Now survivalist instructors say there’s been a major surge in people wanting to learn how to live off the land.

While the vast majority of us in the western world have no idea how to make shelter or live off the land safely, the number of us wanting to learn is rising.

Gordon Dedman’s Bushcraft Survival Australia is at the forefront of a survival skills resurgence.

It’s not just apocalypse preppers and hardcore survivalists.

Some survival supply stores are experiencing a fivefold increase in the last four years, with wild food workshops under increasing demand from people wanting to know what’s poisonous and what's just gross.

“Not hard core preppers, families learning self sufficiency, not wanting to rely on supermarkets anymore,” said Diego Bonetto who runs wild food workshops.

The pandemic also fed the fad with stockpilers and broken supply chains turning our supermarket aisles into chaos.

“COVID showed people that you are vulnerable, that it is a good idea to learn how to live off the land,” Bonetto said.