03lab:

I may be wrong, but to the best of my knowledge, the only one you are obligated to help is a peace officer asking for assistance; unless of course you were on the Jerry Sienfeld show, in which case you get a year in jail for not helping.

I do not condemn anyones benevolent actions, and I greatly admire people like Mother Teresa for the saints that they are. My concern is that if we can get people to understand that help will not always be there for whatever reason (not just people like me who would refuse for reasons already stated.), but also because help can not always be there, and even when it is, it may not have what you need.

I have no animosity for people who have different viewpoints because as I have stated before, you don't learn anything from people that agree with you, and I might see a viewpoint which I had never considered when dealing with people who disagree with me. General Patton had it right!

Bountyhunter

Hi there.

I do it because, having lived through a couple of disasters, I found that I would be a lot more comfortable being just a little more prepared. I can't forsee every emergency, but living comfortably through them can be an acheivable goal through wise preparation.

I was there for Hurricane Andrew. I left Los Angeles mere months before the 92 Riots, where I was everyone's token "gun-toting maniac"...amazing how many people managed to get my phone number in Florida and say, "Hey, Dave, you got an extra gun?"

"Sure do. Lots of 'em. Right here. Don't you wish you'd treated me better while I was there?"

"But..."

"Have a nice life." *click*

All my life, I've been told "You can't do that."

All my life, I've done it. And I keep doing it. Much to the surprise and chagrin of those around me who disbelieve.

For me surviving is the ultimate thwart on "You Can't Do That."

Oh yeah? Watch me.

Panz

Bountyhunter, here in Germany everyone is obligated to help in an immediate emergency, accident, etc. That of course does not mean that you have to get yourself into danger by doing so, just calling 911 for instance is fine. However, passing a car wreck without attending to the injured (or calling EMS etc) is a felony. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

03lab:

Sorry about that, I was talking from the American prespective.

It may interest you to know that we in America had a Supreme Court ruling saying that our police are not required to help us. Kinda scary if the people hired and paid to protect are not obligated to protect. As many have often said for one reason or another; "Only in America!".

Bountyhunter

Hey! This has been a blast of a thread to go through. It brings back memories of my family playing the 'What If' game at the dinner table.

I was once able to stop a mocking freind of mine(who has since gone one knife camping with me) when he said that it was a waste of time to do this 'survival' stuff. I reminded him that less than five minutes before, he had bemoaned that he didn't have a tool to do something in a dark place under his computer desk. I handed him my VicMultitool out of my pocket and held the flashlight I have on a lanyard on my belt as he fixed whatever it was. Wasn't it good that I had been prepaired to 'survive'?
Utter silence for a few minutes with a glare in my direction.
I was gloating for a week after that. And gave him one of my old Scout knives to go along with that crow.

Rena

I love surviving. I think that there should be a specific urban survival course for those in the city.

\
www.skinstore.com/store/category.asp?catID=1621

well if anyone knows of such courses post them on here folks.

if anyone in the NY area is interested theres a site that runs tours to learn about wild and edible plants around NYC.

http://www.econetwork.net/~wildmansteve/body.html