Bulletproof

STORY: WIL BEAUCHER
PHOTOGRAPHY: SEAN MURPHY
VIDEO BY: LIVE WILD STUDIOS

It's not every day that you meet a person who knows how to live as primitively as possible, none the less, someone who dedicates their life to teaching others how to do so too. After hearing about an Ex-Navy Seal named Madison Parker, who’s not only a legendary master of primitive survival skills but also teaches them to platoons of active-duty seals and special forces in the middle of nowhere, I knew we’d found the subject of BOTE’s next story. Eager to meet this man and learn everything about him, the BOTE team headed down to Marianna, Florida to spend a weekend with him.

Simplicity. This is paramount to everything in Madison’s mission, however, nothing he crafts or teaches is “simple”. A goal of accomplishing tasks in the same way primitive man accomplished them is, to say the least, not the easy way. But for Madison, utilizing only what can be found on his land, and using his honed ability to craft it into a tool, weapon or even another tool to make weapons, is the honest way. One based on skill and pride. The only way.

Even with Madison’s decades of experience, it’s still a lot of work, and according to Madison, that’s okay, “We were made to make, we were created to create.” This is a story about something universal, something we’re losing over time, and is not only appropriate in these chaotic times but necessary. A story based on humanity, pride, and nature. It’s about getting back to the basics of who we are and what we’re doing here. These are things that will surely resonate with just about everyone, and is very fitting for the human brand.