Order of Man - OoM 031： Survival Skills for Every Scenario with Creek Stewart

00:00:00.000 You never know when you'll be placed in a survival situation, whether it's a natural disaster, becoming lost in the wilderness, or surviving a bear attack like we talk about on the show today.

00:00:07.760 Your knowledge of survival skills could literally spell the difference between life and death.

00:00:11.840 At the very least, your ability to successfully navigate a dangerous situation says a lot about who you are as a man.

00:00:17.300 My guest today, survival expert and TV show host, Creek Stewart, teaches us about the basics of survival, the biggest survival mistakes people make, and how to be prepared for any situation.

00:00:26.420 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest. Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path.

00:00:32.760 When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time. Every time.

00:00:37.240 You are not easily deterred or defeated. Rugged. Resilient. Strong.

00:00:42.260 This is your life. This is who you are. This is who you will become.

00:00:46.460 At the end of the day, and after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.

00:00:51.480 Guys, welcome back to The Order, man. I am your host, Ryan Mickler, and I've got one of the best interviews lined up for you to date.

00:00:58.820 My friend, Creek Stewart, is going to teach us how to build and develop our survival skills and be prepared for any situation life can throw at us.

00:01:07.180 We talk about the best tips, the biggest survival mistakes, and even how one of his friends survived a grizzly bear attack.

00:01:13.080 Now, before I get into that interview, though, let me give a shout-out real quick to Werder2, who left us an iTunes review.

00:01:19.400 He says, quote,

00:01:20.900 Thanks for that word or two. If you have not left your review yet, you can do that at orderofman.com slash iTunes.

00:01:43.680 Now, he mentioned the Facebook group that we've got going on, and I wanted to share that with you, too.

00:01:47.900 We're now just under 800 men strong, and we have some amazing, amazing conversations about fitness and leadership, dealing with family issues, and just about anywhere in between.

00:01:58.280 I think last week we talked about firearms, how men take their coffee, and also how to deal with a spouse who has been unfaithful.

00:02:04.960 So, make sure you're joining us. You can join us at facebook.com slash groups slash orderofman.

00:02:11.180 And this week, we've got a fitness challenge underway, so be sure to catch us over there.

00:02:14.920 As always, guys, the show notes for this show, the links, the best quotes, all of that stuff can be found at orderofman.com slash 031.

00:02:21.960 Guys, I'm stoked to introduce you today to Creek Stewart. He is a survival expert. He's been in the business for 20 years.

00:02:28.220 In fact, he started leading survival skills courses at the age of 21 in his school, Willowhaven.

00:02:32.800 It was named one of the top five adventure trips in the U.S. by Chicago Magazine and one of the top 10 survival schools by MSN Travel.

00:02:40.260 He's also the host of the Weather Channel's Fat Guy in the Woods, a great show.

00:02:43.280 Every week, he brings in three average Joes to the woods to survive for a week with only one objective, that is to survive. 1.00

00:02:49.980 And then he teaches them skills to make them men.

00:02:52.760 Creek's been featured on the Today Show, Inside Edition, Fox & Friends, Men's Fitness Magazine, Backpacker Magazine, Outdoor Life Magazine,

00:02:59.780 The Weather Channel, American Survival Guide, Huffington Post, MSN News, Lifehacker, and The Daily Beast.

00:03:04.960 So he's got a lot of credibility. He's got a lot of experience. He's also the author of four books.

00:03:09.580 Creek is currently the lead trainer for the new survival competition series, Escape the Woods, and he's here to talk with us about all things survival.

00:03:17.400 Creek Stewart, glad you're here. Thanks for joining us today.

00:03:19.720 Hey, it's an honor, man. I've been enjoying all your content.

00:03:22.600 Yeah, and same here. I've been following you for some time now, so I'm stoked to have you on the show.

00:03:26.180 Appreciate it. Me too. I'm excited.

00:03:27.580 So how did you get all into this survival stuff, wilderness survival, all the things that you're doing now?

00:03:34.100 Is this something that you've been doing forever? Is this something that is relatively new for you?

00:03:38.940 Tell me a little bit about your background.

00:03:40.500 Well, I tell you what, I grew up in Boy Scouts, so I got my first taste of the outdoors and survival in Boy Scouts.

00:03:48.600 Really fell in love with the outdoors as a young kid.

00:03:51.820 You know, like most people, my path changed a little bit when I was in high school and then I went to college.

00:03:56.200 But I realized in college that I realized then that my passion really was in the outdoors.

00:04:03.320 There's a long story that kind of brings that to the forefront that we'll skip.

00:04:07.660 But I realized...

00:04:09.020 Maybe too long for the show.

00:04:10.600 Yeah, well, maybe some other day.

00:04:12.800 But I tell you, I realized that I really had a passion for the outdoors in college when I was removed from the outdoors, when I went to a big city.

00:04:20.780 And so I actually wrote my first survival book and taught my first survival course in college, and that's been almost 20 years ago.

00:04:29.680 Oh, wow. Yeah.

00:04:30.860 Yeah, so I'm not new to the industry by any stretch.

