I'd prefer to pay $200 for one, but it looks like I'm going to pay between $500 and $600.

I've paid up to $850.00 for one survival course and am going to do so again and again for the advanced classes, thousands of dollars on gear, and hundreds of dollars on books, so another level of added safety at $500, one that may prove useful in a worst case scenario, doesn't seem too bad when I think it all through. Especially when I consider some of the trips I'm planning to take in the next year.

Don't get me wrong, $500 is a lot of dough, and it'll take me a while to save it up, but I think such security is worth the money.