Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Will on January 26, 2013 at 6:47pm

Or you can have all the will in the world but w/o knowledge you still perish.  Sounds like they both matter.

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Permalink Reply by Benjamin Maxwell Rogers on January 28, 2013 at 5:18am

Got to say I agree with Will they both definately matter.

Although for me the will to survive would be more important, as you could use the surroundings to make shelter, heat and gather food. Even if on a basic level. Knowledge and equipment would be great but you have to want to survive!

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Chu Kim on January 31, 2013 at 8:50pm

The Will to Live is by far the most critical factor in a survival situation. Yes, knowledge will help greatly, and equipment can be important, but these are meaningless without the drive to survive. It is that drive, that instinct, that deep desire to live no matter what you are faced with that you have to possess above all. And no matter what the odds are and no matter how difficult it all seems, and no matter how tough things get, the ability to tough it out and keep going, and going, that's the most important thing. I'm a firm believer that as long as you are never willing to give up, and always fighting whatever you are facing with fierceness and fire in your heart, you can make it. You must have that strength of will first, and it must be the last thing of yours you should ever let go, otherwise you don't stand a chance. I think this principle can apply to life in general as well.

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Permalink Reply by terry sperling on February 1, 2013 at 12:47pm

Well stated.

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Permalink Reply by Michael on May 17, 2013 at 11:08pm

Will alone doesn't put food in your stomach.

Both are important.

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Permalink Reply by Mudinyeri on February 13, 2013 at 1:50pm

Check out the book Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why.  Without the will to survive, all the knowledge and gear in the world won't save you.  In fact, there are a number of stories in the book of very knowledgeable and well-equipped individuals who didn't survive while children with much more limited knowledge (if any) and virtually no supplies did just fine.

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Permalink Reply by Karl Helweg on February 14, 2013 at 4:57pm

As far as a positive survival attitude goes, has anyone read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Side_of_the_Mountain   It is a little juvenile but it still does a superior job going from surviving to thriving. 

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Permalink Reply by Mudinyeri on February 15, 2013 at 11:43am

Thriving is key.  The book that I mentioned discusses this topic extensively.  In a review of hundreds of survival situations the author found that those who took an interest in their surroundings, even though in the midst of a survival situation, were much more likely to survive than those who focused exclusively on survival.  The message is this: Those who allow their natural curiosity and wonder to overtake their fears of death are much more likely to survive than those who block out their environment and either panic or focus on their accumulated skills and knowledge.  Children are very good at this.

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Permalink Reply by Steve on March 19, 2013 at 6:17pm

I used to visit a survival site out of interest and there were several examples of people who'd died just a few miles from civilisation after a few days even when they had plenty good kit with them...and other examples of totally clueless people with no kit who'd walked out of or survived in some pretty hostile enviroments for weeks. So the key must be your will to survive, your ability to weather hardship, to improvise and keep on going when others would just give up or wallow in self pity.

 

Obviously, having some kit and a bit of knowledge will set you in good stead in a situation like that, but all the tools in the world won't help you if giving up and feeling sorry for yourself is in your nature.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Dean Phillips on May 17, 2013 at 2:12pm

They are both important. Your equipment is not. If you have the knowledge, or the creativity, you can do without almost anything. The only piece of gear that I have decided is almost necessary is a knife, but it can be almost any knife. I would say that knowledge is more important, but only just barely. No matter how much you want to survive, if you don't know how, you're dead. If you have the knowledge, you can help others survive, and they will help you.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Shelton on May 17, 2013 at 2:21pm

I would say the will to live is the most important.  You can survive pretty much anywhere if you have that will.  The will is what drives you to learn ways to cope, to hunt/fish, to keep moving no equipment can do that.  You can gain knowledge 'on-the-job' so to speak if you have the will.

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