00:04:34.760 I spent probably 10 or 12 years really working this as a part-time business, as a part-time situation.

00:04:41.640 I've often said, if I did it for the money or the fame, I would have quit year one.

00:04:45.780 Right, of course.

00:04:46.700 Because neither came quick at all.

00:04:50.140 So I worked a long time doing this part-time.

00:04:53.600 And then I've been able to really make it a full-time gig within the past six, seven years.

00:04:59.640 Yeah.

00:04:59.960 Yeah, it's kind of the whole fight, scratch, claw, and struggle story that so many guys have.

00:05:07.860 I know, and we hear that phrase, it's amazing how long it takes to become an overnight success, right?

00:05:12.640 Yeah, that's right.

00:05:13.820 There's certainly no get-rich-quick scheme in my life.

00:05:17.620 Yeah, yeah, same here.

00:05:19.440 So tell me about Boy Scouts.

00:05:20.940 What did you enjoy so much about Scouts?

00:05:23.060 Was it the camaraderie?

00:05:24.040 Was it the activities?

00:05:25.020 What is it that really spoke to you?

00:05:26.560 It was all of it, man.

00:05:27.700 You know, I love the outdoors.

00:05:30.320 I love outdoor skills.

00:05:31.720 But, you know, scouting, a BSA, you know, does kind of with the outdoors what I do.

00:05:37.540 You know, they teach outdoor skills.

00:05:40.120 But at the end of the day, they teach life lessons.

00:05:42.460 You know, they use the outdoors to teach more important skills.

00:05:48.220 You know, things like bravery and cleanliness and honesty and integrity and all of those things

00:05:54.300 that are important to young men, to young boys who are developing into men.

00:05:58.820 So I liked all of those things.

00:06:00.800 I like that it's a good, solid organization.

00:06:03.300 It's just I have just such fond memories of Scouting.

00:06:06.520 And because of that, I'm very much involved in Scouts today, too.

00:06:10.620 Yeah, I made it to Weeblow, and then unfortunately I gave up right before Boy Scouts.

00:06:16.040 So that's one of the things looking back now is that I wish I would have continued on

00:06:20.840 and then eventually earned my Eagle Scout as well.

00:06:23.020 Sure, sure.

00:06:24.380 You know, I have just huge fond memories of Scouting.

00:06:28.840 Obviously, I stayed in Boy Scouts and I'm an Eagle Scout.

00:06:31.660 So I have a lot of friends who I've never met who are involved in Scouting.

00:06:37.380 I always say about Scouts, you know, I know enough about a Scout to know that I already like him.

00:06:42.880 Right, yeah, and you can.

00:06:44.200 You can tell a lot by just the fact that he's gone through that program, right?

00:06:47.140 Yeah, yeah, you sure can.

00:06:48.480 So I've thought about this a lot.

00:06:50.320 When we're young, we get involved with Scouts and we have these activities and we have campouts.

00:06:55.100 And then somewhere between the time that we're boys to the time we become men, we don't do these things anymore.

00:07:01.540 And I'd like to know your thoughts as to why we don't do that.

00:07:05.860 And maybe is that something that we should do as men more often?

00:07:09.280 Get out, be together as men.

00:07:10.900 Tell me your thoughts on that.

00:07:11.800 Yeah, I think it's important for men to be around other men, you know, other like-minded men especially.

00:07:19.100 There's definitely a sense of, you know, I always use the phrase, you know, metal sharpens metal.

00:07:25.940 And when you're around people who challenge you and push you and encourage you, especially other men, you know, who tend to do that, who tend to be competitive and challenging and at the same time encouraging if you're hanging around the right guys.

00:07:43.320 You know, that does nothing but make you a better person, you know, it's easy to become lazy and comfortable.

00:07:51.800 And when you're around other men who are pursuing great things, it's very difficult to be comfortable.

00:07:58.860 So yeah, yeah, definitely.

00:08:00.820 I'm a longtime believer in that you become like the people you associate yourself with.

00:08:05.260 And because of that, you know, I do my best in my life to associate myself with incredible people.

00:08:09.900 So yeah, yeah, it's amazing when you surround yourselves with the right people, what they can actually do for you and how, how, well, actually how you can help each other, right?

00:08:18.080 That's right.

00:08:18.780 That's right.

00:08:19.340 Absolutely.

00:08:20.080 So tell me a little bit about the show, Fat Guys in the Woods, because I've enjoyed watching some of those episodes and seeing what that's all about.

00:08:27.800 Tell me a little bit about the premise of the show and then maybe even some lessons that the guys you're having come on are learning.

00:08:33.120 You know, it's, it's all about men being men, you know, getting back to the, getting back to at least one theme of what I would consider very manly things.

00:08:43.100 You know, um, it, the show really embodies what I've, what I've tried to do my entire career.

00:08:48.360 It's funny because I started off in the survival industry doing this stuff because I liked it and it was fun.

00:08:54.220 And that was really kind of the extent of how I thought about it when I was, when I was young in my early twenties, you know, but I'm, I'm almost 40 now I'm 39 and I look at it very differently now than I did then.

