Why people find themselves in survival situations
Getting stranded somewhere is never fun and sometimes life threatening, but when it comes to the reasons behind why these situations happen in the first place there are a number of causes that repeat themselves over and over again. Here’s a few of the most common reasons behind why people keep getting into survival situations.
They weren’t paying attention
(The Utah Box-Death Hollow Wilderness)
By far the most common reason for people getting into lone survival situations is the lack of attention to their surroundings. So many survival stories start with someone taking a stroll through the trees or going for a hike and ending up in a situation where their life is in danger because they weren’t paying attention to the time or the path they were on. The story of Victoria Grover is a good example, it starts with her going for a hike in an area she had never been to before and enjoyed it so much she didn’t realize the time until it got dark. Her story ended with her getting rescued after sitting next to a stream for several days with a broken leg. People not keeping an eye on the time or how far they have walked is the most common reason for getting lost in the wilderness.
They thought they’d be fine
If you’ve ever been out walking when you start to notice its getting dark, have you ever thought you’d be able to make it to a certain point before it did, only to find out you weren’t even close? The thought of “I’ll be fine, i can make it” has been a costly mistake for some, with Eric lemarque being a good example. When out snowboarding one day the slope patrol suddenly warned people off the slope, to which Eric thought “i’ll be fine, i can make 1 more run”. Not wanting to turn round after getting so close to the top he ignored the warnings and since the weather looked OK he carried on. Long story short he found himself in the middle of a blizzard and got lost, almost died and ended up having both his lower legs amputated. If you aren’t familiar with a particular area and you don’t have the necessary supplies, then come back another day and don’t risk going somewhere you don’t know is safe.
They got lost
This is probably the least blamable reason for the start of a survival story since people can’t be familiar with everywhere. When going to a new place you’re unfamiliar with its always a good idea to research a path beforehand and equally important, don’t go off your planned route. Amanda Eller is all to familiar with this rule after going for a walk in the Maui jungle in Hawaii and having to live in a cave and drink muddy water, but the most ridiculous story would be that of Andrew Gaskell who got lost on purpose. It goes without saying that getting lost in the wilderness will land you in trouble, but when you do it on purpose you’re just asking to die.
Over confidence in their abilities
Everyone likes to think they’d be able to survive in the wild, i myself have read a huge amount of bush craft information and would like to “think” i’d be ok, but i wouldn’t go as far as to bet my life to find out, and i certainly wouldn’t do what Chris McCandless did and just head out into the wild. There have been so many stories of people thinking they can do something they couldn’t, with the best example by far being that of McCandless who grabbed a rifle, some basic camping gear and a few books before walking out into the Canadian wilderness. It turns out his abilities weren’t quite up to scratch and after getting cut off by a flood ended up starving to death. He was found in his sleeping bag weighing only 30kg.