Survival Courses from Arena Pursuits - Introduction to Basic Bushcraft - "Back to the Past"

48 Hour Survival and Bushcraft Course
Corporate Team Building with a difference

With the ever increasing popularity of television survival shows from Ray Mears, Bear Grylls etc., more and more people are looking to learn the basics of survival and bushcraft. When a group is stranded in the wild the key to survival is teamwork and leadership. Survival and bushcraft courses from Arena will provide your business with the ideal teambuilding event to enable your staff and executives to learn to pull together and work better and more efficiently as a team. The valuable lessons learned can be taken back and used in the workplace.
Objective:
To allow small Corporate Groups (up to 20 at a time) to experience a genuinely different type of challenge away from the workplace. To establish, enrich and develop relationships, learn new skills with the emphasis on teamwork.

Location:
Arena Pursuits is based on 250 acres overlooking Bewl Water, in the heart of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Kent/Sussex border, only 45 miles from London, 21 miles from Junction 5 of the M25 and 20 miles from the South Coast. The main Survival Area is located in secluded woodland close to the north shores of the South East's largest reservoir, Bewl Water.

48 Hour Survival Course

Start time: 10.00

A basic introduction to survival within a woodland environment, to include orienteering, fire lighting, preparation of food and shelter building...

Course Detail:

Day 1

  • Clients met at Arena Conference Centre for briefing and outline of activities.

  • Distribution of kit and group sub-divided into small teams.

  • Following basic navigation lesson and issue of map and compass, together with co-ordinates, teams orienteer to Survival Area site.

  • Introduction to familiarisation of woodland and surrounding area. Teams shown shelter designs, issued with tarpaulin and length of cordage and given one hour to construct their shelter for the night.

  • Gathering firewood and demonstration of correct use of saws, knives and axe, together with practical application

  • Demonstration and practice of different fire lighting methods:

    • Spark – natural and man-made material

    • Friction

    • Feather sticks

  • Fashioning materials for cooking i.e. wooden skewers, spoons etc

  • Preparation (paunching/skinning) rabbits, fish, chicken and vegetable kebabs and cooking over open fires

  • Demonstration on how to source and purify/sterilise drinking water using different methods i.e. improvise charcoal filter, boiling etc

  • Serving of food prepared earlier by team(s)

  • Night navigation exercise to gather items of food for breakfast

Day 2

  • Preparation of breakfast

  • Demonstration of 1-man and 2-man shelters and group shelter building using natural materials. Teams build a shelter of their choice

  • Practice and development of techniques for fire lighting using bow drill and chemical methods

  • Animal tracks observation and expansion of techniques for “living off the land” i.e. animal trapping and making use of available fruits and vegetation

  • Night-time wildlife walk and observation

  • Participants can relax around the camp fire

Day 3

  • Preparation of breakfast

  • Participants strike camps ensuring no trace remains of their having been there

  • Return on foot using maps and compasses either to Conference Centre or to a local pub for a well earned lunch

Option to add on the half day Team Tasks or some scenarios from the 00.7 Bond Day.