00:09:08.080 And it has a lot to do with, you know, it has a lot to do with how I come off in the show.

00:09:12.620 You know, I always say that I started survival, started teaching survival skills because they were fun and I still do it almost 20 years later because they matter.

00:09:20.980 In the show, I take three guys who are all to point in their life where they're kind of stuck in a rut.

00:09:25.880 You know, they need to kick in the pants. 1.00

00:09:27.140 Everybody can identify with that. 0.68

00:09:29.040 We've all been there.

00:09:30.420 Of course.

00:09:30.940 Right.

00:09:31.440 And they're guys who just need an extreme situation to bring about what they would consider as extreme change.

00:09:39.880 And there is just absolutely nothing else in life, like a survival scenario where you're stripped of pretty much everything to bring about a sense of perspective about life back at home.

00:09:51.480 Then what I do for these guys, we take them out in the woods for six days, five nights, six days with hardly anything, just a knife and a canteen.

00:09:58.260 And we got to, we got to fight for everything we get, you know, shelter, water, fire, and food.

00:10:02.840 And it's a huge dose of perspective, but at the same time, it instills all kinds of mental skills.

00:10:08.680 You know, obviously they learned the physical skills like shelter and water and fire and food, but those always take second place to what I think are the most important skills.

00:10:16.400 You know, the life skills, the confidence and the perseverance and the I can do with attitude and the teamwork and the camaraderie, you know, those are things that they can, when they get back home, that can really truly change their life.

00:10:29.740 Yeah, they may one day find themselves in a survival scenario where they build a fire to stay alive, but it's really more about changing how they think about life so that when they get back home, they can really put some, put some things to work and really make some changes in their life.

00:10:45.300 Yeah, that makes sense. And the way you do one thing is the way you do everything, right? So those lessons can transfer over.

00:10:50.240 That's right. You know, that's a really great way of saying that, you know, that's a really great way of saying that. And it's so true.

00:10:56.460 So what can guys at home that maybe aren't in the, you know, don't have the opportunity to be on the show, for example, but guys at home who feel like they're stuck in a rut, is there something that they can do on their end that maybe incorporates some of the skills and things that you're doing to create change in their lives?

00:11:11.340 Well, you know, I'm a survival guy. So I'm a huge proponent of outdoor skills. You know, I think, I think outdoor skills are, are very important. You know, I'm not just because they're important from a survival perspective, but there is just something about connecting a connection with nature, with the wilderness, with the outdoors. That is powerful.

00:11:33.140 I believe, you know, I believe that the most powerful force on the planet is the outdoors. And when you can kind of connect with that and have a relationship with the wilderness and the outdoors, that is, you know, successful where you feel like you can work with it to kind of meet basic human survival needs.

00:11:50.680 There's something very powerful in that and rewarding. There's a lot of lessons that come from survival skills and the struggle to kind of master them, whether it's shelter, fire, finding water, finding food. There's, there's a lot of just very rewarding material from just being able to provide yourself with basic human survival needs.

00:12:14.000 It's the most basic of basic that we need to stay alive, especially for men who are natural providers, who naturally, I mean, a lot, I don't know about you, man, but a lot of, a lot of men that I meet, they just kind of wonder, can I really take on mother nature and come out on top? There's something about guys. There's a little bit of Rambo in all of us, you know?

00:12:34.280 Of course, of course. Yeah. And, you know, just tackling some of these basic survival skills just builds confidence. And when you build confidence, it affects all areas of your life.

00:12:45.920 So yeah, just getting out there and doing it right. Getting after it, learning about it. What are some of the basic skills that you think guys should start with? You know, I'm, I, I obviously I camp a little bit. We do some hiking, but nowhere to the degree that you are.

00:12:57.140 Sure.

00:12:57.760 Where, where do we start? Where do we, where do we start this journey of, of discovering nature and learning more about ourselves?

00:13:03.560 You know, I, I always say, start in your backyard. There's a huge misconception that you got to be out in the middle of nowhere on 80 acres. Right. You know, and it's just not true. You know, a lot of survival skills can be mastered in your backyard, no matter how big or small it is. And when I, when people ask me, what should I start with? You know, when it comes to learning survival skills, I always say, start with fire because fire is, in my opinion, the most important survival skill.

00:13:31.960 It's directly related to all other survival priorities. It can make up for a horrible shelter in cold weather, can boil and purify water, cook food, signal for rescue, make tools. And when you're in a survival scenario, it's your best friend in the woods because it's, it's literally almost like a friend there with you.

00:13:49.940 And I think I've heard you say that you've talked about fire in addition to the things you just mentioned, but also a big boost for morale as well. Right.

00:13:57.680 It is, which is huge. And when you're down and out, you know, survival is 90% mental and 10% physical and, and a fire is a big part of just, you know, morale and just giving yourself a, just a mental boost in a horrible situation. But there's, you know, I just say, you know, when people ask, where should I start? I say, start with fire. There's so many different ways you can start a fire. You learn a lot of lessons about yourself when struggling with starting fire.

