Why the guys you read about have no gear?

It seems like nearly every rescue (or fatality) we hear about involves people with no or very little gear. I'm sure one reason for this is that by and large most people aren't all that prepared. But do you think that the reason you rarely read about a very prepared person is because the prepared folks know how to stay out of trouble in the first place? I mean, the people that can make fire by friction and a debris shelter that can get them thru a winter's night probably also know how to use a map & compass and a GPS.

We all have the capacity for great stupidity and bad luck. It's part of the human condition. The thing about stupidity is that it knows no bounds so new ways to be stupid are being formed as we speak.

While being prepared helps, a lot, the random nature of bad luck can still put a lifesaving whistle 1" out of reach even if you carried it 24x7x365 around your neck. Sometimes you just don't win, regardless.

Don't even begin to think that the news media give a comprehensive picture of SAR activity. A lot of rescues and operations go completely unnoticed or are buried in the middle pages. The ones that do get attention have some kind of angle - something unusual or bizarre that attracts interest - the sort of thing that draws readers. It helps if the operation lasts a long time, as well.

Still I don't doubt that many people are unprepared for any kind of calamity, not even a little bit. Experience helps give folks a idea of the hazards in a particular situation and they are more likely to avoid trouble or deal with it on their own. Most of the SAR victims I have encountered were both inexperienced and usually unprepared. Same thing applied to me when I was starting out.

Those that think toward preparation naturally think more about how to avoid getting into trouble. Navigation, proper clothing for the environment, basic necessities like water and food, all can turn what is an emergency for an unprepared person into an uncomfortable night out (to paraphrase Peter Kumerfeldt). Proper planning makes you aware of the potential hazards and makes you think about how to avoid them. "Preppers" generally don't get into trouble because they prepare, physically and mentally. They are more aware of where they are going, where they are and how to get from one place to another. They generally are more familiar with their routes, and have maps and compasses or GPSs and know how to use them. So, the people who prepare for bad things are the least likely to experience those bad things. Preparing is much more than having the right equipment, and that process makes you much less likely to be faced with an emergency situation.

This would be the point where one of my favorite posters, Susan, would come in with a comment...except she hasn't posted in several weeks. I wonder why?

Tim

Montanero summed it up best. And just to add or explain a bit differently:

Those who are prepared, are also generally educated in outdoors safety and navigation etc. They for the most part, know when stop and seek/create shelter or to turn back when the weather, terrain or people's physical or physiological conditions have deteriorated and any further travel is detrimental.

That is not to say that those who are prepared do not need rescue. Around here, the various SAR teams rescue experienced and well equipped people and also those who are not prepared.

When it comes to the news reporting though, what makes better headlines?

1) A non-dramatic rescue where SAR finds the prepared people who are delayed due to weather, minor injury but safe with proper gear, signalling, shelter and fire to stay warm etc. The resulting rescue effort is usually not much more then guiding the people out to safety.

or

2) A stranded skier rescued from a mountain which required an almost herculean 16 hour SAR operation over Christmas Eve and Christmas day where SAR teams had to deal with deep snow, steep terrain, 40 knot winds and heavy sleet and not to mention that 2 choppers were pulled back due to the weather.

Guess which storyline is more likely to get the media attention and conversely, discussions on forums such as here?

i can't tell if you're being serious or not. PM me if you are.

I'd second others observations that what garners media interest probably is not an entirely accurate representation of all that's happening with SAR.

I also would bet a good deal that those who are mindful of the need to carry survival gear also tend to be more likely to be more cautious overall before venturing out (i.e. monitoring weather, informing others of routes and arrival time, scrutinizing maps, etc.)

And I suspect a lot of us would confess that but for the grace of God in our younger days we could very well have ended up in a survival situation with little or no gear or survival skills.

