With each class you complete in the Academy, you’ll become a little more self-sufficient. No matter where life takes you, the skills you’re going to master in the Academy will always stay with you.

The Wild will be your second home, and you’ll use it either to survive, to reconnect with Nature, or to find your strength when you are down in life.

You can complete The Academy at your own pace - in a 3-day marathon, over three weeks, or even a few months - that’s entirely up to you. Or you can jump straight to the course about a specific project or subject that interests you right now.

Once you graduate, you’ll also receive a beautiful diploma with your name on it that certifies you are trained in wilderness survival and can survive in the Wild indefinitely.

If you ever want to get off the radar for a while, or if you're being followed and want to cover your tracks, then I bet you’ll wish you had watched this course first.

You need to cut off the corner of your plastic bag and completely remove the bark of a small piece of branch. Plug the hole, then make another small one on the upper part of the bag so you can hang it. The branch starts to filter the water, just like it does for the tree.

They’re super easy to make using two natural materials you’ll have no trouble finding in the woods: pine resin and decomposing wood.

After you’ve made a few of these fire starters, add them to your backpack for a rainy day because this will help you light a fire even when it’s pouring outside.

Finding food in the wild can be challenging, so you want to ensure it won’t spoil. In fact, the Wild Fridge is becoming so popular that more and more people are making one in their own backyards. And you can do that too.

All you need to do is set it up, then go about your business and let it do its work. After a few hours check for prey and bon appetit.

If you ever thought about turning the wild into your second home, or living in the woods for a few weeks, months, or even years then this is the type of shelter you want. The Wilderness Survival House even has a small cellar, a fireplace, and even a bed, all of these to make you feel like you’re not missing anything.

You might be aware that cattails are edible and that the gel between their leaves can be used as a potent anesthetic, but here’s how I often use them. Place 4 cattails above the fire like this until they blacken. Once dry, the cattail will burn slowly just like a cigar, producing mosquito-repelling smoke throughout the night.

With so many new cases of West Nile and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, just enjoying the outdoors can put you at risk. So, place some cattail smokers around your shelter to get a worry-free restful night’s sleep without any mosquito or other bug bites.

You just have to clean the wound a bit, apply the moss, and secure it as you would with a bandage. It acts like a natural iodine and has absorbent and antiseptic properties that will help the wound not get infected.

All you need to do is dig a hole and place an empty cup in the middle. Fill the hole with green vegetation and cover everything with a piece of clear plastic sheet. Place one rock in the middle to tilt it at 45 degrees. As the moisture from plants evaporates over time it will condense on the plastic and flow down inside the cup.

The best time to set it up is first thing in the morning when plants have dew on them. Then leave it for 4 hours in the sun and see how much water we get.

This sticky bush is usually considered a nuisance but to those in the know, it’s actually a nutrient-packed meal that can supply precious calories when you need them the most. And I’ll show you where to find it, how to harvest it, and a few ways to cook its potato-tasting roots when you’re stranded in the wild.

When stranded in the wilderness, tasks like finding food, water, and other survival items require time and focus. And tending to a fire can rob you of those precious resources. This ingenious survival fire burns and feeds itself for 14 hours straight without you having to do a thing. Just load and light it, and you’re good to go!

Not a lot of people know that pinecones actually contain nuts that are extremely nutritious, full of fat, vitamins, minerals, and delicious too! You could survive out here for days on end just on these seeds alone. Even some expert survivalists don’t know the right way to extract them – but don’t worry, there’s a fire trick you’ll learn in the academy that makes it ridiculously easy to do that.

It's known as the constrictor knot and once it binds down around an object it won’t let go. To tie it, wrap the cordage around an object, cross it over, and create an X shape. Go back around over the main rope and under the X you just made. The idea is to pull tight each end to make it more powerful.

You can use it to bundle up wood or objects that you need to keep securely in place. Make sure you never use this knot around body parts or limbs because it won’t come loose. Inside the Academy, I will show the other eight practical knots that you need to know in the wild.

You’ll have to find this mushroom, cut a small part of the underside, peel a thin layer, and wrap it around your finger. When this is fresh, it will act like a natural adhesive and it’s also antibacterial and antifungal.

