Survival or Successful?

[OwenM]

Thanks all for the wonderful and thoughtful replies. There is something of a false choice here, I suppose. Success implies survival. To survive a trip implies that the trip was successful, regardless if any other goal was achieved.

I don't think that's true at all. Sure, surviving would be a prerequisite of a successful trip, but a successful trip is an enjoyable one, where you do what you wanted to do, and see what you wanted to see. If you're going outdoors just to survive, there's no point going outdoors at all.


I thought of this thread this week, as I swapped gear from day to day in my daypack. Aside from the basics, my "survival kit" is condition-appropriate gear. I guess you would call that packing for success. It's common sense that the things you carry are going to constantly change with the conditions you're carrying them into.
-The weather was originally supposed to be colder. I had a down jacket, Powerstretch fleece bottoms, Smartwool glove liners, UA Arctic Beanie, and a spare Buff in the event I got stuck out overnight. Also an Icebreaker 200wt top in case I got cold while hiking in a lightweight baselayer and unlined softshell.
I always have first aid, fire, "poo kit"(trowel, TP, wipes), water and snacks. My first aid stuff is packed with my fire and emergency gear that includes a spare lithium AA and CR123A for my handheld light and headlamp, water purification, and a compass, so that I always have them.
Since I was in unfamiliar territory, a general overview map went in a pants pocket, while the National Geographic Trails Illustrated map of the park that, while not extremely detailed, does allow navigation by topo to some extent, went in the pack.
-Then the weather warmed up a bit, and I ditched the down jacket and Powerstretch bottoms, and put in OR rain pants and a Marmot PreCip rain jacket, as the forecast now called for scattered thunderstorms.
Since I was starting late in the day, I added another spare AA and CR123A so I was doubled up on spare batteries(and did hike out almost 5 miles in the dark by headlamp).
-The next day it was clear, but I was doing a strenuous hike starting at lunchtime, after doing other stuff first thing in the morning. The rain gear stayed(rain gear is shelter), and a knee brace got added. The trail is supposed to be extremely dangerous in the dark, and I wanted something more than my floody lights for route-finding if necessary, so added a Malkoff MD2 flashlight with M61N dropin and a spare 18650 so I'd have plenty of runtime, even on high. I got temporarily lost not paying attention, and following a drainage that I assumed the trail went down until it became impassable, then had a hard time figuring out where the trail had crossed, plus ended the hike not long before sundown, so it would have been a comfort having the brighter light. I didn't use the knee brace, but was starting to have more knee pain than usual in the last mile or so, so those were two "almost used" items that I could have been very happy to have had along.

To my way of thinking, survival is about your situation, whether it be weather/location(lost)/physical condition/whatever, changing, and being able to change the situation back to one that's livable, and that preparing for a successful trip involves realistically anticipating what those changes might be, then preparing for them ahead of time.