Two essential items...

.... for traveling in hostle terrain and weather would be a satellite
phone and PLB.
Satphones can be rented for a basic rate of $20 per week, plus call time.
PLB's can be purchased for as little as $425.
As long as you can see the sky, you can tell someone where you are.

john smith writes:

... for traveling in hostle terrain and weather would be a satellite
phone and PLB.
Satphones can be rented for a basic rate of $20 per week, plus call time.
PLB's can be purchased for as little as $425.
As long as you can see the sky, you can tell someone where you are.

Sounds logical. If you were in difficult terrain it might still take
a few days for them to reach you, so these wouldn't replace other
provisions, but they would be essential items.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

john smith wrote:
... for traveling in hostle terrain and weather would be a satellite
phone and PLB.
Satphones can be rented for a basic rate of $20 per week, plus call time.
PLB's can be purchased for as little as $425.
As long as you can see the sky, you can tell someone where you are.

Where do you rent Sat phones? I got stuck in Mexico and only got home
because I was lucky that the guy who crashed into my plane had a sat
phone. I'd probably still be out there in the desert now.

-Robert

Robert M. Gary wrote:

Where do you rent Sat phones? I got stuck in Mexico and only got home
because I was lucky that the guy who crashed into my plane had a sat
phone. I'd probably still be out there in the desert now.

-Robert


Lots of places. Google Iridium. I bought one and wouldn't be without it
in many of the places I go.

RomeoMike wrote:

Lots of places. Google Iridium. I bought one and wouldn't be without it
in many of the places I go.


Did you happen to see the episode of "Survivorman" where they left Les
in the jungle? When filming an episode, he always maintains an
emergency plan which is often shared with the viewers. After all, it's
only entertainment. He mentioned the sat phone and how often he had no
signal during the jungle episode.

I'd personally still carry one, but his experience regarding the
realities of the phone in this situation was interesting.

http://science.discovery.com/convergence/survivorman/survivorman.html

I have no jungle experience but have plenty in the canyons, including
narrow ones, of Utah and Arizona. Also in Ponderosa pine forests.I've
yet to be in a place where the SAT phone wouldn't work. Just my personal
experience. Is it possible that Les was dramatizing his situation for
the show? I'm not familiar with it.

B A R R Y wrote:
RomeoMike wrote:

Lots of places. Google Iridium. I bought one and wouldn't be without
it in many of the places I go.


Did you happen to see the episode of "Survivorman" where they left Les
in the jungle? When filming an episode, he always maintains an
emergency plan which is often shared with the viewers. After all, it's
only entertainment. He mentioned the sat phone and how often he had no
signal during the jungle episode.

I'd personally still carry one, but his experience regarding the
realities of the phone in this situation was interesting.

http://science.discovery.com/convergence/survivorman/survivorman.html

RomeoMike wrote:
Is it possible that Les was dramatizing his situation for
the show?

Possibly. However, he rarely talks about the backup plan during the
show, except when it seems to be not as usable as he expected. G In
another episode (Adrift), he was pointing out how the radio he expected
to use to communicate with his "babysitter" boat failed, and they were
unable to make contact on the open seas. His solid backup plans are
described on his web site.

The episode where he mentioned the sat phone issues took plane in the
Costa Rican jungle, with high, heavy foliage coverage. He pointed out
the the phone was plenty usable on the coast and in rare clearings. The
issue came up when he was in an area with solid square miles of canopy,
pointing out the lack of signal on the phone and the inability of an
airborne rescue crew to find him if he was injured. He didn't mention
having any kind of ELT, and he doesn't normally hide such things.

Part of the show's purpose is to demonstrate survival techniques
available when you've got very little. It's less of "Isn't Les great
and amazing" and more of "You could do this if you had to", and "You
will die if you DON'T do THIS." He usually carries only a few very
basic and likely to be carried items, like a Leatherman tool, and is
allowed to use whatever the situation might normally include. One of
the episodes was an Arctic plane crash, where he used broken airplane
parts, wiring, and small quantities of fuel to survive in winter Arctic
wilderness.

While the show includes _some_ drama, as it _is_ TeeVee G, I've still
found every show genuinely interesting from an outdoorsman's
perspective. Someone with military survival training might find it silly.

And again, I'd personally still carry the phone... G

RomeoMike wrote:
I have no jungle experience but have plenty in the canyons, including
narrow ones, of Utah and Arizona. Also in Ponderosa pine forests.I've
yet to be in a place where the SAT phone wouldn't work. Just my personal
experience. Is it possible that Les was dramatizing his situation for
the show? I'm not familiar with it.

You need an unobstructed view of the sky for a sat phone to work
reliably. Foliage
absorbs microwaves - as others have pointed out. The solution, if you
are under a canopy,
is to find a clearing - if you can.