Almost a hero

In the last year or so I’ve become a fan of TV shows like Discovery Channel’s Survivorman, Man Vs. Wild and I shouldn’t be Alive. I was once a Boy Scout and I have always loved camping and canoeing and the technology that goes with it, both modern and primitive. Part of the enjoyment of the outdoors is planning for all kinds of adverse contingencies; dealing with them and avoiding them.

Survivorman’s Les Stroud has deliberately put himself in situations like that which befell James Kim and his family; stuck in a remote area in frigid, snowy weather with almost no supplies, adequate clothing or survival equipment. It’s fun to watch him make mucklucks out of car upholstery, snares, traps, fire drills and shelters out of scrounged and salvaged items. It’s fun to watch him eat things you’d have to be very hungry to eat, navigate by arcane means and of course when he walks out of the wilderness we feel like we would have done the same things. We would have survived too.

Maybe not. Kim was no dummy. He did manage to keep his wife and two children alive for 9 days, burning tires to keep warm, and when he finally tried to walk out to get help, he was tough enough to make 8 miles wearing nothing but tennis shoes and street clothes. The press is calling him a hero – and he almost was, but his efforts came to nothing. His family was saved by people who were searching for them and he was found dead only a half mile from his car.

One has to wonder why a man so closely associated with technology drove through such country without a GPS navigation system, without some means of communication other than a Cell phone, without the kind of survival kit that I’ve always carried in less dangerous situations. Without rubber boots, for heaven’s sake!

You don’t have to have the survival skills of Les Stroud or Bear Grylls if you don’t get into situations that require them. A recent episode of I Shouldn’t be Alive featured a family in a nearly identical situation – they had tried a shortcut through the winter mountains and took a wrong turn. They were luckier, although both husband and wife lost their toes; their child had no ill effects.

Here in Florida where I’m involved in teaching boating safety. I’m constantly reading accounts of people, many of them young, setting out in boats never to return; carrying no flares, no radio, no charts, no method of determining position and wearing no life jackets. Often they’ve told no one where they are going. Perfect candidates for another episode on the Discovery Channel.

So who are the real heroes? The folks who have a pleasant journey with their families because they know when to go, where to go and what to take – or those who shouldn’t be alive and often are not?