Red River Survival: Frontier Campcraft is an immersive wilderness survival course conducted in the rugged terrain of Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. This course is built around the practical survival methods historically used by pioneers, scouts, longhunters, and woodland peoples who moved through the Appalachian region long before modern outdoor gear existed.
This is not a themed experience or a casual camping class. It is a performance-based survival course designed to prepare students for a realistic 72-hour emergency scenario involving limited gear, physical stress, time constraints, and environmental exposure.
Instruction is led by Jason Hunt and James Gibson, combining decades of experience in survival training, field instruction, and practical preparedness. Students are trained to think clearly under pressure, work efficiently with minimal tools, and rely on proven survival priorities rather than convenience or comfort.
Course Focus
Students will train in pine forests and sandstone overhangs common to the Red River Gorge region, learning to:
Establish and maintain fire using natural materials, fatwood, and primitive ignition
Build functional shelters and scout-style camps quickly and efficiently
Live out of a bedroll-based sleep system, not tents
Locate, purify, and manage water from natural sources
Apply survival mindset, risk management, and self-aid principles
Perform knife- and saw-based wood processing safely and effectively
The course follows our Gospel of Bushcraft (Intermediate training) framework , emphasizing area resources to affect fire, shelter, water, and food as survival priorities. Students are evaluated on task completion, time standards, and proper execution. This is not observational learning, students will work, repeat skills, and be assessed.
What to Expect
Physically demanding training
Outdoor living for the duration of the course
Repeated fire-making and shelter-building exercises
Exposure to weather, fatigue, and discomfort
Clear performance standards and evaluations
Who This Course Is For
This course is designed for individuals who want real-world survival competence, including:
Outdoorsmen seeking foundational survival mastery
Preparedness-minded individuals
Instructors and serious students building field credibility
Those who value skill over gear and function over comfort
Who This Course Is NOT For
Casual campers
Comfort-focused students
Anyone unwilling to work, get dirty, or be evaluated
Those looking for entertainment rather than training
Red River Survival: Frontier Campcraft delivers historically grounded, field-tested survival skills that still work today, because they have always worked.
