Since there seems to be a river crossing scenario in the forum presently that allows for few options other than act of Congress, alien abduction, profound miracle or probable death, I thought I would introduce one of my own.

Scenario: Your only way home is your vehicle parked safely on high ground across the street from a small puddle in a mixed concrete and asphalt jungle. None of the sign posts near the puddle are more than 10 feet tall and most are much shorter.

The puddle has unexpectedly flooded to about 12 inches across, more than ½” deep in the middle, and is gradually stagnating. Occasional cigarette butts float in the middle, some hanging up on candy wrappers.

You are surrounded by people.

Strategies that circumstances have forced you to reject: waiting it out, calling a cab, hiking upstream, purchasing a latte, diverting the puddle, or using explosives [Blast].

You have 50 cents and a Cliff Bar, and know how to make flapping movements with your arms. You have your EDC and PSK, but no other camping or woodcraft tools.

You are in danger of being splashed.

What are the options you consider? Of those options, what do you try first?

I would be inclined to step over it but I would like to hear what the others might do?

Call 911.

Step back about twelve feet, run, jump and plant both feet right in the middle of the puddle. The run like hell, because everyone around you will be wet and after you.

You must stand frozen in place until the dry season. Puddles are dangerous!

People who do not encounter puddles have unrealistic ideas about their ability to survive even the smallest puddle. The dynamics of Coriolus forces may have deepened the puddle considerably, and you cannot see the undersurface currents that might lurk there waiting to doom the unwary.

Every year there are people living near puddles who disappear. Every year there are people found dead near puddles. Stay away!

Puddles as low spots have inevitably collected stuff and become a witches brew of everything noxious. Some people and animals think it is fun to add things to puddles without thinking of the consequences. You don't want to be the one who reaps that harvest!

Reckless small children have been seen unthinkingly splashing in puddles, and do we even know if they survived the splashing only to perish in agony elsewhere? Splashing in even the shallowest edge of a shallow puddle mixes its contents together, adds splash energy to the vile punch, and those unimaginable substances start interacting with one another to create who knows what!

I'll camp out and even starve to death before taking on a puddle. Anyone one who thinks from watching television or movies or playing video games that there are ways to get over, around, or through puddles has created a foolish, unrealistic scenario and just isn't thinking. Probably they are so inbred and drug-addled that they couldn't think if they wanted to. Just stay away!

I suggest waiting for winter. The puddle will freeze, and then you can use your ice skates to safely skate across the puddle.

You do all carry ice skates as part of your EDC, don't you?

Clearly it would be absurd to do other than buy a latte. What kind of question is this where you cannot choose the only rational action?!

Sesh.

[Thanks Boomtown, I needed that.]

-john

Calling 911 is useless, they can't find you as their GPS is cut rate and only has major roads, and they are in the wrong spots anyhow. Plus the redundant names of the streets hurts your chances of any help - there are 17 variants of Pine: Pine Lane, Pine Street, Pinewood, etc, in my town alone.

The swiftwater rescue team is an option, unless it is sunny out. They only work on rainy days. And if it is raining, they are probably busy, but call anyhow, they love to show off their gear.

I would backtrack 180 degrees from my original course, correcting for map errors and adjusting for true versus magnetic north as I went, realizing that my right leg is dominant and correcting for drift to the left, using my pace count adjusted for terrain and gear load- until I could find a way around the puddle obstacle. If this means circumnavigating the globe, so be it. Better safe and tired than sorry and wet. Bear Grylls I am not, I lack a film crew and a Holiday Inn Express.

Off topic - if you could walk around the equator, and were 6 feet tall, your head would travel about 40 feet farther in relative distance than your feet. As your head is higher, it has a "higher" orbit and travels farther. Just a rather odd strange and totally useless factoid

I'd throw the Cliffbar into the puddle,they are So dry,It would suck up All the Water & take on the Close Resemblence of a Fresh Turd,of which will Force people to Cross the street,with hilarious Looks of disgust,Written on their faces,All the while,Taping These actions of Disgust with my Camcorder that I EDC,& publishing the Video on UBOOB-Titled:THE GREAT PUDDLE of 2010

So true

Pete

Take a latte break; the lava flow will come along soon and dry out the puddle.