About Us

 MISSION STATEMENT: 

To teach survival and bushcraft utilizing ancient and modern skills, to enable the individual to cope with emergencies or disasters regardless of duration, to build self-confidence in the outdoors, to help sustain a love for wilderness areas, and to develop an understanding of the proper stewardship of the resources given to us by the Creator.

  LOCATION: 

We are located in the beautiful, wooded, hill country of Southern Ohio. Find us on Facebook at WayPoint Survival by clicking on the contact information link at the top of the page! You can also watch our videos on YouTube @ WayPoint Survival.

A LITTLE ABOUT OUR FOUNDER:  

James Bender has been trained under Dave Canterbury at the Pathfinder School and his former lead instructor, Jaime Burleigh. James grew up in the Eastern Woodlands in Middle Tennessee where he began his outdoor education in survival and bushcraft. He has traveled to all 50 states and 11 foreign countries and has done desert hiking and camping in several deserts, including Death Valley and the Arizona High Desert. He has hiked and camped in mountainous areas from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coastal Regions of the Olympic Peninsula. He has built a fully functional 18th century log cabin along with being an 18th century reenactor. He travels and speaks about the outdoors and has been a main stage contributor at such events as the Rubber Tramp  Rendezvous in Quartzite, Az. He also designs and makes knives and has an intimate understanding of knife profiles, steel characteristics and handle ergonomics for hard use in survival situations. He taught survival and bushcraft for several years at a private school to children between the ages of 8 and 17 as well as to adults in a professional setting since 2017. He has been a motivational speaker since 1995.