Meet our incredible instructors who bring a wealth of expertise and passion to The GatherThing, ensuring an immersive and educational experience for all attendees.
Isaiah Tuck
Born and raised in Greenbrier County.
WV Game Warden.
Captain, WV Air National Guard.
Combat veteran.
Contestant on Season 11 of Alone on the History Channel.
Bushcraft and survival expert.
The Pathfinder School
Discover an exclusive path to self-reliance with our highly trained Certified Pathfinder Instructors offering decades of outdoor mastery and knowledge. Our staff has mastered the skills, techniques, and methodology of The Pathfinder System, endorsed by The Pathfinder School and unavailable elsewhere. Be confident that you are learning from the best.
Paul Christopher
Paul grew up in the woods with parents who taught him to build stuff, grow his own food in the garden, how to preserve food through canning.
Paul said he was 21 years old before he knew there was canned tuna in the store, we canned our own fish.”
Paul is now homesteading on 5 acres with a limited budget. “We figure out ways to build and do things we need with very little money in it.”
Wendell Adams ‘Prepared Wanderer’
The Prepared Wanderer is a YouTube content creator and survival enthusiast known for his expertise in bushcraft, survival gear, and outdoor preparedness. His channel focuses on a variety of topics, including gear reviews, survival tips, bushcraft techniques, and advice on creating everyday carry (EDC) kits, bug-out bags, and get-home bags. The Prepared Wanderer often emphasizes practical, budget-friendly gear and strategies for both beginners and experienced outdoors enthusiasts.
Wanda Priday
Owner of Gemini Survival School – Blacksburg VA
Came up in a family that gardened and canned, raised chickens, hogs, cows, hunted, fished, trapped, and foraged for everyday provisions is the base she continues to grow from.
Traveled the outback studying indigenous cultures.
Author of Survival Tips, Tricks and Traps she co-wrote with her late husband William Priday.
Gene Miller, No 8 Forge
Gene Miller is a dedicated Blacksmith and professional Bladesmith that has an extensive background in metalworking with more than 30 years experience.
Gene is committed to preserving and sharing methods of creating functional art as well as knowledge of his craft through teaching.
His core values stand with tradition, the ability to be self sufficient and service to others. You can find him in the mountains of Virginia making a living doing what he loves.
Becky Christopher
I have been involved in the outdoors in different ways for the last 22 years. From performing Search and Rescue with the Rescue Squad I worked for. To my involvement with my husband Paul Christopher and myself in the process of starting a Bushcraft/ Homestead school on our land we recently purchased. I have 32 years background in the medical field, with the last 22 of those being in Emergency Services. I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge of medical along with the outdoor setting and combining the 2 together for a First Aid Class.
John Galloway
John Galloway has roots in several parts of the U.S. having grown up with missionary parents. From Northern California to North Carolina, John has collected several talents in wilderness and homesteading skills inherited from his father and also native to all regions where he was raised. After graduating high school, John spent 10 years of service with the USMC and spent several years abroad with indigenous villages in the Phillippines only adding to wilderness skillsets with jungle survival. Upon discharge he was hired by the Fayetteville (NC) Fire Department and served as a medic, Rescue Technician, HazMat Technician and retired in 2016 as a Captain. John decided to turn his passion for homesteading into a full-time job, but also began teaching firearms training including his true love, long range precision. John transitioned into also teaching wilderness skills to this day, sharing God’s creation and the peace the wild can bring.
Ty Barker
Ty has led an incredible career in law enforcement and has experience serving on various specialized units such as the Central West Virginia Drug and Violent Crimes Unit, K9 Unit, detective unit, school resource officer, CIU unit, SEU unit and US Marshall task force. Additionally, he is a dedicated volunteer firefighter. Recently, Ty pursued a dream of teaching others as a Pathfinder School instructor and completed the program in November 2023, and received his Tan Hat, and received his Black Hat in June 2024. He now teaches at the Pathfinder School in Jackson, Ohio and loves sharing his passion for the outdoors and passing on valuable skills to both his family and students.
Jess Shankle
Co Owner of Shankle Homestead Leather Works & Owner of Beauty in the Weeds.
Jess is a License Massage Therapist, motivational speaker, homesteader, homeschooling Mama of 5. Growing up moving around, Jess was inspired to do things a little more old school for her own family. She is self taught in baking, cooking, natural remedies, canning and animal husbandry. She and her husband currently sustain a homestead with chickens, dairy goats, and meat goats.
Rick Dunlap
Rick Dunlap, the proud proprietor of Bushcraft North Carolina, not only oversees the community as its dedicateo Facebook administrator but also brings an impressive 18-year tenure as a certified instructor for the Emergency Care and Safety Institute (ECSI). With expertise in standard first aid, CPR, AED, basic lite support (BLS) for healthcare providers, and wilderness first aid, Rick has been a stalwart in promoting safety and well-being.
In addition to his role as an ECSI instructor, Rick serves as an esteemed instructor for the Old North Council Boy Scouts of America, specializing in health and safety. His commitment extends to his role as a health officer at the Cherokee Scout Reservation, reflecting his dedication to fostering a secure environment.
Rick’s illustrious career includes a remarkable 25-year service as a U.S. Army Sergeant Major, during which he spent a decade as a paratrooper at Fort Bragg, NC, with the 16th Military Police Brigade and the 82nd Airborne Division. As a combat veteran and tormer drill sergeant, Rick’s military experience has shaped his unwavering commitment to excellence and discipline.
Beyond his military service, Rick is a retired high school teacher in North Carolina. Teaching holds a special place in his heart, viewing it as one of his passions. Rick firmly believes in the power of passing on valuable skills to the younger generation, recognizing that this transfer of knowledge ensures a legacy of competence for generations to come.
Nathan Jenkins
The Bodging Bigfoot – Nathan blends traditional woodland crafts with sustainable forestry to create tomorrow’s antiques from nature’s castoffs. By working with diseased, dying, or storm-fallen trees, he helps conserve native woodlands while crafting functional, lasting pieces rooted in the past and built for the future.
John Niggl
Owner of Just a Nazarene Leather Co. in Memphis, Tennessee.
John is a physics teacher turned leather craftsman specializing in heirloom-quality leather products primarily for outdoor enthusiasts in survival, camping, and bushcrafting.
His faith in Jesus Christ drives his craftsmanship by applying the biblical principle found in Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might…”
John combines his leather business skills and teaching experience on his YouTube channel (Just a Nazarene Leather Co.) where he not only shares leather projects, but teaches aspiring leather workers how to start and run their own businesses.