Mountain Readiness Expo 2025 Recap

The Third Annual Mountain Readiness Expo was held on the Van Hoy Campground in Concord, North Carolina Could 2-4 2025. This household pleasant occasion featured a wide selection of courses, demonstrations, and distributors all centered round making attendees extra ready to deal with emergencies and an elevated consciousness of the significance of self-reliance expertise and life-style. Past the schooling and equipment, the Mountain Readiness Expo additionally packed in nice native meals, tent and RV tenting, night leisure, and most significantly – neighborhood!

My spouse Robin and I street tripped 700 miles from our residence in rural Connecticut to stunning North Carolina to attend the Expo and we each left with new expertise, an awesome sense of neighborhood, and we’re already trying ahead to subsequent yr!

The Individuals Behind the Mountain Readiness Expo

Robert “T” Toombs, Co-Founding father of Mountain Readiness

Robert “T” Toombs,  life experiences have pushed him being among the many most passionate and devoted self-reliance lovers I’ve had the pleasure of realizing. Rising up and shifting round rural areas T realized first hand the worth of using pure assets and the challenges that come together with it. As an grownup T labored his approach to changing into a logistics supervisor for a significant firm and skilled life in city environments.

Amber Toombs, Co-Founding father of Mountain Readiness

Amber Toombs spent 13 years serving in america Military the place she deployed to Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She then went labored in regulation enforcement for six years. The craving for an easier lifestyle and a shared ardour along with her husband T for instructing others the worth of preparedness and self-sufficiency led to the founding Rustic Roots Homestead and Mountain Readiness.

Having a various skillset and self-reliant dwelling mentality isn’t sufficient, you want a neighborhood – that’s precisely what T and Amber got down to construct after they based Mountain Readiness. Over the previous few years the Mountain Readiness Expo has grown because of T and Amber’s relentless dedication to creating connections, constructing neighborhood, and the need to share helpful expertise with these keen to study!

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Now that we perceive the folks behind the occasion, let’s check out what Mountain Readiness Expo delivered to the desk in 2025!

Knife forging was one of many many class choices on the 2025 Mountain Readiness Expo

Various Class Choices

Earlier than attending Mountain Readiness Expo, the category and demonstration line-up actually drew my consideration. The courses lined all kinds of subjects that fell into the numerous classes together with:

• Homesteading
• Primitive Abilities
• Wilderness Survival
• Bushcraft
• Self-Protection
• Communications
• Ways
• Sustainable Residing
• Firearms
• Lady’s Solely Firearms

Whereas every of those subjects have extra subtopics than anybody might rely, bringing a small sampling of all them collectively in a single weekend brings a singular worth. For starters it permits attendees to concentrate on ability areas that curiosity them most. Extra importantly this demonstrates how expertise throughout a number of disciplines praise one another and make us higher ready for the surprising. Whereas we didn’t have sufficient time to take part in all the pieces we obtained the possibility to take some nice courses and demonstrations!

Jacks Genega instructing attendees the anatomy and performance of a compass.

Land Navigation and Plant Stroll with Jacks Genega

Jacks Genega is an skilled wilderness survival professional and proprietor of Wildcard Wilderness! Her navigation course taught the the anatomy of a compass and detailed the nuances of how one can use it and culminated with an actual world train in utilizing a compass to achieve your bearings within the woods.

The plant stroll class took individuals by the woods to determine and focus on the makes use of of lots of North Carolina’s native crops in addition to dangerous crops to keep away from!

Patrick DuBose getting his timber bundle ignited after making a sizzling coal with a bow drill.

Bow Drill Fireplace Beginning with Patrick DuBose

Patrick Dubois could also be younger, however his skillset and expertise is one thing that may profit all ages! Patrick demonstrated primitive fireplace making expertise utilizing a bow drill and using pure supplies that may be discovered wherever!

Rob Schneider demonstrating easy hook creation.

Black Smithing with Heavy Crown Forge and Crafts

Retired Marine, Rob Schneider, started his Black Smithing journey in 2018 and at the moment works as a hobbyist Black Smith. Along with creating instruments he additionally strives to go down blacks smithing expertise to those that want to study in order that this important artwork isn’t misplaced.

The Auxiliary Manufacturing Karl Jr is one among my go to self-defense instruments. The Defiant 7 Talos is a brand new addition that I picked up from USA Made Blade whereas in North Carolina.

Knife Preventing Fundamentals and Methods

If you happen to plan on carrying a knife for self-defense having the coaching and expertise to again it up is significant. Two knife combating courses we supplied one to cowl the fundamentals and one other to go over completely different knife combating methods. Whereas neither course would make a participant a grasp, these programs supplied the fundamentals wanted to get began by sensible state of affairs demonstrations and masking how one can choose self-defense knives.

