*explodes*
That's fantastic, I'll have to bookmark that for later use!
I will say that even on shorter trips I'll sometimes bring an MP3 player as a sort of "mood changer". In particular I find that the right music can help me easily deal with a long climb that might otherwise feel like a slog. That doesn't mean that I stay disconnected from my surroundings all day (!). My own tendency is to use music or stories for long relatively boring stretches, "long green tunnel" or really barren, viewless terrain.
I can definitely sympathize this idea. Music and audiobooks are great media, and could be useful tools, I guess I should have said "it's just a matter of knowing when it's appropriate" in my summary than to advocate disavowing them altogether.
I think survival knowledge, skills, and experience are important for any backpacker, and especially so for one who goes solo. It's your safety net for when people, gear, or the weather forecast fails.
The problem is that the "bushcraft" sort of skills die quickly and are not often practiced.
Contingency planning is what I encourage... Prevention, prevention and prevention, with a healthy respect for edges, steep slopes, fast water and gnarly weather.
Convincing people who have survived bad conditions to reconsider hiking into the night in the driving rain up a high pass while wearing shorts and tank top is a lost cause, since their "experience" tells them you're just making unnecessary noise. Convincing them they need survival skills would be about that hard...
I couldn't agree with your statement more. People should know the basic "keeping alive" skills for bad situations, and better yet should just assume an attitude of preparedness and general readiness. However discipling in bushcraft and "survivalist" ideals is a truly lifelong endeavor that can in some ways be antithetical to the core ideals of backpacking.
It's good and necessary to be prepared, but it's overkill to be Bear Grylls.
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