00:14:24.180 And yeah, it's, it's, it's a great category that has applications all throughout other survival priorities.

00:14:31.740 So what are those, what are some of those ways? I mean, I, I know some of those ways, but, but give us some insights into several different ways that we can start a fire.

00:14:38.680 Yeah. There's, I mean, there's all kinds of different categories. I always start with the basics, you know? I mean, when I, when I take somebody from zero to a hundred with fire, we start with the easy stuff and work our way down to the, to the more difficult ways.

00:14:51.720 Obviously you've got disposable lighters and matches. You'd be surprised at how many guys who have never started a fire with matches. Believe it or not.

00:14:58.940 Yeah, absolutely, man. It's, um, we live in, we live in a crazy world. So, and there's nothing wrong with that. You know, there's, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just, um, it's just a truth of, you know, how convenient things are for us, you know?

00:15:13.760 Right. Yeah. In the society we live in. So we move from matches to Flint to like a, it's called a ferro rod, like a striker. It's like a metal match, showers of sparks. And that can be, that can be really tricky, you know, if, if you don't know exactly what you're doing.

00:15:29.820 So you work from there, um, into friction fires, which are rubbing two sticks together, together, like a caveman, you know, all kinds of different friction fires. You learn a lot about the fire principles through that process. One of my favorite categories is solar, whether it's with a magnifying glass or, uh, something, you know, like a, a clear balloon, a clear bag filled with water, a piece of ice. There's all kinds of different ways to start fire with the sun, which is my favorite category.

00:15:58.440 Really? Yeah. I've never even, I mean, obviously the magnifying glass, right. Cause you think about burning ants when you're a kid or whatever, but yeah, yeah, it's a whole with ice as well though. Huh? Yeah. You know, it's all about the shape, a sphere, you know, if you can get anything clear and fill it with water, that's in a circle, you can start, you can, you can focus the sun rays and, and start a fire. Um, it's a really, yeah, it's a whole different ball of trash water bottles, you know, all kinds of different stuff. So interesting. All right.

00:16:27.720 So what's next after fire. So you say fires first, where do we go from there?

00:16:31.300 Well, you know, your priorities, your basic survival priorities are based on just a very, it's the most basic phrase in the survival industry is what we call the three survival rules of three in extreme conditions. You can survive for three hours without shelter, three days without water and three weeks without food. And obviously fire is related to all of those.

00:16:52.620 After fire, I start teaching basic sheltering principles, you know, how to insulate yourself, how to block wind, how to take advantage of natural, what I call mother nature, give me shelters, you know? And then after shelter, we start talking about water. Uh, there's a natural progression of survival priorities, just simply based upon what we need as humans.

00:17:14.400 Yeah. That makes sense. Just the priority of those things, right?

00:17:16.700 Yeah. Yeah. So what are some of the, when it comes to survival situations, one of the things I've thought about are what are some of the common mistakes that you see people making that, uh, we should be aware of?

00:17:28.740 Well, I mean, the biggest mistake people make in a survival scenario, they make it before they even leave their house. And it's that they do not tell at least three people where they're going and when to expect them back.

00:17:43.420 Just that one step alone could mitigate 80% of survival scenarios where people are lost or are misplaced in the wilderness. And someone, one of their loved ones, friends or family just have no idea where they're at and when to expect them back. So they have no idea that they're lost to begin with.

00:18:05.280 Interesting. Yeah. Just an easy way to, to take care of that, right?

00:18:09.000 It's huge. It is, it is huge. And, um, that's, that's the biggest mistake people make. And the second largest mistake people make, it's a natural instinct. Um, it's actually one of our first survival instincts when we're born is denial. You know, it's one of the first things we develop to protect ourselves. Even when we're little kids, when, you know, our parents ask us, did you spill this milk? And obviously our natural instinct is to deny that, to protect ourselves.

00:18:38.240 Right. Yeah. And we carry that all throughout our life, even into survival scenarios where people will deny early on that they are in a bad situation. For example, someone will be walking and they will be lost in the woods and deep down in their head, they know they're lost.

00:18:58.180 And of course, right. And at that point they should stop before it's too late. They should assess their survival scenarios. They should put a plan together and they should start kind of mitigating that situation by building a shelter or a fire and just wait it out.

00:19:12.720 But instead people will deny that and they will push and continue to push the admission that they've made a mistake or they're lost. It can be a huge, huge mistake in a survival scenario. You know, it's funny. I was talking to a lady one time who was mauled by a bear.

00:19:31.840 Oh my goodness. And she told me, she says, I remember when that bear was charging me, I was thinking to myself, who behind me is that bear angry with?

00:19:44.260 Oh yeah. So she, yeah. Just like you said, that denial, like it's not going to happen to me. Right.

00:19:48.800 That's right. And rather than get down into a position that would protect herself more from that bear, she waited for that bear to pass by her, you know, which obviously it didn't. It mauled her.

00:20:02.320 Yeah.

00:20:02.940 But there was, you know, there's this all kinds of scenarios where denial, where denial can play a huge factor.

