## The Carving on the Wall and the Video Messages
At some point during the entrapment — accounts differ on the exact day — Ralston used his multi-tool to carve into the sandstone wall of the canyon. He carved his name. His birth date: October 27, 1975. And a date he understood to be his probable date of death.
The act of carving that final date is one of the most striking details of the entrapment, and one that reveals something important about Ralston’s psychological state at that moment. He was not in a state of panic or denial. He had done the arithmetic of his situation — the water, the food, the condition of his arm, the likelihood of rescue given that no one knew where he was — and had arrived at a conclusion that he was prepared to accept. He was dying. The date he carved was his best estimate of when that dying would be complete.
He also recorded video messages for his family. These were farewell messages, addressed to people he expected would watch them after his death. He described, in later accounts and interviews, the specific quality of these recordings: the way the act of speaking to his mother, his father, and his friends through the camera created a form of connection that helped him bear the disconnection of his situation. He was alone in a slot canyon with a dying arm, and he was talking to the people he loved.
The multi-tool also served a secondary purpose in these hours. He tested it repeatedly against his arm, trying to determine whether it could accomplish the task he was beginning to seriously consider. Each test confirmed what he already suspected: the blade was too dull. The tool that had been adequate for the modest tasks of a day trip in the canyon was not, in its current state, adequate for what he needed.