# Better be one hell of a tree!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-be-one-hell-of-a-tree/519851
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 3, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-be-one-hell-of-a-tree/519851 "2009-12-03T14:48:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-be-one-hell-of-a-tree/519851/21 "2009-12-04T20:31:52Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#):
>
> I’m not getting the hate either. They were obviously prepared for getting stuck in the snow, since they did get stuck last year. They had water and blankets, which they would have easily frozen to death without. They just forgot their chains, which I don’t think would have helped with them getting stuck in a snowdrift anyways. A shovel would have helped though. I’m sure some food packets would have helped as well, like MREs.
>
> **Wile E** , the permits are $5, sold through the Forest Service and usually sell out within hours of being available. I’ve done xmas tree hunting, and it’s actually a lot of fun. You don’t do it to save money, you do it for the experience of it. I don’t mean to sound snarky, but there is a lot of “why do x the hard way when you can just go to the store and buy it?” attitude in the US these days, which I think is unhealthy as a society. It feeds our consumerism and we as a people lose a lot of real world skills that we may need some day.
:rolleyes: What real-world skill? Driving a car is the skill they needed.
Testing your ‘real-world’ skills out in the forest means some people without any skill to test ain’t gonna come back. Yee haw.
---
### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-be-one-hell-of-a-tree/519851/22 "2009-12-05T05:16:47Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#):
>
> FWIW, this tree wasn’t live either. At least not after they cut it down.
I know, but everyone refers to cut trees as “live trees” as opposed to artificial but I think “formerly live” might be more accurate.
---
### Author:  [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-be-one-hell-of-a-tree/519851/23 "2009-12-05T07:53:22Z")
> [@Philster](#):
>
> :rolleyes: What real-world skill? Driving a car is the skill they needed.
>
> Testing your ‘real-world’ skills out in the forest means some people without any skill to test ain’t gonna come back. Yee haw.
You could also say anyone can drive a car, provided all that’s needed is to just go to the store. It’s the spirit of doing a thing and having fun, rather than paying your money in our service oriented culture to have someone spoon feed everything in life. Even people who know how to drive in the snow can skid into an embankment and accidents happen.
Way to miss my point.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2009, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-be-one-hell-of-a-tree/519851/24 "2009-12-05T09:05:35Z")
> [@Telemark](#):
>
> There is a long standing debate in the S&R community about charging for searches and rescues. Most of the people actually doing the S&R are against the idea, because that means people will wait until the shit hits the fan before calling, making for much worse rescues. Others (who are footing the bills) have different criteria.
>
> I don’t believe there is any mechanism to charge people for S&R in Oregon right now.
A lot of the searchers are volunteers. My sister used to do this before becoming a park cop. They really want to be called early and often. Bean counters don’t like dropping everything to go crap in the woods with their Search and Rescue friends, and they have no idea what SAR is like.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-be-one-hell-of-a-tree/519851.md?page=1)