[UrbanFrog]

Well, just signed up for this board.

Live in Los Angeles (yeah I know, but read on...)

I would consider myself more into city self-reliance

Aside from being an illustrator/graphic artist, I teach outdoor and wilderness skills adapted to the urban environment. Basically how people can become more self-sufficient and prepared for emergencies in a large city. This include, for example, how to complement a diet with wild food, solar cooking, growing food in-house or apartment, preparedness, Hygiene (making organic soap with stuff you find in stores or nature), water purification, gourmet wild food, etc...

Presently I teach kids in a couple of schools each week for a few hours and give some classes here and there during the weekend. Attendance is somewhat sporadic but I'm having a lot of fun teaching those skills. My goal is really to help people becoming more prepared and self-sufficient in a large city - there are some economic benefits to it (half of my diet is apartment-grown/wild food and thus pretty much free) but the main benefit would be people who would not fall into the category of "complete victim" in case of usual local emergencies such as earthquakes or wild fires which are common over here.

Being an avid competitor in long distance shooting competitions, I also teach marksmanship, mostly for new people wanting to get into that discipline.

My web site is:

www.UrbanOutdoorSkills.com

 

[Kregener]

Welcome UF.

And good luck with staying in L.A....you are going to need it!

 

[UrbanFrog]

LOL...yeah I know but I'm somewhat ready

 

[Sharpdogs]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Jerry D Young]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[Macumazahn]

Welcome. That sure is an unusual array of skills and interests. As another who lives in a big city it will be interesting to read what you post.

 

[UrbanFrog]

Welcome. That sure is an unusual array of skills and interests. As another who lives in a big city it will be interesting to read what you post.

Yeah, I know...LOL!!!!

Check the web site I mentionned (www.UrbanOutdoorSkills.com) and it has a bit more overview on the subject.

Not everyone can leave the big cities for all kinds of reasons (financial, family, jobs, etc...) but there are alternatives in understanding/knowing your environment so that you can actually use it at your advantage but, IMHO it has to truly be a multi-lateral approach (indoor growing, local wild food, grid- down energy readiness, food storage, etc...) to become somewhat self-reliant.

Heading for the hills in Los Angeles is not really an option. Not much to eat there, not much to do, extreme heat and unless you know the water sources, u probably won't last 3 days. Although I did a survey once and quite a few people mentionned they would "head for the hills" in an emergency (and they're not educated in outdoor and wilderness survival) so, added to the above, you'll have overcrowding of unprepared people, LOL!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Grinnan Barrett]

Welcome to our world from Texas. Good to have you with us from the left coast.

 

[Psimajick]

A big hello from Southern California...I live in Los Angeles too. I went to your site and have a question: Do you offer a discount if a couple want to attend one of your classes?

 

[UrbanFrog]

Big Hello too...

To answer your question: Not really on the discount (maybe for a familly though... so send me an email from my site) - Most the classes are around $20 and honestly, I'm not really making money with this - maybe a tiny bit.

It basically covers my time in gathering materials for classes, purchasing materials, travel, etc... The only that are a bit more are related to more extensive and complex classes such as making organic soap using elements found in the city (lye/oils) and local wild plants (sage, eucalyptus, etc...) and the techniques involved (it's actually not too complex).

It's all very hands-on (not a lot of theory but mostly application) and complete refund (no question asked) if someone is not happy.

I do it pretty much for fun and helping folks without going in the negative financially for doing so. I've had classes where only a couple of folks show up and thus I lose money but if I can make it even, I'm happy. I hope this make sense

The marksmanship stuff is different but there isn't that many folks interested by it.

Contact me through my web site if you're interested. My interest in this board is mostly to learn and share ideas, not to promote my site/courses. I just gave my web site as part of introducing myself.