Testimonials from previous students

Reggie, you are the man! What a great teacher and trainer. You are an inspiration to us. I was watching Out of the Wild, a little reality series about a group of people who were put into the Alaska outback and told to survive and make their way out with only three days of survival training. After your class, I could see right away many mistakes they were making. It just goes to show what a little training from the right person is worth! Thanks again for the great experience! - Zach C.

Thanks again for the awesome course! It achieved everything I had hoped for. I’ve had many different types of training from many different instructors in as many settings, but this was my first survival course. I have to say that the Humble Thunder course had the right material, a perfect setting, the right pace, and a great instructor! Even the persistent rain had its benefits. As I told you on the first day, I tend to pack everything - including the kitchen sink - when I go into the outdoors. Your course showed me what I really needed and what I didn’t. My survival kit is one quarter of what it was and yet I’m ten times more confident with it. I’m definitely recommending it to friends & co-workers!

Thank you again for an enjoyable, educational and rewarding weekend. I was really impressed with not only your knowledge and skills, but also your relaxed approach to teaching. You are obviously able to interact well with all types and ages. This is a gift and I am glad you are using it in the way that you are."

Just wanted you to know we had a knowledge-filled, fun-filled weekend with Mountain Shepherd. You are superb teachers, know your audience, and I love the way you model what you teach: being prepared, patient, encouraging, enthusiastic and a lot of other adjectives I won't use because with all the deserved press Mountain Shepherd is getting your heads might swell up and explode. Seriously, a great parent-youth weekend. Glad you share your gifts so generously, for they must have been very hard-earned."

Sometimes, Dad gets it right. With Jim constantly traveling across the country and constantly up in the wilderness, I really wanted him to have a survival course. Jim was a little hesitant to go on the survival trip - he wouldn't know anybody, he already knows alot of this stuff (he's 20, knows everything!), etc. However, he accepted its importance to me and went with some apprehension. Well, you made quite an impression on him! I went to bed last night with echoes of "Dad - just one more Mountain Shepherd story and then I'll stop until tomorrow" bouncing around my head! You have taught my son skills that may someday save his life (I just pray that he is never in this situation). While I'm sure you derive enjoyment out of teaching, I just wanted to thank you for helping me train him up with some of the most important life lessons he has learned! I will be forever grateful."

When I first signed up for Humble Thunder, I certainly didn't know what to expect. At the rendezvous point you subsided any apprehensions, you made everybody feel at ease and ready to go. You have incredible people and communication skills, which made learning fun and exciting. This course was exactly what I needed to boost my confidence in order to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. Tricks of the trade in shelter building, fire starting, and survival kits will forever stay with me and be practiced on a regular basis. I definitely will be able to go out backpacking or hunting with the confidence that I not only will be able to survive in times of trouble, but be able to help somebody else if the need arises. Thank you very much for passing on your years of experience in order to help others. I would recommend any course you offer."

I don't think that I can adequately express in my feeble words how the weekend experience has affected me. This was one of the peaks in my life's journey. One of my goals was to test my meddle as a man and to see if I have what it takes to survive. I won't know that, as you said, until I am in the situation where I need to employ these basic skills. I do know that, through your stewardship, I am now better prepared to help others and myself to make it. I have a lot more to learn and I look forward to doing just that. It has been my desire to become a better outdoorsman. Your Humble Thunder experience (to call it training does not really explain it) has given me the confidence to have the positive mental attitude and to STOP and go through the next 6 priorities. Thank you for what you do and for your patient teaching."

The more time I have had to contemplate the days of training, the more I realize how much valuable, life-saving information you imparted in such a short time! The teaching style you employ makes the process enjoyable and makes the material stick. The focus on practical application through hands-on exercises imparted very useful skills and reasoning that I will not soon forget. This is a course that should be included as part of our national education process. I am very appreciative of your pursuit of excellence in this field; it has certainly impacted my life. It was a pleasure to receive your instruction."

I wanted to thank you for a wonderful weekend and learning experience at Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School. As an instructor myself, I know the value of sorting through complex and conflicting knowledge and conveying it to students in a clear and straightforward manner. Reggie, you did this perfectly. You made wilderness and survival skills straightforward, simple, and easy." Adam D.