Survival/Bushcraft Instructor, would you.....

[lannyman8]

As the title said, would you become a Bushcraft / Survival instructor and why? also would you become an instructor for another person or start your own company.

if you where to do it how would you do it and where would you start up etc.

your thoughts and opinions would be most helpful.

regards.

chris.

 

[greensurfingbear]

Change of career in the pipeline marra?


Orric

 

[lannyman8]

Change of career in the pipeline marra?


Orric

could be mate, could be....

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

I personally wouldnt, the market is pretty much saturated in my opinion and even the good schools seem to be quiet from what ive seen and read. If you do go for it you will need to be able to distinguish yourself from the crowd in order to attract custom. If i were to do it i would probably start out working for someone else in order to get a perspective on how things work both in front and behind the scenes and go from there.

ultimately it will come down to how risk averse (or not) you are and how much you believe in your ability to make a go of it. Leasing woodland would be the way to go in my opinion unless you have plenty of cash for outright purchase. woodland is currently going for silly money as everyone seems to want some for leisure use and as an investment.

 

[lannyman8]

thanks Bare, food for thought, and i know what you mean about the currant market, i would need some sort of enticing thing that other companies do not offer, i have some ideas but its not cheap, and im not so sure it would be cost effective, not for the forum at this time though....lol

 

[BJJJ]

That is an interesting question because there is a wealth of experience on here that is given freely and I have picked up a lot of tips which I go and practice. So looking from the other side of the fence so to speak ; would I go to the trouble of booking a bush-craft course. ( would never consider myself proficient to teach)
I have to say I have attended several sea kayaking courses which I considered essential despite my own extensive sea going experience, but have never considered a bush craft course despite my lack of knowledge.
I think it would need something special to attract me to a course. ( Not that I think I don't need one)
I would be interested to know just how many of the members have been on civilian courses.
If I was considering a new venture I would probably test the water with weekend courses and see how it went before total commitment.

 

[Niels]

For a long time, it's been my dream to become a bushcraft instructor. However, not to long ago, Paul Kirtley said in an interview, that beeing a bushcraft instructor means being away a lot, having little spare time, and not making much money.

It doesn't appeal to me as much anymore. Now I'm thinking about studying some biology branch after school, and getting a well paid job as a researcher of something. I loathe school though.

I'll be following this thread with interest.

 

[lannyman8]

money for me is not an issue as long as i can feed the family and we get by ok then that would be me happy, its the more happy in my working environment side of life im after i think, that would also include my little boy who im sure would be out with me in the woods...

just thoughts going through my mind at the moment, i just thought i would ask others and see how they feel about it and how they might go about it...i know its a massive questions and cant be done just like that, but im considering it though with serous thought...

 

[Thenihilist]

The market is saturated as has been said.I hold the same dream, fortunately for me im not too concerned with money but I think anyone realistic is going to realise you ain't going to make much money, this doesn't hugely concern me but one has to realise we are going to be old men at some point, so need to think of that.Getting into it is difficult, I've essentially gt 6 months of a year, and essentianally live outside, I don't have a house so use my time practicing these skills, its hard to keep records of this but I try so hopefully the fact I have lived in difficult circumstances will stand me I gd stead, I occasionally teach basketry courses.I have spoken to a land owner about the possibility of teaching bushcraft skills, he was very positive and has got me to teach him various skills.I thought it would be positive given that im out 250 days plus a year, its not, I have 5 courses booked this year, hopefully in a year or two for me

 

[Thenihilist]

I look at grandad mors he was 28 when he started, im 21 but I've got a good job, if I could get there in 7 years, considering I have no family I feel id be doing extremely well, whereas you have family which obviously would mean you would have other considerations to make.as far as im aware your a military man which shows you've probably been In a lot of difficult situations and have emerged so that should go in your benifit

 

[Perrari]

I would love to be one, but am I good enough ? I dont know ? To make money I think you would need to start your own company, but it would take time to become established & known.
From several of your posts that I have read, I understand you are in the Armed Forces. Are there any opportunities you could take up within the forces training personnel ?

