Originally Posted By lori
Originally Posted By Gershon
Originally Posted By lori
The only thing it doesn't account for is the mindset of the lost person. The largest factor in what happens when you're lost has to do with whether you panic or not. If you know you're not really lost, you're not going to do the same things, necessarily, as if you were lost..


I realize you put the disclaimer in, but I feel a person puts the odds overwhelmingly in their favor if they have learned navigation well and simulated being lost, even if it's in a very safe area. By learning, I don't mean reading. I mean getting out in the field and doing it.

The same could be said for first aid. Reading a book doesn't work as well simulating treatment using a live person.

We used to have a saying for people who invented new techniques during an actual inflight emergency: "Different, Dumb and Stupid." This saying would come into a person's mind when they thought about doing something different than they were trained.


We rescue experienced (as in decades) people as often as we do inexperienced.


Lori,

In my opinion, experience is not measured in years, but in knowledge and skills gained during those years. If a person does not actively improve their skills themselves with time, it's my feeling there will be a marginal decrease in risk.

As long as the inherent risk of the activity remains the same, the person with more skills should be safer. There will still be the unusual accident, but even these can be largely avoided with some care.
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