About Earth Connection - North Carolina
The story of ECNC is one of good luck and good timing. Tim MacWelch's cousin Jeff and Wes Massey have been friends since childhood. Spending much of their youth playing in the woods, they both developed a great fondness for the outdoors. Years later as adults, Jeff mentioned his cousin Tim's interesting career path. Wes decided to come up to Virginia for a class in 2003 to see what these "survival classes" were all about. We all had a great time. Wes and his friend Hardee Merritt became regular attendees of Earth Connection classes and after a few years, became experts in many fields of outdoor survival skills. Seeing their skills, the quality of their knowledge and their skill at presenting that knowledge, Tim offered them the opportunity to become a branch of Earth Connection. The deal was struck in December of 2007. They acquired a great piece of property and prepared it for classes and camping. The doors were opened for students in August 2008. Their specialties are classes in Friction Fire Making, Kid's classes, Primitive Survival Strategies and Modern Wilderness Survival. See for yourself just how much more there is to learn about the great outdoors! Join them for one of their excellent classes.
Staff Information
Wes Massey is Earth Connection - North Carolina's (EC-NC) Head Instructor and a founder of Earth Connection's North Carolina (NC) chapter which began in 2008. Wes focuses on experiential training as his teaching foundation, spending much of his free time in the Mountains and Piedmont areas of NC practicing primitive and wilderness survival skills. A rigorous teacher and practitioner of primitive/wilderness skills, Wes validates the techniques in simulated survival situations BEFORE he teaches them. Wes sets the highest standards for skill and technique validation, reproducible results, and historical authenticity. He specializes in friction fire techniques, making even the "fire plow" look deceptively easy. Among his teachers, Wes has received extensive training and mentoring from Tim MacWelch and Rick (Hue) Hueston, leading experts in their field and founder/instructors of Earth Connection in Virginia. Wes Massey is also a Second Degree Black-Belt in To Shin Do Ninjutusu and martial arts instructor at the Chapel Hill Quest Center. Since 2001, Wes has been actively involved in martial arts including seven years of wrestling, MMA training, and Brazilian style Ju-jitsu (in which he currently holds a Blue-Belt). Wes' teaching experience, outstanding all-around skill set and dedication makes the material easily accessible to students at all levels of experience.
You can email him at wes@masseybrothers.com
Hardee Merritt - EC-NC founder and Instructor sees wilderness survival skills as the driving force behind his personal study in self-reliance. An avid backpacker and adventurer, he began learning wilderness survival skills in the Boy Scouts. Hardee's instructional emphasis is on providing his students with the rudimentary wilderness skills and expertise needed to keep them out of trouble and make their time in the wilderness more comfortable. Hardee Merritt has traveled extensively for outdoor training, particularly studying with Rick (Hue) Hueston and Tim MacWelch, Instructor and Founder of the original Earth Connection school. Hardee also brings more than a decade of teaching experience to his work with EC-NC. As a Fourth-Degree Black-Belt in To Shin Do Ninjutsu and is the Head Instructor and owner of the Chapel Hill Quest Center. Hardee has led classes, seminars, and training of all kinds for adults and youth. Hardee also currently holds a Blue-Belt in Brazilian style jujitsu, and has six years of Mixed Martial Arts training that includes putting it to the test in the ring fighting. Hardee's determination to learn and patient willingness to teach, combined with his passion for the outdoors never fail to inspire his students to appreciate what he has to teach.
You can email him at hmerritt@ncquestcenter.com
2010 North Carolina Classes
Stone Tools Friction Fire - New For 2010
9 am to 4 pm
This new course will focus on the Bow Drill, Hand Drill and Fire Plow methods of friction fire making and use ONLY traditional stone tools and materials. This class brings a whole new level to the already tricky task of making Friction Fire. We will dig into our ancestor's tool box for the construction of the fire making equipment and supplies. Students will construct stone tools during the class, and use them to build fire making sets, all of which will be theirs to keep. Join us to learn how to primitively split out planks for fire boards, learn to make bow drill cord from bark and fibers, knap out some stone saw blades, and use these things to make fire. This is the highest level of fire making art, presented as only Earth Connection can.
Friction Fire Making
This course will focus on the Bow Drill and Hand Drill methods of friction fire making and how to easily start a fire. Fire safety, tinder, fire wood selection, and setting up a primitive fireplace will be covered in addition to some of the history and physics of friction fire making. Proper construction and use of the fire making equipment will be emphasized during the course. Students will construct fire making sets which will be theirs to keep from a variety of materials provided by us. Our one day Friction Fire Making course teaches the Hand Drill friction fire making method because it is the easiest fire kit to make, and this method had the widest use through prehistory and world cultures. The Bow Drill is also taught in this course because it is the easiest method for beginners to make friction fire.
9am- 4pm ($80)
Wilderness Survival September 16-17 in North Carolina (Thursday and Friday of Ultimate Survival Week)
Our Wilderness Survival course is a 2 day course designed to instruct students in a wide variety of year-round life saving wilderness survival skills using the latest modern gear and the best historic outdoor skills. Students of this course will learn the priorities of survival, how not to get lost in the first place, how to signal for rescue, and what to put in survival kits. Skills will include building and camping out in one of the many tarp shelters to be covered; collecting and purifying water with several modern methods; and the basics of making and utilizing fire including flint & steel, batteries, magnifying lens, waterproofing matches and tinder. Food gathering instruction will include collecting and preparing nutritious edible plants, four different traps unique to this course and survival fishing. How to sharpen a knife with a stone, knots and string making will also be covered. We recommend this course for all outdoor persons.
