A lot of people who have studied survival seem to agree that the will to survive is more important than gear and gadgets. Ralston's case is a good example. How many of us would have the will (or even the notion, for that matter) to self amputate our hand, sharp knife or not? I am not sure that I could do something like that, and I hope I don't have to find out....

Mention has been made of the "poor quality" of his knife. But compared to the perfectly adequate Green River knives that were top gear on the nineteenth century frontier, demonstrably capable survival tools, I'll bet it measures up pretty favorably. And any of these were a vast improvement over the flint cutting instruments that served mankind quite well for many thousands of years before steel came along.

I have an idea that a good many of today's expensive, top of the line knives are more bling than anything else. Ridiculously cheap Moras seem to get the work done just fine, for a fraction of the cost. The same picture appears with a lot of the other gear we fret about. How did we ever make it before titanium appeared on the scene. Times were hard then...