Steven Kelly Covers Bushcraft & Survival Skills Magazine Issue 121
I am proud to be featured on the front cover of Bushcraft & Survival Skills Magazine, Issue 121.
The September/October 2026 issue includes my feature, Survival Realities, covering the journey from 23 years in the British Army, including 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, to professional survival instruction and some of the toughest survival challenges on television.
Seeing my name and photograph on the cover of a specialist magazine dedicated to bushcraft, survival and outdoor skills is a major milestone. This is not simply another television mention. It is recognition from within the community in which I have spent years building practical experience, teaching others and testing myself.
Buy Bushcraft & Survival Skills Magazine Issue 121.
From 29 Commando to professional survival
My survival journey did not begin in front of a camera.
I served for 23 years in the British Army, including with 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery. That career took me into demanding environments including jungle, Arctic, mountain and desert terrain and taught me how to keep functioning when I was cold, wet, hungry, exhausted or under pressure.
Survival in those environments was never about performing for an audience. It was about preparation, fieldcraft, navigation, discipline, leadership and making sound decisions when the easy option was not available.
Those lessons became the foundation for everything I do today.
Building South West Survival
I founded South West Survival to pass practical skills on to other people.
We now deliver survival and bushcraft training for adults, children, schools, organisations and corporate groups. The aim is not to teach party tricks. It is to help people become calmer, more capable and more confident outdoors.
Fire lighting, shelter building, water purification and navigation all matter, but the most important skill is judgement. A person can know dozens of techniques and still make a poor decision when they are tired, stressed or rushing.
Taking survival skills onto television
My background eventually led to opportunities in survival television, including Channel 4's Naked, Alone and Racing to Get Home and Discovery Channel's Naked and Afraid.
I completed a 21-day Naked and Afraid challenge in Colombia before returning for a 35-day challenge in South Africa on Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse. Across those two Discovery challenges, I spent a total of 56 days in the field.
There is nowhere to hide in that environment. Hunger, dehydration, poor sleep, weather, wildlife, difficult terrain and team pressure expose weaknesses quickly.
The biggest lesson is that survival is rarely decided by one clever technique. It comes down to making enough good decisions, day after day, while your energy and options are disappearing.
What Survival Realities is about
My feature in Issue 121 is called Survival Realities.
That title fits the way I approach this subject. Survival content can easily become exaggerated, staged or reduced to equipment lists. Real survival is usually less glamorous. It is uncomfortable, repetitive and mentally demanding.
Good equipment helps, but kit cannot replace experience, discipline or decision-making. Television can show dramatic moments, but the reality is often hours of managing the basics: protecting water, maintaining shelter, conserving energy, controlling fire and preventing small problems from becoming serious ones.
The feature gives me the opportunity to share those realities with readers who already understand and care about the outdoors.
Why the Bushcraft Magazine cover matters
Bushcraft & Survival Skills Magazine is focused on the exact world in which I work: bushcraft, outdoor living, navigation, fire, campcraft, equipment and wilderness survival.
That makes this cover particularly meaningful. It puts my work in front of a specialist audience and connects the different parts of my career: military experience, practical instruction, survival television, expeditions and media work.
It also strengthens the bigger objective I have been working towards: becoming a trusted British survival expert for television, media, events and professional training.
I am grateful to the magazine for giving me the cover and the space to tell the story properly.
Survival is bigger than television
Television has given me a platform, but the work continues away from the cameras.
Alongside South West Survival, I host The Survival Debrief Podcast, where I speak with survivalists, explorers, adventurers and outdoor professionals about what really happens when plans fail and pressure takes over.
I also deliver speaking engagements, outdoor events and expeditions designed to help people test themselves and develop useful skills.
The goal across all of it is the same: credible experience, practical knowledge and honest conversations about survival.
Read Bushcraft & Survival Skills Magazine Issue 121
You can find my Survival Realities feature in Bushcraft & Survival Skills Magazine, Issue 121, September/October 2026.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the journey so far. From 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery to South West Survival, Naked and Afraid and now the front cover of Bushcraft & Survival Skills Magazine, it has been a serious journey.
I am nowhere near finished yet.
About Steven Kelly
Steven Kelly, also known as Survival Ste, is a British TV survivalist, former 29 Commando Regiment soldier, professional survival instructor, podcast host and founder of South West Survival.
His television credits include Discovery Channel's Naked and Afraid and Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse, Channel 4's Naked, Alone and Racing to Get Home and the BBC's Bear Grylls: Wild Reckoning.
For television, speaking and media enquiries, visit the Speaking and Media Enquiries page.
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