Thanks for the welcomes. I believe I may have misrepresented myself in my earlier post. I definitely appreciate the convenience of gear and I have quite a bit of it myself. I don't do everything primitively although I could if I had too and have in the past. I have a BOB that weighs in at least 50 lbs maybe more and that is just what fits in the bag. I have many items that I can carry with me to make the jobs easier. For the most part I never used tents (except when I was a child and my parents would take us on vacation) until recently. I always found I could make quite a nice shelter that was not only waterproof, but also warm, in about the same amount of time as putting up a tent, maybe a little longer. I do however have a lot of gear that I carry that makes it easier. Right now I have a MOLLE pack that is as full as I can get it. It mostly has food and medical supplies in it but it also has a tarp, a lightweight sleeping bag, mess kit for four (in case I have company over), a crank flashlight/radio combo with a siren, tinder, several lighters, magnesium fire starter, surgical kit, an Ontario Bowie knife, two hatchets, two saws, and a .44 revolver. I am not against gear in any way. My point was to simply say that the majority of the time when I take someone out in the woods, they have no idea what to do with whatever they have. As far as worst-case scenarios go, to me the worst-case would be the total absence of any equipment and miles away from any civilization. When I camp, I try to get as far away from anything human as I can. When I set up camp, I try to do it without the benifit of gear for the most part. I do this so that I keep the ability fresh in my mind and if I ever need it, I know that I can rely on it. As far as doing things one handed, I have had to do things with an injured hand before, and while it was no simple task, I did succeed. I have also gone out with one bad leg but that isn't quite the same. When it comes to sub-zero temps, Being from the south I must admit, I am not accustomed to that sort of thing. I would assume however that after just a few minutes of being wet in freezing temps, mental acuteness would suffer the effects of hypothermia and make even the simplest tasks seem like climbing Everest. Not to mention the fat that as the core temp drops, numbness takes over and makes it that much easier to further injure onesself without even knowing it. However, I would do my best with what I had and hope it was enough. I have tried to hone my skills on all of the gear I have as well as with the most primitive of methodsin the hopes that I will be prepared for anything that comes along. If something were to happen and I was left without any gear, I could still make it. I definitely hope I get to take my gear with me though because as you all have said, it does make it easier and it is nice to be able to get it done more quikly. Thanks for the replies folks.