Here is a local story: http://www.twincities.com/ci_19196684?nclick_check=1

It just goes to show that even if you really "know" your area and are going just a "little way" it can change very quickly.

I am glad he made it out ok and learned his lesson - I hope that other also learn the lesson too... Never leave home with out it!

This would be a great time to apply the "mark-your-truck-as-a-waypoint" function on your GPS.
1. Turn GPS on and let it get a good GPS fix at your truck.
2. Mark that position as a waypoint.
3. Turn GPS off and put it in your pocket where you won't lose it (like you lost the fore-end of that expensive 28 ga shotgun).
4. Pull the GPS out and use as needed after you get turned around and lost chasing a grouse in the brush.

Edit: 20/20 hindsight being what it is, that was a really expensive grouse. These situations often start out with a hunter/hiker getting lost. It will cost more to replace the fore-end of that shotgun than to have bought a pretty decent hand-held GPS receiver.

Somehting is odd with your link, after I click on it I get redirected to
https://secure.forums.equipped.org/registration/?rPage=login&url=http%3A%2F%2Fforums.equipped.org%2Fubbthreads.php%3Fubb%3Dshowflat%26Number%3D234511&eRightsSessionExpired=true&forced=true

(I'm at work so stuck in a crappy web browser)

If I copy and paste just the link it redirects to
https://secure.passport.mnginteractive.com/mngi/servletDispatch/ErightsPassportServlet.dyn?url=http://www.twincities.com/ci_19196684?nclick_check=1&forced=true

looks like you have some sort of fancy authentication.

Try this link; it worked for me.

This is a stereotype, of course, but I can't help thinking that hunters are generally under equipped for most emergencies. After all, they are carrying a gun. What else could they possibly need?

And I have to admit that i have been out with just a gun more than once, but not recently.

Flat thick Minnesota forests are tough, terrain, and the trees do all look alike....

Good link. Good lesson. And completely agreed about dropping a waypoint at your truck or the trailhead.

Wife comments (complains) on my "big backpack" when we go out into the woods. But I have myself and her and two kids to take care of. So I have several packs full of clif bars and snacks (I put 4 each into a baggie and then carry a half dozen baggies) plus the 3L of water in the camelbak and my spare socks and lighters and matches and water purifying tables, etc. But i'd rather carry the stuff and not need it than need it and not have it.

I am with you on that. I get that from a lot of people. I have my EDC, but I always carry other stuff just in case, and usually enough for whoever is with me. it took my wife a while to learn the need for it. My kids are pretty good about it too. Other, however, snicker and talk. But there have been several occasions where I have pulled out that extra jacket or poncho, pair of socks or gloves, bug repellant or sun screen and especially that bottle of water, and everyone was very happy that I had carried it. That doesn't mean that they learned and now carry their own, they just make sure I am along and they are near me when they need something.

My son wanted to put stuff in his camelbak last weekend. His is the one that is just a water bladder and no other pockets so he's ready for an upgrade.

My wife used to complain about the stuff I was carrying...right up until she needed something.

Wife: "I'm cold, let me get that jacket out of your pack."

chaosmagnet: "No."

W: "Why not?!?"

c: "Get your own jacket."

W: "It's back at camp!"

c: "I guess you should have brought one."


I ended up letting her have the jacket, but after a few similar events she stopped making fun of me.

Glad the guy was OK.
Never be too confident with yourself, especially at an age like 60



Ditto here. Last year in the spring we went out for a day's picnic. I did have extra stuff, extra bags , and the wife had extra compliants about my stuff. It was only a bit chilly day so she thought why carry so much heavy stuff as if we were going to the arctic.

Turned out her father who had sugery a few weeks earlier, felt cold and started to shiver. I pulled a heavy blanket and covered him.

Always better to have it and not need it than the reverse. You will be surprised that even in office environment sometimes you may need a tool NOW to do something, and you better have it on you.

The other day my multitool saved the day, literally. I was supposed to start an instrument to do something automatically. There was something broken, and I saw a similar pert in another unused instrument. I pulled the screwdriver out and unscrewed the part and installed it in the instrument and started it.

Instrument worked overnight as I left home.
Haven't I done that, work would have had to be done the next day.

"My backpack is so big because I prepare for others who don't." It's nice to go on a hike with someone I know will be prepared. It allows me to pack normally. My companion can pick up my slack where I'm weak, and vice versa.

That's get's me thinking. The title of this thread could also be "Why you ALWAYS have your kit or a reliable buddy with you."

Technically your kit is still on you, just carried by your assistant, whats the name of a caddy for hikers?

Lost.....

Not sure what the word for a hiker's caddy would be, but in polite company I would call the hiker, "the dearly departed."

Good article. I'm glad he's come forward and told his story. Good reminder to me not to take shortcuts.

HJ

I think you need to take a page from the Book of Chaos. Right now, all you're doing is enabling. What's the point of that?

Sue

Lets see


There is my big backpack

Great story and lessons. Thanks for posting it.

Cute kids!

HJ

[quote=Chisel]Never be too confident with yourself, especially at an age like 60

[quote]

I'm 60 and I just spent three weeks in a tent in the Chippewa and Superior National Forests with overnight temps in the 20's. Walked an average of 10 miles a day on the old logging roads, carrying everything I needed in my pack.

