Complacency. Most people get so comfortable with their version of normal that they expect their "normal" to continue even when they go off road. The couple from Golden Valley, AZ should have known better. I expect people from AZ to carry a lot more water -- complacency. They didn't plan to get stuck. R.I.P.

The couple from France should have realized that White Sands was not even close to their version of normal. In France you are very rarely outside cellphone coverage, but I'm not seeing much coverage inside White Sands Nat'l Monument -- NM cell coverage (NE of Las Cruces, NM). I've been many places in France and what they had in common was lots of people. You can go a long time between people in the desert SW. again, R.I.P.

Speaking of normal, who else here has a PLB in the vehicle they normally drive?
Do you take the PLB with you when you go on vacation?
Who else carries gallon of water in addition to the water you brought along to drink that day? I'm not even in the desert.