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.