313: Bushcraft Skills with Kevin Estela

Kevin Estela taught high school history for 14 years before going full-time into wilderness instruction. He's the author of 101 Skills You Need to Survive in the Woods and Beyond the Field, and his path started with his dad, who survived the Philippine jungle as a kid during World War II. In this episode, Kevin lays out the readiness formula from his late mentor—awareness, preparedness, and willingness—and why a closet full of untested gear isn't prepping. He breaks down the big three bushcraft skills of shelter, water, and fire, his four-type shelter hierarchy, why sleep is the survival skill every prepper ignores, and the survival knife vs bushcraft knife question—what he carries every day, the $25 knife he tells beginners to start with, and the knife skills that matter most. The thread through it all: do something today you didn't do yesterday, and you're 1% more capable.