Thanks for visiting Tanner’s Trails!
Hey there! I’m Tanner Cibula, a 24-year-old aspiring explorer and self-reliance practitioner. Since turning 18, I have spent over a year of my life living in the wild (and I’m just getting started). I made a decision to dedicate my lifetime to exploring and pushing myself to extremes mentally and physically.
At Tanner’s Trails, my goal is to teach and inspire others about wilderness skills through informative posts, youtube videos and reels, personal journal entries, expeditions, and much more. Thanks for being around for it!
Growing up, I found myself constantly wanting to learn outdoor skills like “how would someone layer for -30°F temperatures“, “how you could create a fire from the land“, “how to identify edible and medicinal plants around the world” and much, much more. Throughout the years, I have gained personal expedition experience while taking many courses like 30 days mountaineering in Alaska, two polar expedition trainings, multiple survival trainings, wilderness first responder training, and much more.
Throughout my brand Tanner’s Trails, I aim to answer these questions that I had years ago.
Subscribe to get 3 outdoor tips a month and NO BS!
From Zero To 100
Growing up in Ohio, I was never truly exposed to the wilderness. I don’t come from an outdoorsy family, and I never went camping as a kid- it just wasn’t something that my family did.
I grew up in a suburban area of Cincinnati where the sport of wrestling took over my life until I injured my knee twice- causing me to abandon the sport because of medical recommendations and there went my dreams of wrestling in college. Although this was hard for me, it led me to search for something else that was challenging both mentally and physically, yet rewarding.
This led me to the outdoors.
In fact, the first time I went hiking was when I was 17 years old- after I could no longer wrestle.
Ever since then, I have turned my dreams into my lifestyle where I have interned for a professional explorer, driven to Alaska, spent months alone in the wilderness, worked for a professional explorer, hiked the world-renowned John Muir Trail, scuba dived in Hawaii, jumped in crevasses on a glacier in Alaska, dogsledded in -20°F temperatures, worked for one of the largest travel bloggers in the world, attended multiple survival training’s, and much more.
Curious About My Experience?
Check out some of the training and experiences I have had/ will have below:
50 Days Alone In The Wilderness
(50 Days)
In the summer of 2024, I will embark on my first expedition to paddle from Minnesota to Hudson Bay. I will be entering some of the most remote territories in America and will spend 50 days alone.
Wilderness First Responder Recertification
Recertified my 9-day wilderness first responder certification.
Hudson Bay Expedition/Media Trip (23 Days)
Headed up to Northern Canada for a polar expedition/ media trip on the Hudson Bay Ocean. We set off from Churchill (the Polar bear capital of the world) and spent time traversing ocean sea ice.
Polar Expedition Training Assistant (23 Days)
Assisted professional polar explorer Eric Larsen in training prep, logistics, and daily needs for 2 separate polar expedition training courses where temperatures ranged from -20 Fahrenheit to 32 degrees.
Modern Trapping Training (5 Days)
Learned how to process furs and meat in traditional ways.
Survival TV Show
Shadowed And Assisted Survivalist Dave Canterbury for an Irish TV show production.
Primitive Trapping Training (4 Days)
Practiced and learned primitive trapping skills through the Pathfinder survival school.
Advanced Survival Training (4 Days)
Attended one of the most advanced survival courses offered worldwide. No food other than what’s hunted, and no water until I achieve a fire by friction…
Longhunter Course (8 Days)
Practiced wilderness living skills as they pertained back in the 18th century.
Associate Survival Instructor
Became an associate Survival instructor for arguably one of the toughest survival schools worldwide, The Pathfinder Survival School. Training under, teaching with, and being mentored by worldwide survival expert Dave Canterbury.
2nd Intermediate Survival Training (4 Days)
All while experiencing food, sleep, warmth, and water deprivation, we created items from the landscape ranging from primitive traps, signal fires for rescue, bow-drill friction fire, backpack frames, and much more. This course has a high tap-out rate.
In 4 days, we received an average of about 2 hours of sleep per night, 750 calories total (500 for the first day and 250 for 2nd, none after that), while still adhering to timed deliverables required to pass the course.
Bushcraft 101 Course
(4 Days)
Through Dave Canterbury’s Pathfinder survival school, I will be training to rely on the land using “bush” materials.
Intermediate Survival Training (4 Days)
All while experiencing food, sleep, warmth, and water deprivation, we created items from the landscape ranging from primitive traps, signal fires for rescue, bow-drill friction fire sets, backpack frames, and much more. This course started with 11 people but ended with me and 3 others due to the high tap-out rate of this course.
In 4 days, we received an average of about 2 hours of sleep per night, 750 calories total (500 for the first day and 250 for 2nd, none after that), while still adhering to timed deliverables required to pass the course.
Cold Weather Solo Training
(12 Days)
For two weeks, I lived alone in the Boundary Waters wilderness where temperatures dropped as low as -19 degrees Fahrenheit. I focused on learning about the Boreal forest resources during the dead of winter.
Rope Work, Knots, And Rigging Course
(3 Days)
Built mechanical advantage rope systems, created lashings to build a two-story bush shelter, and studied over 40 knots, lashings, hitches, etc.
30-Day NOLS Alaska Mountaineering Course
(30 Days)
Spent a month learning technical mountaineering skills on glaciers covered in crevasses in Alaska’s unforgivable wilderness.
Polar Expedition Training-2nd
(9 Days)
Attended my second polar expedition training with my mentor and polar explorer Eric Larsen.
Basic Survival Training
(3 Days)
Learned survival skills underneath instructor Dave Canterbury. Dave is a world-renowned survival expert and has survived in different environments all around the world and has been the star of multiple survival shows.
Search And Rescue
Joined Wolfe County Search and Rescue team in the infamous Red River Gorge area of Kentucky.
30 Days Alone In The Wilderness
(30 Days)
The first big adventure where I spent 30 days living and traveling in the boreal forest.
Wilderness First Responder
(11 Days)
Learned wilderness medical skills alongside many outdoor professionals. Practiced and lived on campus during the 11-day course and received my Wilderness First Responder certification.
Open Water Dive And Project Aware Certification
(3 Days)
Dipped my toes into the underwater world of scuba diving while also getting certified in project AWARE specialty to begin my goal of creating a cleaner ocean environment.
Polar Expedition Training (1st)
(5 Days)
Attended my first polar training with professional mountaineer and professional mountaineer and polar explorer Ryan Waters.
Expedition Internship
Worked in Colorado alongside professional explorer Eric Larsen. Eric is one of the greatest modern-day explorers with many world firsts including being the first person to go on an expedition to the North Pole, South Pole, and Mount Everest in one year.
Dogsled, Snowshoe, and Ski Training
(11 Days)
Spent 11 days living in the North Woods where temperatures got as low as -23°F.
John Muir Trail Solo Month Hike
(26 Days)
My first major solo long-distance backpacking trip. I wanted to first excel in the basics of wilderness travel: backpacking.
Thanks for learning a bit about me. Hopefully I will be able to help you out in one way or another!