I don’t’ think anyone would argue that one needs to practice survival skills in order for them to become second nature. I’ve recently seen threads posted on other forums asking if you ever go on a “survival camping” trip. Taking a minimal amount of gear and surviving for a few days out in the wilderness can be quite fun. However even when I’m planning to practice survival skills on a backpacking trip I always bring along the essentials including a sleeping bag and shelter(usually a sil-nylon tarp or poncho).

So I’m I over prepared or just cautious. I figure I can work on my skills and feel confident I could climb into a sleeping bag and crawl under a dry tarp if my shelter proved to be less than waterproof. It seems like a fine line that you don’t want to cross but I like to take calculated risks when ever possible.

The bottom line to me is I don’t want to turn my practice session into a real survival situation. Any thoughts on this?