California Survival School was founded by two brothers with a passion for traditional living skills, outdoor adventure, and self-sufficiency. We are a family-run school dedicated to providing people with local access to hands-on outdoor learning adventures that refine inborn survival instincts into functional survival skills-sets and cultivate an intimate connection with the natural world that enriches life in ways for which there is no substitute.

As the only survival school with locations covering Orange County, Los Angeles, and the SF Bay area, California Survival School is proud to be the largest survival school in California, both in terms of geographical territory covered as well as the number of students taught weekly through our public and private survival course offerings.

In addition to our normal course and adventure trip offerings, California Survival School also actively engages in wilderness education through WilderSkills, our signature primitive skills and deep nature connection community and summer camp for California youth ages 7 to 17 and their families. The WilderSkills motto is “Ancient skills, Wild Adventures, & Deep Connection”.

Leadership Profile

Dan Baird – Head Instructor

Dan began sharing his love for the outdoors and primitive living technologies professionally in 2004 as a back-country wilderness survival guide and primitive skills instructor with Anasazi Foundation, leading multi-week primitive living expeditions for teens and adults through the high desert and mountains of northern Arizona. Dan has since lived and traveled in places as far reaching as Romania, Mexico and Hawaii to learn and teach primitive living skills. Today, Dan loves having the opportunity to make primitive skills and nature awareness learning opportunities available to hundreds of people across California each month via California Survival School and WilderSkills primitive adventure programs.

Watch Dan & Mike on ABC 7 News Los Angeles here.

Michael Baird – Instructor

Michael Baird is an Eagle Scout and veteran outdoor skills instructor. Micheal began teaching water rescue and survival skills as a lifeguard and W.S.I at 16, as well as wilderness and maritime survival skills through the Boy Scouts at age 18 while working as crew on an 18th century sailing vessel throughout the coastal waters of Southern California. In addition to his maritime know-how and outdoor experience via Boy Scouts, Michael’s ability with traditional living skills has been honed in the back-country since childhood. He is known for his ninja-like prowess with a rabbit stick. Micheal is also an active CERT in Orange County.

Dave Holladay – Special Instructor

A founding instructor for Boulder Outdoor Survival School and one of the most experienced primitive survival instructors alive, Dave Holladay has been practicing and teaching primitive living skills for over 30 years. Dave has provided survival training and mentorship to the biggest names in survival television, including Bear Grylls (Man V. Wild), Cody Lundine (Dual Survival), Les Stroud (Survivorman), Matt Graham (Dude, You’re Screwed!/Dual Survival), and more. He has also been a survival skills consultant on major motion pictures including: Jeremiah Johnson, Castaway, and Charlie’s Angels.
A native of Arizona, Dave has lived and traveled throughout the southwestern United States and once walked from Mexico to Utah overland with nothing but the clothes on his back. An expert on living off the land in the American Southwest, Dave also has considerable knowledge of primitive living practices throughout the rest of the Americas from traveling throughout Central and South America since childhood. For over 20 years Dave has routinely led primitive-adventure trips to the Copper Canyons of Mexico alongside the Tarahumara Indians. He is proud to be their friend and an advocate who supports their efforts to preserve their cultural identity and traditions.

Laura Stein – Instructor

Laura has been studying and instructing primitive wilderness survival more than a decade and is highly experienced at working with youth and families in outdoor settings. Her approach in teaching primitive skills and nature awareness draws on Tom Brown, Jr. and Jon Young’s Coyote Mentoring principles of questioning, storytelling, and adventuring, to inspire students towards seeking out their own nature experiences. In addition to sharing her primitive skills expertise as an instructor for California Survival School, Laura is also a Wilderness EMT and holds degrees in Tourism & Hospitality Management and Environmental Studies from Temple University. She is also proud to be a co-founder of WilderSkills youth adventure programs.(WilderSkills.Com).

Reza Allah-Bakhshi – Instructor

Reza Allah-Bakhshi is a world-class adventurer, journalist, photographer, and survival skills instructor who travels the world to learn primitive living skills directly from indigenous cultures that still use them on a daily basis and to tell their story. Reza’s pursuit of ancestral knowledge has taken him to study under masters of primitive living in the Philippines, Mexico, Peru, and across the United States.
Reza is a regular contributor to SWAT magazine and other outdoor/survival publications, where he publishes articles on survival gear and tactics. An orange county native, Reza loves to explore the local mountains of his Santa Ana home and has become adept at identifying the plants and animals that are useful to survival in his home range. Reza is also a certified wilderness first responder.

Sean Mula – Instructor

Sean Mula is California Survival School’s resident wilderness first aid specialist and has the unique distinction of being hired by the City of Sunnyvale as both a full-time police officer & as well as a professional firefighter. Sean is certified Wilderness EMT (WEMT) and long-time instructor of wilderness first aid. At age 17, Sean became the youngest EMT in LA County history, working emergency calls in some of the roughest parts of Los Angeles city proper. Sean’s many certifications include EMT, WFR, Swiftwater Rescue Technician, AHA BLS Instructor, High Angle & Cliff Rescue, SARTECH III Search & Rescue, USPA Class A Parachutist, Nordic Rescue, PADI Advance Open Water Diver, and FEMA Disaster Response Command Specialist. Sean is also UC Davis Alumni where he served as head guide for whitewater rafting for UC Davis Outdoor Adventures as well as the Wilderness First Aid certifying instructor.

Tamra Dawn Hyde – Instructor

Tamra is a Tennessee native and has been running around barefoot in the woods since childhood . Tamra began teaching wilderness survival and primitive living skills professionally in 2005 as a trail guide for Anasazi Foundation in the mountains and deserts of Arizona. After four years at Anasazi, Tamra left to continue her pursuit of ancestral skills and career development in wilderness therapy as a trail guide for Wind Gate in Southern Utah from 2011 to 2013. In 2014, Tamra joined California Survival School as a survival instructor and also became the assistant director of operations for WilderSkills Outdoor Adventure programs (WilderSkills.com). Tamra is also a trained Wilderness First Responder and loves teaching friction fire and wild edibles!