PerfectRucksack originated from the idea of a literal perfect rucksack, a bag containing everything you need to explore and survive, but it’s grown into more than that, it’s become a collection of kit, skills and philosophy to carry us more confidently into an uncertain future.

Jonny is a yachtsman, he likes sailing and any sailor worth his salt takes safety seriously.

If you’re a long way from land you need to have what you need in an emergency, you need to be self-reliant, you need to have thought about what can go wrong before it goes wrong and to have the skill and the equipment to deal with it.

If you’re heading into a huge storm you might do well to gather a few things into the life raft just in case you have to abandon ship and wait for the RNLI.

Well, significant climate and environmental change is literally and metaphorically the biggest of all storms on the near horizon and it is high time we started to get ready for it.

There are 2 parts to this nautical analogy.

First we have to survive the storm, we need to put up the storm jib, tie everything down and get ready for a rough ride and if the battered yacht begins to sink beneath the mountainous waves we need to be ready to step up into the raft with the provisions we’ve assembled to survive and begin the task of simply staying alive until things calm down a little.

Secondly, as the dawn breaks on a tranquil post-storm morning there will be no RNLI lifeboat to rescue us, everything will have changed and when we pitch up on a deserted island we will need to build a new life where we are.

So here at Perfectrucksack we will help you learn and to teach the skills of basic survival, the skills that our ancestors knew so well and to develop skills to build a new life and a new way of being based on connection and balance with all things.

Mitakuye Oyasin as the Lakota people say - “All things are connected”.

Certainly, whatever situation we find ourselves in as a species we will require enormous adaptability, fortunately it is something that nature has endowed us with in abundance.

Different activities and environments need different tools but the basics of what we need daily are surprisingly few and what is more important are skills and knowledge.

We will be drawing on the help of many specialists in this programme of family resilience training but the people who mostly comprise Perfectrucksack are Jonny Kemp and Joanna Ling.

Jonny Kemp

Jonny became fascinated with survival at the age of 6 when he joined the Cub Scouts and made a survival kit in a matchbox.

His interest in expedition gear started with his first Action Man and it has never left him.

Jonny has explored the subject from military and primitive perspectives and is a keen canoe tripper.

He is a passionate collector of life skills and is still searching for the perfect rucksack.

Joanna Ling

Joanna is a highly experienced early years teacher and “child whisperer”.

She is a Forest Schools instructor, helping teachers to deliver earth-based learning and wisdom to young children.

She’s talented at making learning fun, a keen knitter and nature enthusiast.

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