I feel the same way. My wife and I were talking about this unfortunate situation, and she made the comment that we don't need any more gear...and I replied that on the contrary, we need a LOT more gear.

I've been working on acquiring kit for a year and a half or so. I make modifications and upgrades as I learn, and have money to do so.

I'll probably always be tweaking things, but the point is, it doesn't matter what gear you have or even what knowledge you have...when it's your time...it's your time.

That doesn't mean that we can't try to delay when that time comes.

My whole point is, I think it was Maya Angelou said, "You did the best you could with what you knew, and when you knew better, you did better."

I may think that I'd have the gear and knowledge to pull my family through this particular situation, but if it truly happened to me, I might end up like Mr. Kim in spite of my efforts.

I would say that for the apparent lack of preparation (at least to ETS standards) this family did REMARKABLY well in surviving. The whole family could have died from hypothermia the first night...but they survived for NINE DAYS before the car was found.

The surviivng family may find little solace in that, but I think that this story is inspiring...though for James, the ending was not a happy one.

Well put.

Although the picture shows its open water use, it would be a straight, bright orange line against white snow and green trees. It's probably one of the best passive signaling devices that exist.

A few more details here.

-john

I concur.

If I were found in a similar situation, I would hope y’all would dissect every action/choice made.

It would please me to no end to think that my last actions on Earth would be useful to teach others.

Mr. Kim succeeded in keeping his wife and children alive. I could only hope I would do as well in a similar situation.

It does sound interesting, but also seems to be a bit overprice, at least in my opinion...

New GPS will able to get signal in that heavy wood terrain.

I can't afford to burn up fat. I don't have any on my body. I am all lean muscles like Bruce Lee.

I am trying to gain weight by eating large calorie meals.

I guess my earthquake preparations classify me as paranoid then.

I would have chained up and driven out (thank goodness I carry tire chains instead of a liferaft, right harkev? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />)
As far as snoeshoes go, trust me, it's a lot easier to travel in moderate to deep snow with them than without. I would not have attempted to walk out in deep snow without a pair, even if it were only something I cobbled together.

It might have given him the confidence to stay put, which without the other gear, he probably should have done.

They had a fire at the car. I've seen no evidence that James built one while hiking out. We'll have to wait on that one. At any rate, a mirror would have taken far less time for James to deploy than a fire would have taken to build.

Try removing the cars electronic compass and see if it still works. I bet it doesn't, and so would be worthless to James. A roadmap that did not show the inevitable criss cross of logging raods would probably be of little value as well.

I get the sense that some people may think that analyzing what happened to this family is somehow disrespectful to Mr. Kim. Nothing could be further from the truth. He did the best he could with limited gear. Discussing this incident has already convinced me to add snowshoes and a cell phone antenna extension to my vehicle, and perhaps swap the regular shovel I carry for a snow shovel. And what room I need, I'll make. It's that important.

http://www.healthline.com/blogs/outdoor_health/

Paul Auerbach wrote about the incident.