Equipped To Survive Equipped To Survive® Presents
The Survival Forum
Where do you want to go on ETS?

Page 4 of 6 < 1 2 3 4 5 6 >
Topic Options
#286726 - 10/12/17 02:41 PM Re: the 10 essentials...prep for camping/hiking [Re: hikermor]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
Getting disoriented and turned around is easy without visual reference. There are lots of visual we should see but often overlook; it’s part of situational awareness (SA).

You bring up a good point though about compasses being off (sometimes by a lot). I carry more than one and check them with known references. That SA thing again. My GPS also has an electronic compass and the GPS receiver tracks your direction of travel; either can be used to check a compass. Make sure you set-up the GPS for magnetic rather than true or you will have a built-in error. I always (almost?) use magnetic north as a reference just to remove that possibility of confusion.

Top
#286728 - 10/12/17 04:00 PM Re: the 10 essentials...prep for camping/hiking [Re: Russ]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Actually,most of the time when I am out and about, I navigate by terrain association which works fine in country with significant relief, but is no good in thick, flat woodland, dense fog, etc. Often the problem isn't that you don't know where you are. You know where you are just fine, but the problem is how to get to where you want to be...

That is why a good topo map is absolutely critical. It will indicate possible routes and potentially save you a lot of time. It will also point out good camp sites and water sources and other good things. It helps if your map is up to date - many are not.
_________________________
Geezer in Chief

Top
#286729 - 10/12/17 06:20 PM Re: the 10 essentials...prep for camping/hiking [Re: TeacherRO]
Ren Offline
Addict

Registered: 11/05/07
Posts: 522
Loc: Wales, UK
Originally Posted By: TeacherRO
I am adding a spare, external cell phone batterey
Originally Posted By: TeacherRO
Yes - and my energizer glowstick with a handful of batteries can go 100+ hours...


Came across these whilst trawling the internet

http://uyled.com/uyled-products/camping-lamp/

Waterproof LED light and USB battery pack. Available at places like Aliexpress, the smaller 1x18650 Q7M is $14 atm.

Top
#286730 - 10/12/17 06:28 PM Re: the 10 essentials...prep for camping/hiking [Re: TeacherRO]
gonewiththewind Offline
Veteran

Registered: 10/14/08
Posts: 1517
In flat, featureless terrain, and I include flat forested areas, along with periods of decreased visibility, such as sand storms or blizzards (or nighttime), a compass or GPS, and a map are pretty important. Azimuth and distance can get you through these types of areas and situations. Most people will choose not to move at night or in blizzards or sad storms, but a very foggy day can last a while and disrupt a good hiking plan. Good planning of your route can ensure you do not get lost, if you have to move.

Top
#288133 - 02/06/18 08:43 PM Re: the 10 essentials...prep for camping/hiking [Re: TeacherRO]
TeacherRO Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
A similar problem can occur on kayaking trips...

Top
#288250 - 02/25/18 09:34 PM Re: the 10 essentials...prep for camping/hiking [Re: TeacherRO]
gonewiththewind Offline
Veteran

Registered: 10/14/08
Posts: 1517
Missing Hiker in Yosemite

What happens when you have your essentials, unplanned nights camping with no life threatening emergency.

Top
#288252 - 02/25/18 11:30 PM Re: the 10 essentials...prep for camping/hiking [Re: TeacherRO]
chaosmagnet Online   content
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3819
Loc: USA
Good stuff.

Top
#288292 - 03/02/18 09:10 AM Re: the 10 essentials...prep for camping/hiking [Re: TeacherRO]
Phaedrus Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 04/28/10
Posts: 3148
Loc: Big Sky Country
Yeah, that's one case where the hiker did everything right (except for getting lost grin). He stayed put, had supplies, and came out of it okay.
_________________________
“I'd rather have questions that cannot be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” —Richard Feynman

Top
#288302 - 03/02/18 08:15 PM Re: the 10 essentials...prep for camping/hiking [Re: TeacherRO]
KenK Offline
"Be Prepared"
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 06/26/04
Posts: 2208
Loc: NE Wisconsin
For navigation in featureless areas the key is to learn to use a map, compass, and GPS together, especially learning out to transfer waypoints and bearings to and from the GPS/compass/map.

That sounds easier than it really is. Learning and practicing with UTM coordinates and a UTM map tool is key. Maptools.com has nice tools and a great tutorial.

I recommend getting a declination-adjustable compass, setting it for the local declination, which requires prior research, and getting used to using true north bearings (not manually adjusting for declination).

Oh, and I strongly recommend having extra GPS batteries (I once had to borrow fresh batteries from a young Girl Scout when demonstrating how to use a GPS ... so embarrassing).

Also, learn to use the GPS to mostly enter/get waypoints and bearings - not leaving it on to gather a crumb trail, but only turning it to input/output waypoints or bearings.

I'm a see-thru plastic baseplate compass person. I've never seen the lure of the lensatic compasses for map work.


For the essentials I tend to see two types: (1) when you're out and about you have a set of gear. That gear has to do what you need it to do. Most outdoors folks know what they need and how to do it - or they learn through the years.

(2) It's the second set of gear - what I tend to call survival gear - that is the "other" stuff. The idea is that it needs to be with you pretty much at all times. It's with you went you step out of camp to go to pee in the woods. It's with you went you take a short walk after dinner. It's with you went you when your canoe dumps and the rest of your gear floats away from you downstream. Because that gear has to always be with you it has to be small and lightweight.