 

[lannyman8]

the thing i will have if i need it is a big ish money injection to buy woods or lease as has been said, do some courses with other companies to see how they do them and see what skill set is needed, of course i would need other workers to help me, and i cant do everything by my self, it could even be that when i first start out i would be working 4 days a week in another job and then the rest doing prep and weekend courses until the company gets a better name and more work coming in..

 

[sandbender]

money for me is not an issue as long as i can feed the family and we get by ok then that would be me happy, its the more happy in my working environment side of life im after i think, that would also include my little boy who im sure would be out with me in the woods...

just thoughts going through my mind at the moment, i just thought i would ask others and see how they feel about it and how they might go about it...i know its a massive questions and cant be done just like that, but im considering it though with serous thought...

I think no.

I don't think there would be a worthwhile return, in fact you might well find yourself out of pocket. Now if you could provide something else, do something else on the same land with bushcraft instruction as small part of a bigger plan then maybe you'd get somewhere.

Just my thoughts anyway, good luck with whatever you plan.

 

[lannyman8]

I would love to be one, but am I good enough ? I dont know ? To make money I think you would need to start your own company, but it would take time to become established & known.From several of your posts that I have read, I understand you are in the Armed Forces. Are there any opportunities you could take up within the forces training personnel ?

funny you should say that, im looking into starting to do some SEAR courses when i get home, so fingers crossed...

 

[Perrari]

Nice one mate ! Good Luck !

 

[boatman]

One potentionally lucrative market is the stag/hen party one. Taster sessions really, quite a lot of noise and need to be firm about drinking. They love archery as do so many people that I would think any woodland experience should include it.

 

[British Red]

I don't know anywhere near enough to instruct in Bushcraft sadly - not to a level that I would be happy charging for anyway

 

[Samon]

The only course I can think of that people go on would be the ray mears one, and that costs a frigging fortune! My assumption is the people who go there, go for the whole 'mears experience' and not essentially a full priced local holiday learning to make a fire. so with that in mind, if the average non celebrity chap were to make a go of expanding his hobby it would more than likely be slow and paniful failure. However, if you have military training, private woodland, the time and the money to make it a decent experience then in a few years you could have a well known local experience that some of the community would enjoy and recommend.

But the money will never be big, and I know alot of people like to think the 'minimalist' lifestyle is ok, but in reality it's hard and stressful on all of the family.

The reality is, unless you're a famous/and or rich andventurer.. you won't have an easy time making a living from it. If you did get big, you'd have no time for your family and the whole idea of beautiful freedom and adventure would be a meaningless job where you don't get to see your family grow and flourish.

Also, If you can't learn it here, on a dedicated British 'Bushcraft' forum, with its mass of experienced and educated persons then it probably won't be of any real term use to you.

Good luck though you never know what might happen!

 

[VANDEEN]

Hi mate, you home from your "holls" then?

The people I know who are happiest in their jobs are the self employed, though they often are the poorest & most stressed when things aren't going so well. Even so, not one of them would give it up & go back to working for someone else unless it was a last resort!!

I know first hand that you have the skills to teach & the ability and patience to pass them on so that side of things is a given. The business/admin/startup side of it would be the bit that put me off going it alone, & more likely to work for someone else first to suss such things out.

It certainly seems to be a market that is well catered for, I would never say saturated as going solo you can always add other things in with the "bushcraft" banner to widen the appeal, forging, brewing, shooting etc. but it's gonna be a tough startup if you'd be the only bread winner. A USP is a good thing to have but it's got to be one that people want to buy, and if succesfull one that someone else can't just copy & cash in on.

All the best & keep us posted.

 

[lannyman8]

thanks all for the comments folks, its some thing id like to do, but have some ideas as to what would draw more customers in, and its a little unconventional so might be good and could open up a whole new area for me, i cant put details on here of what but it could open up a large area of new trade in the same sort of area or type of work, ish...