Hawaii Survival School:
Hawaii’s #1 Outdoor Adventure Experience
Our Home & Mission:
Hawaii Survival School is proud to call the island of Oahu, in Hawaii, home.
Over 2,000 Miles from any other habitable land, and rich in both natural diversity and cultural heritage, the islands of Hawaii are some of the most unique and special places on earth for outdoor adventures.
Hawaii Survival School teaches both modern day wilderness survival skills to help prevent and minimize wilderness survival emergencies, & traditional island living skills that both enrich life, and take you farther with outdoor life experiences.
The mission of the Hawaii Survival School ohana, is to provide the public the opportunity to become educated in life saving wilderness survival skills, as well as in the culture and practicality of traditional island living skills of Hawaii and other island cultures, from around the world.
Training Locations:
Hawaii Survival School’s main training location is at Gunstock Ranch, in Kahuku, HI.
Google Maps Directions here.
Need training somewhere else? Just ask. We travel to other island, and worldwide.
Hawaii Survival School Instructors:
Kap Te’o Tafiti
Head Instructor – South-pacific Traditional Skills Specialist.
One of the most recognizable faces in Hawai’i, Kap is also widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost traditional island survival skills specialists in the South Pacific.
As Senior Cultural Ambassador of PCC Hawaii, Kap is a world- class “edutainer”, who educates, and entertains millions of people annually.
Kap is especially known for his abilities with friction-friction fire, wild foods, traditional cooking, fire-knife dancing, and more. Recently, Kap was a lead cultural specialist working with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson during “Fast & Furious presents: Hobbs and Shaw” on Oahu.
Dan Baird
Lead Instructor
Dan Baird is one of the world’s leading Back-country Primitive Survival Experts and Guides.
Dan regularly travels and lead’s survival training and exploration trips to some of the most remote and hostile places on earth, and started calling Hawaii home 20 years ago when he moved to O’ahu for University.
In addition to being a leading back-country primitive survival guide, Dan is also a certified Medical Wilderness First Responder & WFA Instructor, a FEMA/DHS trained National C.E.R.T. Instructor, and a member/trainer of Law Enforcement Search and Rescue (SAR) teams across California.
Dan has been featured for his remote guiding and survival expertise in the media with National Geographic, History Channel, Forbes, Good Morning America, and many more.
Matt Graham
Lead Instructor
Matt Graham is one of the world’s premier survival adventurers and primitive living skills teachers. A well-known TV presenter, Matt has appeared on Discovery Channel’s “Dual Survival”, “Dude, You’re Screwed”, and “Bushcraft Build-off” among others. Matt Graham grew up near the ocean in California by winter, and had a summer cabin in the mountains where his father who was a big fan of Euell Gibbons, taught him about edible plants and hunting. Moving on to Yosemite Valley at age 17 Matt took up Mountain Running and Climbing, spending long stretches deep in the backcountry. He also had mentorship from Miwok elders and a naturalist who lived in the valley. At age 23, Matt ran the length of California on the pacific Crest Trail (1,700 miles) in 58 days. Eventually he became a noted primitive skills expert and hunter gatherer, once spending 6 straight months in the wilderness alone without contact from town.
Matt has been leading Hunter Gather style courses for more than 23 years and is someone who has a unique skill set to learn from.
Survival Skills & Traditional Island Living Skills:
It is important to understand that there is a distinct difference between survival skills used to prepare for and tackle wilderness emergencies, and the traditional skills that Hawaii’s Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) and other Polynesian Cultures have used to not only survive but to thrive for over 1600 years in Hawaii, and thousands of years across all of Polynesia and beyond.
Hawaii Survival School Services:
Wilderness Survival Training Courses & Traditional Island Adventures: Hawaii Survival School provides a wide range of survival training and adventure experience options, from single-day family friendly survival adventures to professional survival training for outdoor professionals. View our regular courses and adventures here. For custom survival training options, visit this page.
Survival Media Consulting & Services: Click here to more about why Team HSS is the world’s leading expert when is comes to Island Survival media production.
Emergency Preparedness & Disaster Response: Hawaii Survival School is experienced with providing professional and public training for emergency settings and disaster response. These include options for custom First-aid training, disaster preparedness training, search & rescue training, and more. Click here to inquire for custom training options.
Corporate Team-building & Executive Leadership Training: Hawaii Survival School regularly provides customized island leadership retreats and team-building adventures to leading businesses and organizations from around the world. Team HSS clients include names like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Intel.
Military/Tactical Survival Training: Law enforcement, military organizations, and other outdoor professionals often require highly specialized types of outdoor training. Please email info@HawaiiSurvivalSchool.com to inquire about specialized jungle and island survival training options.
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi – The Importance of Language:
Integral to learning both survival skills, traditional living skills, and other important knowledge concepts, is language.
Language grows organically in its places of origin to represent and carry the knowledge it needs to within the culture and community it is from.
Hawaii Survival School believes strongly in creating learning opportunities through our programs, that educate using key Hawaiian language and cultural concepts.
In this way, the learning experience is enriched for all students, and more complete for information and concepts that may otherwise be lost in translation, are preserved and carried on.
Key Hawaiian Language Concepts Integrated into our programs Include:
‘Āina: The land (as well as the sea) Or “That which feeds”. As with many words, the meaning is deeper, and in layers, that cannot be translated with full meaning.
Mālama ʻāina: Means to care for the land and protect it.
Kuleana: Is a Hawaiian value and practice which is loosely translated to mean “responsibility.” The word kuleana refers to a reciprocal relationship between the person who is responsible, and the thing which they are responsible for.
For example, Hawaiians have a kuleana to the ‘āina: to care for it and to respect it, and in return, the ‘āina has the kuleana to feed, shelter, and clothe the people. Through this relationship, balance is maintained within society and with the natural environment.
Aloha: A literal translation of aloha is “the presence of breath” or “the breath of life.” Aloha can be also described as an essence of being: love, peace, compassion, and a mutual understanding of respect. Aloha means living in harmony with the people and land around you, with mercy, sympathy, grace, and kindness. Aloha is not only a way to say hello, is it a way of life.
Kokua: To “help”. But in a deeper sense, it is a word represents a spirit of kindness, accompanied by a desire to help one another, without expecting anything in return.
Mana: A sacred term, mana is known as spiritual energy of power and strength, and can also be described as a life energy that flows through all things and humans.
Some common terms that are used specifically related to course programming also include:
Mākaukau: To be “ready”, prepared for an event.
Kaulahao: Rope
Pahi: Knife
Wai inu: Drinking Water
Moana, kai: Ocean
Meaʻai: Food
Ahi: Fire
Hale: House
Akahele: Be careful
Pilikia: Problem
Ipu kuku: Cooking pot.
These, and many other words and expressions in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, may be integrated into lessons by your instructors during your training experiences to enrich them.
Experiences with the language, traditional living skills, and Aloha of Hawaii await you on every Hawaii Survival School adventure!