I hear and see a lot of fingers pointed at coyotes, but I've never had a problem with them, nor the sheep herds around my folks' land. Feral dog on the other hand will attack just for sport.

"Judge not, lest ye be judged"

"Judge not, lest ye be judged"

Any time I'm stupid enough to endanger my life, people can point their fingers and make rude commments all they want. And that means anytime, anywhere, under any conditions. They can make me the DON'T DO THIS, STUPID! poster child. Poster person?

Survival works best if you don't put yourself into a stupid situation to begin with, and then don't keep compounding the problem by making bad decisions.

Just for fun, here are a few bad combinations:

Senior + diabetic + alone + chainsaw + falling trees + remote.

Healthy + allergic to bees + smear self w/honey + no bee kit + no communication.

Surfing + can't swim + night + alone + shark area.

Runner + wilderness area + bear area + music headset.

Fall + White Mts/NH + shorts/t-shirt/sandals + no kit + no fire + no map/info.

Free climbing + Yosemite + no experience + no guide + bad weather forecast.

Desert travel + summer + family + little water + no map/info + no message at ranger station (etc).

Sue

Anytime I'm stupid enough to endanger my I hope someone takes the time to inform me rather than stand back and make rude comments.

I haven't posted here much and haven't really read the stuff on here all that long but I've gotten a lot of useful information from a lot of knowledgeable, usually compassionate people. However, I'm appalled at the responses to this guy's situation. It's not what I've grown used to reading on this forum. I'm not disputing the opinions that have been presented, just surprised at the way they've been posted.

Suppose he wasn't a logger (actually, i didn't see in any of the news articles that he was), and was like one of us? Would you cut him more slack if the news was,
"Equipped.com forum member was out practicing wilderness survival skills when a tree he/she was felling trapped his leg. Using first aid training and materials in his personal survival kit, he managed to free himself by cutting off his leg. Then using his knowledge of signaling for help, he was eventually rescued."

your point is well-taken:

senior - well, aron ralston was 27 when he did his arm.

diabetic - 'brittle' insulin dependent - a potential problem, diet regulated - not as much.

alone - some means of communication would have voided this.

chainsaw - accidents happen, but never to us.

falling trees - see above.

remote - communication would have resolved this.

he stacked the cards against himself, placed his bet, and lost. i would like to say i feel sorry for him.. but...

i hike in areas where there are mountain lions and bears - it's the chance i take - if i get eaten, well that's nature in action.

a plb for us hikers or loggers should become a "must have" just as cell phones have become. might save a lot of people a lot of grief.

bsmith

I suspect that if someone asked him today, he would say that what he did was less than smart. For a variety of reasons...

"...sense of humor can be a bit dark at times..."

That is often the best kind of humor, at least to us old reTIRED cops...

While I understand your point, I'd like to think that we might cut him LESS slack if he had been an ETS member. However, Joe Schmoe might get a little less slack. I'm guessing that most of the posts here are translating "logger" as "lives/works outdoors and should have some common sense about that environment by now."

Also, random thoughts about your comments:
1. Why would you fell a tree in a survival situation?
2. What the heck kind of saw are you packing, and where can I get one??