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Posted by Fred on January 3, 2008 at 2:28:54 pm EST
In reply to What's in Your Survival Kit? posted by Alicia on July 2, 2007 at 10:55:02 am EDT

To each their own.
Numbers are just that, numbers, eternally available for analysis without regard to the individuals which they represent. Human life, however, even when represented by numbers, is far less durable and, after it is lost, the life is no longer viable for any purpose, other than being represented as a number and the history it left in its wake. It can no longer create, it can no longer learn or evolve. The dead can be mourned but cannot comfort.
I look upon a survival kit when I'm backpacking / hiking (which, for the most part, just occupies space in my pack)in the much same way I look at that lovely 11MM rope, well placed protection and a good belayer when I'm rock climbing.
Probably 90% (perhaps a bit less) of the time I don't fall, so in theory, the rope, protection and belayer were just extras, I could just have easily free-solo climbed the route. I did not "need" the protection.
However, had I not been roped, the first time I took a serious winger any significant number of feet up would have been the last.
My first potentially fatal fall while climbing happened after a couple years, and when I was young I took the opportunity to climb a lot, so lets say it was after 50 times on the lead. My "odds of dying" then would have been 50:1 - dangerous but not foolhardy if viewed from an actuarial perspective of "adventure" activities - but rather final and serious when viewed from my own, personal perspective and that of my family and friends.
Note - had I been climbing free solo (for some foolish, reason during my formative years) fear may have short circuted skill and I very well could have died as a direct result of being afraid to die, thereby making the "odds" of my death a bit worse.

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• Re: What's in Your Survival Kit? - calamity 01:38:04 01/04/2008

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