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kyburgThey found the Kim fellow. Not alive, unfortunately. But from all indicators, he died trying like hell - and left people a trail to find him.
I'm one of the last people who did the Sierra Club's BMTC class - complete with ice axe. That was twenty years ago. They shut the program down because they could not get liability insurance any long. Not afford it - NOT AVAILABLE.
And I watch, and every year or so - someone dies in the mountains. They get lost, they try like hell - and they die. They just didn't know enough.
Now and then, you hear about someone surviving, but the stories are just heartbreaking.
And I get angry all over again. Education is worth lives, dammit. Insurance be damned.
There are extra clothes, food, water and supplies in my car at all times, no matter where I go. I can cook food, if need be.
I never go into a remote area (more than ten miles from a gas station) with less than half a tank of gas. My driving radius in the Sentra is about 300 miles - I can get lost, really lost, for over a hundred miles before I need to worry. If I follow my own advice.
I don't expect a cell phone to save me.
I keep maps in the car. I use mapquest as a guide, only. And I get suspicious, quick. If it doesn't look right, I act early.
I get called a lot of things for being so cautious - fuck 'em.
Know your ten essentials:
1. Map
2. Compass (get trained on how to use one - it's fun)
3. Flashlight (one that you can shake and use without batteries? Beauty.)
4. Extra Food (and pick something that won't spoil, you won't snack on and has a high fat content. Sardines in a can are my staple.)
5. Extra Clothes (Pick stuff you can wear, preferably layer and stay away from stuff that loses it's heat-retaining value when wet.)
6. Sunglasses. No shit.
7. First Aid Kit (and I don't mean a box of band-aids)
8. Pocket Knife and tools
9. Waterproof matches and firestarter.
10. Water purifier/extra water - containers
I'm going to update the stuff in the trunk in the next day or so.
God, they are going to miss him.
Do I have to say something about not splitting your party? Good.
I'm one of the last people who did the Sierra Club's BMTC class - complete with ice axe. That was twenty years ago. They shut the program down because they could not get liability insurance any long. Not afford it - NOT AVAILABLE.
And I watch, and every year or so - someone dies in the mountains. They get lost, they try like hell - and they die. They just didn't know enough.
Now and then, you hear about someone surviving, but the stories are just heartbreaking.
And I get angry all over again. Education is worth lives, dammit. Insurance be damned.
There are extra clothes, food, water and supplies in my car at all times, no matter where I go. I can cook food, if need be.
I never go into a remote area (more than ten miles from a gas station) with less than half a tank of gas. My driving radius in the Sentra is about 300 miles - I can get lost, really lost, for over a hundred miles before I need to worry. If I follow my own advice.
I don't expect a cell phone to save me.
I keep maps in the car. I use mapquest as a guide, only. And I get suspicious, quick. If it doesn't look right, I act early.
I get called a lot of things for being so cautious - fuck 'em.
Know your ten essentials:
1. Map
2. Compass (get trained on how to use one - it's fun)
3. Flashlight (one that you can shake and use without batteries? Beauty.)
4. Extra Food (and pick something that won't spoil, you won't snack on and has a high fat content. Sardines in a can are my staple.)
5. Extra Clothes (Pick stuff you can wear, preferably layer and stay away from stuff that loses it's heat-retaining value when wet.)
6. Sunglasses. No shit.
7. First Aid Kit (and I don't mean a box of band-aids)
8. Pocket Knife and tools
9. Waterproof matches and firestarter.
10. Water purifier/extra water - containers
I'm going to update the stuff in the trunk in the next day or so.
God, they are going to miss him.
Do I have to say something about not splitting your party? Good.
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 12:00 am (UTC)I've also got the know-how to make it with minimal stuff, like the clothes on my back and my purse. I might be hungry, I might be cold, but I'd be sheltered, alive and waiting for them.
The only things on your list that aren't always in my vehicle are map and compass, but there are needles and I know how to make a compass out of one. I also get a map anytime I'm going off main roads. (though I'd not do that if it were snowy)
Yeah, they're going to have a sad season.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 12:02 am (UTC)We took a 30min drive in potentially bad weather this week, travelling along the main highways, on a route we knew. We all took gear for if we had to get out and walk, I took an extra pair of pants because mine were thin, we always have a case of water in the trunk, we had food, and lighter, etc. No sense stressing if a truck jackknifes in the pass down the mountain and traffic piles up. Be prepared for a minimum of 4 hours in the car on your ass or an hour or more of walking, I figure. And that's for a 30 minute trip.
Growing up in the great white snow makes a difference. The kind of precautions you mention are just the way it is.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 12:07 am (UTC)Sound advice, that list. Damned good list to have and reminds me that our emergency kit needs updating.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 12:16 am (UTC)Some of those shake-and-use flashlights aren't so good; I have one for emergencies, but also keep a brighter beam and batteries in my survival kit. You can read a map with one, but you can't signal worth spit.
I don't have a car and am rarely in one, but I have to say: a cheap CB radio is another good, good thing to have in any car kit. And a AAA card, although that wouldn't have helped these folks. (AAA maps might have.) And a signal mirror and flares...
I like tunafish; like sardines, it comes in self-opening cans, but it's also got some liquid in it, too.
And there *is* something to be said for separating the party when things get dire, and I can't say he didn't do the right thing there when help didn't come for a long time. You send a couple of strong ones to go find help, and leave the kids in shelter. It just doesn't always work, for either half of the party.
Do the Scouts still teach this stuff? I wonder if they could be persuaded to teach adults? I'd gladly be a grownup Girl Scout, although I'm really in no shape to do wilderness hiking safety stuff these days. (So I stay the heck out of the wilderness. And note to self: try to get your CPR card updated, and do the neighborhood earthquake perparedness courses, now that you can leave the house without assistance.)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 01:09 pm (UTC)You're right about the survival stuff in the car. I have nothing in mine to survive. I should change that ASAP.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 02:16 pm (UTC)If you get lost at night, light a fire. Be careful not to burn down the country side, but fire at night can be seen for a very long distance, especially if they are already looking for you.