03.05.2007 IDAHO

SAR has been busy in idaho since sunday night. Five calls to law enforcement for non-returning snow mobilers, hunters, hikers and tourists.

Only one has been worthy of the media so far.

Father & daughter dead - different cause -
http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-mar0507-snowmobilers.20566fec.html

That's a sad shame, it doesn't say what exactly they died from, but I'm guessing it was asphyxiation?

Anyway, my father and I are heading up to NY state to go snowmobiling next week, so this definitely speaks to me. I'll be making sure we are extra prepared and taking extra precautions this trip.

Man, thats tough. Always sad to see something that wasentirely preventable if only one had known. That has to be a horrible recovery....

An hour on a sled is about the same time as the rest of your life on show shoes. Without broadcasting just where you are, it often becomes a body recovery effort.


PLB - 100% recovery
HAM(SERIOUS) - 75% recovery
DUMB LUCK - 50% recovery
CELL - NO COVERAGE

That is the one thing that, as of right now, we don't have. However, we do have a satellite phone, regular cell phones, GPSs (with the back up map/compasses), and FRS/GMRS radios. We also plan out the routes we're taking each day and leave it with family (with an approximate return time of course and we check-in along the way).

Hopefully that, combined with the survival gear we carry and our training, will be enough to keep us alive and rescued if the need arises. But, I'm definitely thinking of picking up a PLB or two and teaching my father about them. It seems like it's by far the best way to ensure rescue.

The satellite phones are absolutely great - if they work. Add a GPS and you are in business. The dropped calls by one of the manufacturers however, is so bad it has created rumors of bankruptcy. Monitor your provider.

Urban guests die in Idaho unaware that the whole world doesn’t have cell service.

FRS/GRMS works great to talk to the other sled that is lost with you. No one looking for you monitors FRS/GRMS. If you want to go the HAM route, declare an emergency, transmit "MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY" on IDAHO STATE COM (155.550) If you think Idaho SAR is in the area and looking for you - transmit on 155.160.

The standby recommendation of leaving details of your trip plan is greatly over rated. If you are lost, and can’t get one mile back to your rig, don’t rely upon your friend back in Boise to describe in great detail as to where your body is. He may be off 100 yards.

The “LIVE” experts always expound on the importance of staying put. In many cases they are correct. In many cases they are wrong. This year more have died with the vehicle than have died walking out.

"Always sad to see something that wasentirely preventable if only one had known."

I don't understand. The TV news and newspapers are constantly telling about babies left alone in bathtubs, families dying from asphixiation, smoking in bed, candles left untended, and all the rest. And they hear it over and over and over and over.

So, why didn't they know?

Sue

If you are a TYPE I ANALYTICAL, the answer is -

"HALF THE PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE BELOW AVERAGE"

If your sat phone happens to be of the Globalstar variety, it can also act as a very basic GPS with an accuracy of about 1/4 mile. Its a little known menu function under options that is only available during a call. I know it works on the GSP-1600, I don't know about the new GSP-1700. Essentially, it displays the current longitude and latitude of the phone in degrees and minutes.

Certainly, a separate (and much more accurate) GPS would be ideal, but if the GSP-1600 is all you have, that could be enough.

Craig.

"No one looking for you monitors FRS/GRMS"

True, unless, You state on your leave behind at home note something like

" I have a grms radio (charged) and will be listening/transmitting on #x chanel at the first and last five minutes of each hour."

Then SAR might stop by at Target and buy a set of radios just to look for you....

Teacher

(My reading on these radios shows between .5 miles ( ~1km) in dense woods up to 18 miles reception under perfect conditions. But even so, a 1 km radius is a big spot.)