California Survival School

★★★★★Stacy Bowles

We recently took a wilderness survival class as a family — even with our 7-year-old — and it ended up being one of the best experiences we’ve had together. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect and was a little nervous beforehand, but it far exceeded anything I imagined. The instructors made everything approachable, engaging, and hands-on for all ages. We learned so many practical skills that are helpful not just for emergencies, but for everyday preparedness and confidence as well. My entire family left excited, empowered, and already asking when we can sign up for another class. Highly recommend for families, beginners, or anyone wanting to learn real-life survival skills in a fun and supportive environment!

★★★★★E Cuevas

Great day with Dan for the 1 day Core Survival Skills Adventure Course. Best take away: what are your priorities in any unplanned survival situation! Dan teaches how and why you need to address each concern. Half day hands-on and half instruction. beautiful setting, fun and informative activities (shelter, land nav, first aid). Good mix of people in the class, it was nice to work with them on the tasks. Casual enough to do on a Saturday and feel productive and still recharged. Thanks Dan!

★★★★Samaria Bernales

Learned essentials to carry me through any terrain, from a true global wilderness expert. Our instructor Dan (the head instructor) was super qualified, and had an impressive survivalist background. He explained everything simply and encouraged questions. Hands on activity included: building a shelter, a quick stop-the-bleed demo on a partner, and learning to use compasses to track long journeys. However, based on the image on their website for this class, I assumed there would be a hands-on fire activity. The class was in a remote location near Livermore, CA but it also could have been taught somewhere more local. The majority of the class 10am-3pm we spent seated taking notes from the verbal information. We spent maybe 1.5 hours total on the hands-on aspect. For the price, I would’ve appreciated more activities. That is why I selected 4 stars.

★★★★★Olivia Ramsey

The Core Survival Skills Adventure Training course was so much fun and incredibly informative. Everyone in the class came from a different background and joined with different goals, but we all came together to learn the skills and thinking strategies needed to feel confident and capable in the wilderness- from setting up a shelter to compass navigation. Dan is a thorough, engaging, and intentional instructor with an impressive background and he meets each student where they are. I can’t wait to attend more courses and adventures in the future!

★★★★★Celeste Rajczi

This was by far the most comprehensive and enjoyable intro to survival skills class i've ever taken. I had the privilege of learning from Dan as an instructor, who in our brief afternoon clinic demonstrated a methodology for setting priorities and decision making in survival situations that has brought me so much clarity. To anyone looking to empower themselves with foundational survival skills, I couldn't recommend the California Survival School enough! My sincerest gratitude to the whole team. xx Celeste