Men's Dinner & Camp Survival Skills Course

Today on the Camp Balcones Springs blog, we are going to discuss Friday’s Men’s Dinner event and the evolution of our highly-touted Survival Skills class at camp.

After activities ended on Friday, boy campers gathered at the front of camp for one of our most epic camp traditions – Men’s Dinner! The first part of the evening saw the return of our popular Capture the Flag event. Campers split into teams and covered the top 20-acres of camp property on the quest for each other’s flags. After the game had finished, campers joined in a friendly food fight (soft foods only!) before gathering to eat a hearty meal (shirt and shoes optional). Dinner consisted of turkey legs, chicken wings, sausage links, and giant loaves of our crusty French bread – not a vegetable or salad was in sight (except, of course, for those with dietary restrictions).

After cleaning up, boy campers came together to watch a movie, and those who were interested were also given the option to watch the NBA finals. Campers enjoyed snacks of jalapeno poppers and mozzarella sticks – if they had any room left from dinner!

During the course of each camp day, boy campers and girl campers participate in a wide range of activities, from water and field sports, to archery and fishing, to visual and performing arts. One of our newest offerings at camp over the past decade has been our Survival Skills course. The course started out teaching the basics of simple animal and insect identification, firestarting, and camp safety and has expanded to cover various types of self defense and help equip campers with the basic training they need to become skilled campers and hikers.

Our Survival Skills courses are taught by long-time expert Daniel Adams, who comes to CBS with many years of outdoor experience, self defense and martial arts training, and military service. Campers learn and practice the skills of firestarting, shelter-building, self-defense (both physical and psychological techniques), how to safely transport injured parties when in the wilderness, and navigation, including wayfinding using compass bearings. At the end of the course, campers are given scenarios in which they can practice their skills, including pitching a camp and caring for, locating, and transporting an injured party in the wilderness.

Daniel has worked at camp in various capacities for the last twenty years, and he returned for full-time summer oversight of our Survival Skills program in 2019. Daniel began his outdoor journey at the age of 10, spending summers in the Alaskan bush with his brother. By the age of 17, he was commercial fishing in the North Pacific. As a teenager, Daniel earned black belts in several martial arts disciplines, going on to become a national champion in Tae Kwon Do and a two-time Pan American silver medalist in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He has trained athletes for more than 30 professional mixed martial arts competitions.

Daniel is a veteran of the United States Air Force where he worked as a crash rescue firefighter and earned certifications as an Emergency Medical Technician, Space Shuttle Rescue Technician, Hazardous Materials Technician, Fire Instructor I, Confined Space Rescue I, Airfield Fire Fighting, and A Squadron Level Weapons Courier. In 2001 he founded Peaceful Waters Adventure Travel and began hosting groups to Alaska, Mexico, and the Florida Everglades, sharing his outdoor skills and love for fly-fishing with many. In 2020, he earned his Merchant Mariner Credential and became a U.S. Coast Guard Captain.

Daniel first joined CBS in 2002, instructing a self defense class, and in 2019 returned to CBS to oversee the development of our Survival Skills program. We are so grateful for Daniel and impressed by how much his Survival Skills campers are learning!