Learn Survival Preparedness in San Angelo

SAN ANGELO, TX - With every passing day, the national news reminds us of unpredictable sudden weather changes, the unsteady economy, the division in human relations, and, of course, the aftermath of a broken justice system.

Fortunately, San Angelo has not seen such destruction and devastation, but God forbid, what if? Not too long ago, a terrorist attack happened as close as Dallas, Texas; what would you do if it happened here? How would you respond? Would you be prepared, and could you survive? Oftentimes, we take food, shelter and water for granted, but should they be taken in an instant, what next?

Brandon Dunn is the president and lead instructor of the Omega Survival School in San Angelo. He said, "I grew up in the mountains of West Virginia and North Carolina and have pretty well been doing this (survivalist training) my whole life. My very first memory was of a deer hunt in Pocahontas County. When I was old enough, I joined the Marine Corp, and, because of the risks with my job, I got to do a lot of survival stuff. I got out in December 2012, and 6 months later, I was brought on to advise in the creation and implementation of the Jungle Survival program for the Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center in Okinawa, Japan. After that, I trained with Dave Canterbury, who was on Dual Survival on the Discovery Channel; he also runs the Pathfinder School LLC out of Ohio, and I've been training ever since."

The Omega Survival School training programs are centered around self-reliance and/or odds of survival when placed in a wilderness self-reliance situation.  

Dunn explained, "We have several options for the 'survival classes,' and I would highly recommend those without any training whatsoever to start with the 'basic' course. Our demographic of participants varies greatly. Surprisingly, we have a large number of female participants. Our oldest have been in their 70s, including a lot of Vietnam Vets, and the youngest, 6 years of age."

Dunn said some of the skills taught include primitive and modern fire making, field expedient shelter making, hunting and trapping methods, procurement and sanitation of water, and disaster preparedness.

On Sunday, October 9, he will be holding an intermediate certification clinic, which is open to the public, and for those wanting to further their knowledge and skills, an advanced certification clinic will take pace November 13. 

The mission of Omega Survival School is to instruct students in the art and discipline of preparedness, wilderness self-reliance, survival, primitive skills, bushcraft, and passing on knowledge of how to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle. 

Dunn added, "We're also running an instructor certification course that is also open to the public. In order to become an instructor in my school, a person has to go through my classes and coursework, being able to understand and have an accurate grasp of the material in order to teach it, and then pass the evaluation process."  

He also said he teaches people what they need to think about when they're in a real situation, how it will affect them physiologically as well as psychologically, and how to control their automatic fear response, which is "our survival mind aspect."  

"As far as kits, we dispel all the myths, things that people think about when they think about survival, as they are more common than what people realize," said Dunn. "Beyond that, we teach people about wildlife and medicinal edibles, show them how to make shelter with items in their kit, and basic land navigation. They will also learn different ways to make fire with things from their kit, like a knife and a rock, or flint and steel method, and fire by friction--rubbing two sticks together. 

Dunn added, "Our basic course teaches how to be found; on the other hand, our intermediate course revolves around how not to be found (i.e. camouflage)." 

Dunn started teaching his first official class in San Angelo in January of 2013, and now, he offers private courses and works with search and rescue.

"A lot of people want to wear the tin foil hats and wonder what would happen if our own government would declare martial law, but while it's inside the realm of possibility, it has nothing to do with probability, which is what we focus on," he said. 

Dunn gave a couple of examples where basic survival skill knowledge would have been invaluable. 

"With Hurricane Katrina, people were dying because they couldn't get clean water," he explained. "With Super Storm Sandy, people were freezing to death in their homes. We teach a lot of things that one would use for emergencies and disaster preparedness."

One of the perks to the class is the instructors allow one free child admission per paying adult.  

"We're all about families and passing on the information because we're losing this quickly; it doesn't fit into a lot of people's modern convenience," said Dunn. 

In addition, Dunn said his team offers blacksmithing classes and bow making. 

"Our whole purpose is to make one self-reliant," he said.

For those interested in these classes, they can pre-register online. For a full list of times, dates, prices, locations and itinerary, please check out the website at http://omegasurvivalschool.com and visit the Facebook page.