I grew up in rural Oregon and spent a lot of time as a teenager and 20-something driving by myself or with similarly ill-equipped and ignorant friends in the Cascades -- in all kinds of weather. We routinely hiked and rafted with NONE of the ten essentials. And none of us wore seatbelts back then, either....

I feel very lucky to have survived my first 30 years without my lack of preparedness and experience coming face-to-face with a serious survival situation. Though today orders of magnitude more prepared, I'm still only a mistake or some bad luck away from a very bad day.

But at least now I'll have Lipton's Cup O' Noodles soup and down booties to help me through.....

I think its because... they don't expect to get into trouble. " Why prepare if it ain't gonna happen?"

Reading this thread drove home for me the point that diving disasters are in a way more "decisive." If anything happens beneath the surface and you don't get rescued within the hour (usually less), you are probably dead from the lack of air. No herculean tales of human endurance there. If something happens on the surface (e.g., the boat loses you), ah, I suppose there are more possibilities, but you aren't exactly going to start a fire to keep warm.

I really don't know why many do not go prepared these days since many useful gizmos will be "cool" to have if nothing else.

As far as I am concerned, I don't end up in the news because I am so cautious and hysterically double checking everything that the wife gets upset and the trip being cancelled. LOL ..

No, just kidding.
The wife gets upset alright, but the trip goes extra smooth.

I can see the headlines now:
"Experienced Outdoorsman encounters difficulty but, being well equipped and prepared, nothing bad happened." Hardly the stuff that sells newspapers or attracts viewers to your news program.

If they knew what they were doing and had the right gear, you generally wouldn't read about them.

HJ

P.S. Let's all strive NOT to be the subject of a sensational news story. Oh wait a minute. We're all on ETS. We've already decided to do that. Never mind.

DS and went for a hike today, my last day off for this holiday. He was complaining a bit about his pack being heavy on the first leg of the journey. It was a cold rainy day, which turned into a cold snowy day. The hot soup, fruit cake and hot chocolate, fire starting kits, emergency blankets, rope and extra sweaters, hats and mitts didn't seem nearly as heavy after we wikkied up and rewarmed by a nice fire.

Gear is only a pain until you need it and the knowledge in your head only seems like a waste of time until it saves your life!

Even people who own certain gear will oftentimes opt NOT to carry it because they have never used it for awhile. For example, I have never used the whistle on my key chain for a "real" emergency. I have used a whistle for an emergency before, but not the particular whistle in my everyday carry bag. There are other such items (e.g., keychain lighter).

I imagine most people would stop carrying an item after a few months or so of non-use. When an emergency does happen, even people who are otherwise prepared may find themselves with their pants down.

The reason you don't read about prepared people is simple. They are prepared. At the first signs of really bad weather, they hunker down, use the supplies they wisely packed, wait out the worst of the weather, then walk out. People know they are overdue and where they went, so searchers know where to look.

It's the "Hey. Let's go out into the woods for a wander around. Nah, I'm not carrying that stuff, it's too heavy" people we read about. Either being found half alive after a harrowing night/few days in the wild, or dead dead dead after doing something really stupid. My only hope is that no one got hurt looking for the dullards.

Ha, then I have a leg up on these guys! I am usually equipped with pants and I wear them!

Honestly I think it's the "What can go wrong" + "if something bad happens I can call 911" mentality. Modern society is so use to everything working right 98% of the time they don't even think about the 2% that can go bad. Last year that snow storm that had everybody trapped on the highway for like 36 hours they interviewed a teen girl in shorts and crocs and a hoodie "oh I was just going over to jennifers when we got stuck out here". If her car had ran out of gas and her heater died she would have been in deep doo. Some learn most don't it's just the way it is.

Coincidentally, a friend I'd given Doug Ritter's e-Pico light (and PSK) to a couple years ago just this evening e-mailed to ask me for recommendations for brighter lights for her and her husband to put in their vehicles.

She said his car's battery was dead yesterday and they did not have flashlights in any of their cars. She happened to have Doug's e-Pico on her key chain and that was helpful but they vowed to buy more powerful lights to keep in the cars.

