A tasty combination platter for those wanting to do more with less! Another ALSS exclusive, this seven-day course mixes primitive living and modern survival skills while visiting beautiful wilderness areas throughout Arizona. Arizona contains more geographical diversity, in the shortest drive time, of any place in North or South America and this course will prove it! We'll travel from life zone to life zone, from the Sonoran desert with its towering saguaro cactus, through pinyon/juniper woodland, to the thick, pine and fir forests of the high mountains.

Cody designed the Arizona Combo course in response to students who wanted to train longer and know even more about how to effectively deal with a modern wilderness survival scenario. Like its little brother, the "Staying Alive" course, the Combo focuses on core skills needed to survive and thrive in the woods such as shelter, water, fire and signaling for rescue. The Combo experience, however, provides you with a hands-on opportunity to explore skills within radically different terrain and temperature variations. For example, what is needed and available in the desert for making shelter is very different from creating shelter in a boreal forest at nearly 10,000 feet in elevation.

Experience skills from the best of both worlds, including the primitive and modern aspects of :

Making Fire: from bic's to sticks including paper and wood matches, lighters, metal matches, magnesium, chemicals, optics, parabolics, flint and steel, bow-drills, hand-drills, natural tinder bundles, techno tinder's, fire as a tool, fire safety, fire physics, and safely extinguishing a fire.

Getting Water: from solar, bag and tree stills, reverse stills, dew stills, Indian wells, water disinfection methods from stones to halogens, flavoring options, maximal hydration tips for optimal performance in hot or cold weather, natural and human indicators for finding water in the back-country, desert survival gear, body water requirements for men and women, preventing dehydration and hyponatremia and more.

Building Shelter: from natural materials and survival kit components; where, what, why and how to build in desert and mountain terrain, sleeping warm or cool, effectively using space blankets, garbage bags and tarps, and how to choose and wear desert and mountain clothing to prevent hypothermia and hyperthermia.

Signaling for Rescue: with homemade and store bought signal mirrors and tin whistles, can lids, CD ROMs, sound, smoke, ground to air signals.and activating the Search and Rescue system.

Survival Physiology and Psychology: efficient and effective trip planning, recognizing survival priorities in hot and cold climates, dealing with fear in yourself and others, and preparing and packing survival kits for desert and mountain regions.

Wild Edible Plants: the truth about wild plants as a food source for short or long-term survival, demystifying Arizona's many life-zone's, pre-historic hunter-gatherers vs. planting societies, basal metabolic rate requirements for men and women, identifying, harvesting, processing and eating wild plants and exploring the use of some wild medicinal plants.

This course ups the ante for a modern wilderness survival course and provides you with maximal adaptation possibilities within a wide range of terrain features, climates and weather variations. Two hearty meals a day are included. (minimal hiking required)