Why I Take This Sh** So Seriously

Have you ever felt someone's last breath against your cheek as you desperately tried to get them to take another? I have. Have you ever hiked into rugged terrain to carry out an injured child after fighting fires for the past 30 hours straight? I have. Have you ever witnessed a helicopter land for a teammate in full seizures from heat stroke? I have. Have you ever responded to a natural disaster that wiped out an entire team just like yours the day before? I have... and those of you that have too, will know exactly what I saying in this blog.

"Thomas where's ______?" This was the subject line of an email I received not too long ago. In the context of the email, it was a powerful headline, one that portrayed the sheer desperation that concern for a loved one brings. It was a member of a production company that was deeply concerned for a friend filming in Egypt, and s/he had good reason to be. While day hiking to a historic mountain top a freak ice storm hit- that's right, an ice storm in Egypt. The terrain was COMPLETELY barren, steep, and rocky. The team got split up, and they already found some bodies.

The email consisted of this back story and the single request. So I tried to go to work. I pulled up a Google Earth image of the location and tried to reason a chain of events. It appeared easy to get confused in the rocky terrain if going for the top, and easy to get into the wrong ravine and head into nowhere if heading for the bottom. Either way, I pointed this out and hoped they would find him sheltered in a crevasse.

The response came within 24 hours. "Thank you Thomas, but they found his body". There was nothing more for me to reply. I never heard of this man before, but it was hard to hear. No where near as hard as it was for his friends & family of course.

So what a survival instructor must understand; they take everyone of their students' lives in their hands when they teach them a course. When that freak ice storm hits, when the take a fall into a ravine, when they need to find water or else- yours will be the only voice in their head. Your training will be ALL they have to fall back on. If you've been trained to operate in life/death situations, you know your training was  all you had your first time going live. So if you're just here for the money, for the ego, to have some fun on the weekends; you're in the wrong field. Period. There is no room for this crap when lives are on the line. This is about more than cool titles, youtube videos, and neat outfits- it's about serving your fellow man. So when I see the Discovery Channel play things like; a man making fire with a bag of pee as a "magnifying glass", Backpacker Magazine publishing that you can "dig below a cactus for water", youtube vids and survival sites claiming you can make a fire with a bottle of water, and fake army rangers claiming survival instructor status stating you can kill a deer with a wrist rocket style sling shot... I get a little perturbed- to say the least. Because I know the same thing they know- that they are full of sh**.

So why do I take this sh** so seriously? Because that first paragraph may sound all hardcore and whatever, but it is absolutely horrible to experience, and I would much rather no one else had to... and I'll be darn sure no one does because of my courses.

"Check your instructors qualifications, survival has gone corporate

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