7-day Primitive Skills Course
7-day Primitive Skills Course
The BOSS 7-day Primitive Skills Course is designed to provide a solid foundation in traditional survival skills—from fire to shelters to tools—in addition to the more long-term living skills needed to truly thrive in the wilderness. Instruction is intense and hands-on.
Tuition – $2380
About our primitive skills course
You will leave our campus and settle in at one of our permanent primitive wilderness camps to live as a village. Every day for the next week, you will learn and practice primitive and traditional living skills from dawn to dusk. This course is intensive, and we ask that students be prepared to dive in and devote their efforts to the lessons at hand. We aim to give students a solid foundation in primitive and traditional living skills.
Course highlights
- Live as a primitive village at an established camp in the beautiful territory surrounding Boulder, UT.
- Learn and practice primitive and traditional living skills from master instructors.
- Dive deep into foundational primitive living skills such as friction fire, primitive shelter, foraging, traps, stone tools, and more.
- On this course, you will eat well.
Know More, Carry Less
In line with the BOSS Positive Impact philosophy, the 7-day Primitive Skills Course emphasizes the use of renewable, natural, and local resources. Tents, sleeping bags, stoves, backpacks and many other “essential” pieces of outdoor equipment are replaced with their low-tech counterparts: a poncho, a blanket, a campfire, etc. The skills we teach you allow you to live in comfort at length in the wilderness without relying on modern gear.
7-day Primitive Skills Course Location
Primitive Skills courses are taught in two possible settings just outside of Boulder, Utah: the Boulder Mountain basecamp and a basecamp in the desert of The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Both locations provide students with comfortable, natural shelters (wickiups, caves, etc.), free-flowing streams and spectacular scenery. Instruction is focused in the basecamp areas, but some travel is expected to acquire materials or information not immediately available. Students should plan on bringing hiking boots suitable for day trips that may take us in knee-deep water and over rocks. Be advised: Our basecamps are simple teaching areas in pristine environments – without electricity, telephones and modern buildings.
Learn by Doing
At BOSS, we strongly believe in learning by doing. While at times, instruction will be done in lecture format, it will be done in the field where students can see what they are learning in situ and can practice their skills in a natural environment.
BOSS course enrollment is restricted to provide each course with a student-teacher ratio conducive to hands-on instruction. Our primitive skills courses have up to 12 students and 3 staff.
Prerequisites
- No prior camping or outdoor experience is required.
- BOSS requires that all Primitive Living Skills course applicants undergo a complete physical examination and receive their physician’s approval in writing prior to final acceptance on the course.
- Students must be 18 years of age or older.
Upcoming 7-Day Primitive Skills Courses
Jun 22 to Jun 28, 2025
$2380 – Space Available
Jun 21 to Jun 27, 2026
$2618 – Space Available
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Interested in life-changing skills?
The Boulder Outdoor Survival School has delivered primitive skills courses to adventurous people since 1968. Our survival instructors are some of the most experienced and competent in the world. The challenges our BOSS survival skills courses offer aren’t for everyone, but if you’re the right person and it’s the right time for you, we promise world-class skills instruction, challenge and real experience in primitive living.