So I drummed up some business this past hour for Surefire (or) Fenix and Petzl.

I advised my friend that they should have at least a headlamp (Petzl Zipka) + a flashlight + extra batteries for each light, in each car.

And I'm considering this a segue to suggesting that even more gear be kept in their vehicles.

This thread has me thinking about putting together a compact kit for friends and personally putting it in their primary vehicles.

I have so much extra stuff....

It really doesn't make great news to report. "Man gets family stuck in blizzard, but he had all the gear, after spending 2 hours with the shovels he had in his truck he dug himself out and used the his winch to get totally out of the ditch. All of this was done while wearing the proper boots and clothing. His family enjoyed instant hot coco that was stored safely in the car while they waited for the shoveling to finish."

Really not going to make headlines.

Or:

"Single mother gets stuck in back road with kids in the car. But passerby good Samaritan pulled them out of the ditch in about 10 min after warming the family up in the good Samaritan car. NO casualties to report except punctuality(which seems to never matter now-a-days)

I agree 100%, although I would add that during the winter months you should carry lights that run on lithium batteries. Alkaline & carbon don't hold up too well in the cold.

Why do people drive in cold weather without a winter coat? And on fumes?

Why do people decide not to take a leak before leaving home from work? There was a guy a few years ago around here who had to pee so bad he ran into a tree on his way home from work.

Why do parents allow their children to go to school in the winter wearing no gloves, no hat, and a jacket that would not be warm at 50 degrees, much less 20. And wearing sneakers.

sneakers would be a step up for most of the shoes worn down here... 1/4" soled strapless sandals or flip flops that would be lucky to make a mile trek....

You are so right on this. Take a look at this guy. He shot an elk at dusk, and used a timer to take a picture of it and himself.

Would it have been bad luck or stupidity if the cat got him? Do we all check for mountain lions before a snapshot? Should he have been watching? Even if you looked, would you have seen it in the near-darkness? If you had a gun right there, would you have been able to get off a shot before the teeth sank into your neck?

It all comes down to percentages and we all play the odds - You don't have to go to Las Vegas. If you take reasonable precautions against foreseeable problems, the odds increase in your favor. That is not to say that a meteorite will not come plummeting from the sky and conk you on the noggin, despite your best precautions.

So, BH, what is the rest of the story? Did the nice kitty attack?

Byrd:

That photo you posted was photoshopped and has been proven as false.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/hunting/stalking.asp

Byrd's point is still vaild. Just a couple of weeks ago we were examining a story about a couple who survived the night in bear territory by sleeping under a fresh deen hide.

Yes Byrd's point is still valid and I always appreciate his comments and insight on various discussions here.

On the other hand, the photo that was posted has made hundreds, if not thousand of rounds on various forums and websites without people being aware it is not real...

No offense taken. Accuracy is important and I should have checked it out before posting it here. I didn't know it was fake, but it sure makes you think anyway. What makes it scary is that it is plausible. Several times I have heard about someone who backtracked only to see bear or wolf tracks over the top of theirs on the trail.

The story is one I got by email from a fellow hunter in Pennsylvania. It was nearly identical to the one in the Snopes article that Teslin posted the link for.

I have observed mountain lion tracks covering mine on a trail in Arizona. It doesn't mean that the lion was "stalking" me. We were both taking a path of least resistance through some rough country - Baboquivari mountains in southern Arizona. It does kind of get your attention, however.

Wow! That is incredible timing to have the cat in the picutre. I wonder if it was checking out the kill or was looking to go after the human??? The flash probably stunned the cat and he slinked off but after seeing that pic I'll bet the guys were ready to wet themselves.

BTW, I'm not sure it was as dark as it appears in the photo. When using the flash, things in the background are not lit up and appear darker than reality.

Opps, shouldn't have realized it was photoshopped....