View Full Version : Survival/Outdoors Schools John Wiseman and Eddie McGee?
Hi!
Has anyone here ever attended any classes at John "Lofty" Wiseman's school or at Eddie McGee's survival skills school? I have read that both of these UK instructors had/used to have an outdoors skills school but have not heard of anyone commenting on their experiences. Any info or ideas for info on this?
Thanks!
Monk
Natural Pathways
08-07-2004, 19:26
Hi Monk.
Just read your post, to the best of my knowledge I heard that John has now retired and I am sad to say that Eddie is longer with us, I believe he passed away the year before last.
Sorry to bring you such sad news.
regards
Geoffrey
That is a great shame - two well respected instructors who loved the subject.
Eddie McGee was a great inspiration to me, especially when I was a sprog. Says a lot about a man that he could touch so many people and yet not get to above himself. Many of us today could learn a lot from his example.
I hope he finds himself a good spot in that great big forest in the sky.
I'm saddened to hear that Eddie is no longer with us. I agree Gary ... both he and John had a huge influence on me as a youngster. Good, solid personalities that kept it real.
i did a two day intro survival course with eddie and got a couple of his books signed he was a really nice guy and tremendously knowledgeable coming out with snippets about tracking whilst showing us where to set snares and how to build your own ect
it was a cracking week end my only regret is that i didnt get around to do more training with him.
korvin karbon
06-10-2009, 22:29
my mum threw out my eddie book :-( and i dont want to know what you were searching for to find a 5 year old thread LOL
shropshireman
06-10-2009, 22:58
Yeah lofty finished with truways survival this year i think.I did half a dozen courses with truways but now there founder chris caine has departed???. Lofty trained with chris's dad and also showed chris many many survival techniques if you go to( chris caine survival) on the tinternet you will get more info... ps dont beleive all the things you here about tru ways
I've heard good things about truways, I was doing a job earlier on this year and a locksmith from Manchester way (I think) had just done a course with them along with his brother. I thought he may have just got out of the Mob as he was wearing Snugpak gear and all that and he said "no, never been in but I'm into survival and bushcraft" and that was us set for the rest of the day! He'd done quite a few courses with them, so they must be good. I've heard the DVD isn't all its cracked up to be though, considering the time we all waited for it from first being mentioned to final release.
shropshireman
07-10-2009, 17:41
yeah i must admit the courses i went on were ok learnt a fair bit .A mate of mine went on a course for a weekend with his son paid £600 !!!!!!!!!!!!! Says he learnt more from reading ray mears books than he did at tru ways!!! To say the least he was pretty p#####d off about it, though he did get a certificate off them.They spelt his name wrong and got the date wrong...
Its the same old thing though do 10 great things and no one hears about it but do 1 wrong thing and everyone hears about it ....
To be honest i was just trying to do a bit of promotion work for chris caine and his new web site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!
I doubt that will go down well, it can be quite strict here about promoting other places.
Everyone is allowed to mention a place, make reference to it etc, it's when people take the mick that we take exception.
I hope that Chris does well in his new venture, there's been a few bushcraft schools that have split or gone altogether lately so it's good that he's carrying on.
So you say Tony, but a link to a new knife forum was removed for no reason that I can see other than a grudge held against the owner. It's your forum though, and you can run it as you please.
shropshireman
07-10-2009, 21:42
thanks tony im sure chris will appreciate the support ..
Anyhow thats it i wont mention him again , people take things the wrong way
I had training with both "Lofty" and Eddie McGee when serving and they were both good, though I think "Lofty" had the edge!
Mike
Firebringer
07-10-2009, 22:16
Hope Trueways is decent. I'm booked on my first ever course (5 day) that starts next Monday. TBH I'm less concerned about the cost than the days off work it will take up.
Still, I'm hoping to go on that Hunter Gatherer Course next year that was up for the competition or the Aboriginal one they do next year.
Has out of interest any non biased board member tried the Trueways Advanced 7 Day course. I'm intrigued (assuming the 5 day one is okay) but can't for the life of me find any reviews of the 7day course despite my googlefu efforts.
Living in Scotland it's not so much the cost of a lot of the courses but the time of getting to some of them that's the issue.
crazydave
07-10-2009, 22:23
if you've allready got survival knowledge then most courses will fail to impress if you arent looking properly as you fail to see the intent behind the course which is to try and give you something to copy from. it should be a kind of role play event like a school fire drill not a bushcraft jolly type of trip where you carve a spoon and make some cordage.
lofty and trueways are still together and chris's split was down to a misunderstanding.he started back up thanks in part to trueways members but I'm not sure why his forum has disappeared in the past few days. the last of keyword association messed up the casual visitor though. if you think 600 was expensive for 2 people for a weekend then book a woodlore course, they have the premium on rip off.
the 5 day and 7 day courses rely on you putting into practise what you have learnt with a bit of steerage from the instructors along the way. I think they all choose scotland for the 7 dayers out of tradition more than anything else and the fact that you are unlikely to meet anyone else. the instructors with the exception of chris are generally military in origin so are used to proper planning and sticking to a timetable so as long as you can keep up then you'll be fine.
the kit lists seem to be as big and the same for whichever you choose now though - health and safety I guess. I had to put up with the contents of my pockets and wearing two sets of clothes first time I did a course 26 years ago.
