Learn Outdoor Skills for Any Scenario: 7 Best Survival Schools in the US

For true self-sufficiency, you need outdoor skills to survive in the wilderness. Learning outdoor skills prepares you for any scenario in nature and gives you a sense of security and self-confidence in your everyday life.

If you ever find yourself in the wilderness without modern amenities, you’ll be happy you invested in a survival skills course at one of these seven best survival schools.

There is a wide range of outdoor skills to master, from using specific tools to backcountry navigation. The best survival schools teach how to get your food, water, and shelter from your surroundings with basic tools.

Once you have completed an introductory survival course, you can move to landscape-specific courses, tool-trainings, and advanced skills. The advantages of these seven survival schools go beyond skill acquisition; you’ll leave them with a newfound self-confidence.

1) Mountain Shepard Adventure School

In the Blue Ridge Mountains, you can learn how to survive with the goal of getting rescued, how to thrive on a backpacking trip, or off-grid living in nature with Mountain Shepard Adventure School. Many of their courses are family-friendly, with options for female-only courses as well.

The survival courses are offered in varying difficulties and primarily teach students to survive while waiting to be rescued. Their bushcraft course changes the focus to living in nature comfortably and confidently.

Whether you are planning a long backpacking trip or want to introduce your kids to outdoor survival, Mountain Shepard Adventure School is sure to get you and your family confident in their outdoor skills.

2) The Survival University

Colorado is home to beautiful mountains, forests, rivers, and a survival school to teach you how to thrive in all of them. The Survival University has a wide range of survival courses that cover primitive survival, urban survival, and modern survival. The modern survival course teaches students how to use the survival gear they put into a bug out bag.

The modern survival course covers the most useful tools and how to use them efficiently. Learn how to use every function of the Endeavor Wallet Multi Tool like the direction finder. Navigation is critical in survival situations and if you are without a compass, knowing how to use the direction finder is essential. You may be surprised by all you can do with the tool you keep in your wallet.

While the modern survival course focuses on the first few days of survival and prioritizes shelter, water, and fire, they also offer longer courses that delve into food and security. The Survival University has course offerings to teach you everything you need to know about survival, from bushcraft to urban survival.

3) Boulder Outdoor Survival School

Set in the Southern Utah wilderness, the Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) teaches survival, focusing on knowing more while carrying less. They believe that the most significant attribute a person can have in any survival scenario is not their gear but their survival mindset.

In a BOSS course, you learn through experience how to stay calm, take appropriate action, and maintain a survival mindset.

BOSS has various courses, from 7-day primitive survival courses to multiple navigation skills courses and wilderness first aid certifications. These courses are perfect for someone looking to connect to nature, learn how to survive with just their own labor, and leave feeling secure in their ability to handle themselves outdoors.

4) Sigma III Survival School

Based in Missouri, Sigma 3 Survival School gives people in their courses the skills necessary to “Scout, Survive, and Sustain.” The point of the beginner courses is to teach students how to acquire shelter, fire, food, water, medicine, and security in any natural setting with minimal tools.

Learn how to survive using just the tools you keep with you, like the SharpHair Safety Tool. Its saw edge can shave branches to create tinder for a fire or cut down reeds for natural rope making. Getting the most out of a multi tool like this is vital for thriving in the backcountry.

Sigma 3 offers three basic courses that give students a base to build upon with their more advanced survival courses. The more you learn with their courses, the more they can build off your expertise so that you can sustain yourself in the wild.

They also have weekend courses covering edible and medicinal plants and basic survival skills for people strapped for time.

5) Learn to Return

Alaska is home to unique survival challenges because of its rugged landscapes and undisturbed natural settings. The last frontier is home to many great survival schools, like Learn to Return. Their focus is on surviving in harsh environments like the Alaskan winter or frigid water.

They also have courses that focus on personal protection in the wilderness. Alaska is home to bears the size of SUVs, so it makes sense that they have experts in this field. If you live in Alaska or want a vacation with an educational experience, Learn to Return’s unique survival courses are a worthwhile investment.

6)Mountain Scout Survival School

The Mountain Scout Survival School has one of the most expansive course offerings of any survival school in the US. The courses are based on the philosophy that we can learn valuable survival lessons from ancestral outdoor knowledge. Some of the courses include animal tracking sections, primitive tool and weapon crafting, plant courses, and general survival skills offerings.

The Mountain Scout Survival School’s class syllabus crafts you from an inexperienced survivor into an expert in thriving in manmade and natural circumstances. Their promise is that you can learn to lead a peaceful, confident, and capable life in the wild with the right training.

7) Tom Brown Jr.’s Tracker School

Tom Brown Jr’s Tracker School allows students to survive in any environment, quit their reliance on the modern world, and enjoy life in nature. The Tracker School offers 8-course paths covering survival, tracking, healing, and advanced scout living. The curriculum ensures that you’ll master the outdoors and learn an alternate way of life that is as satisfying as safe.

Gain Knowledge, Gain Capability, Gain Confidence

Acquiring outdoor survival skills prepares you for life and instills you with self-confidence. Take your future into your own hands by acquiring the training, tools, and mindset necessary to thrive in the outdoors. These seven schools have the expertise you need to become an outdoor survivalist and the instructors to guide you every step of the way.

At Zero Day Gear, we provide survivors with valuable tools that you can keep on you at all times. We specialize in locksmithing tools ideal for urban survival and recognize the need for all of us to learn survival skills for any scenario.

Contact us today to learn more about our products, and visit our blog to learn more about survival tools and bug-out bags.