Lessons learned from the Oregon tragedy

Over water, life jackets and a raft, water temps below 80
degrees, an exposure suit.
Desert hot weather, lots of water, reflective "space
blankets" for shade, proper shoes.
Cold weather, clothes designed to keep you dry and warm,
boots, warm hat, gloves, food, water, pre-planning.


"Bob Gardner" wrote in message
. ..
| Lesson learned from a bush pilot: Get into the airplane
prepared to walk
| home.
|
| Bob Gardner
|
| "Jim Macklin" wrote
in message
| ...
| Basic gear, whether driving or flying...
| warm, clothes and boots, Gore-Tex, Thinsulate, warm hat
and
| a balaclava. Bright colors, blaze orange. A change of
| socks. Signal mirror, matches and a Zippo lighter even
if
| you don't smoke.
| Some tools, a folding shovel, a pocket knife, a small
| hatchet.
| Some high energy food stuff, jerky. Water, take some
fresh
| liter bottles, if it is below freezing, put the unfrozen
| bottles inside your coat and your body will keep them
| liquid.
| Stay dry, stay out of the wind, stay dry.
| In a car, run the engine only 10 minutes out of every
hour,
| use blankets to add insulation inside the car and cover
the
| windows at night. Buy a bright colored car.
|
| Have flares and smoke. Tell somebody where you plan to
go
| and a call-in schedule so the searchers can start
looking.
|
| Cotton clothes get wet and don't dry quickly. Wool and
| modern synthetics are warmer even when wet/damp.
|
| See sportsman's catalogs such as Cabela's
www.cabelas.com
| and mountain sports catalogs www.rei.com and stay dry.
|
| There is a story I read, probably 40 years ago, about a
| northern Minnesota resident who lived 30 miles from
town.
| Monthly he would take his snowmobile and sleds to town
to
| buy supplies. One day his snowmobile broke down and he
| tried to fix it but could not. By that time he was very
| cold, temperatures were below zero F and win chills were
| lower still. He tried to light a fire, but the wood he
| could find was wet. He did have thousands of wooden
matches
| since he had just bought a big supply. Bit he couldn't
get
| the fire started. A day or two later the searchers
found
| his body and saw all the attempts to start a fire that
had
| failed.
|
| He was so cold by the time he started to think about
| survival shelter and a fire he couldn't think and didn't
use
| the 50 gallons of kerosene, or the gasoline he had on
the
| sled and in the snowmobile.
|
| First thing, shelter, second start a fire while you're
still
| warm and can think. Improve your shelter. Stay dry.
|
|
|
|
|
| "Jay Honeck" wrote in message
|
ups.com...
| | perhaps something as simple as a hand held GPS could
have
| saved him. Or,
| | even a hand held radio.
| |
| | It went well beyond that. Mr. Kim drove his family
into
| mountainous
| | country, above the snow line, wearing tennis shoes and
| light clothing.
| | His chances of hiking out were almost nil.
| |
| | I know he wasn't expecting to take a wrong turn, and I
| know he wasn't
| | expecting to get stuck in the snow, and I know he
wasn't
| from that part
| | of the country -- but the unfortunate Mr. Kim
apparently
| did not take
| | even the most basic precautions.
| |
| | We keep a giant Tupperware container of survival gear
in
| each of our
| | vehicles. In that kit is warm clothing, some food,
| chemical hand/feet
| | warmers jumper cables, flash lights, tools -- the
basic
| survival stuff.
| | We have an even more extensive kit in our airplane,
| knowing that the
| | *average* time from crash to rescue is 18 hours in the
| United States --
| | plenty long to die of exposure in the Midwest.
| | --
| | Jay Honeck
| | Iowa City, IA
| | Pathfinder N56993
| | www.AlexisParkInn.com
| | "Your Aviation Destination"
| |
|
|
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