Had they had stopped for lunch and were eaten by Bears, would everyone fault then for not carrying a gun? Judging from the other posts, probably so.

We recently had a rare snow storm (“snow storm” in Seattle terms) here in Seattle. Hundreds of cars with fender-benders, run into ditches, abandoned when they couldn’t get up ice covered hills, out of gas, no chains, etc. etc. In a time when way too many people call 911 just to report power failures or ask “was that an Earthquake?” do you want your average Mom with kids driving to the Mall to have a PLB in the car? How many people in Seattle would have fire there’s off thinking it would just flash on the Map at AAA and a tow truck would show up in 20 minutes. If the Kim’s were planning on getting into that situation they did, they wouldn’t have had carried a PLB or a Sat Phone or a dog-sled, they would have simply not gotten into that situation. Like most accidents, this too was chain of events which lead to the ultimate situation. Bad Weather, not familiar with the area, no warnings on maps, nighttime, kids cranky, late arrival, missing lock / open gate, etc., etc. The one thing which was the true mistake that we all can learn from, is that if you’re not traveling on Interstate Highways then ask someone about the roads conditions. (Interstates are still no excuse to not have chains, blankets, etc. in the car during Winter driving.) In the case of buying the Mom and kids a PLB as a great non-holiday gift, yeah; if they go back-county hiking or snowshoeing. But to have one in the car just in case? In case of what? I’d say there is a million times greater chance of a PLB being stolen or lost then it be needed for a life saving situation in a throw-it in-the-car-just-in-case situation. Remember the Kim’s were not crossing the Siskiyous in a Cessna 182.

As far as blaming Kim, an expert in MP3 players for not having a PLB, I’d say his odds of getting robbed in the parking lot at the Denny’s they were last seen at were far far far greater than getting lost in the middle of nowhere, and yet I didn’t see Doug add a .45 to the list of what he could have been carrying on his person.

I really respect Doug’s advice and perspective and have been reading his site for the past maybe 8 years since I’ve been flying. And unlike Doug, not everyone can just throw a $2500 aviation survival kit into the trunk just-in-case. Even if they did carry a survival kit, and arctic sleeping bags, and a PLB and a Sat Phone and a hand cranked charger for their cell phones and a .45 with plenty of ammo, they could have driven off the shoulder and plunged into the canyon to their deaths.

What I was hoping for from Doug wasn’t that he should have had a PLB. That’s a no brainer, as anybody could have pushed the button at that point. But instead, once in that situation, what could/should he have done? And thus could I have learned something more than the obvious. What could he have done with the materials making up his car that he could have used better. What key cheap no-excuse-to-not-have-in-any vehicle item or tool if he had with him could have made a difference. Saying your life is worth more than a $500 PLB on that trip, come on, I expected more than that.