colors and a belt clip. One of the Sidewinder’s best features is the articulating lens, which means you can use the light at any angle up to 185 degrees. Combined with the metal belt clip, it is a true hands-free device.
In addition, the multiple light colors (including infrared in the military version) give hunters and aviators something to work with without damaging their night vision. The Sidewinder also has strobe capabilities, which give the survivor a great emergency signal in a rescue situation.
However, one of the best features of the Sidewinder is its power source — AA batteries. Unlike other high-speed lights which use expensive (and sometimes hard to come by) lithium batteries, the people at Streamlight choose something convenient. Very smart!
Because of its practical features, ease of operation and overall usefulness, the Streamlight Sidewinder is one of Reggie’s Recommendations.
Reggie’s Recommendations are reviews of survival and rescue products personally tested by Mountain Shepherd’s own Reggie Bennett.
Reggie is not paid or compensated in any way for reviewing these products.
That means you get a real, honest, unbiased opinion on a product that might save your life one day.
Scott Smith is a retired U.S. Air Force professional with over 20 years’ operational military experience and a proven track record in the areas of training and personnel development, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) instruction, worldwide Combat, Search and Rescue (CSAR) operations and personnel recovery.
As Mountain Shepherd prepares to open a West Coast location in the rugged and scenic Tillamook State Forest in Oregon, just 45 minutes west of Portland, Scott took some time to answer a few questions.
Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born in New York and moved to Virginia when I was an infant. Raised in good ol’ Danville, Virginia (my mother is still there, my brother is in Northern Va.).
Were you outdoorsy as a kid?
Spent the majority of my time running around farms and woods of Pittsylvania County. Grew up pulling tobacco.
What made you want to join the Air Force?
I joined the Air Force with my best friend and wanted to explore what the world had to offer.
Why did you become a survival instructor?
I became I survival instructor to challenge myself and because I like people and talking.
It’s my forte (I do a lot of it) and because I truly believed it could save a life.
I spent the remainder of my career flying in Combat Search and Rescue which dovetailed nicely with SERE as they are both considered part of the Guardian Angel Package.
Why do you want to lead the Mountain Shepherd West Coast project?
I’ve spent 23 years dedicated to serving my country and ensuring that people were prepared to survive. I believe in the survival motto of “return with honor” as well as the rescue motto of “that others may live.”
Almost weekly I read a story or watch a news program that talks about someone being lost or stranded. Some return, some don’t.
By offering a real survival course, teaching real skills, I can continue to practice those same survival and rescue beliefs.
The collaboration with Mountain Shepherd was the most logical, since its name and reputation are unparalleled.
I merely hope to help show what real reparedness is and believe in this ever-changing world we live in that it’s imperative to give people what they truly need. That is what Mountain Shepherd is all about.
Natalie Faunce and Mike Wilson with “Daytime Blue Ridge” recently got a taste of the outdoor life with Reggie Bennett of Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School.
In a segment aired on Roanoke, Va. NBC affiliate WSLS, “Natalie and Mike Survive the Wild,” the pair learned two of the seven priorities of survival — shelter craft and fire craft.
Reggie also helped dispel Natalie’s and Mike’s fears and taught them that a positive mental attitude is the most important tool in anyone’s survival toolkit.
“If all it takes is optimism, I’m in great shape,” Mike said.
“That’s all you need. A great will to survive,” Reggie replied.
Stephanie Klein-Davis at The Roanoke Times spent some time with Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School and instructor Reggie Bennett for an excellent feature story and video.
Here’s an excerpt:
Combining his love for teaching and the outdoors, Bennett said the Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School provided him the ideal career path following his Air Force experience. Students include Department of Defense workers, boy scouts, lawyers, doctors, and construction workers. … Bennett’s style is interactive. He combined his expertise with real-life scenarios and asked questions of the group so they could engage in conversation about survival.
You can find the story and video here. Check them out and share with your friends!
We at Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School are very excited to announce the debut of a Yahoo! News Weekend Edition segment featuring instructor Reggie Bennett teaching Weekend Edition host Jim Brasher the ins and outs of wilderness survival.
Jim joined us Oct. 28 – 31 for Hidden Pursuit, our three-night course that teaches evasion, shelter-building, firecraft and other key survival skills. For that chilly weekend, Jim and his crew of three filmed Reggie teaching the students how to build different kinds of shelters, how to camoflauge themselves and more.
Our goal was to put Jim, who’s an avid outdoorsman anyway, through the course with as little disruption to the other students as possible. We contacted all of the students beforehand to make sure they were OK with a camera crew being there. Not only were they OK with it, some were even interviewed for the segment!
