In concept, a walk in the woods can be a peaceful and relaxing strategy for disconnecting from the stress of the wired world and recharging one”™s emotional batteries within the serenity of nature. In reality, things can go awry, with the potential for getting hopelessly lost to badly injured to visited by an animal in search of its next meal.
And there”™s where Erik Kukk comes in. The Brookfield-based Kukk is no stranger to stressful situations ”” he was a former counter-intelligence agent in the U.S. Army who ran an investigation and bodyguard company before starting his own law firm ”” and his combined interests in the outdoors and helping people resulted in his co-founding Calculated Survival, a new company designed to educate people on being prepared for the best and the worst that the wilderness has to offer.
Kukk began planning Calculated Survival last July with an eclectic circle of collaborators: his wife, who is also an attorney and a mechanical engineer; her father, a retired military rocket scientist; his daughter, who was completing her masterӪs in bioengineering; his daughterӪs fianc̩, an inventor and survivalist; and a police officer friend who was called on multiple occasions to locate people who became lost in the woods.
“What we decided is develop a company using our innovations, because we have a lot of ideas for making emergency survival easy for the regular person,” Kukk explained. “Our survival company is not for Rangers or the military or anything else ”” this is for your everyday person that might go out hiking and get lost or get into a car accident where there”™s nobody up in the mountains.”
Part of the focus that Kukk and his Calculated Survival team are pursuing is the building of a YouTube channel that offers video lessons on various survival strategies.
“I just shot a video over the weekend on learning how to recognize, treat and then avoid hypothermia,” Kukk continued. “What we”™re planning on doing with our YouTube channel is to give people free training on recognizing when they might be in trouble and how to get out of trouble.”
The Calculated Survival team is also creating a product line designed to help those who are forced to help themselves in the wild.
“We have a survival kit that”™s no bigger than a brick,” he said, noting the kit would include mylar for staying warm, a LifeStraw water purification kit for safely consuming groundwater, and a fire starter.
“What we”™ve realized is that people are buying these kits that have bottle openers and can openers, stuff you don”™t need,” he continued. “We”™re putting together a kit that is just what you need. But beyond that, you also need to have the training ”” a fire starter kit doesn”™t do you any good if you don”™t know how to use it.”
Calculated Survival is also operating an e-commerce site that appeals to both the serious survivalist and those who prefer to live vicariously through Bear Grylls reruns. The company”™s online store including survivalist-designed clothing, axes and knives made from original designs created by the Calculated Survival team, camping and hiking gear and some distinctive miscellaneous items ranging from the important (a counter ring designed to keep track of the distance traveled during hikes, land navigation or runs) to the amusing (a stainless steel whiskey teacup).
At the moment, Calculated Survival is being monetized through self-funding by its co-founders and e-commerce sales, with new products in development including a folding hatchet. Kukk, who still maintains his law practice full time while operating the new business, is also exploring the possibility of conducting in-person classes for those who would benefit from the positive elements of being outdoors.
“One of the things we talked about when we started the company is that we wanted to use this as a kind of a help to fight depression,” he said. “Everybody comes across depression. And when we ran across friends that had problems or issues, we used to take them up to the Appalachian Trail for a few days. And it”™s amazing what just the outside and walking in the air, without all the electronics, and just having to talk and live in the nature does for you and your attitude. We want to bring that back once we get this up and running.”
I know Michelle’s Family, and have had the good fortune to have met Eric on a couple of occasions. I can think of no better people for this endeavor, and wish them all of the success they can tolerate!!