"Playing it Safer"
By Will Gadd
I am giving this article five out five stars! I found it to be very, very fascinating!
<<If you want to survive out there, learn not to trust your gear>>.
This article is the author's account of his own personal near-death experience where he needed to trust his own skills before trusting his gear. Mr. Gadd tells his readers about an adventure, as an experienced alpine climber, of himself getting into a very sticky situation, where his rope detached from itself on a mountain climb. It was not as much of a gear malfunction as it was a small slip-up on his part, it happens to the most advanced of climbers. His rope had been tied in a way that was not suitable for that portion of his uphill climb. He tells the readers about how in that time he was frozen from fear. He knew that he had only his training and skills to save his life from the fatal fall which he had been facing.
Will Gadd teaches his readers that, although it is always best to have the highest quality of safety gear, you should be able to trust your life on your own skills, you should be properly trained, and not leave the entirety of the trust for you life in the hands of your gear.
Reading this article has made me realize exactly what the author wanted me to realize, I should always avoid putting myself in a situation that I am not properly trained for. This article has made me much more conscious of some of the dangers that can be faced on daily occasions. Thinking back, I feel as though I put to much of my trust into my equipment, or I would had I more experience in the outdoors. Thankfully, I have never personally been stuck in a predicament where I needed to put my life in the hands of my equipment, however if ever I am, I will be certain that I have the proper safety equipment, but mainly that I know what I'm doing! I will change my behaviour in the sense that I will be able to, without a doubt, trust my life on my training and skills 100%! Our gear should only be used as a safety net, it is for the "just in case's" of our outdoor excursions.
Gadd, Will. "Playing It Safer." Explore Winter.176 (2012): 34. Print.
ReplyDeleteHow to Survive Assignment: By-Noëlle Saumure
Fire:
Two natural ways to make a fire in the wilderness is to use dry wood or bark. Kindling will make a big and hot fire depending on how much you collect.
Another way to create a fire in the wilderness is to use flint. You can collect flint in a nearby forest. Flint will keep your fire going for a long time and make the fire long-lasting with a small amount of wood.
Water:
Two natural ways to collect water in the wilderness is to collect snow if you are in the middle of a snowy season or climate, or to collect rainwater and purify it with a few drops of iodine or boiling it.
Shelter:
Two natural ways to make a shelter are to use a fallen tree and take cover under it or make a lean-to from it using dead branches, leaves and pine needles to keep the rain or snow or bad weather in general out. Another natural way of making shelter in the wilderness is to make a quinzhee out of snow and maybe ice, depending on how one would prefer to insulate it.