Campcraft isn’t just about survival—it’s about making camp feel like home by creating what you need with your own hands. In this primitive campcraft class, you’ll carve and lash saplings into stools and utensils, craft tools straight from the forest, and set up tents and tarps so they shed water and stay dry inside—no matter the weather. Your guides, Alex Kilgore and Tyler Lavenburg, have been practicing these skills since they were teenagers. With decades of lived experience between them, they’ll share both the classic teachings of Horace Kephart and their own hard-earned wisdom from years in the woods.
On This Page
We welcome you to read through this page for a whole-picture perspective on our Introduction to Primitive Skills Class. If you’re looking for specific information, you can use the following links to skip around:
What You’ll Learn
Tarpcraft & Canvas Camping
How to set up a tight tarp shelter for community space, and how to work with canvas tents so they shed water, breathe, and stand strong in wind and rain.
Wild Food & Medicine Walk
Take a walk on the land and learn to identify plants that are safe and useful. This wild food and medicine knowledge will support your time in camp and help you see the forest as a living pantry and apothecary.
Making from Nature: Camp Furniture, Utensils & Tools
Learn to carve, lash, and shape natural materials into stools, racks, spatulas, and hangers. These primitive camping skills make camp both functional and comfortable.
Optimal Campsite Selection & Layout
Discover how to choose the best site for your camp—safe, dry, and well-situated. We’ll look at drainage, slope, wind, and sun so you can create a layout that works.
Clothing for Primitive Camping
How to pick sturdy, weather-appropriate clothing, repair it when needed, and even work with canvas, buckskin, and other heavy fabrics for long-lasting use.
Fire Making & Wood Tending
Practice reliable fire making and learn how to tend a steady flame for cooking, warmth, and light. We’ll cover choosing the right wood, preparing it, and tending your fire safely.
A Primitive Setting for Real Learning
This class takes place at our Paint Fork primitive campus. Here, you’ll practice primitive camping skills in a setting where they really matter: uneven ground, rain and wind, abundant natural materials, and a living forest around you. It’s the perfect place to practice, adapt, and make mistakes safely while learning.
Who This Class Is For
This class is for anyone who loves camp life and wants to feel more at home outdoors. Whether you’re a camper who wants to set up tarps better, a survival skills enthusiast inspired by Horace Kephart, or a homesteader curious about primitive campcraft, you’ll find plenty here to explore. Beginners welcome.
What to Expect
We’ll learn by doing. You’ll try out tarps and canvas shelters, carve and lash furniture, walk the woods for wild plants, and tend the fire. Group size is small, so you’ll get lots of attention.
Sample Day Flow
- Morning: wild food & medicine walk; tarpcraft setup
- Midday: camp furniture/utensil-making; campsite layout
- Afternoon: canvas tent care; fire making and tending
- Evening: reflection around the fire; clothing repair/alteration with canvas
Why Learn Campcraft
So much of modern camping is about buying gear. Primitive campcraft offers another path: making what you need with your own hands, using natural materials and time-tested techniques. It builds self-reliance and creativity, deepens your relationship with the land, and makes every trip outdoors feel more rooted.
Whether you’re inspired by Horace Kephart or simply curious about trying new skills, this class gives you the tools and the confidence to make your camp truly your own.
Keep Me in the Loop…
We’ll let you know when classes open for registration, and send you our fun and informative newsletters.
Frequently Asked Questions about Our Primitive Campcraft Classes
No, this primitive campcraft class is beginner-friendly. Folks with camping or survival experience will still find plenty to learn.
Yes—there will be an option to stay overnight at the Paint Fork primitive campus to try out canvas tents and tarp shelters in real conditions.
Bring a sturdy knife or hatchet if you have one. We’ll also provide tools. Sewing needles and heavy thread are useful for canvas repair.
That’s part of the fun. You’ll practice tarpcraft and canvas work designed to keep camp dry in storms.
Yes. You’ll learn reliable fire making and tending, from selecting wood to maintaining safe, steady coals.
Some—like poles, logs, and canvas. The work will be paced with options for lighter roles, so it’s accessible to all participants.
The Primitive Skills class focuses on survival essentials like debris shelters and bow-drill fire. This Campcraft class expands into camp systems: tarps, canvas tents, provisioning, clothing care, and making useful camp gear.
Yes, this is a full immersion. Being present for the flow of the class helps build confidence and community.
You’ll bring your own food, and we’ll share tips on provisioning camp kitchens, storing food safely, and cooking on an open fire.
Small enough for personal attention, big enough to feel like a true camp community.
Instructors
Alex Kilgore
Tyler Lavenburg
Our Primitive Skills Classes are held at the Wild Abundance Paint Fork Campus
Our Paint Fork campus is a bustling creekside landscape with gorgeous mountain views, a breathtaking timber-framed pavilion classroom, and spacious covered open-air wood shops for learning building and carpentry in all weather, plus other lovely features. The Paint Fork campus is 30 minutes north of Asheville.
Please note: our campuses are all unconventional, with rustic amenities and uneven ground. Read more about planning your trip and about our campuses. You’ll receive detailed directions on how to get here upon registration.
You’ve got several options of where to stay during your class. Some students camp, some locals commute, and others choose to rent accommodations with more creature comforts.
Onsite camping (with your own warm bedding and rainproof tent or hammock) is available for free to all students (including locals) during class. Some set-up-for-you tents are available with cots and cozy bedding for a flat fee.
Campers and all students have access to a lovely outdoor kitchen equipped with a stove and hot and cold water, plus pots and pans, knives and cutting boards, bowls, plates, and utensils, along with an outdoor shower with hot and cold running water and an outhouse. If you’d rather rent a hotel, house or cottage, there are many available. We’ll share a curated list of nearby options once you’ve registered.
So you can better plan your trip to come learn with us, here’s some info on accommodations we offer, or that we link to in the student handbook you’ll receive upon registration. Below it you’ll find info on transportation.
- Camping with your own gear: free
- Staying in a large tent with a cozy cot and bedding that we set up for you: $200 flat fee; you can stay there anytime from 5pm before the first day of your class, to 12pm the day after your class ends.
- Hyper-local off-campus single rentals: $40-$2000/night + fees
- Hyper-local off-campus couples rentals: $20-100/person/night + fees
- Hyper-local off-campus group rentals: $25-$86/person/night + fees
Wild Abundance students are given awesome discounts at a local hotel, and a hyper-local inn. More information given in the student handbook upon registration.
Getting a place or renting a car with a group of fellow students and carpooling are great ways to make connections and reduce costs! We share contact info for each class so you can get in touch and make plans together. Everyone has a chance to keep their info private if they choose.
You won’t need a car during your class. There’s a chance you may want to run an errand or go out to dinner with fellow students, and if this happens, it’s highly likely that another student with a car will be happy to give you a lift.
We’ve also got a list of folks who will do airport and grocery shuttle runs for $50-$80 each way. We share this information in the student handbook when you register. If you’d rather rent a car, those run anywhere from $45-$200/day. Just like with lodging, teaming up with a group of fellow students to share a car rental can help build connections and reduce costs.
Closing Invitation
Join the waitlist for the Primitive Campcraft Class at Paint Fork. We’d love to share the fire, the laughter, and the skills that make camp come alive.
Pricing & Registration
Tuition will be announced when registration opens. Payment plans may be available.