Terms of Service

These terms govern your use of campingwildernessskills.com, the Camping Wilderness Skills membership, and the CWS trip-planning app, all operated by Blackwater Outdoor Journeys LLC of Saint George, Georgia. By using this site, joining the community, or using the app, you agree to them.

Read this part first: the outdoors carries real risk

Everything CWS teaches is about travel in wild country — paddling, camping, navigation, hunting, cold and heat, and backcountry medicine. That travel carries inherent risk of injury or death, and no course, book, app, or community post removes it.

Our material is education, not a substitute for your own judgment, training, or preparation. It is not professional medical, legal, or guiding advice. Conditions change: water levels rise, weather turns, routes close, and regulations are revised. You are responsible for your own trip, your own decisions, and the safety of the people with you. Always verify current conditions and rules with the managing agency before you go, and turn back when the situation says to.

Membership and billing

Joining THE CAMPFIRE is free. CWS Premium is $9 per month or $90 per year and unlocks the full course library, the Field Manual, the app, and the weekly live call.

Membership and payment are handled through Skool, the platform our community runs on, and are also subject to Skool's terms. Subscriptions renew automatically for the period you selected until you cancel. You can cancel at any time from your Skool account settings; your access continues to the end of the period you have already paid for. We don't provide partial refunds for time already elapsed, but if something has genuinely gone wrong, email us and we'll deal with it fairly.

If we change pricing, the new price applies to renewals after we tell you, never retroactively to a period you've already paid for.

The app

The CWS app is a web app: it runs in your browser on a phone, tablet, or computer, with nothing to install from an app store. Access is included with your membership rather than sold separately.

The app depends on outside data — map tiles, weather forecasts, and USGS river gauges — and on your own device's GPS. That data can be delayed, incomplete, or wrong, and offline maps are only as current as the day you downloaded them. Treat the app as one input, not as your only navigation or safety system. Carry a map and compass, tell someone your plan, and don't rely on a phone as your sole means of getting home. The check-in feature is a convenience for people you have chosen to notify; it is not an emergency service and it does not contact search and rescue.

Your account and conduct

Keep your login to yourself; membership is for one person. Course material, the Field Manual, and lesson content are for your own use — please don't copy, redistribute, or resell them.

In the community, the rule is simple: be straight with people and don't be a jerk. No harassment, no spam or self-promotion, no illegal content, and no advice you know to be unsafe. We may remove content or end a membership that breaks these terms or that puts other members at risk.

Member content

What you post in the community stays yours. By posting it, you give us permission to display it within CWS and, where it's genuinely useful to other members, to quote it elsewhere with attribution. Tell us if you'd rather we didn't and we won't.

Intellectual property

The Camping Wilderness Skills and Blackwater Outdoor Journeys names, logos, course material, Field Manual, app, and site content are the property of Blackwater Outdoor Journeys LLC. Share links freely; please ask before reproducing the material itself.

Disclaimer and limitation of liability

The site, the membership, and the app are provided "as is," without warranties of any kind. We don't guarantee the app will be available without interruption or that any data it displays is accurate or current.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Blackwater Outdoor Journeys LLC is not liable for any injury, loss, or damage arising from your use of this site, the course material, the community, or the app, or from any outdoor trip you take. To the extent any liability is found, it is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. If we make a meaningful change, we'll update the date at the top of this page.

Contact

Questions about these terms: [email protected]. Blackwater Outdoor Journeys LLC, Saint George, Georgia.