I was strip and cavity searched for mine!
Firebringer
07-10-2009, 22:48
Did that cost extra or was it included?
I even got paid for doing it, just as well really!
shropshireman
08-10-2009, 20:57
crazy dave ...
sorry mate but chris was round at my house 2 weeks ago got a different story but i dont want to get invovled its all a bit to heavy!!
Do you think that tv and internet is to open .... ie it lets people look and sound good but in real terms there a bit crap !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To put it bluntly
crazy dave ...
sorry mate but chris was round at my house 2 weeks ago got a different story but i dont want to get invovled its all a bit to heavy!!
Do you think that tv and internet is to open .... ie it lets people look and sound good but in real terms there a bit crap !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To put it bluntly
I think peoples' sincerity can be questioned easily, even if they are honest and completely truthful in what they find. The internet has a way of making people who usually wouldn't say boo to a goose raise their heads up and try to be some sort of hero. There's a lot of it about.
But then, i suppose it is the same as fast food retailers. I personally retch at the thought of eating in McDs or KFC and the like now after I saw somebody working in a KFC who I didn't like the look of. His attitude just came over all wrong, and the way the three lads were working made me wonder if my food and everybody elses' food was safe for consumption. Don't get me wrong, they didn't actually do anything, it was just the way they conducted themselves and the general feeling I got was they weren't to be trusted. I dismissed it and just ate the meal but couldn't get the thought out of my head for days, in the end I just don't go in those fast food places any more.
Just picking up on Firebringers comments , with ref to the 10 day Hunter Gatherer course that i attended , look like Joe has changed the format form looking at his new website.
http://www.wilderness-survival.co.uk/
I think the reason being that although many people showed interest in attending a 10 day course , not many people could find the required time away from work and family to attend.
From the course structure now offered it looks like the Awakening and the Hunter Gatherer are follow on courses.
http://www.wilderness-survival.co.uk/courses/
shropshireman
09-10-2009, 16:07
I think peoples' sincerity can be questioned easily, even if they are honest and completely truthful in what they find. The internet has a way of making people who usually wouldn't say boo to a goose raise their heads up and try to be some sort of hero. There's a lot of it about.
But then, i suppose it is the same as fast food retailers. I personally retch at the thought of eating in McDs or KFC and the like now after I saw somebody working in a KFC who I didn't like the look of. His attitude just came over all wrong, and the way the three lads were working made me wonder if my food and everybody elses' food was safe for consumption. Don't get me wrong, they didn't actually do anything, it was just the way they conducted themselves and the general feeling I got was they weren't to be trusted. I dismissed it and just ate the meal but couldn't get the thought out of my head for days, in the end I just don't go in those fast food places any more.
I AGREE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
helixpteron
11-10-2009, 04:14
if you think 600 was expensive for 2 people for a weekend then book a woodlore course, they have the premium on rip off.
Presumably your opinion on the cost of attending professionally organized courses run by respected, long established specialists is not felt by the attendees whom have ensured that the Woodlore Courses are fully booked in advance!
Earning a premium fee for one's work is generally regarded as a measure of one's professional standing and reputation.
GoatBoy666
16-10-2009, 00:13
Truways have just opened a shop up in Byfleet Surrey.
I was there a few weeks back for the grand opening... Very busy, pretty much had what you see on the website...
Lofty was there, gave a talk for about an hour in the shop next door...
Lots of good stories and tips...
Gutted I could'nt locate my copy of sas survival handbook I bought back in the 80's. Would be nice to have it signed...
I had to leave, but there was firestarting techniques being performed after a refreshment break... All in all Lots of fun...
Goat
Whittler Kev
16-10-2009, 10:43
Hi!
Has anyone here ever attended any classes at John "Lofty" Wiseman's school or at Eddie McGee's survival skills school? I have read that both of these UK instructors had/used to have an outdoors skills school but have not heard of anyone commenting on their experiences. Any info or ideas for info on this?
Thanks!
Monk
Have you looked at Ronnie Sunshines or Woodland Way courses?
I believe the head instructor, Jason Ingamells from Woodland Ways http://www.ronniesunshines.com/Ronnie_Sunshines_Instructors.p df (http://www.ronniesunshines.com/Ronnie_Sunshines_Instructors.p df)) teaches new instructors in the UK, Desert and Jungle, following Lofty Wisemans ways amongst others. I started with him and had a fantastic weekend (Flora & Fauna, Fire Lighting, Sharpening and tool handling, spoon making, trapping, cooking, skinning, cordage, hammock and basha hanging, etc, all in a beech forest in Hampshire). All were tasters to enable you to get a feel for specialist courses run at Jason’s school, and the price was a lot cheaper than several courses I've seen advertised (About £179).
Follow the links and say Kev (the one with the tent) sent you
http://www.ronniesunshines.com/index2.php?cPath=163 (http://www.ronniesunshines.com/index2.php?cPath=163)
http://www.woodland-ways.co.uk/ (http://www.woodland-ways.co.uk/) ;)