About Us - Green Man Survival

James Dixon Lead Instructor & Founder

James has a passion for wild places and wilderness environments; this is where he feels most at home. Throughout his career he has had the privilege to take clients from various backgrounds to some of the world’s most amazing and challenging environments, this drives him to be inclusive of all abilities and personal competence.

Developing people’s confidence in their own ability while educating them on the importance of the natural world and utilising nature as a resource is something he is truly passionate about, he strongly believes everyone should have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the beauty of nature and learn to understand and love it.

James is a qualified Mountain Leader and Rock Climbing Instructor, holds many bushcraft qualifications including the IOL Bushcraft Competency Certificate and a raft of NCFE accredited qualifications in the subject of wilderness survival and living skills. He is also a qualified off-road driving instructor, shooting coach and first aid instructor.

As an expedition manager James has travelled and worked in the jungles of Borneo, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Ecuador.

He has also led desert expeditions to Morocco and Oman, the latter where he spent many months leading groups deep into the mountains and deserts as the in-country expert. As well as gaining a huge amount of experience in such varied habitats, expedition management has also developed his awareness of human threats. A factor often forgotten in world travel is preparedness and keeping groups safe whilst in-country.

While acting as the Survival and Bushcraft technical advisor on Netflix’s ‘Snowflake Mountain’, no question was too daft nor any ask too big, he always got the job done.

Working ‘on set’ brought new challenges; he was tasked with managing the entire cast, crew and safety team as well as creating bespoke set design for realism and continuity during survival phases in the forest.

James has a deep affinity with the natural world and is happiest immersed in the wild.

As a qualified deer manager and tracker he has spent hundreds of hours tracking and observing wildlife while not being seen, a true skill and something only gained through years of practice.

You can rest assured, no matter the location, conditions, or threat level you will be in safe hands.

He is partial to a bribe of dark chocolate digestives and hates the dreaded ‘Blandford’ black fly!

Specialist instructor: Tom Blakey

Tom instructs on our more specialist courses such as the Hostile Environment Survival Course.

Tom served for 25 years in the Parachute Regiment with 1 Para and the elite Pathfinders. He has operated in some of the world’s harshest environments, from the jungles of Brunei and Belize, to the deserts of the Sahara and Iraq.

He completed seven operational tours, including Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Macedonia, Iraq and multiple Afghanistan deployments. During operations with the Pathfinders he served as a Patrol Commander and Forward Air Controller, conducting reconnaissance and strike operations behind enemy lines.

Tom completed the Army Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Extraction (SERE) course three times whilst serving. He is a qualified Jungle Warfare Instructor, Tandem Skydive Instructor and Helicopter Fast Rope Instructor. He has completed over 4500 freefall jumps to date, including many HALO and HAHO jumps.

In his spare time Tom enjoys skydiving, hillwalking and bushcraft.

Follow Tom’s YouTube channel: Prepared Pathfinder