I just finished reading Laurence Gonzales's "Deep Survival" and one of the things that struck me was how important the psychology of survival was. A well-prepared and highly trained army captain with extensive survival equipment (US Ranger Capt. James Gabba) died because he failed to realise he was in trouble until it was too late to do anything about it; a schoolgirl with no survival training (Juliane Koepke) survived in a far worse situation, because she immediately recognized her predicament and made a firm resolve to do something about it.

If there's anything wrong with this forum, it's the emphasis we place on our gadgets and toys. The truth is, 99 times out of a hundred, a disposable lighter will be just as good as a windproof, waterproof Colibri with a mag-flint backup.

I was so impressed with Gonzales's book that, if I were teaching a course on survival, regardless of length, I would include an overview of the 5 stages of being lost (which, Gonzales points out, bear an eerie resemblance to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's 5 stages of dying: DENIAL, ANGER, BARGAINING, DEPRESSION and ACCEPTANCE. The most significant difference is that in survival, the last stage - the one you want to get to as quickly as possible - can take two forms: resolve ("Okay, I'm in trouble, I can't expect anyone to rescue me so I'll do what I have to on my own), or resignation ("F&#* it, I'm going to die anyway so I may as well just lie down and get it over with").

Gonzales concludes his book with 15 rules for survivors, which I would at least cover in point form.