I've spent many years coming to this forum, reading books, playing with building survival kits, and playing/practicing with the kit tools. After all this time I see how much money I've spent buying individual gear bits. Ouch.

In the end my best advice is to buy ONE Doug Ritter Personal Survival Pak (PSP), and buy ONE Doug Ritter's Personal Survival Pak PLUS, and then work carefully to follow the recommended instructions for supplementing the pak PLUS with additional needed gear. Use the smaller PSP to play with the tools inside to be comfortable with them, and leave the contents of the Pak PLUS as your real survival kit. In the end you will save a bunch of money ... on shipping alone!!

Don't forget to replace the water sanitizing pills as needed.

If it's not too late, the other bit of advice I have is to stop looking for the ultimate gear!! That will run you poor and make you crazy. You just can't win that game. Get a decent knife (Mora?), a decent compass (Sunnto?), and other decent gear (???), ... and then spend most of your time and money enjoying the amazing outdoors.


Edited by KenK (03/02/18 08:16 PM)

Top
#288306 - 03/03/18 03:22 PM Re: the 10 essentials...prep for camping/hiking [Re: KenK]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Originally Posted By: KenK
.For the essentials I tend to see two types: (1) when you're out and about you have a set of gear. That gear has to do what you need it to do. Most outdoors folks know what they need and how to do it - or they learn through the years.

(2) It's the second set of gear - what I tend to call survival gear - that is the "other" stuff. The idea is that it needs to be with you pretty much at all times. It's with you went you step out of camp to go to pee in the woods. It's with you went you take a short walk after dinner. It's with you went you when your canoe dumps and the rest of your gear floats away from you downstream. Because that gear has to always be with you it has to be small and lightweight.

I've spent many years coming to this forum, reading books, playing with building survival kits, and playing/practicing with the kit tools. After all this time I see how much money I've spent buying individual gear bits. Ouch.

In the end my best advice is to buy ONE Doug Ritter Personal Survival Pak (PSP), and buy ONE Doug Ritter's Personal Survival Pak PLUS, and then work carefully to follow the recommended instructions for supplementing the pak PLUS with additional needed gear. Use the smaller PSP to play with the tools inside to be comfortable with them, and leave the contents of the Pak PLUS as your real survival kit. In the end you will save a bunch of money ... on shipping alone!!

Don't forget to replace the water sanitizing pills as needed.

If it's not too late, the other bit of advice I have is to stop looking for the ultimate gear!! That will run you poor and make you crazy. You just can't win that game. Get a decent knife (Mora?), a decent compass (Sunnto?), and other decent gear (???), ... and then spend most of your time and money enjoying the amazing outdoors.


Just a couple of comments to a very thoughtful and useful post. For a guy who hangs out a lot on ETS, I have been in genuine survival situations very infrequently - perhaps two episodes in my lifetime. But I have done a lot of "rough camping," especially involving SAR operations, which gets you close to the edge rather frequently.

Rather than two sets of gear, I like to think that I have one set, with some critical redundancies, especially fire starting, and perhaps shelter/overnighting (at a minimum, a light bivvy sack). Your load needs to adjust to the situation and season.

The three B's are critical in obtaining good equipment - Bag (as in sleeping), Boots, and Backpack. You won't have much fun if your foot gear doesn't allow you to cover ground safely and comfortably, if you can't carry your load efficiently, and you don't get a good night's sleep. That isn't everything - you will probably enjoy some food and water from time to time, but the three B's are a good start to fitting
out.

When you are faced with surviving/rough camping (and you will, sooner or later), I feel it is essential that you are equipped with gear with which you are familiar and comfortable. You have spent many good nights in that bag, and cooked many meals with that stove, etc. This is not the time to break into an unopened bag and fondle unfamiliar goodies. You will be stressed - at a minimum, tired and hungry, and very likely hypo/hyperthermic and starting to run on auto pilot.

Exceptions to this would be a signal mirror and whistle, not normally employed, but always carried. Some day you will be glad they were along.

And yes! get out there and use your stuff. Enjoy and learn and increase your capabilities. That is what it is all about.
_________________________
Geezer in Chief

Top
Page 4 of 6 < 1 2 3 4 5 6 >



Moderator:  Alan_Romania, Blast, cliff, Hikin_Jim 
March
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Who's Online
0 registered (), 269 Guests and 21 Spiders online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
GallenR, Jeebo, NicholasMarshall, Yadav, BenFoakes
5367 Registered Users
Newest Posts
What did you do today to prepare?
by dougwalkabout
Yesterday at 11:21 PM
Zippo Butane Inserts
by dougwalkabout
Yesterday at 11:11 PM
Question about a "Backyard Mutitool"
by Ren
03/17/24 01:00 AM
Problem in my WhatsApp configuration
by Chisel
03/09/24 01:55 PM
New Madrid Seismic Zone
by Jeanette_Isabelle
03/04/24 02:44 PM
EDC Reduction
by EchoingLaugh
03/02/24 04:12 PM
Using a Compass Without a Map
by KenK
02/28/24 12:22 AM
Newest Images
Tiny knife / wrench
Handmade knives
2"x2" Glass Signal Mirror, Retroreflective Mesh
Trade School Tool Kit
My Pocket Kit
Glossary
Test

WARNING & DISCLAIMER: SELECT AND USE OUTDOORS AND SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND TECHNIQUES AT YOUR OWN RISK. Information posted on this forum is not reviewed for accuracy and may not be reliable, use at your own risk. Please review the full WARNING & DISCLAIMER about information on this site.