maybe there is someone out there who can actually show us the comparison between those who have "made it" unprepared vs those who "had it" prepared...and not made it... <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

i have always been of the opinion that it is the person who "wants to" is better equipped than he who "can beause i have"

just a thought...

The will to survive is always a dominant factor. This is something you would have to ask Doug Ritter about as he is somewhat more knowlegeable this than I am. I can tell you that there are documented case's of reasonably equipped people, who should have survived, dying because they have perceived their situation as hopeless and basically given up. Other people have who should have died because they went out with nothing, survived. Purely because they have decided that they ain't going to die. And gone from there.

In most of the reading I've done on survival and in some of the shows I've watched, "The Will to Live" is placed highly if not the very highest among the list of things that will keep a person going in a survival situation.

In a recent show I caught (I wish I could remember which off the top of my head) the host recounted a tale of a man who was in a dire survival situation with very little more than the clothes he was wearing. What he used to keep himself going was to keep thinking to himself that he was not going to die and let his ex-wife get all of his possessions. LOL

The host thought that a person should use whatever driving force necessary to keep the will to live up whether it be the desire to see loved ones again, humor, anger, vengeance or anything else.

Actually, the show might have been "SOS, Secrets of Survival", though please don't quote me on that. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

that would keep me alive too!!!!!!!

Actually, the best equipped person is the one who avoids the trouble in the first place, which is what I suspect most of the people who hang out here strive for. It's all fine and good to have lots of gear for survival, and it's even better to have a strong will to live. But having the brains to avoid disaster in the first place will put you light-years ahead of even the most dedicated survivalist out there. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

The right gear can make a major calamity into a minor annoyance.

"...the best equipped person is the one who avoids the trouble in the first place..."

I couldn't agree more. Someone who recognizes a possible problem situation and doesn't let it escalate into something life-threatening should be admired more than the macho type (M or F) who sees it and keeps going to where he/she finally decides it was a bad idea, no matter what they are carrying.

Determination has a lot to do with survival, but so does plain old dumb luck, good AND bad. When a situation goes so bad that your survival is at stake, how much did you have to do with getting there?

Having the right gear helps, but it doesn't always offset poor judgment. It just gives you an edge that may help you survive. Or not.

Sue

"Now remember, things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is. "
-- from The Outlaw Jose Wales

Lot of good advice in that movie.

Amen to that. Which is not to say that the fates won't try to kick your ass anyway.....

I'd say the number one thing that helps people out is superior mental attitude. Don't look at it like a survival situation. View it as a relaxing vacation away from pressures of society. If you've practiced your skills prior to them being necessary, you can go into a real survival situation and do more than survive - you can live.