Bill McConnell, The PAST School

OUTDOORS PROFESSIONAL

Montana

406-570-0520, info@PASTSkills.com, www.PASTSkills.org

Specialties: Nature, Survival, Primitive Skills, Teaching, Weather, Veterans Groups/Wounded Warriors

NOTE, Please:  Recently, Bill has been sponsored by a large company that makes synthetic camouflage clothing. We are grateful that Bill's new sponsor does not mind him wearing WeatherWool. Classy move!

Bill is a lifelong practitioner of Primitive Skills, and the Founder of PAST Skills Wilderness School. Bill has been teaching tracking, survival, stealth, wild foods, bow-making, flint-knapping ... and much more ... since the 1990s. Bill has imparted his skills to Navy SEALs and other elite military and outdoor people for over 20 years. Some of Bill's students have gone on to found their own schools. Many people will remember Bill for his adventures on the Discovery Channel's popular series Dual Survival. Recently, Bill has become very active with the Wounded Warrior Project. [Note: Bill was leading a group of Wounded Warriors the last time we spoke. He was happy to become an Advisor as soon as I told him about the program, but he had only a short time to speak before again heading into the bush and out of signal range. Usually our Advisors themselves provide or edit the material we put on this page.  We're not sure Bill has seen it yet because he spends so much time in remote areas. If you don't get through to Bill right away, please leave a message and be patient. He will be happy to speak with you!]

Background Story:  In summer of 2015, Bill phoned us and explained he would soon be filming for a well-known TV show, and, as a wool-lover, he knew he'd be wearing wool. He said he was inviting all manufacturers to send something for trial, and that he would wear whatever he liked best. A couple of days later he called back to say he KNEW he wasn't going to find anything better than WeatherWool. In late July and early August of 2022, I visited Bill in Bozeman, Montana, where we filmed a quick reminiscence of this talk:

In the pictures at left, Bill is wearing our Anorak in Lynx Pattern, which is the item and Fabric most favored by Military people as well. The pictures were taken at the beginning (on the glacier) and at the end (lakeside) of Bill's successful Chilean survival adventure.

In August of 2020, Ralph and Debby visited Bill in Montana!

9 August 2022 --- Ralph