Surly Saturday…

I loves me a Surly day of riding...=-)

No Promise of Safety…

Photo: No Promise of Safety

Someone [sorry I’ve misplaced the person’s name!…=-(] posted this website’s URL in the comments section of my blog. I’ve only scratched the surface reading about their exploits, but so far I love it.

Here is what they say about No Promise of Safety:

“Most of us enjoy the benefit of living in a safe society. We live within defined and defended borders. We sleep soundly under the ever reaching umbrella of government protection. Our food and water are monitored, our consumer products tested. Cups of coffee are sold with warning labels, “this is hot.” Seat belts are required on most roads in most developed countries.  The benefits of this recent rise of safety cannot be denied. Infant mortality is down, life expectancy is up, and more and more people are gaining the material markers of a so called “modern world.”

But what of the detriment they have caused? Adventure has become a packaged commodity. One can take an afternoon course in skydiving, or a pre-planned six day trip to Jerusalem. Even Everest has become a tourist trap. Rich men and women shelling out six figures for a guided treck up the mountain. The danger has been minimized for the convenience of the consumer; the difficult planning already done.  These adventures are not adventures at all. They are vacuum packed, sanitized bastardizations of an original independent spirit.

The things described on this site are not “safe” in the way that modern society has come to understand safety. We are not experts in our field. We don’t always use tested and accepted equipment. We don’t always go where it is deemed safe for us to go.  The risks are plain and clear to all involved, but we face them and weigh the options. Climb that crane and take a slight risk of death or incarceration? Or stay home and watch another uninspiring television show? Rather than pursue solely the recreational products and services offered to us we choose to follow our own aims.

Want to summit that skyscraper? No need to jump through hoops trying to arrange a guided tour. Just use your own head and get up there yourself. When you abandon the child-parent relationship between yourself and society and start to act and think for yourself a whole new world will open up. The consequences truly pale in comparison because, lets face it, what we do is not that dangerous and a night in the cells is really not that bad.

Don’t approve? Hey at least we don’t kill innocent people.“

Photo: No Promise of Safety

No Promise of Safety is Vikapproved…=-)