LAST
YEAR, THIS BLOGGER went up to Luzon to conduct a Bushcraft Camp for
the benefit of members of the fledgling Mountain Climbers Alliance of
the Philippines (MCAP), a national umbrella organization of
individual mountaineers. It was held at the slopes of Mount
Balagbag, amidst the boundaries of Rodriguez, Rizal and San Jose del
Monte, Bulacan.
Eighteen
local mountaineers attended that year’s wilderness skills
orientation, with which program was patterned after the Philippine
Independence Bushcraft Camp (PIBC). The PIBC is an outdoors seminar
organized annually by the Warrior Pilgrimage Blog and teaches people
about basic primitive-living techniques and survival skills. It is
held every June in the jungles of the Babag Mountain Range, Cebu.
This
coming October 18, 19 and 20, 2013, however, this blogger will again
make another voyage to Luzon. This time, he will be teaching the
Basic Wilderness Survival Course in the Spring of Life Adventure
Campsite, Antipolo, Rizal. This will be his first time to teach this
course. It is designed for mountaineers, specifically MCAP members,
and it can be taught as well to hikers, backpackers and other outdoor
enthusiasts.
This
outdoors course aims to infuse to the participants of the basics of
survival in a tropical mountain setting without disregarding the
proper procedures that would ensure one’s chances of survival.
Preparation for any survival situation should be given premium by
anybody, regardless if the individual is an experienced mountaineer
or not.
As
we all know, the mountains present a very challenging terrain coupled
by unpredictable weather conditions which hampers normal movement and
creates an environment wherein it exposes people to very serious
mistakes. Generally, this course teaches that a person can be an
island on his own, contrary to the general idea, and thrusts to the
belief that weight can be compensated anytime with knowledge about
survival.
First
day will be focused on the Introduction to Survival; The Survival
Kit; and Knife Care and Safety. Second day will be about Survival
Tool Making; Water; Shelters; and Foraging and Plant ID. The last
day tackles about Firecraft; Cold Weather Survival; and Traditional
Navigation. Except one, all chapters are compiled by this blogger
basing on his experiences in the mountains as a recreational climber,
as a free-lance guide and, later, as a bushcrafter.
This
blogger founded the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild, the only
outdoor club in the Philippines focusing mainly about
primitive-living skills and survivalcraft. Later, he immersed
himself in an Aeta village for one week during a made-for-TV video
shoot and learned more survival skills from them. Below are clips of
Native Instinct, directed by Matthew Everett of the UK, which this
blogger co-hosted with Snakehawk Wilderness School partner, William
Rhys-Davies:
MCAP
believes that every mountaineer should be adequately equipped not
only by what he carries on his back but also that which he carries
inside his head which would quantify his survival in the event of
mishaps and accidents. It subscribes to the concept of “old-school”
mountaineering.
Presently,
MCAP is composed of 2013-2014 officers: Rev. Reynold Boringot –
President; Mr. Andrew Tarnate – Vice President; Ms. Louella Papa –
Secretary; Ms. Kris Shiela Mingi – Treasurer; Ms. Jezzy Guab –
Auditor; and Mr. Boyet Cristobal – PRO. Mr. Edwin Gatia, founder
and organizer, sits as President Emeritus of the Alliance.
Document
done in LibreOffice 3.3 Writer
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