A Matter of Life and Death - Choosing the Right Survival Skill Program

On a camping trip in October 1987, I woke to find a snow-laden bough hanging dangerously over my tent. New York's Hudson Valley typically does not get a foot of snow during leaf season. I had the supplies I needed to get back home safely, but that adventure motivated me to learn more about survival. What if I had been caught in a winter storm and unable to get out?

Back when I was seeking knowledge on how to make tools from what I could find on the trail, there were few people teaching what wanted to learn. I was lucky to find classes with hands-on instruction and instructors who mastered the skills they taught.

In the years since I took my first wilderness survival class, the number of survival skill programs has grown. But not all programs teach the same skills, nor do they share the same philosophy.

I have blogged on programs I know and respect and am grateful for the input from Les Stroud, Ricardo Sierra, Barry Keegan and others who have not only mastered survival skills, but have mastered the art of teaching.

1. Define your goals. Do you want to learn about how to survive by making your own tools from stone, bone and wood? Do you want to learn backwoods safety and first aid techniques? Do you want to learn how to survive solo in winter? Are you interested in a specific type of terrain for available native plant and animal sources for survival? What do you want to be able to do as a result of taking this class?

2. Honestly assess your abilities. If you have not extensively practiced basic skills under less than optimum conditions, advanced-level classes will do you no good. If you need more field time, consider taking or repeating a basic level class. You will typically get better value from a smaller school offering more contact with instructors, individual guidance and opportunities for repeated practice.

3. What does the program say it offers? How do the brochures, books, websites and marketing materials of the school you are considering describe their course offerings, staff, facilities and expectations of staff and students? What is the tone of the written material? What is the staff to student ratio? What is the ratio of classroom time to time in the field?

4. Who teaches the classes? Which classes are taught by the owner of the school? Which are taught by other instructors? Are they able to guide students in learning, as well as demonstrate skills? Is the school located in an area allowing for hands-on experience or is it a lecture and media presentation? What are the qualifications of the staff? Where did instructors learn their skills? How long have they been teaching?

5. Do the instructors "walk their talk?"Are they actually applying their skills on a daily basis or were they drafted to fill a large student enrollment? How do they involve the students in the learning process? How do they handle failure - theirs and yours? Is there sufficient time for students to achieve the stated goals of the course?

6. Is the course hands-on? You need to actually make shelter, use stone tools, make a bow drill or hand drill set - and get a fire - in order to really understand what it takes to do these things when you really have to. How does the course involve students in actually walking through the process? What is the ratio of classroom time to field time for each skill taught?

7. Do course fees include food and lodging? Are you expected to bring a tent, or does the school provide cabins or shelters? Are you expected to bring your own food, or does program include meals? If the school provides meals, can the kitchen staff accommodate dietary restrictions?

8. What is the safety record of the school? Do instructors have basic first aid and CPR training? How far is the program from medical help in the event of an emergency?

9. Can you visit? Is there an open house or opportunity to visit a school located near you? If not, does the school have a list of students who have taken the program? Is there an opportunity to ask questions before enrolling? Are you satisfied with the answers to your questions?

10. How are emergencies handled? If an emergency prevents a student from completing the course - whether it's family needs or illness - how difficult is it to get back home or to medical care?

Les Stroud, Survivorman, said it best, " good hands-on instruction and meeting up with like minded people is something you can't beat. Smaller classes are better. And remember - many things will seem quite easy when you do them out on some weekend trip - fully fed, surrounded by other students - all working together on the same signal fire....try it alone or with one buddy some time - it's a whole different story. Try it after not eating for three days - another story. "

JJ Murphy, is a nature writer, blogging hiker, curriculum creator and tree-hugger currently based in Harriman, NY. Visit http://www.writerbynature.com for more information, including JJ's favorite places for gear and supplies.

Meditation And Yoga Supplies

Understanding Golf Package Holidays

When it comes to planning a summer vacation, no matter who you are going with there will always be a package to suit your needs. However, finding the right one for you can take a long time as it can often be difficult finding a destination that has activities for all the family. If for example, you want to go to play golf, then you may be worried about the activities available for the rest of the family. Luckily many golf resorts do have activities for the rest of the family; it is just a matter of researching and finding the right one for you.

Finding the best Golf resort for Your Vacation

If you are interested in taking a vacation at a golf resort, then you will find that there are hundreds of resorts to choose from all around the world. If you are looking to stay in america then some of the best golfing resorts can be found in Texas, California, carolina and Arizona. The main focus of a golfing resort is obviously golf, but there are other activities both within and around the resort too. Some other activities can include horseback riding, amusement parks and a spa. The Myrtle Beach golf Resorts are quite good if you are looking for a golf resort with plenty of activities. It is also situated extremely close to the beach which is great if some people in your group would prefer to relax and sunbathe rather than play golf.

Another thing to keep in mind is that not all golf resorts will be suited to families. There are many who do have the extra facilities and amenities for children, but some are strictly adult only. this means that you will definitely need to enquire whether the resort you have booked is family friendly or not before you actually set off. That may sound obvious, but many people just assume that all golf resorts would be family friendly and it is simply not the case. The best family friendly golfing resorts will have childrens camps and childrens activities such as water slides and swimming pools. The Marriott Rancho Las Palmas resort is a particularly good one to look at if you are travelling with children.

Overall there are several things to consider when thinking of booking a golf resort vacation. You can find a large number of golf package holidays, but they may not all be suited to your needs. You may even consider taking summer golf tours which take you to more than one golf course. this would be ideal for anybody traveling to spain without a family in tow and wanting to see all the Costa Blanca tourist attractions. So do look through the many vacation packages to see that you are getting the right deal for you.

