Originally Posted By: Jarvis
Are there any SAR rules of thumb like "make sure you're uninjured regardless of what you have to leave behind"? Or "it's worth the risk of a broken arm to secure clean water, shelter, fire"? Maybe somebody here knows!


I'm no expert, but three things occur to me. First is, it's dependent on the circumstances. If you're landing at the airport with the fire and rescue equipment ready, it's better to arrive uninjured even if that means you'll be bare naked. If you're landing in the Antarctic and it's going to be months before you are rescued, risking relatively minor injury to improve your chances of recovering your gear might be the thing to do.

The second thing that occurs to me is that it's darn hard to figure out whether the injury you're going to get is minor or fatal. Better, I would think, in general, to prioritize minimizing the chance of injury over any considerations of equipment.

Finally, if you're uninjured, you're better equipped to recover your gear.