Outback 3 Day Tour

• PRIMITIVE FIRE MAKING

Make fire from your surroundings. Teaching both the bow drill and bamboo fire saw method, become the master of fire with this lifelong skill set that could one day save your life.

There are essentially two different types of fire making which I teach which can be used in a range of habitat types. Identifying the correct wood types to use is a critical step in the fire making process. Collecting the appropriate tinder and developing the wood style kit are the next fundamental steps before the correct technique is mastered.

The Fire Drill kit is an ancient method of starting fire without matches or a lighter, a method that applies friction to generate heat. The heat eventually produces an ember in the burnt sawdust. Once the ember is formed it is carefully placed into a “tinder bundle”. Once the ember is in the tinder bundle it is then carefully nurtured and coaxed into flame.

The Bamboo Fire Saw is another method that incorporates a piece of wood being passed horizontally over a vertical wooden beam member, a small slither is made in the centre of the horizontal hand piece which incorporates a small hole which allows sawdust to build in a hollowed cavity, once again a ember is formed and carefully placed into a tinder bundle.

• WATER PURIFICATION

Prepare water safely for consumption. Teaching methods of purifying water include using natural filters and current innovative technology.

There are a number of potential dangerous agents which may be present in water including; E.Coli, Cyanobacteria (Blue-Green algae) & Fecal Coliforms which can be potentially harmful to the human body in even small concentrations, learning water purification is a survival must.

Utilizing water for consumption in a survival situation is the difference between life and death. There is however a number of steps which need to be taken before water can be safely consumed.

There are now new technologies which allow water to be treated easily using microbial incorporated filters such as the Katadyn and Lifestraw devices both of which will be used throughout the program.

However other alternatives may need to be used when such devices are not readably available, such as cans, bowls, shirts, socks, pants and a combination of natural elements such as sand and coal to help in water purification.

• SHELTER MAKING

Create traditional shelters using the natural resources around you, from the development of cordage to the use of waterproofing Paper bark.

Learn how to make a shelter from a number of natural resources, different shelters are designed around different landscapes and climatic considerations.

There are a number of natural forming shelters which can be found in the Australian Outback, from cave formations and escarpment outcrops to large debris piles accumulated from the effects of flooding.

There are however a number of shelters which can be built in a relative short amount of time, these may include grass, palm, bamboo and paperbark shelters.

Identifying which materials can be utilized and how natural cordage can be used to help structure a shelter is part of the learning procedure. Understanding the properties of certain materials and there benefits will further define how else the natural resources may be used, E.g. Paperbark is a waterproof material which can also be used for bedding as well as canoe construction.

• INDIGENOUS COOKING

There are a number of cooking methods which can be used including the cooking of food items on coals and the creation of a bush oven for longer standing meat preparation.

There are a number of different cooking styles including baking food items on hot coals to creating bush ovens to cook meat. The different apparatus style depends on the species of animal which is being prepared for consumption. This program will incorporate one or more traditional forms of game preparation.

• BUSH TUCKER

The Northern Territory has a number of edible food plants, learning how to identify products and prepare them for consumption is an element of survival training.

There are many types of Bush tucker foods found throughout the Top End some of these include tubers, yams, berries, fruits, seeds, sugarbag honey and insect larvae. A knowledge of knowing where to find these staples is just half of the effort, the second half is about knowing the correct procedures involved in there preparation.

Australia has many edible food plants however there are just as many which are noxious and can be fatal if consumed. The indigenous guide will detail information on identifying species and there nutritional/dietary benefits, there are also many species which are used for self-medication for cramps and colds.

The program will identify several species which can be collected and consumed.

• TRACKING

The ability to track is a skill that can be used in every natural environment around the world, identifying species occurrence and movements allows you to an edge in the environment you are surviving in.

The techniques involved in effective tracking can be taught at a basic level, fundamental aspects of tracking involve identifying individual species based on a number of signs particularly scats, diggings, burrows, footprints and other forms of bioturbation.

Tracking is an essential tool used in hunting prey items; it helps to determine the strategies which may be used to finally capture your target species.

Tracking can also help individuals in survival situations, knowing that certain species of animals will only move a certain distance from water this for example could be used to help in your navigation towards a water source. eg. identifying water buffalo tracks in the scrub.

Identifying scats is also of importance, identifying the seeds of edible food plants in animal scats such as blackberry seeds in Dingo droppings can once again educate you on some of the consumable species which may aid in a survival situation, let alone the species which may also be hunted down.

• GAME PREPARATION

From the coals to the fire every cooking technique is different depending on the game you have caught.

There are a number of different cooking styles including baking food items on hot coals to creating bush ovens to cook meat. The different apparatus style depends on the species of animal which is being prepared for consumption. This program will incorporate one or more traditional forms of game preparation.