The scriptwriter Leroy Calstard is passionate about things associated with Oliva. With his documents like http://www.alicante-spain.com/costa-blanca.html ,the columnist confirmed his knowledge on things associated to costa blanca tourist attractions and Xixona.

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Golf Teaching Tools - Chipping Problems

The golf teaching tool is conventional way of chipping the golf ball. You could use a 5 iron, a 7 iron and a 9 iron to chip with. I like doing this, 5 for the long chip shots, 7 for the medium chip shots, and 9 for the short chip shots.

Let me tell you the method and how easy it is to use. If you have a small chip shot, use your 9 iron and put the ball in the middle of your stance, put a little weight on your left leg, and push the handle over to your left leg. From there, make an arm swing with a little chop of the club head.

Now, if your shot has to go to a little further, take a 7 iron. Dont change the golf swing; same golf swing, same method, but choose a golf club that will send the ball a little further.

Using this club will probably get the golf ball to go back up towards the pin. Again, ball in the middle of your stance, weight left, handle left, arm swing. And, it will go a little bit further.

Now, lets just say that you had to hit a golf shot where the ball had to go all the way to the back of the green. Now you're going to use a 5 iron. Here it is, ball in the middle of the stance, weight left and handle left; same golf swing, an arm swing with a chop. And that 5 iron will send the ball a lot further. Thats a great golf teaching tool that should help you going forward.

Now, you may struggle with your short chip shots. And if the grass is mowed down, dont ever hesitate to putt the ball.

Do everything the same that you normally do when you putt a golf ball. The only challenge is, is that sometimes it comes out of the rough, bouncing a little bit, or when the fairway is mowed and its not perfect like the putting green.

Now heres the last golf teaching tool for you. You may struggle with your conventional chip shots and you dont like to putt the golf ball. So, why dont you try this utility wood? this is the 3 iron. The difference is, is that its built like a wood. So the bottom of it, the sole plate, is a little bit longer and itll stop you from stubbing the golf ball.

So, here it is. Approach it just like a putt and grip it like a putter, stand to it like a putt, and stroke it like a putter. And if you do that, the golf ball will take off and head to the hole. And thats when you use a utility golf club.

I hope this gives you some insight into making your short game a little easier when you're in and around the fringe. Dont forget to putt, use a flat-faced club like a putter, try your 3 wood, try your 4 wood, and lastly, do the conventional way, and I guarantee you that will help you.

Copyright 2006 david Nevogt

david Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. david is the author of "The Simple Golf Swing" which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today. You can find more of his golf instruction by going to http://www.golfswingguru.com

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Cisco CCNA Certification Exam Training: Telnet, Passwords, and Privilege Levels

Your CCNA certification exam is likely going to contain questions about Telnet, an application-level protocol that allows remote communication between two networking devices. With Telnet use being as common as it is, you had better know the details of how to configure it in order to pass your CCNA exam and to work in real-world networks.

The basic concept is pretty simple - we want to configure R1, but we're at R2. If we telnet successfully to R1, we will be able to configure R1 if we've been given the proper permission levels. In this CCNA case study, R2 has an IP address of 172.12.123.2 and R1 an address of 172.12.123.1. Let's try to telnet from R2 to R1.

R2#telnet 172.12.123.1

Trying 172.12.123.1 ... open

Password required, but none set

[Connection to 172.12.123.1 closed by foreign host]

This seems like a problem, but it's a problem we're happy to have. A Cisco router will not let any user telnet to it by default. That's a good thing, because we don't want just anyone connecting to our router! The "password required" message means that no password has been set on the VTY lines on R1. Let's do so now.

R1(config)#line vty 0 4

R1(config-line)#password baseball

A password of "baseball" has been set on the VTY lines, so we shouldn't have any trouble using Telnet to get from R2 to R1. Let's try that now.

R2#telnet 172.12.123.1

Trying 172.12.123.1 ... open

User access Verification

Password:

R1>

We're in, and placed into user exec mode. Let's say we want to configure a new IP address on the ethernet interface on R1. We'll now go into privileged exec mode....

R1>enable

% No password set

R1>

.. or maybe we won't! The default behavior of Telnet on a Cisco router is to place the incoming user into user exec mode, and require an enable password to allow that user into privileged exec mode! right now, we can't configure anything on this router and even the show commands we would use are limited at best.

If we wanted to allow all telnetting users to be put into privileged exec mode immediately without being prompted for an enable password, the command privilege level 15 placed on the VTY lines will accomplish this.

R1(config)#line vty 0 4

R1(config-line)#privilege level 15

From R2, we'll telnet into R1 again.

R2#telnet 172.12.123.1

Trying 172.12.123.1 ... open

User access Verification

Password:

R1#

We were able to telnet in from R2 with the original password of "baseball", and even better, we were placed into privileged exec mode immediately!

You may or may not want to do this in real-world networks, though. If you want to assign privilege levels on an individual user basis, configure usernames and passwords and use the privilege 15 command in the actual username/password command itself to give this privilege levels to some users but not all.

R1(config)#username heidi password klum

R1(config)#username tim privilege 15 password gunn

Both users can telnet into the router, but the first user will be placed into user exec and challenged for the enable password to enter privileged exec mode. If there is no enable password, the user literally cannot get into privileged exec. The second user will be placed into privileged exec immediately after successfully authenticating.

Passwords on a Cisco router or switch are vitally important, and you're not tied down to granting "all-or-nothing" access. Knowing the details like the ones shown here help you tie down network security while allowing people to do their jobs - and it doesn't hurt to know this stuff for the CCNA exam, either!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com).

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