Vacation's used up for this year, but will go back up after the holidays for snowshoeing. The last trip we walked 12 miles per day. Didn't see anyone under 60 in the backwoods though, except out by the highway close to their Subarus.

Oh yeah, my wife was with me..... She's old too.

Yes, keep those little handwarmers with you -- you just never know when they'll come in handy!

Sue

I will second the comment about hunters being under prepared. I have a Survival kit for wilderness type situations, but even when I am hunting near home I have some gear that I dont leave home without. A couple hunting buddies chuckle at the thought of being "Lost" in this one wood lot we hunt. It's about 2 miles wide, and 4 miles long. When they see me booting up my GPS at the truck, they get a good laugh. One evening my buddie shot a buck on this very peice of property. He called me from his cell while I was in a Resturant meeting my new girlfriends parents. I had to leave dinner to go find him and help him find the truck. See the problem wasn't being lost. He knew exactly where he was. He just didn't know What direction his truck was in the dark. Now who's laughing? I didnt give him a hard time about it, but he doesn't give me a hard time anymore either.
Here is a list of stuff that is in my bag, or on my person when I am hunting a KNOWN area, even a small one, like the one mentioned above.
My Knife
A NEW Bic lighter
2 fire starter packets (like Ignite-O)
Compass
Folding saw
Whistle
Emergency Meds, in a small match case
AMK Heatsheet
Cordage
A wind-up Fashlight.
Snikers bar - or Engergy bar
Sometimes my GPS, but not always

Obviously some will see this list as incomplete, and it is in a true "wilderness" setting; but if more hunters would at least carry these items, less folks would wind up in severe trouble, or even lost to begin with.
In my cousins case it could have saved him from dragging a dead deer around in the dark for a few hours. Who knows it could end up saving YOUR LIFE.

the outdoor magazines have been pounding the idea of having some sort of kit with you for years.when i pick up a Field and Stream type at the barbershop they always have a "ten things to save your life"article.there are lots of people out there who think safety is for sissy's.

For sissies? Heck no. It's just plain smart.

It may not be next week, it may not be next month, but if you spend a lot of time outdoors, sooner or later your "number" is bound to come up. Mine has come up several times.

Once, while doing some backcountry ski touring in Alberta, I fell and broke my right femur. I was dang glad that I had a heavy fleece hat, a sweater, a fleece jacket, a Gore-Tex type jacket, heavy Gore-Tex survival mittens, etc. It was long after dark by the time the Parks Canada rangers got to me.

The rangers' arrival time was not due to sloth by the way; it was more a function of where I was and the time it takes to assemble a team, find the person, etc.

HJ

I retort with: I would rather be a sissy and alive instead of macho and dead.

"Anyone who partakes in the range of wilderness activities that demand skill, knowledge, strength, and stamina... must expect sooner or later to be involved in misfortune, if not his own, then someone else's." -- Medicine for Mountaineering

Byrd Hunter

I am sorry if you were offended by my remark about being around 60. It is obvious from many of my posts that I am myself around 60, so I can't possibly be delibrately offending mature people ...

My concern is that at this age people usually have different physical and medical characteristics than people in their twenties for example, and it is always smart to know your limitations. I know for one that I cannot walk 10 miles carrying a 30 pound pack. That is just me, and I have to acknowledge that and do something about it.

On the plus side, us near 60 are much wiser than younger folks..

Now , apology is due to 20 yo folks .. LOL

Don't forget about Murphy's law of gear, the more gear you have the less likely you are to need it. So if you go in uber prepared the less likely your number will come up

Considering how cheap fannypacks and backpacks are...I'm surprised how many hunters don't use them. Snacks, thermos with hot coffee, raingear...so nice to have the comforts of home.

Way to go Eugene! Start 'em young! Their enthusiasm and your guidance will help them develop good lifelong skills.

My son loves carrying his own kit. He started with a Eureka Joe Dawg pack when he was about 3. We started with just his Teddy, a little snack and a juice box, and added things as he got bigger. An extra pair of mittens and a flashlight, then some extra clothes, etc. He's 8 now and carries a pretty comprehensive kit. (Teddy still comes sometimes too. He's got his own backpack too!)

One tip is to always make sure you have room in your pack for their pack. When they're young, it's important that we ease them into it, as their enthusiasm dictates. If the fun comes out of it because their packs are too heavy, they may lose their enjoyment altogether.

Keep posting pics - I love them!

Thanks. I just replied on the other thread, I'm looking for the link to that whistle that replaces the sternum strap on a backpack, going to add to theirs when I get them.
We started out with go bags, simple toy backpacks that they would oack some toys in when we traveled to my parents to get them used to carrying stuf with them, then I got my camelbak earlier this year because I got tired of carrying three water bottles and any gear stuffed in my pockets. Wife though it was silly until I showed her a smaller women's pack and how I carried 6x as much water, she always runs out when we are out. We actually wore them to an amusement park this summer to help with the heat
The rest of that album is https://picasaweb.google.com/108192100830485377809/20111023HockingHills# if your interested. Wife wanted to go for a drive and take some fall pictures but I said its so nice we need to get out and walk around a bit.
The map of our adventures here: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205129626801920253361.00000112e2f845ffaedf3&msa=0

Here's the one I'm familiar with: Nexus 20mm Airlock Whistle

That's a Canadian retailer, though. You could try looking through the list of distributers at Nexus' site for a seller state-side.

Nexus also has a zipper pull whistle that might be worth looking at too.