I will also tell you what happens if you pour boiling water over acorns.

You’ll know how you can have your own water source near your camp.

The easiest one to set up that you can grab and fold while you’re on the go, the best one for shade, the best one for keeping you warm, the best to sleep in comfortably, the best one to protect you from wind, rain or snow, and many more that might come in handy one day.

Where to find it, how to recognize it, and how to cook it. I’m talking about a plant that is nutrient-rich and packed with vitamins, minerals, and much-needed proteins.

You’ll use it to fish deep waters, explore, move fast over long distances, or follow a river downstream, back to civilization.

Some tree species have roots that are both flexible and strong enough to tie knots, make traps, and can be used for many other survival tools. The best part about this "root cordage" is that it will hardly take any time to acquire, unlike the one made by twisting plant fibers, which you’ll also learn at the Academy.

This potent fire starter can be found in any outdoor area where pine and fir trees grow. Fatwood shavings are so flammable they light up with a spark, even when they're wet. That’s because they contain terpene, the main component of turpentine, a common lamp oil. Fatwood fire also burns hotter, and longer than a regular wood fire.

The same one that saved me on the Alone show. If you ever find yourself in the wild with a deep cut, get your hands on some Yarrow. Pick up a few leaves, chew them in your mouth, and smear this “spit poultice” on top of the wound. It will stop the flow of blood and provide pain relief.

The Navy SEALs and British SAS do this whenever they’re sent on a mission in the wild.

This life-saving protein source isn’t as out of reach as most people may think. In fact, some of the most nutrient-dense eggs can be found at ground level and are easy to grab. But you have to know where to look first!

This is an essential trick used by Navy SEALs that can help you turn a regular pair of pants into a makeshift life ring. This technique has helped shipwrecked people survive for days adrift at sea until they were eventually rescued.

This is a common tree whose sap is rich in vitamins and nutrients, but also high in water content that you can live solely on it for weeks, if not months.

I used his method the second time I was in Alone. The best part about this fishing method is that you don’t have to be there all the time. You can do other things around your camp while the Robinson Crusoe’s fish trap catches your next meal.

When you get a poison ivy rash, simply mix the ashes left from your campfire with some water to create a paste. Apply it to the rash and let it dry out on your skin. Wood ash relieves the itching and pain by neutralizing the plant’s irritating oils.

This is probably the easiest system to set up and it’s a 2 in 1, as it filters and cleans your water simultaneously.

If you’re ever in the woods and get a headache, take about an inch of a willow tip and chew on it. You’ll find the taste is very similar to regular Aspirin. That's because it contains salicin, a compound that is closely related to the one you find in aspirin. You will also learn how to make a potent tincture at home, perfect for stocking in your medicine cabinet for times when pharmacies aren’t available.

Just throw 4 rocks in a fire to heat them. While you’re waiting, dig a small hole, fold one leaf into a cone, and place it inside. Fold the other leaf the same way and use it to transport the water from its source. Once you put the heated rocks into your leaf container the water will boil and become purified of pathogens.

Take a knife and start shaving off the sock lint. It sparks immediately and it will not ruin your socks.

Plants are everywhere around you, and if you can identify them, you will never run out of food in the wild. But if you’re not careful, some can hurt you badly. Sometimes you don’t even have to do more than touch them to get a bad skin rash.

One of the poisonous plants we will learn in the Academy is Black Nightshade. It looks similar to a Blueberry, but if you ingest even a few of its unripe berries, you could get nauseous and start vomiting. You can tell the difference between Black Nightshade and Blueberry because Black Nightshade’s flowers contain five petals that open up and curl backward fully revealing a yellow center. Also, they do not have the powdery blue coating that is typical of blueberries.

For example, this plant right here is called the “Hunter’s Toilet Paper”. It’s a common weed that grows coast-to-coast in open places or the forest’s edge. Its velvety leaves are so soft that they resemble cotton, making it perfect for those times when you really have to go and there’s nothing else available. This plant is also pest-resistant, so you won’t find any bugs or eggs on it.