What do you think, do I really need the qualification or is my experience enough?
Context:
I'm from Scotland originally, now live near the Peak District. I've been walking since uni and now 10 years later find myself taking my group of friends into the hills fairly regularly. We had our share of sketchy situations but my experience in the reserves and on the hills usually got us through to the other side unscathed. Plus, I did most of the ML training in the reserves anyway. I'd like to think I know the risks and can (and have!) make good judgement calls when needed. We climbed munros, and did multi-day wild hiking expeditions at home and abroad. I feel extremely at home in the wild in most situations.
Recently I've been thinking about getting the qualification because even though I'm confident in the wilderness I always have this niggling thought, "what is it I don't know? Would I make a different call if I had the training? We've been lucky these last 10 years and nothing bad happened, will I know what to do if something serious happens? I don't want the responsibility of letting something serious happen to someone just because I didn't have the right training", and so on.
The career prospects don't attract me but I want to have the knowledge and the training know exactly what to do in any given situation. On the other hand, I'm starting to think that my skills are enough for our small group of friends and spending that kind of cash on a piece of paper and a bit of extra confidence on the hills is potentially not worth it.
Thoughts, advice, personal anecdotes, all very appreciated.