Discussion: Orienteering = ?

This thread from 2009 maybe could use a revisit? My own late response is "alone". Reading all the responses, though, the word that resonates most with me now is "confident". The phrase that resonates most is "life skill". Orienteering teaches off-trail navigation skills. Because I had those skills, I felt confident enough not only to work at a field station many days' travel from the nearest road, deep in Amazonia, but also to leave that field station to spend a day alone hiking far outside the field station trail system. That was one of the best days of my life.

I pity the SAR team...

Pity the SAR team that would search for me out of this field station, if I didn't come back? Don't pity them; envy them. Membership on such teams is highly desirable. Those SAR teams get flown, all expenses paid, to the most fabulous places, get the most helicopter rides, get the most costly high-tech gear, all for free.

If you eliminate getting lost from your list of risks in the woods, and you don't go too fast, that leaves not much other than medical emergencies. How many times have you had a medical emergency while simply walking in the woods?

Bottom line is, a deadly event usually is deadly no matter where you are. People die at home all the time. SAR gets called regularly for people who die peacefully, who just happen to be miles from a road when that moment comes.

Also---just a note---It's perfectly okay to resurrect an old thread by simply posting in it. That brings it to the top of the list. It's better than starting a new one with the same name and linking to the old one.

People with relatively new accounts don't have the ability to resurrect old inactive threads.

Love the "Crazy Choice" video from that thread.

Orienteering is finding all the controls where you were looking for them (i.e. placed and described correctly) in the shortest time.

No helicopter rides, and no fancy high-tech gear, for me.