Well... don't. It is a subject very dear to me, and I do have strong opinions on it. Sorry if that leaves the impression of being an old, rough S&R guy. I'm not.

My actual live S&R experience is extremely limited. I've been on an actual search just _*once*_ (found nothing, body found 3 weeks later by hiker). I do have odd bits of S&R training here and there, from military, the local Red Cross and so on. Some contact with S&R leaders through work, but not much. I think I have a pretty good picture of what's going on in the S&R world, at least in my neck of the woods, but that's about it.



I don't know about these specific examples. People do the most ridiculous things. If you look for it it is pretty easy to find absurd examples of things that clearly are so absurdly crazy that they fit your description.

I'm not too concerned about these idiots. I am very much concerned with the huge grey area between stupid dare devil and those who don't do stupid things but are just a tad unlucky. I am afraid of a development where you start by punishing the most stupid dare devils, then after a time you gradually punish less stupid dare devils. Then you punish those who aren't dare devils, but moderate sensation seekers, like those who enjoy skiing steep slopes. After a while anyone who goes anywhere without emergency beacon and a full blown bivouac gear. Day hiking with a small back pack? OK if you make it home, severe penalty if you have an accident. Gone is personal responsibility of balancing gear with skill level, risk level, comfort level and type of activity. You break a leg, you're penalized (unless some bureaucrat deem your gear "appropriate"). I am exaggerating a bit here, just to clarify my point.

Another aspect I worry about: There must be some room for high risk seekers as well. I'm not one of them, I'm more a moderate sensation seeker (like skiing). Even so, I wish for a society where people can fling themselves out of planes in a kayak if they want to (yup, someone just did that. Apparently it is a bit delicate to keep the balance, but otherwise fine. Not for every one, I suspect). I don't know much about Niagara barrel riding, but to me that sounds like a thing that requires zero skill, just luck - something any idiot could, akin to Russian Roulette. I won't be too sorry if that one is banned. But I am against banning stuff like base jumping (that also leads to some some spectacular rescue missions).