This wasn’t the first time Mountain Shepherd’s been filmed, but the Yahoo! crew was really great to work with. Jim was really into the course and learning evasion techniques and was even “captured,” just for fun.
The Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming is huge. It’s bigger than 400,000 acres, full of trees, mountains and bears.
Hikers and campers come there every year — but it doesn’t allow vehicles, roads or any buildings.
With that in mind, here are a handful of actual comments that U.S. Forest Service officials have received from Bridger-Teton’s visitors:
“Trail needs to be reconstructed. Please avoid building trails that go uphill.”
“A small deer came into my camp and stole my jar of pickles. Is there a way I can get reimbursed?”
“The places where trails do not exist are not well marked.”
And, finally…
“Too many rocks in the mountains.”
What do all these comments have in common? Somebody was not prepared.
Preparation is essential, not just in the wilderness but in the world of business.
At first glance, these two worlds might not seem alike.
But they are, and so are the ways people approach them. We see it all the time.
What happens when you aren’t prepared in the wilderness? Well, usually one of two things.
Either you completely freeze – we call this “give-up-itis” – or you do the exact opposite, you scream and run around panicking.
Neither of these, obviously, are ideal.
So why do people react this way? It’s pretty simple, actually.
They don’t have the proper positive mental attitude. They don’t have confidence.
To be frank, they’re worried they’ll screw up.
This is true out in the wilderness and it’s true in business, although hopefully with less screaming.
Everyone knows someone who has this lack of confidence. Someone who freezes when they need to make a decision, or runs around sweating bullets.
So how do you fix this? How do you teach people to live outside their comfort zone, to look past the low-hanging fruit?
First, teach them how to survive in the wild.
At the same time, you’ll teach them how to survive in business.
If you can build a fire, if you can build a shelter, if you can administer first aid when there’s no professional help for miles around — there’s not much you can’t do after that.
And that’s where Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School comes in.
We can teach your employees these things. Along the way we’ll teach them how to overcome their self-limiting beliefs and how to be better leaders.
Personal development, managing large challenges, overcoming what holds you back, keeping business going in a challenging economy — all of these skills have direct parallels to wilderness survival skills.
At Mountain Shepherd, we’ll teach your staff to get rid of give-up-itis.
This kind of training is more important today than ever, by the way.
Who knows what the economy will do in the next few months or few years?
You need to have people working beside you who can thrive under pressure and uncertainty.
They have to love the challenge and they have to have confidence.
We can help them get there, prepared for anything the wilderness of the business world will throw their way.
Earlier this month, a hiker in Utah suffered a head wound while climbing a canyon wall.
Another suffered multiple injuries after falling down a mountain in Oklahoma.
The threat of getting hurt should not scare you away from enjoying the outdoors and all the wonderful experiences the wilderness has to offer — protect yourself now with the knowledge and confidence to handle any situation that might arise.
Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School’s Wilderness First Aid 101 course will teach you the necessary skills to treat a variety of common injuries and ailments, including:
• cuts;
• sprained, fractured and broken bones;
• insect bites and bee stings resulting in anaphylaxis shock;
• snake bites;
• hypothermia;
• heat exhaustion, heat stroke and dehydration.
If you are going to hike, camp, fish or enjoy any wilderness activity, it is absolutely essential that you know first aid. For outdoor enthusiasts, it is not a matter of “if” such a need will arise but “when.”
Knowing how to treat you, your family and your friends when you are miles from help could mean the difference between life and death.
You don’t need prior medical training to take Mountain Shepherd’s two-day, one-night course. Howver, for certified National Registry Paramedics/EMTs and Commonwealth of Virginia Certified Paramedics/EMTs, Mountain Shepherd’s course offers 16 hours of CAT II continuing education.
Sandi Bird, of The Examiner, concludes her four-part series on Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School:
After attending the four-day training at Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School and receiving the priceless instruction from Reggie, I am passionate when I say that I believe every person I know would benefit from attending one of MS’s training classes.
Travel writer Sandi Bird has been learning the skills necessary to survive in the wilderness at Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School.
Her four-part series chronicles her adventures.
“If you are entering the wilderness on a ‘Go Lite’ philosophy, you’re being selfish.” The instructor’s statement took me off guard. But his next statement hit too close to home with me. “What if you run into someone hurt, lost, or something?”
![[Scott Smith]](http://www.mountainshepherd.com/images/pic_smith.jpg)
Scott Smith is a retired U.S. Air Force professional with over 20 years’ operational military experience and a proven track record in the areas of training and personnel development, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) instruction, worldwide Combat, Search and Rescue (CSAR) operations and personnel recovery.
