Did you ever read any of Tom Brown Jr's books? He had a similar story about the time he and his best friend were in the Boy Scouts, which basically resulted in his resolving that if he became a Scoutmaster, /his/ troop would have wilderness survival skills gush darn it!

(He and his best friend were trained by his best friend's grandfather, who'd learned traditional skills from /his/ grandfather.)

For anyone who doesn't know, the guy is a wilderness survival expert, who can waltz into the wilderness with literally nothing and stay as long as he wants. He also gets called to track lost people in the woods, fleeing criminals hoofing it to Mexico, etc. And he holds classes where he teaches these skills.