Originally Posted By: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor
Hi mtnlvr68,

Quote:
As far as luxury items I was referring to things like; A gortex bivy sack instead of a plastic garbage bag. A 123v flashlight instead of a photon micro or chem lite. A snow peak titanium cup is definatley a luxury item compared to a sheet of tin foil when it comes to boiling water. IMHO...


It all depends on the conditions and the type of environment that you would expect to be dealing with. A goretex bivy sack is going to give more protection than a plastic garbage bag. The difference in protection might be the difference between life and death. This has happened before in the Scottish Cairngorm mountains when two climbers were caught out overnight in a winter blizzard. The one with the goretex bivy sack survived (less a few fingers and toes), the one with the orange survival polybag didn't. The Snowpeak Ti cups are superb, they are tough, lightweight and very reliable pieces of kit, the tin foil cup type isn't especially in medium, longer time survival situations. The 123v flashlight will outperform a photon micro (better endurance and greater light output) and or a chemlite for only minimal weight disadvantage (a few grams more). The difference in light output and light endurance could be the difference in being spotted by SAR or not. I don't think they are luxury items just higher performance items which can help improve the odds in a survival outcome.



I agree with Am_Fear_Liath_Mor.

Again, this involves the unknowable. If you come to find yourself in a true survival crisis, will it be one with modestly inclement weather or extremely inclement weather? Will it last for a night or for a week? Will you be severely injured or in perfect health? Etc. In some cases, you just can't know.

(By the way, I think it is unwise to think of minimalist-but-reliable gear as a luxury [versus severely compromised, unreliable, extreme-short-term gear as a necessity], as in your example of the titanium cup versus tin foil.)