http://www.sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ys-mmaweektanner090808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Motorcycle runs out of gas. Blogs about equipment failure that could kill him. No mention of water caches, reliable communications ( PLB) or even reliable friends ( 2 days.)

Western writer Ed Abbey on venturing into the desert "bring lots of water, stay out of the noonday sun, pray frequently."

Knowing how likely it is that news coverage is incomplete and innaccurate, I would reserve final judgment on the causes of this event.

The information on hand supports speculation that the individual did not equip his motorcycle with gear and supplies to enhance chances for desert survival in case of misadventure. We can also speculate that he did not do as Chris suggests: set up caches in the area of operation to enhance chances for survival in case of misadventure in an environment known to be unforgiving toward man and his machinery.

Other speculation would wonder if tempting fate was the all too successful goal.

In any event, I wish his spirit peace.

Having spent all of last winter in that area (and goin' back again this Jan), all I can say is that is some really rough country, and super hot this time of the year. It would take A LOT of preparation to do what he had planned and survive...

He was looking to find out what his limits were. *shrugs* At the risk of sounds heartless, he found them.

My big question is his buddies. Waiting two days? I'm sorry, I give you until two hours after dark if you weren't planning on sending the night.

"...At the risk of sounds heartless..."

At the risk of sounding even more heartless, I have little sympathy for those who set off totally unprepared to do dangerous things and get bitten in the butt...

But he wasn't totally unprepared.

“I plan on going so deep into the desert, that any failure of my equipment, could cost me my life,” he said. “I’ve been doing a great deal of research and study. I want to know all I can about where I’m going, and I want to make sure I have the best equipment.”

"These short trips were not new to Tanner, said Vincitorio. It is something that he has done numerous times over the years."

This time he didn't make it. Sh-t happens. A lot of people have died trying to climb Everest, too. Not because they weren't prepared, but because sometimes mother nature is just a b*tch.

What it looks like and what it is may be two different things. Still early days in this story.

Maybe "totally" was a little harsh. But he did manage to run his scooter out of fuel (pretty unprepared in my book), and obviously wasn't prepared to make it the two miles (or more) back to his camp...

Of course, the devil is in the details.

The point is that we do not yet know enough to conclude what preparedness and survival lessons may be accurately and fairly drawn from this story.

That would be a bigger tragedy in my eyes. Rather then spend time condeming a dead man for doing nothing but living life the way he wanted, why don't we respect that he had the guts to live life rather than be a walking dead.

We post these stories not as condemnation, though some of the situations do border on the ludicrous, Darwin Award edge of credulity.

We post these as warning, and a reminder everyone can 'screw up.'

My only issue is with 'celebrity victims.'

Timothy Treadwell had a near cult following localy.I talked with Tim, his people more than once. Even with my 'colourfull' reputation and opinions, I was 'on the outs' because I didn't buy into their anthropomorphising, sunday cartoon view of alpha predators. Tim paid the ultimate price, and then to top it off got his girlfriend killed in the bargain. His local followers are still lost souls trying to reeasmmble their world view.

It's the potential girlfriend victims I worry about. These people are often CELEBRITIES. Kids watch these ultimate fighter matches or wrastling and duplicate it in back yards. One young girl died as a result. How many people were thinking about doing similar desert purges just because he did?

To me, it simply sounds like this may have been a case of superficial “preparedness.” As most of the experienced preparedness enthusiasts know (and follow), your emergency plan is based upon a threat assessment of what is going to kill you first.

Maybe running out of gasoline was not on his original threat assessment, so he didn’t prepare for that emergency. That can be counted off as a simple mistake. However, he said himself, “I plan on going so deep into the desert, that any failure of my equipment, could cost me my life.” So he obviously knew that a gear failure could be catastrophic, yet made no (or inadequate) preparations for such an event.

Preparedness doesn’t come out of a box; it comes out of your head.

Treadwell was nuts, and I would never even think about doing what he did. As a matter of fact, the number one reason why I bought a shotgun was to protect myself from animals like his bear buddies.

But having said that, Treadwell was killed at the end of 13 seasons with those bears. 13 seasons is a hell of a long time to just be lucky. I have to think if it was even half as dangerous as people say it is, he should have been killed sooner.

And as for his girlfriend, she was a grown woman with a mind of her own. To talk as though women can't think for themselves is sexist.



I've been thinking about a wilderness journey for years. It's not an idea I got from anyone else, even though a lot of other people share the same idea. I think there's just something inside our souls that wants it.

But there's no way I'm going to the desert. I've been there, and it sucks. My journey is going to involve forests and abundant water sources.

Just not at the age of 37.

Jim

"Being a minimalist by nature, wanting to carry only the essentials, and being extremely particular, it has been a little difficult to find just the right equipment. I plan on going so deep into the desert that any failure of my equipment could cost me my life." [Newsday]

If he only carried "minimal" water and fuel, he was in trouble before he started.

Sue

I liken Treadwell's 13 seasons of manufactured good fortune to the guy who put one bullet in his Schofield revolver, spun the cylinder, and pulled the trigger, repeating the process 19 times without hitting the primer. Considering his luck to be rock solid, he headed for town, where he was run over by a runaway wagon team of horses and killed.

His supposed good fortune was due in no small part the excellent design and quality construction of the pistol, in that with only one bullet in the cylinder, it was unbalanced and by spinning it the weight of the bullet inevitably caused the cylinder to come to rest with the loaded chamber at the bottom of rotation, thereby ensuring that the hammer would not ever strike the primer.

The point being that just because the bear has something else to do at any given time, it don't mean that you won't eventually get his attention. Just cuz I got cookies in the cupboard don't mean I am gonna have to eat one every time I walk by. But by God, sooner or later they are gonna get eaten.

And I'm not disagreeing with you. All I'm saying is that he spent 13 seasons not just living in the same vicinity as bears, but actually making physical contact with those bears. To get away with something like that for such a long time makes me stop and think about how aggressive those bears really are.

This whole thing is making me think of that young guy, can't recall his "name," who wanted info prior to his planned wander around the country, living off of the land so to speak, looking for world peace or something. Gotta wonder how long he would/will last...

I agree. What gets me about all his survival and practice talk is that surviving in the desert in september is pretty basic. Water, Water, shelter, and more water.