00:20:11.580 How did this woman survive that attack? 0.74

00:20:13.860 Well, ultimately you, you, you survive all bear attacks, grizzly bear attacks, at least by the grace of God and by luck pretty much.

00:20:22.440 Right. Yeah. Right.

00:20:23.740 But she, she curled up into kind of a fetal position ultimately to protect, you know, her core, her chest and neck and face and, and play dead. 0.86

00:20:35.580 Um, that's, that's kind of the rule of thumb with a grizzly bear is you play, you play dead because nine times out of 10, a grizzly bear is attacking you in a defensive attack.

00:20:45.720 So it's, it's goal is to neutralize the threat and once it's neutralized, that's right. That's right. So she did, she did what was necessary ultimately, but, um, you know, but it could have ended a whole lot worse.

00:20:58.100 Yeah. So eventually the bear just lost interest and, and headed out.

00:21:02.180 Yeah. You know, grizzly, you know, to your typical bear attack are, are defensive attacks, not offensive attacks. They're not really out to eat you.

00:21:10.500 Right.

00:21:11.000 You know, if, if typically when you're being attacked by a grizzly bear or a black bear, it's because you've entered their personal space. It's because their cubs feel threatened.

00:21:19.620 Uh, you've come up on them when they're eating, you know, they're protecting a food source. Uh, so they're just, their goal is to neutralize a threat.

00:21:27.480 Right. Right. All right. So let's go back to what you're talking about, which is some of those things that we're just, we're just born with, right? Those defense mechanisms. Are there some other instincts or emotions that actually work against us in survival situations?

00:21:40.800 Well, you know, me personally, I mean, I learned some hard lessons in early on in my survival career. Cockiness can work against you.

00:21:48.220 Of course. Yeah. Right. Thinking, you know, everything, you know, when I was young in the survival industry, of course I knew everything, you know, and the more I've learned, the more I realize I don't know. Uh, but I can remember, you know, I can remember doing a live newscast one time back in the day when I knew everything. And I was going to show the world how to, how to do a bow drill fire friction live on the news.

00:22:11.620 Oh no.

00:22:12.440 Yeah. I was, I was taught a huge lesson in survival and cockiness that day.

00:22:17.160 Yeah.

00:22:17.520 Yeah. So I think just, you know, there's, there's a difference between confidence and arrogance and while a survivor, you know, someone who studies survival skills or an outdoorsman should be confident, they should never be arrogant.

00:22:30.900 Right. Just realizing there's more to learn, right?

00:22:33.420 Sure.

00:22:34.100 Uh, where, what do you, let's talk a little bit about preparation. I think obviously that's a huge component of it. And we've talked a little bit about some of the skills, obviously working on just fire, for example, in, in your, in your backyard.

00:22:45.500 What are some other things that you would suggest we have as a, you know, food storage, emergency preparedness, other types of skills. What are the things that we should be prepared with before a natural disaster or survivor type situation happens?

00:23:00.120 Well, you know, survival skills, it's all about taking steps to be prepared. It's really not about wishing oneself luck. I look at survival skills as making your own luck.

00:23:11.800 I always say the phrase, make your own luck, you know, rather than I wish you good luck because survival skills is in essence, making your own luck. And you can watch all the videos. You can take classes from the best instructors.

00:23:23.180 You can read all the books, but none of it matters until you put plans into action and you do the stuff with your own two hands. Literally none of it matters. Uh, there's, there's a critical, the 80, 20 rule is true is true. Even in survival, you know, the critical 20% of a skill comes from hands-on experience, but natural disasters and, you know, at home preparations is certainly a facet of survival skills.

00:23:50.520 And I'm a huge proponent of preparing for worst case scenarios by storing food and by storing water and by having backup energy plans and power plans. The simplest step to get started in all of that, which teaches all kinds of lessons is just to simply build what I call a bug out bag, or it's a three day survival kit.

00:24:10.560 You know, it's a backpack that you put all kinds of supplies and tools in to get you through three days of independent survival, just in case a natural disaster would strike and you'd be forced to suddenly and unexpectedly flee your home for safety.

00:24:24.600 Yeah, I actually did some YouTube videos on that with a friend of mine who is really into survival as well. And it's actually one of our most popular YouTube videos to date. I think it's something that definitely strikes a chord. What should we consider including some, some basic things that we should consider including in our, in our bug out bag or our survival bag?

00:24:41.660 Well, first I would say I did, I saw your content on the bug out bag and it's, and it's very, very thorough. No, it's great. No, it's great. You know, I, it was, it was spot on. It was great content. And any of your listeners or subscribers who haven't looked at that yet, who are listening to this podcast should definitely check that out because it's spot on information.

00:25:03.260 Good. That means a lot coming from you. So I'm glad I'm like, Oh, he, he watched it. Now I'm in trouble.

00:25:07.540 Yeah, no, it's good. Good stuff. You know, I always, you know, I always say when preparing a survival kit, I say, whether it's a bug out bag or a pocket kit, I say the same thing. Every time you want to cover the core four shelter, water, fire, and food. You want to do all those first. Uh, because if you've covered those four categories of survival, your most basic survival needs, then you're 90% there. All, all the rest is just bonus and gravy.