Starting 9am on the first day and running until 4pm on second day ($200) overnight survival campout on site is included
Wilderness First Aid Dates TBD
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What happens when you or a friend is hurt while
hiking in the woods? Do you have the supplies
you need to treat the person. More importantly
do you have the skills you need to treat the
person? Wilderness First Aid is a 16 hour
course for those who work, live or play in
remote areas - away from the usual EMS
service. The course explains the concepts in
First Aid: When
Help is Delayed to give you detailed
information and hands-on skills practice.
A certification can be issued that has an expiration
of 3 years. A minimum age of 15 is recommended for
participants due to the serious nature of the course
and scenarios.
Course Outline
Prerequisite: Ages 15 and above.
Participant(s) must be able to hike short distances
to remote sites and simulate rescues. (Camp ground available for those wishing to camp overnight. Camping is not part of the class and is at your own risk) This class is primarily for Quest Center students, but space on a waiting list for outside students may be available. Please call the Chapel Hill NC Quest Center and ask for Hardee, Anna or Dee Dee to check availability. Their # is 919-489-8893.
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Emergency Auto Repair Dates TBD
1:00 pm – 4:00pm ($40)
Wild Edible Plants w/ Tim MacWelch
Our Wild Edible and Useful Plant course will focus on the different plants and plant uses of the season. The course is a guided walk through different habitats, identifying, collecting and frequent sampling wild plant foods, and pointing out harmful plants to avoid. We will cover approximately 40 plants, shrubs and trees, depending on the season. We will cover proper identification and use of these plants, whether plants are native or introduced, when and where to safely collect plants and conservation techniques. In addition to food plants, we will also identify trees, flowers and other plants - and explain uses for these like friction fire making, tools, medicines and alcohol brewing potential. Each student gets an Earth Connection plant handout with full color photos and written plant information. Wild edible will be sampled frequently during the day, but you'll need to bring your own lunch.
9:00 am – 4:00pm ($80)
Primitive Cooking Dates TBD
Join us for our very ab-original cooking class; often imitated, but never duplicated! Our Primitive Cooking course will teach the food preparation skills of our ancestors as we use traditional cooking skills to create a feast for the mind and belly. Cooking techniques will be taught and during the course students will construct and use a stone fireplace with reflector, a stone oven and a steam pit. Other cooking methods to be covered are rock frying, coal baking, rock boiling in wooden bowls and a deer hide, clay baking and an Algonquin style green wood grill "Barbecue". Eating utensils, cooking containers and other subjects will be covered. A lunch, snacks and a dinner will also be part of this course. The menu for this course uses some modern ingredients and some traditional ones; and will include many kinds of meat prepared in different ways.
9:00am - 5:00pm ($80)
Land Navigation Dates TBD
You'll never be lost again with navigation expert Rick "Hue" Hueston at the helm. Hue spent a lot of his venerable 20 year military career learning, using and then teaching land navigation. Now you can learn the skills of map and compass orienteering. Navigating cross-country from point A to point B takes more than walking the distance and in the primitive is sometime more art than science. This class provides the basic skills required to navigate cross-country day and night using modern (sorry no GPS) and primitive techniques of direction finding, and how to use these skills in the field for day hikes or long-range outings. The class includes basic navigation principles (maps, compasses, declination, the forms of navigation, and route planning, day and night land navigation techniques), as well as advanced instruction in the skills of intersection and resection (triangulation), hand-drawn maps and using terrain features like "road signs." We will provide a compass for the class, but you can bring your own provided it is a well-crafted one. We recommend basic compasses from Silva/ Brunton and Suunto.
9:00am – 4:00pm ($80)
Emergency Fire Skills Dates TBD
A well constructed fire can dry your clothes; increase your core temperature, cook your food, purify your water, and light your way. This course will cover skills including fire safety, proper fire materials, fire lay construction, and many methods of starting and maintaining fires with modern materials and techniques.
1:00 pm – 4:00pm ($40)
Modern Wilderness Survival Strategies Dates TBD
Do you know what constitutes a survival situation and how to properly navigate it? In this course we go over the modern skills necessary in any survival situation. Topics of instruction include: priorities of survival, survival kit construction, knot tying, fire strategies, modern water purification, survival fishing in the pond on site, signaling for help and building tarp shelters.
9:00am – 4:00pm ($80)
Primitive Wilderness Survival Strategies Dates TBD
This course covers crucial skills to ensure your safety and well-being in any survival situation using Primitive Skills as your ultimate back up plan. Topics include: Priorities of Survival, leaf hut shelter construction, friction fire with the Bow Drill, primitive cooking, using fire to make wooden dishes, make string from bark and stone age tool use.
9:00am - 4:00pm ($80)
Required Equipment for All Earth Connection - NC Courses:
- Sturdy knife (fixed blade preferred)
- Rain gear
- Personal water and food supply
(a snack is recommended for half day courses; a lunch and snack are recommended for full day courses) - Notebook and writing utensil
- Insect repellent
- Camp chair
Property Description
Conveniently located between the Piedmont and Triangle areas of the state, the sixteen acre Earth Connection North Carolina ecosystem hosts an impressive variety of plants and wildlife. Turtles sun themselves near cattails at the edge of a calm pond, which is also home to fish, beavers, and other wildlife. Smooth native stones line a winding creek threading through the hardwood forest. A system of paths connects a generous graveled parking area with the outdoor classroom, camping area and other training sites. Useful plant life such as Wild grape, Russian olives, and Paw-paw trees growing on the land provide materials for classes in primitive and survival skills. The variety of terrain within this self-contained environment supports small and large-group classes for adults and youth in many areas of plant identification, fire making, camping, basic survival priorities, shelter-construction, team-building, and other survival and outdoor-recreation activities. Driving directions are sent out upon receipt of applications and tuition.