As I read through Doug's MARVELOUS 2003 SHOT show coverage and add items to my birthday wishlist, I'm reminded of the person who got me involved in survival as a child.

Across the street from me was a guy that I spent a lot of time with. A very nice man, he was a skilled trapper and hunter, carried tons of guns/binoculars/fishing equipment/knives/etc with him everywhere he went. However, as I got older and started thinking more about survival situations and hearing stories, I thought to myself, "if this guy ever got stranded and had to swim 3 miles, what would happen?"

You see, this guy was about 5'10" and 350 pounds. He had all the equipment and knowledge in the world, and was very "prepared" mentally.

Unfortunately, I think too many of us get caught up in having the neatest gadgets, the coolest tools, and being the most knowledgable in techniques. Perhaps many of us don't take into consideration that PHYSICAL FITNESS is probably THE most important survival skill after using your head. Those PSKs and Super Tools are going to be nothing more than corpse identification tools if you get caught in a situation that you can't handle physically.

Maybe some of you are skilled outdoorsmen, but things aren't as easy to do for you as they were when you were 25 or 30 (or whatever). Being out of shape doesn't mean that you weigh 350 pounds and you can't take a few steps without breathing heavily. Perhaps you haven't swam in a while and couldn't make a 3 mile swim if your life depended on it. Perhaps you couldn't make a 2 mile jog if you had to, or hike up a steep hill/mountain. Perhaps you're too heavy or bulky to climb a tree, or too weak to carry a heavy piece of equipment a few hundred yards to get it to a place where it would be useful. Perhaps we wouldn't be strong enough or quick enough to fight off another human or small predator.

ANYWAY, the point of my story is that while all the fun is in hording up on these neat PSKs and Super Tools and learning Trapping/Survival sklls, I hope that when the time comes most of you are physically fit enough to put them to use effectively, or phsically fit enough to get to a place where you can actually put them to use.

This is my newbie attempt to bring something to the board that I thought was VERY important and also VERY overlooked in the survival "community". I hope at least one person that reads it takes it to heart! Get out and do yourself a favor and give yourself a great chance to survive if you're ever in a situation that requires a ton of physical labor.