00:25:33.160 Okay. That's good. That helps us get started. What, what, when you say food, I know for me, like I really like those, um, those mountain house meals. I'm sure you've seen those. Yeah. Yeah. Is there other things that you'd recommend as far as food and having in like a bug out bag?

00:25:47.120 Yeah. You know, when, when I pack food in bug out bags, I, I prefer to pack what I call open and eat meals, you know, meals that you can eat literally while you're walking, while you're in transit from point A to point B meals that do not require preparation. You know, like the mountain house meals, for example, you got to kind of, you got to kind of stop down for a minute. You got to heat up some water, the water, pour it in. Right.

00:26:10.660 Yeah. You know, so there's a couple extra steps there. Um, it's not to say that that's a bad decision because that's a great lightweight, long-term food choice, you know, and it definitely meets a lot of those bug out bag food criteria. They should be lightweight. They should have a long shelf life and they should be packed with calories, you know, things that you need in, in a survival scenario. But I, I'm a huge proponent of a handful of like power bars, cliff bars.

00:26:40.660 Calorie bars that you can open and eat along the way. Food is on the bottom of the priority list. When it comes to survival priorities, I keep it pretty simple with, with food and just stick with high calorie bars.

00:26:53.720 Yeah. That makes sense. I like that idea of just open and ready to eat and you don't have to stop. It's just, you just go, right?

00:26:59.060 Yeah. Yeah.

00:26:59.940 I want to ask you this. What is the toughest experience or toughest situation that you've been in and tell us a little bit about that.

00:27:08.000 Well, I tell you, you know, it probably, it's probably, it's probably during filming of fat guys in the woods, you know, we put ourselves in some extreme scenarios in some of the most extreme and remote parts of that.

00:27:21.960 The United States has to offer there, there, there was a week in Kentucky that was a really brutal week.

00:27:29.720 And it was just simply because the weather was so horrible. The one thing that really makes being in the out that really can make being in the outdoors horrible is the weather.

00:27:41.480 You know, it's, it's always our most, it's, it's, it's our original and most aggressive survival adversary.

00:27:49.500 It's like, it's at the top of every priority list is to protect yourself from exposure.

00:27:54.820 And this particular week in Kentucky's cave country, we started the week with 18 inches of snow, which I don't mind snow, you know, temperatures, but you know, it started to warm up.

00:28:05.020 The snow started to turn to slush. Then it started to rain and it poured for like three days, day and night in the high thirties, low forties.

00:28:13.480 And it's just miserable and absolutely just deadly, you know, conditions for, it's the perfect storm for hypothermia and just staying wet and cold to, you know?

00:28:25.760 So I would say that's probably the most miserable week that I've had.

00:28:30.760 Did you guys, did everybody make it through? Did anybody give up in that scenario?

00:28:34.300 Yeah, no, everyone made it through. It was, um, it was a constant, it was a constant, it was a situation where we just literally constantly fed the fire.

00:28:43.600 I always, I always say, you know, and you heard me say it earlier that fire can make up for a crappy shelter in horrible weather.

00:28:51.860 If you have a big enough fire, it can, it can make up for incompetencies in the shelter department.

00:28:57.800 And while our shelter was good, a natural primitive shelter, it just can only handle so much rain.

00:29:03.800 Of course. Yeah. It's going to come through.

00:29:05.740 Yeah. And so we were in a situation where our shelter was beginning to suffer because of just constant rain.

00:29:12.340 And so our focus, our shelter priority became, let's just build the biggest fire we can possibly build.

00:29:18.580 And we just have to keep it going.

00:29:20.020 And then, and you guys made it through, did you have anybody? Cause I think two, two seasons into the show, right?

00:29:25.380 Right now. We, we, we filmed two seasons of the show. And if you haven't heard yet, the weather channel is moving to strictly live weather.

00:29:33.700 So they are not renewing any original programming, including fat guys, but, um, it was a great run.

00:29:39.660 We filmed two seasons now in that two seasons. Did you have anybody quit?

00:29:44.800 Did you have anybody not make it through, through their week long excursion?

00:29:48.380 Tell me a little bit about that.

00:29:49.400 Yeah. We had no one quit, you know, no one, no one quit the show. And I always say that, you know, that's how I know that these guys who signed up came for the right reasons and not just to be on TV.

00:30:02.240 Because if someone would have came just to be on TV, they would literally quit the first day. I mean, literally those guys would quit the first day, but you know, the casting, the casting group did an amazing job in selecting guys who really were there for the right reasons and were motivated by something significant.

00:30:20.040 Yeah. It sounds like it.

00:30:21.460 Yeah. And so no one quit, but not everyone may made it, you know, we had a couple of guys go to the hospital and one, not one guy not come back.

00:30:29.920 Oh, really?

00:30:30.900 Yeah.

00:30:31.140 Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes, you know, in life and in survival, you know, our, our mind writes a check that our body just can't cash. That's a huge lesson. It's a huge lesson to anyone because I'll always say until the day I die, our most important survival tool is our body. And if you do not maintain your body, then you cannot expect it to take care of you when the going gets tough.

