Episode-1228 – Sam Coffman on Scenario Based Training
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Sam Coffman is the founder and director at The Human Path – a survival school in the central Texas area that teaches a wide array of skills. Such as urban and wilderness survival to wilderness first aid, tactics, tracking and naturalist studies, homesteading, intentional communities, tactics and self-defense, tracking, off-grid engineering, plant medicine and much more.
Sam is also co-founder of Herbal Medics – a non-profit organization with the goal of teaching and using plant medicine and self-sustainability concepts (off-grid engineering, in remote, post-disaster and inner-city areas. Sam’s medical background started as a U.S. Special Forces (a.k.a. “Green Beret”) medic in 1989, during which time he began learning and using plant medicine as a backup form of medicine in remote and field environments.
Since that time, aside from 1000’s of clinical hours in the field and emergency rooms as a Special Forces Medic, he has also worked as a clinical herbalist and teacher. He currently directs courses at his survival and herbology school as well as leading clinical trips with his non-profit Herbal Medics which include his own integrated herbal medic teams, local doctors and naturopaths, as well as US allopathic surgeons, doctors, nurses, and medical students.
Sam Coffman grew up exploring and learning about wilderness camping and woodcraft at a very early age, as his family spent summers in isolated self-supporting wilderness camps due to his father’s job as a field geologist.
Additionally, he had an avid interest in martial arts from the age of 13. He has taught wilderness survival, tactics, self-defense and field medicine for the military as well as federal and local law enforcement agencies. With over 10 years in the military, Sam worked as a linguist (German), an interrogator and a Special Forces Medic.
Resources for today’s show…
- The Year 1228
- Join Our Forum
- 13Skills.com
- Join Our Forum
- Walking To Freedom
- Shop for TSP Silver
- TSP Gear
- PermaEthos.com
- Sawtooth Tactical – (sponsor of the day)
- Ready Made Resources – (sponsor of the day)
- The Human Path – Sam’s Site
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Great show Jack..
This was such an awesome podcast. If I lived even remotely near Sam’s school I’d be a broke (monetarily) guy. I’m probably going to be signing up for that herbalism level 1 class, I’m looking at what it offers right now. I’ve started reading a book on the subject, and already have probably about 100 dollar of seeds we’re looking at purchasing to starting our medicinal garden. We’ve also been doing research on identifying every plant we can on the property (it would appear this is a task that requires attention all year long) so that we have a heads up at least on whats around us.
Great show Jack!
I go into the National Forest here a few times a week and I have noticed for years the decline in small game, rarely do i see squirrels or rabbits anymore and it’s not because of people, I rarely see anyone!
I have been temped to ask the rangers but I doubt they know either, so if anyone thinks they can just hit the woods and survive, Unless you live somewhere very remote you’ll probably starve.
I used to kill 75-100 squirrels a year out of my Grandparents pecan trees and now i only see a few a year and I don’t kill them hoping they will repopulate.
Terrific show! I wish I was able to take courses from this guy, what an amazing person!
Oh I got an email today that Nestle has patents pending around the world on the use of the fennel flower for medicinal purposes. Thought anyone interested in herbal medicine might like to know that.
Shoe Goo +1.
While I was listening to the start of this podcast, I was using it to modify a phone holster that kept pressing on the power button. I have four kids and have used it many times to patch up shoes and other things. Never thought about having it in a bugout kit. That is a great idea. I have gotten it at Walmart.
Well Big Jack you out did yourself on this one. Every thing is what I am looking for. Planning a trip to TX.
wow, what an excellent interview. Is there anything Mr. Coffman can not do? what a wealth of information. Wish i lived in TX, would really like to take some of his courses. Will have to check out his online stuff.
Great interview. While listening to you guys talk about medicinal herbs, I thought of something that recently happened. I’ve begun to be able to identify and use herbs to a fair degree. Jack you mentioned plantain. I use it often. I was just in Mexico, the Yucatan peninsula area. While I was there I was stung by a yellow fly. I haven’t been stung by one since I was a kid, but I’m very allergic to them. This one really got me several times on my ankle and foot. My first thought was, find some plantain. Well, I can do that in under a minute where I live at, but now I was in a totally different environment. I combed the grounds of where we were staying looking for plantain. I started to feel like an infant. I had no knowledge of the plants in that part of the world. I was clueless. The most frustrating thing was knowing that I probably saw twenty things that could have helped me if I had some knowledge of the local fauna. It hammered home the stark realization that plant identification is very important, but you might not always be in the part of the world you’re accustomed to in a disaster scenario.
Cool story and good point. When I went up to Vermont for a PDC recently I felt completely out of place. I couldn’t identify a single plant. (I take that back I did identify sumac, but its not the kind we have here). The differences in fauna from Louisiana and the North East…. night and day.
Wonderful show, Guys, A couple of weeks ago I took four primitive skills gathering classes on identifying trees, propagating, and first aid in the woods, with herbs and without anything. For 13 skills, I have spent the year recording my foragings for when, where, and how much of what I eat or use for meds. Now I’m working on a wild bed by bringing samples of what I use closer to the house. I’m 76 and only this year I’m finding it harder and harder to climb hills, and walk long distances . Up and down, sitting on the ground is pretty much a ‘no more’ thing. I do have a question for either of you: have you considered talking about prepping and/or survival for the elderly? I have lots of friends who are preppers and have some of the same concerns about preparing to escape, avoid, or stand and defend as I do. Can you address concealment or do you think we just won’t be able to survive if we can’t run, or carry heavy loads? We’re talking about setting up places in nearby woods, but do you think that’s even practical? We talk of stashing stuff and making ready shelters. We aren’t quite ready to give up, yet. Any ideas for modifying our situations? Thanks for any ideas. BTW our numbers are growing.
Awesome interview. I would never have known these options were available if you had not put this on your show. Thanks Jack!
Man oh man! Gotta figure out how to go to one of these workshops!
Dave (TwoCorOne8b11)