For most Scouts, the Wilderness Survival merit badge offers the chance to learn valuable skills in an outdoor setting. For Creek Stewart, it was the first step toward a career as a survival instructor, author, and host of The Weather Channel’s hit show Fat Guys in the Woods, which aired in 2014 and 2015. It’s no wonder he still carries the badge in his wallet.
On each episode of his show, Stewart took several stuck-in-a-rut men into the wilderness. Their objective was to survive the experience but, more importantly, to grow as individuals and overcome the challenges they faced when they were not in the woods.
Stewart launched his survival business while attending Butler University in Indianapolis. He began by writing a 90-page survival handbook that, in true Boy Scout fashion, he advertised in Boy’s Life magazine.
Today, Stewart runs Willow Haven Outdoor Survival School in Indiana. He frequently appears as a survival expert on local and national television shows, often teaching novel survival uses for everyday items like soda cans and cell phones. He has also written several survival books, including Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag: Your 72-Hour Disaster Survival Kit and The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide.