Survival

I'd finished reading I Had to Survive by Roberto Canessa and mentioned it to Surly. He recommended  I read the book Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. Interesting book. The author's father was shot down over Germany while piloting a B-17. He was unable to get out of the plane and rode a chunk of it down from an altitude of 27,000 feet. Surprisingly enough, though badly injured, he lived through that only to be facing a German farmer pointing a pistol at his head. When the farmer pulled the trigger, the gun failed to discharge, literally dodging a bullet. The author goes into more details of his father's story at the end of the book after relating many other incredible stories of survival including that of Roberto Canessa, not all of which end well.

I suppose most every man has wondered at one time or another if he had what it takes to come out on top in a true survival situation. The Deep Survival book brings together some commonalities of the survivors as well as describing how the brain functions when in serious trouble. With all the interest in "prepping" on one end of the spectrum and safe spaces and trigger warnings on the other, what's really going to happen if there's a serious national event like the grid going down for a month? What happens to the preppers who haven't prepared well enough, say their food or water supply runs out. Does being a prepper make you a survivor or just put you ahead of the curve. Will all the "snowflakes" leave their safe spaces and become survivors.

I just recently saw the documentary on the Blizzard of '49. Good Lord, what a storm. If I remember right, however, there was only one fatality. Now those people were survivors. Also, last Thursday was the anniversary of the Children's Blizzard. I recommend reading the book on that one. While it's a tragic story, it really brings home the fact that Mother Nature can be a cruel mistress.

The appendix of the Deep Survival book discusses living your life while balancing the risk/reward ratio as well as offering some things to consider if you ever find yourself in a survival situation. Additionally, there are of course things that you can and should do to prepare if you're going to be involved in a risky hobby or adventure and the book lists several of these. Since these seem to be somewhat risky times with both politics and the weather causing major issues, you might want to look in to preparing yourself for some unforeseen situation. Reading Deep Survival would be a good start.