00:30:57.120 Yeah. So how do you know that limit? And then how do you personally push that limit to get yourself in a better situation physically to handle some of these things?

00:31:05.820 Well, I mean, it's, it's really simple stuff. You know, I didn't invent the wheel when it comes to, you know, maintaining your body. You know, I, I try to eat right. You know, I eat, um, I, I try my best to eat a hunter gatherer diet, basically meats and grain and greens. I stay away from processed foods as much as I can. I don't overeat and I work out, you know, I typically work out four or five days a week. In addition to an already active lifestyle.

00:31:33.120 Yeah. Right. With all the activities you have going on.

00:31:36.660 Yeah. You know, it's just, uh, the, your body is so important, man. At the end of the day, you know, my dad used to tell me when I was a kid and I didn't really understand it until later in life. But if you, you know, he always used to say, if you, if you don't have your health, you got nothing. And it's so true. You know, anybody who's down and out with something right now is nodding their head because they're like, you know what? It's, it's so true, man. You know, if we've all been at a, at a point when we're not feeling,

00:32:03.100 feeling good or when we're at a surgery or something like that. And it just brings, it just brings that into perspective. Like, like nobody's business.

00:32:11.540 Yeah, you bet. You bet. So Creek, I want to switch gears here a little bit because I know a lot of the guys that are listening have questions about something you said earlier, which was that seven years ago, roughly you switched from turning this, you know, part-time passion project into this full-time career. And I know a lot of guys are interested in doing that.

00:32:31.900 So I'd love to hear your thoughts and your insights into how you made that work for you.

00:32:35.620 You know, it's, it's ironic that you asked me that question because it's the most popular question that anyone asked me. You'd think it'd be about survival skills or the outdoors or fire something. But when people come to my school in Indiana, nine times out of 10, the first question that people ask me is how in the world did, are you able to do this for a living?

00:32:57.680 How are you able to convert your love for the outdoors, your passion for the outdoors into a full-time career?

00:33:03.200 My answer, it's, it's not really that revolutionary, but it's the, it's the real and it's the honest answer. And quite frankly, it's the answer that a lot of people don't want to hear because at the end of the day, it has everything to do with doing the work.

00:33:19.180 You know, I've, there's always a quote that I use and it's successful people do the things that unsuccessful people just aren't willing to, or don't want to do.

00:33:29.800 So I'll say until I'm an old man that I'm not the smartest or the fastest or the tallest or the most talented, the most gifted at anything. I just refuse to quit and I'll put my work ethic up against anybody else's in the world.

00:33:44.500 And that for me is what has made the difference between making it and not making it just being willing to make the sacrifices and do the work when quite frankly, other people just are not willing to do that.

00:34:01.820 You know, I mean, for many, many years, you know, I was working when my buddies were out playing football or gaming or hanging out with their family or friends, you know, I was working those Saturday nights and those Friday nights, you know, because I was willing to do the work that ultimately would turn into what I believed would be a career for myself.

00:34:24.540 And that's really the magic behind making it work. You know, I've seen guys with horrible ideas, make them work because they were just willing to work.

00:34:33.640 Right. Willing to do it. Yeah. And it's, you know, people, so, so many people want something for nothing. You know, there's a lot of people who want it, but there are very few people who really want it. And there's a big difference between the two.

00:34:48.920 Yeah, it makes sense. I know my wife and I just had a conversation about this today because as we're growing Order of Man and some of the things that we're doing, frankly, there's a lot of imbalances in my life right now because of how busy with my, you know, full-time career and then also how busy I am with this project.

00:35:04.300 And so, but we're on the same page, you know, we both can see the future and we're both willing to make the sacrifices. So I'm glad you said that. And sometimes it's so easy. The answer is so easy. It doesn't mean it's simple. It's just easy. And we overlook the importance of that simple answer, right?

00:35:21.680 It is really the simplest of answers. You know, I equate it to every, a really simple analogy here is every night before I go to bed, I practice holding my breath.

00:35:33.660 I think I saw that. I either read that or saw that, that you do that. I think maybe just even yesterday. Tell me about that.

00:35:39.700 Before I go to sleep, I practice holding my breath. You know, I practiced it every night because, you know, I'm, I'm someone who prepares for the not if, but when moments in life, you know, because you never know when you might be in a situation where you've got, where you've got to hold your breath.

00:35:54.040 Every night before bed, I practice holding my breath. And as soon as I take that first deep breath, you know, I want to breathe. Obviously, you know, I want to breathe 30, 30 seconds into it. I'm, I kind of want to breathe, you know, and that's where most people are at. But when I get to three minutes, I want to breathe so bad that I can't stand it. It's the only thing I'm thinking about.

00:36:18.300 It's the only thing I'm feeling. Everything in my body is saying, I need to breathe. It's the difference. And that's the same difference between wanting it in the beginning, just kind of wanting it and really wanting it.

00:36:34.400 Interesting that you say that I was, I went on a run. I'm training for a Spartan race right now. And I went on a run this morning and I was about mile three and my body was saying the same thing like, ah, you don't need to do this. Just stop, slow down, take a breath.

