Yes to Much of what Adam says, but I Must also Second What WOFT says here as well. Yes, Backyard Practices are Great, but Once in a While, you Need to Make a Dry Run into the Actual Wilderness as Well!

After All, thats the Element(s) we're speaking of. You Need to Get that Sense and Feel! Thats where Actual Wilderness and Survival Demands and Pressures Occur! Real Life! The Integrated Interplay of it All. Of All that can "Not So Tidily"!, Happen Out There!

If someone's into Basketball, You Got to Get into a Game!, at least every Once in a Wowl. Not just Make Practice Shoots into your Driveway Basket! Not that Alone!

This Latter is Better than Only Reading About Basketball, -or Survival, -in Books Alone. Great and Valuable a Place as that also has! But in Both Reading or Practice, -You Have to Do More than just that or Yard Stuff Alone!

This said, There is still a Lot to be said for Backyard Practice. You and Adam have said that Well. And It certainly has it's Role and Place!

And even with also Getting Out into some Wilderness some of the Time anyway, There are Things to be said as well, for things such as Backup Tarps and the Like, as you've mentioned.

So Long as you can Truly Keep them Stashed, as if they Weren't even there! To be Resorted to Only When or If you may Truly Need them! If you can Resist such "Dip In" Temptation so!

Even Then, Some Wilderness Practices Can and Shud be Done *Without* such Backups! After All, in Real Life Wilderness and Survival Settings and Situations!, -You May *Not* Have such to Readily Fall Back On! Isn't *Such* a Situation the Very Thing of Which such Practiceing is All About?! To Do so at least every Once in a Woul, is Certainly within the Reality and Spirit of it All!

Your Survival Sense and Will!, is thereby also Further Honed and Sharpened! In that you *Know* that you *Don't* Have a Ready Backup, and that you Had Bettered Try to Do this Right!

So it's Well Advised to Also Do your Practices *Without* Ready Backup, Once in a While.

Of course that Doesn't Apply to your Yard.

But it Shud Apply to at least Some of your Wilderness, -or even Semi-Wilderness Practices!

These Pretty Much Boil Down to the Following Four;-

Read About Survival and Emergency Preparedness, but also Practice!

Practice in the Yard, but also Practice in the Real Wilderness or Semi-Wilderness!

Have a (Truly) Stashed Handy Backup on Many of these Practices, But Don't Dip into it Any!, -Until or Unless you may Truly Ever Need it! This is where things like Emergency Ponchos or Tarps, Place.

And even Dispense with That!, with your Handy Ready Backup, on at Least Some of your Wilderness / Semi-Wilderness Practices!

A Swimmer's Got to Get Into the Water! A Pilot's Got to Get Into the Air! A Basketball Player's Got to Get Into the Game! An Outdoorsman's Got to Get Out Into the Great Outdoors! And a Survivor's Got to Get Out Into that Same Great Outdoors Wilderness as Well!

An Aviation Minded Kid, as I once was, Hangs Around the Local Little Country Airport!, and maybe Takes a Demo Flight or Two!, -in Addition to Avidly Reading About It! Later when you Take your Flying Lessons, -You Practice! When you Finally Solo, -You No Longer have your Instructor, as a Ready Backup! You're Now On Your Own! There in the Air Elements! As Surely as in Any Real Wilderness or Survival Situation, -You are There and On Your Own in the various Wilderness Ground Elements!

Sure you Shud Guard Against Finding Yourself in a Real Survival Situation, Amidst a Practice! You in This Way, Don't Want to Walk in Unprepared!

But "Ready Practice Backups", are a Double Edged Sword! They are At Once both In Line With!, and Counter To!, the Very Idea of Survival Preparedness. In Different Ways, such as I've Already mentioned.

Know Whats What, and Know the Difference!

Be Prepared for any Reasonably Likely or Possible Eventuality, -But Don't Let such Preparedness Get in the Way of your Truly Being Wilderness Prepared!

Practice Beyond Only the Yard every Once in a While!

And There in the Full or Semi Wilderness, -Practice Without even your Ready Backups, -Once in a While!

(The Above Doesn't Apply to the Basic PSKs and Such as we Routinely Carry Around with us anyway. Nor to Really / Sufficiently Far Out Wilderness Practice Locales! Practices Tend to be Near at Hand anyway. Though I Acknowledge that Bad Turns in the Weather, -Can Effectively Equate it to a Far Out Locale! As well as Other Unforseen Emergencies Quite Close to Home! To Get that True, Wilderness, On Your Own Feeling However!, -as a Part of your Practice!, -You may Sometimes just Have to Risk these Possibilities a Bit! Within Some of your such Practices.)

Again, Get Out Into the Wilderness *Without* a Ready Backup, once in a While!, as Regards Some of your Survival Practice. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]WOFT[/email]