General | True North Wilderness Survival School

The Art of Land Navigation

On January 25, 2024 / General / Comments Off

Major Mike Sadler passed away this month, aged 103 years. This British Army officer from the Second World War lived an extraordinary life. Though, knowing a bit about him, the word “extraordinary” seems insufficient. Among so much, Sadler was a master of land navigation. Sadler was one of the first members of the Special Air Service, an elite special operations regiment created in the early years of the war. His task was to guide his patrol in their modified Willys Jeeps, all sporting Vickers K machine guns, along the North African coast to destroy Axis bases and airfields. Their strategy was effective because, thanks to Sadler and his traditional land navigation skills, the SAS could hide deep in the vast desert to the south where the Germans believed no one could possibly navigate, let alone survive — with its featureless landscapes, blistering sun, and constantly shifting dunes, some 100’s of […]

What does COVID-19 have to do with Wilderness Survival?

On March 16, 2020 / General / Comments Off

As the tide of fear regarding the COVID-19 virus washed in locally this weekend, I witnessed a wide mix of responses, some of which I found heartening and others which left me with a loss of words. Most people seemed to be simply going about their lives while following the recommended Center for Disease Control guidelines, like avoiding large crowds or events, maintaining distances of 6 feet from other persons for long periods of time, staying home if feeling ill, and, most importantly, washing hands regularly. Likewise, on Saturday morning, while at a local gun store with Instructor Jarod, to buy a box of ammunition for a long planned private training with him (I’m a police officer) that he was kind enough to provide me, a customer had purportedly just left after having spent $20,000 on assorted weapons. And later that day, I watched customers at a local store clear […]

Passing SFAS Land Navigation with Confidence

On November 25, 2019 / General / Comments Off

You’ve committed yourself to challenge Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS). Without a doubt, the road to becoming a Green Beret is one of the most grueling selection processes that the U.S. Army has to offer. After all, it is intended to be a reliable predictor, not just of your ability to pass the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC), but your ability to function in those operational environments in which you will ultimately serve. Now comes the hard part, preparing yourself physically and mentally to not just survive, but thrive, amid the many challenges ahead that your instructors will throw at you. One will be the need to pass the land navigation course. So we would like to offer you three tips to help you train. Over the years, the most common concern that our military clients have expressed to us at True North is their ability to pass the […]

Finding North with the Moon

On March 4, 2019 / General / Comments Off

Many of us have learned various field expedient methods to determine North without a compass. Probably three of the most common are looking to Polaris in the night sky, using a Shadow Stick, or even an analog watch. But these methods all share a common weakness — They don’t work when the sky is overcast. After all, these methods aren’t of much use if you can’t see the stars, sun, or even a shadow. Another option that you should consider, then, is to look to the Moon. Of course, granted, the Moon is only visible for a part of each month and it can’t often be seen on very cloudy days. Still — as I have a “glass is half full” mindset — the Moon is visible for a good hunk of each month and, better yet, it can very often be seen through the clouds. So, here is a quick-start […]

First Aid: Treating Lightning Injuries

On August 16, 2018 / General, News / Comments Off

A 45-year old man was struck by lightning earlier this week while playing soccer at a local park in Pittsburgh. Bystanders found him unresponsive and not breathing so they immediately dialed 9.1.1. and began CPR. Paramedics soon revived the man, and by last report, he remains in critical condition, though still alive. While such incidents may be statistically rare, for all practicable purposes, they aren’t necessarily uncommon. Just this week alone, there have been several such incidents reported across the country where the victim would have died but for first aid received from bystanders. Better yet, a few of them were soon happily giving interviews on television from their hospital beds. But what if during your next hike, paddle, or other outdoor adventure, you saw someone in the same condition after a lightning strike, would you know how to help them? SCENE SURVEY The mantra of all rescuers should always […]

Survival Question: Should You Eat This?

On August 9, 2018 / General, News / Comments Off

A few weeks ago, during our previous Advanced Wilderness Survival course, as J.C. and I talked with our clients, we all noticed a very large millipede boldly stroll across a nearby log and scramble down to the ground in front of us. At that point, one of them asked, “Could we eat that in a survival situation?” It seemed like a good teaching opportunity so I suggested that, based on the training that they had so far received from us, they were quite capable of answering for themselves whether they could, or should. Consider taking a few minutes to read the following information, then determine how you might answer. Your Primary Food Source In all of our wilderness survival courses at True North, we teach our clients that in a survival situation, their primary food source should not be wild edibles, like berries, roots, and leaves, as is more commonly […]

The Little Things Matter

On March 13, 2017 / General, News / Comments Off

You have all heard the maxim, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” But is it true? While I agree with it conceptually, I have never been able to completely embrace it in practice. Especially when it comes to outdoor activities. In my view, it is the small stuff which is most important. It is the small details on which everything else (that is, the big stuff) is based, and if that base is bad, everything else could quickly fall apart. During my courses, I regularly remind students that they need to pay attention to detail because, otherwise, those oversights have the potential to combine to create a very serious situation for themselves, and others. After all, a catastrophe does not result simply as the result of one single, isolated incident, but rather as a chain of seemingly unrelated incidents that reach a critical mass. By sweating the small stuff, one can […]

Drinking Your Pee: Survival Technique or Myth?

On March 10, 2017 / General / Comments Off

Last November, Ron Hutter, an experienced hiker and former Boy Scout, set out on a 20 minute hike intended only to pass the time before meeting a friend for lunch. As such, he left his backpack in his vehicle. Not long after starting out, though, he realized that he had somehow missed the trail and was lost. He spent the next four days and three nights fighting to survive. Towards the end of that first day, Hutter took stock of his meager supplies, which included just 10 ounces of water. At this point he remembered, as he explained in an interview after his rescue on Tucson News, a “survival technique.” That is, to stay hydrated, he would have to start drinking his own urine. Is Drinking Urine Really a Survival Technique? One of the most common questions that I am asked during my survival courses and lectures: “Is it okay during a survival situation to drink […]

The Most Dangerous (but Ignored) Wilderness Threat

On March 27, 2016 / General / Comments Off

If I were to ask you what kills more people in the backcountry than anything else, what would you guess? Based on talks that I have had with students in our various survival and medicine courses over the years, your answer might likely be some wild creature. Topping the list of the usual suspects are bears, cougars, and snakes. I certainly cannot blame them because deaths due to such attacks are featured most prominently in the news media, not to mention that they make a good plot thread in a screenplay. After all, few movie trailers could be more dramatic and exciting than Leonardo DiCaprio fighting off a grizzly (even if it was computer-generated). But the simple (even if boring) fact of the matter is that what kills more people in the outdoors, either directly or as a significant contributing factor, isn’t wildlife (which is exceedingly rare), but rather an easily understood and […]

How to Preserve a Tooth

On December 17, 2015 / General / Comments Off

I realize that first-aid for teeth isn’t as exciting as more lifesaving procedures, like using a tourniquet or providing CPR, but, let’s face it, if your tooth happens to get knocked out — root and all — I’m going to bet that it’ll feel almost as important. After all, the potential of such a tooth injury is a relatively common consequence of many outdoor activities like rock climbing, skiing, and, of course, mountain biking. On the upside, it can be fairly easily implanted by your dentist with a high probability of lasting success. But if you are in a wilderness location with delayed access to a tooth doctor, how then can you best preserve it in the meantime? That’s because the dislodged tooth is really not much different than any other amputated body part, like a finger … It must be kept “alive” until it can be reattached. Here are […]

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