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Teaching Classes At Turtle Island Preserve 2015

Ken — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 12:00:55 +0000

Hanging with my “celebrity” friends at Turtle Island Preserve

I recently had a break in my weekly schedule and I’ve learned that sometimes a change in routine can lead down a Divinely directed path. In this case I was invited to participate in a special field trip day at Turtle Island Preserve (TIP)attended by seventy-four 7th and 8th grade students and their teachers from Blowing Rock School. I was able to join TIP staff, interns, and volunteers in this event.

I arrived early enough to sit in on the morning briefing and at it’s conclusion we piled into a large “dump truck” to hitch a ride up the long gravel road to the entrance to meet the school buses. It was VERY bumpy but very memorable too. Once the students and teachers exited the buses we broke into smaller groups and hiked down the “ridge trail” to the base.

The first class of the day – great students!

After a short break I began teaching my first class. Initially we covered survival priorities and then talked about assessing situations and recognizing resources. I showed them my Every Day Carry (EDC) and was able to demonstrate some of it’s uses. I demonstrated how to build a “one match (or one ferro strike)” fire. This led to more firecraft techniques along with signaling, knapping, and “hobo” fishing.

I was very impressed with the attentiveness and polite manners of these kids and it was a pleasure to spend time with them. As the 8th graders will be graduating to a new school, we look forward to the return of the 7th grade class as 8th graders next year.

Survivaltek Webcast Interview

Ken — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 14:57:39 +0000

Saturday evening at 8:00 P.M. was a Survivaltek 1st… a webcast interview on PRN (Preparedness Radio Network) on the show “Your Preparation Station” with Donna Miller (of Millers Grain House & Grain Storehouse). Preparation Station features topics related to emergency preparedness in relation to provisions and self sustainment. The uniqueness of Survivaltek is that it is related to short term survival techniques in the space between emergency and safety that is often ignored in preparedness planning.

I spent most of the day reviewing the Survivaltek website and used the menu page contents as my outline. I had previously sent Donna pertinent questions that would help to focus our interview and I wrote notes for my answers. The mechanics of the interview involve both the host and interviewee to call PRN where an engineer hooks them up for the broadcast. I had tried different hard-line phones to avoid battery issues and hopefully gain better audio fidelity. When I dialed in and connected with the station engineer, almost immediately there were technical difficulties on my end… I could hear them clearly but they could not hear me. After quickly testing the connections, I opted to use my cell phone which successfully connected and we were able to resume the interview. During the down-time Donna was able to read a short bio that I had sent ahead of time so it fit nicely into the program. I was grateful to have a backup plan in place. Thankfully, the cell phone had just enough battery life to complete the call.

The interview went well. Donna has a wonderful way of presenting questions to her quests and I found that the information flowed and I felt at ease during the program. If you missed the program you can click HERE to listen to it. At the close of the program we had just begun to discuss firecraft, so it looks like there may be another program on the horizon to expand on this, my favorite subject. Stay tuned for more…

2011 Ft. Hamby Pow Wow

Ken — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:35:35 +0000

Yesterday I had the privilege of demonstrating traditional fire making methods at the 5th Annual Fort Hamby Pow Wow.

The Pow Wow was sponsored by the Blue Ridge Intertribal Pow Wow Association founded in 2005 by Mabel Benjamin and serves as an educational resource on Native American history and culture in western North Carolina and neighboring communities.

Traditionally local schools are invited to attend on Friday mornings to learn about the Indian culture with song, dance, crafts, demonstrations and displays. I was able to demonstrate the bow and spindle method of fire making which was no small feat as compared to modern methods. Both children and adults gathered around my booth as I explained the elements and process. It seems that each time I make fire I learn more about the materials that I use and ways to encourage the coal to come about. After several tries I had victory.

As the crowd wandered over to the dance area, a young Boy Scout stayed behind to get some hands-on experience, so we worked together to develop the proper stance and method. There’s no substitute for practice to develop a good rhythm and understanding of speed and pressure.

The Pow Wow continues today. Check http://www.blueridgepowwows.org/powwow-schedule.html for details.