[pct-l] Getting Into Trouble on the Trail

[bmclaughlin at bigplanet.com (Brian McLaughlin)]

> This will probably upset a lot of ultra-light backpackers. However old 
> addage is that if you need to use _all_ the gear you brought with you to 
> survive you probably didn't bring enough. You were left with NO margin 
> of safety.
> 
> Tortoise.

I don't consider myself ultra-light (or even very upset), but I also 
don't think having used all one's gear is a very good measure 
of how prudent or survival-capable a backpacker is. It's a 
package deal. A hiker needs to know what (s)he's equipped
to handle - mentally, physically and in terms of gear, food
and water. Then the hiker must act to stay well within those
limits. Whatever is foreseeable is then taken care of. 

But sometimes dangers approach quite quickly and overwhelm 
a hiker's plans and margins.  It's precisely for those situations 
of the unforeseen that we leave ourselves a margin to begin with. 
In those emergency  situations, using ALL one's resources 
(whether it's one's gear or wits) to survive is the mark of success, 
not failure - in my opinion.

That said, what ultra-lighters often fail to realize is that they are 
habitually placing themselves much closer to the edge of survivability 
on a daily basis, and as a result, need to be even more vigilant for 
dangers and more far-seeing and quick-reacting to them than others.