July 23, 2020

How to survive in the wilderness with Matt Furches

53 minutes

If you’ve been around here for a while, I am sure you’ve heard me talk about the month I spent with Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS). Today I brought on Matt Furches, Matt is one of the instructors for BOSS and a good friend of mine. We talked about how he got into his work at BOSS and how their training helps transform attendee’s lives for the better. We get into the idea of not having everything available to you at your fingertips, outcomes he’s seen from the BOSS training and some of his favorite memories and outcomes he’s seen come out of the survival courses.

About Matt Furches:

Matt Furches hails from Nottingham, Pennsylvania, where he was greatly inspired by the woods and the creeks, and by the Amish culture that coexisted side-by-side with 1980s American culture. After discovering the writings of Tom Brown Jr., George Washington Sears, and Henry David Thoreau, he became a self-taught naturalist and practitioner of bushcraft and indigenous survival skills.

In 2008 he spent an entire summer in the American West studying with some of the most skilled instructors in the field of primitive technology, survival, and natural history, his journey culminated in a 28-day field course with the world-renowned Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS), which since the late 1960s have been at the forefront of survival training and adventure travel. Matt was invited to apprentice with the school and after 10 seasons is now a Master Instructor at BOSS.

Connect with Matt:

Website | www.gnarlybranchstudio.wordpress.com

Instagram | @gnarlybranchstudio

Boss Inc | www.boss-inc.com/staff/matt-furches

Links:

Hunter Gatherer course - https://www.boss-inc.com/survival-courses/hunter-gatherer

What You’ll Hear:

3:12 What Boulder Outdoor Survival School is and what they do

8:57 Matt’s experience of starting with BOSS

14:59 The concept of not having everything at your fingertips

18:46 Why they create compare down situations

22:09 A few surprising outcomes that he’s seen come out of the BOSS training

26:40 An outline of the survival tactics at the minutes, hours and days levels

31:00 The problem with hoarding during the pandemic

35:20 The challenges they’re going through right now

37:40 One lesson they teach at the BOSS training that everyone needs right now

39:18 His thoughts on a resurgence of primal skills, homesteading and natural living

43:10 His favorite story from his years of teaching at BOSS

50:39 How we can persevere through anything

If you look at the civilized work and think, “no thank you,” then you should subscribe to our podcast so you don’t miss a single episode! Also, join the uncivilized community and connect with me on my website, Facebook or Instagram so you can join in on our live recordings, ask questions to guests and more.

...more