Sean

Hey, this is my first post. I've been reading for a while now, but I usually don't have much to say. I think we can second guess his actions all day long, but in the end I think he did what he thought was best for his family. It's hard to fault a man for that. I do think we all can learn from his mistakes though. From what I have read about the situation, it doesn't seem like he had much wilderness/survival experience. I think that is why he made desisions that may not have been the right ones to make. I've been to the USAF survival school, deployed twice, and have spent a lot of time in the woods/wilderness, and I have learned that nothing beats experience for knowing what to do. Experience for these situations takes a lot of time and effort to acquire. If you don't already have experience, I suggest that you at least buy a good survival book and keep it in the car. That way, if there is an emergency situation, the knowledge is right there for you, and if you do decide to wait it out, you got something to read to pass the time. There are a lot of good ones out there. My Bro-in-law just bought me the SAS one. It's a bit long, but not bad. Knowledge is a lot more important than any extra "stuff" you can bring along. Don't get me wrong, keeping a couple of wool blankets in the car is an extremely smart thing to do!
I hope we can all learn from this, and keep his family in our thoughts and prayers.

-Sean