00:36:48.300 Either take a break. You can start back up in a second. And it was so hard not to like, you know, or to, to not stop, to overcome that and just keep going. Right. Yeah. So I know exactly how it is. Well, Creek, we're winding down on time a little bit. So, but I want to ask you a couple of, uh, of questions before we let you go for the day, if that's good with you.

00:37:06.660 Of course.

00:37:07.140 And so the first question I have, and I prepared you a little bit for this one, but still throwing in the spot a little bit. And that's a question I ask every guest that comes on. And I want to know your perspective on it. What does it mean to be a man?

00:37:19.040 It's a big question, you know, and, um, I'm actually, I'm actually going to lean on my scout days for this one a little bit. I heard a guy speak once Rex Tillerson, uh, CEO of Exxon mobile that, um, he's an Eagle scout. And he said something really interesting. That's always stuck with me.

00:37:36.620 He said, if you kind of gauge all of your decisions by the scout law, then you'll never make a bad decision. I've tried my best, you know, obviously I'm not perfect. You know, I'm, I'm far from perfect, perfect. The most imperfect individual there is, but I do my best to gauge my decisions as a man based upon the scout law. It says a lot about what I think about what a man is.

00:37:59.600 You know, the scout law says a scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. And I think you could very easily from my definition of what a man is substitute the word man in for scout. A man is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

00:38:27.800 Easy as that. And I've never had anybody related to that. So that's such a good definition. And we'll make sure we, we, uh, link up the scout law so everybody can take a look at that again. Creek, I appreciate you sharing that.

00:38:38.640 No problem, man.

00:38:39.500 So what's next for you? You've got, uh, big plans, anything in the works that we can be expecting and looking forward to from you?

00:38:45.280 Yeah. You know, I'm always busy, you know, I live and breathe survival skills. So I, you know, in order to make a living, I got to stay busy, you know, it's a, it's a crazy business. So something really, you mentioned Spartan race, you know,

00:38:57.080 something really exciting that I'm involved in right now is a event series competition called escape the woods.

00:39:04.540 Right. Yeah. I've seen that.

00:39:05.680 And it's, it's a, it's a competition, a survival themed competition where we train me and a group of trainers train people in the morning and then they compete in the afternoon to win prizes.

00:39:18.720 You know, the, the catchphrase is learn it, prove it, win it. And so, um, I didn't start escape the woods, but I'm the lead trainer for escape the woods. And it's a revolutionary kind of survival training concept. We've had our first one this past weekend and it is very, very cool.

00:39:38.180 Awesome. Yeah. We'll link that up. We'll have to take a look at that. I've looked at that a little bit and it sounds like it's going to be pretty exciting as you, as you progress with that as well.

00:39:44.900 It is. And we're, we're going to take the show on the road. We're doing several more events this fall and you know, then 2016, it's just going to blow up. So, but I'm, but I'm, I'm continuing to write. I got a new book coming out in spring of 2016. I continue to teach and speak and do appearances at survival gatherings. So I'm, I'm staying super busy, Ryan.

00:40:05.100 Good, good. Glad to hear it. Well deserved. And then, uh, if anybody wants to connect with you, they want to learn more about what you're doing, whether it's escape the woods or other things that you have going on.

00:40:13.700 What's the best way to connect with you?

00:40:15.440 There's all kinds of ways. Websites, creekstewart.com. My school website is willowhavenoutdoor.com. And then you can find me on Facebook at facebook.com forward slash creekstewart. And I post a lot of updates there too. So.

00:40:28.540 Creek, thanks for taking your time. I know you're busy. It sounds like you've got a ton going on. Thanks for taking time to talk with us today. Appreciate having on the show.

00:40:34.860 Hey man, you're, you're doing a good thing for men, man. And I'm, and it's an honor for me to, for me to do your show. I really appreciate it.

00:40:42.500 Thanks, Creek.

00:40:43.360 There you have it guys, Mr. Creek Stewart. I hope that you enjoyed the show as much as I did. If you're like me, you know that you have a long, long way to go with a lot of these survival skills. I hope this gives you some insights and points you in the right direction. I'm going to be working on building fires this week in my yard. And so I would challenge you to hone some, if not all of these survival skills as well.

00:41:02.940 Now, again, if you enjoyed the show, if you learned something new, if you want to say thank you to me and Creek for giving you this information, head over to order of man.com slash iTunes, order of man.com slash iTunes. And you can leave us your rating review. And remember guys, our Facebook group, facebook.com slash groups slash order of man. We've got a fitness challenge going on this week. So I encourage you to join us for that.

00:41:23.160 Next week, I got an interview lined up with an author. I know you'll be interested in hearing from him and I talk about the differences between masculinity and morality and why that matters for each and every one of us. Guys, I look forward to talking with you next week. But until then, take action and become the man you were meant to be.

00:41:37.800 Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast. You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be. We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

Order of Man - October 20, 2015

OoM 031： Survival Skills for Every Scenario with Creek Stewart

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