I really don't know why many do not go prepared these days since many useful gizmos will be "cool" to have if nothing else.

As far as I am concerned, I don't end up in the news because I am so cautious and hysterically double checking everything that the wife gets upset and the trip being cancelled. LOL ..

No, just kidding.
The wife gets upset alright, but the trip goes extra smooth.

I can see the headlines now:
"Experienced Outdoorsman encounters difficulty but, being well equipped and prepared, nothing bad happened." Hardly the stuff that sells newspapers or attracts viewers to your news program.

If they knew what they were doing and had the right gear, you generally wouldn't read about them.

HJ

P.S. Let's all strive NOT to be the subject of a sensational news story. Oh wait a minute. We're all on ETS. We've already decided to do that. Never mind.

DS and went for a hike today, my last day off for this holiday. He was complaining a bit about his pack being heavy on the first leg of the journey. It was a cold rainy day, which turned into a cold snowy day. The hot soup, fruit cake and hot chocolate, fire starting kits, emergency blankets, rope and extra sweaters, hats and mitts didn't seem nearly as heavy after we wikkied up and rewarmed by a nice fire.

Gear is only a pain until you need it and the knowledge in your head only seems like a waste of time until it saves your life!

Even people who own certain gear will oftentimes opt NOT to carry it because they have never used it for awhile. For example, I have never used the whistle on my key chain for a "real" emergency. I have used a whistle for an emergency before, but not the particular whistle in my everyday carry bag. There are other such items (e.g., keychain lighter).

I imagine most people would stop carrying an item after a few months or so of non-use. When an emergency does happen, even people who are otherwise prepared may find themselves with their pants down.

The reason you don't read about prepared people is simple. They are prepared. At the first signs of really bad weather, they hunker down, use the supplies they wisely packed, wait out the worst of the weather, then walk out. People know they are overdue and where they went, so searchers know where to look.

It's the "Hey. Let's go out into the woods for a wander around. Nah, I'm not carrying that stuff, it's too heavy" people we read about. Either being found half alive after a harrowing night/few days in the wild, or dead dead dead after doing something really stupid. My only hope is that no one got hurt looking for the dullards.

Ha, then I have a leg up on these guys! I am usually equipped with pants and I wear them!

Honestly I think it's the "What can go wrong" + "if something bad happens I can call 911" mentality. Modern society is so use to everything working right 98% of the time they don't even think about the 2% that can go bad. Last year that snow storm that had everybody trapped on the highway for like 36 hours they interviewed a teen girl in shorts and crocs and a hoodie "oh I was just going over to jennifers when we got stuck out here". If her car had ran out of gas and her heater died she would have been in deep doo. Some learn most don't it's just the way it is.

Coincidentally, a friend I'd given Doug Ritter's e-Pico light (and PSK) to a couple years ago just this evening e-mailed to ask me for recommendations for brighter lights for her and her husband to put in their vehicles.

She said his car's battery was dead yesterday and they did not have flashlights in any of their cars. She happened to have Doug's e-Pico on her key chain and that was helpful but they vowed to buy more powerful lights to keep in the cars.

So I drummed up some business this past hour for Surefire (or) Fenix and Petzl.

I advised my friend that they should have at least a headlamp (Petzl Zipka) + a flashlight + extra batteries for each light, in each car.

And I'm considering this a segue to suggesting that even more gear be kept in their vehicles.

This thread has me thinking about putting together a compact kit for friends and personally putting it in their primary vehicles.

I have so much extra stuff....

It really doesn't make great news to report. "Man gets family stuck in blizzard, but he had all the gear, after spending 2 hours with the shovels he had in his truck he dug himself out and used the his winch to get totally out of the ditch. All of this was done while wearing the proper boots and clothing. His family enjoyed instant hot coco that was stored safely in the car while they waited for the shoveling to finish."

Really not going to make headlines.

Or:

"Single mother gets stuck in back road with kids in the car. But passerby good Samaritan pulled them out of the ditch in about 10 min after warming the family up in the good Samaritan car. NO casualties to report except punctuality(which seems to never matter now-a-days)

I agree 100%, although I would add that during the winter months you should carry lights that run on lithium batteries. Alkaline & carbon don't hold up too well in the cold.