The palms on hen processing class afforded individuals the chance to course of a hen from farm to desk.

Hen Well being Care and Hen Processing

Among the many many homesteading courses out there have been programs in hen care and a course in processing chickens from dwell birds to able to cook dinner! The hen care class lined how one can hold chickens and hold them wholesome. the Hen processing course lined all the pieces from the 24 hours earlier than slaughter and how one can humanly dispatch your hen to defeathering and butchering the hen to maximise useable meat. The hen processing course afforded class individuals the chance to do your entire course of beneath supervision of educated specialists!

Knife designer, jungle information, and founding father of Bushcraft International – Joe Flowers

Impromptu Woodsman Abilities with Joe Flowers

When jungle information and knife design legend, Joe Flowers, says “hey do you need to head into the woods and do cool stuff” you do not say no! Joe, Robin, and I headed off to the woods to follow giant knife duties with smaller knives, discover water in vines, search out naturally occurring fatwood, and study assorted crops and bugs. Take a look at our social media profiles for some movies of our woodland enjoyable!

We obtained to take a look at the prototype of TOPS Knives Mini Brakimo, designed by Joe Flowers.

This was only a small sampling of the programs out there on the Mountain Readiness Expo and even over the course of three days it will be unimaginable to take all of the courses! The teacher line up was unimaginable, bringing many well-known and respected trainers to the occasion. Some instructors even supplied extra full size courses have been additionally supplied at a further cost within the the few days after the occasion closed permitting these with a want to take a deeper dive into particular subjects the chance to take action. Take a look at the total checklist of instructors in attendance.

One of many tenting areas close to the parade discipline at Mountain Readiness Expo.

Mountain Readiness Expo Grounds and Facilities

The Mountain Readiness Expo was held on the Van Hoy Camp Floor providing a whole bunch of acres of fields, woodlands, important buildings, and loads of room for tenting in addition to ample parking for these simply coming for the day. The tenting possibility was significantly common with a whole bunch of individuals tenting out in RVs, tents, or pop-up campers. Many individuals tenting results in a ton of campfires and neighborhood constructing after the traditional occasion hours, and the parents at Mountain Readiness ensured there was loads of after hours actions happening together with evening imaginative and prescient demos, cookouts, and dwell music.

Every little thing from sizzling meals, to ice cream and low have been out there!

There have been was a pleasant number of native meals vans on website carry some tasty BBQ choices, native farm made ice cream, stir fry, tacos, and on-site freshly roasted espresso. If attendees have been on the hunt for brand new gear there have been loads of choices to select from together with bushcraft gear, survival tools, outside cooking instruments, physique armor, and knives of all sizes and styles. There was additionally a raffle on Sunday that includes some nice gear from distributors, instructors, sponsors.

Whereas the principle occasion was held on the filed the grounds supplied a whole bunch of acres of dense woodland for programs and exploration.

Being an out of doors occasion the southern solar was greater than I’ve acclimated to being it has been largely chilly and grey right here in New England, however many of the courses have been held in giant tents which offer shelter from the solar and have been open on each ends to permit the breeze by. Some courses have been held within the woods encompass the principle occasion space offering a pleasant reprieve from the solar.

There have been ample quantities of porta-potties out there round the principle space and regardless of having a whole bunch of attendees they have been stored clear and there was by no means a protracted wait to entry the services.

Having a blast masking the Mountain Readiness Expo with the assistance of my spouse, Robin Italiano.

Remaining Ideas

The query a we’ve got been requested by many since returning is “was Mountain Readiness Expo definitely worth the the journey?” we are able to truthfully say, with out reservation, it was! Our solely remorse was that we couldn’t keep longer! If you’re into studying new self-reliance expertise or getting a recent tackle present expertise, that is the occasion for you. If you’re seeking to forge connections and construct neighborhood with welcoming like minded folks that is the occasion for you!

If you’re touring and need to camp out there may be loads of room and neighborhood to do it with! If you happen to needed to remain indoors there are many good lodge choices simply 20 minutes away.

In the end if you’re a survival, preparedness, and/or survival fanatic the Mountain Readiness Expo has loads to supply. There’s a wealth of knowledge and courses for freshmen and many to proceed expertise growth of the seasoned fanatic. With a lot class selection it was good to dive into subjects I captivated with and get out of my consolation zone and study new expertise.

The sense of neighborhood that the Toombs household has constructed was refreshing. Everybody one I encountered was unimaginable. It did not matter for those who have been an fanatic, the CEO of an organization, a well-known coach, or a well-liked media character – everybody in attendance was unified with the widespread aim to study from others and train what they know!

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Written by Nick Italiano