RESCUE NEEDED!! Anybody near Ridgecrest/395??

lol I can imagine he's busy.

 

Wow too much to say here. For starters, Thanks! Shane is a great, talented, prepared, skilled and all around GOOD guy that takes frequent trips to DV. When I heard this happened I knew it wasn't any ordinary off road accident. If Shane breaks his truck it means something serious. If I break my truck you know I was messing around and probably deserved it lol....
I appreciate all the thanks, truly, but I'm just happy he's home with his family. Now he can start working his way up again.
I could not have done it without Matt, my friend Garrett, and all the people who helped spread the word so he got assistance in time. Rescue missions are always so grand to do with Matt, since the search for those hikers. Just felt nice to help other people.
I know many more people would have been there even if it was just for the drive, we were just more fortunate to be available.
I can guarantee if it hadn't happened at such an inconvenient time there would have been many more people on their way.
So thanks again, from all of us, I'm sure Shane will preach the great story to us at the meet tomorrow and you can hear it there. I really hope the repairs will cost as little as possible, lord knows the easy part is over and Shane has a bumpy road ahead of him.

Oh and BTW, I laughed SO hard at that joke about Matt with the canoe, hahaha....

TWFTMFW!

 

Good to hear he got out mostly unscathed.

Too bad I didn't see this when it happened, I was only an hour or so away. It would be cool if we had some sort of emergency message system to broadcast for help from other TWers lol

 

My phone sucks. I had a fairly lengthy, detailed post all set to go, and it ate it
I'll post my story here when I get a chance. That may be a little while.
I am busier than I'd like to be, or that I can handle right now. Within an hour and a half of getting home Tuesday, I was at Disneyland for my son's birthday. Wednesday I didn't even have a chance to change out of my work clothes before having to re-solder a fuckup my HOA added to my main water line to my house while I was gone, and my mom got in from Oregon while I was wrapping that up. Thursday was my son's birthday. This weekend my wife is gone. All of my stuff from the trip and the truck are still piled in the living room and the garage.
I need a little time to settle in before I start working on things, including typing up a narrative of my weekend. I just wish I *had* a little time!
I'll keep y'all posted as best I can. In the meantime, patience!

 

^Spoken like a responsible family man. I once thought I was busy working full time and going to school full time. I was a multitasker... Then I had kids. Now I'm a Hypertasker. Sounds like you are too. Good luck with all your endeavors and hope you have a good weekend.

 

Just thankful you made it out promptly and didn't suffer any injuries in the roll, considering it was on the driver's side. Sounds like a busy time for you, hope you find time to get everything done. I myself am intrigued as to what your AAR will read…sounds like your preparation saved your butt! Patience is a virtue, right?

 

We went to CA Adventure. Funny thing is......

So we're climbing the steps to the spinning swings ride, and I point to the sign that says, "Children under 48 inches must ride with a responsible adult," and jokingly say to my wife, "Well, I guess Matthew has to ride with you!"
Who gets kicked off the ride for spinning in his swing?
Matthew, at the end of the ride I had to sit out: "Dad, you didn't get to ride because you didn't follow directions."

 

So here's the warm-up to me getting my story posted.

Just to address a few things brought up in this thread:
As far as insurance is concerned, I've been home all weekend. They've heard from me enough these past two months, no need to have them cancel me for this. Besides, there's no freaking way they would cover a single thing about this whole incident. I did inquire as to towing coverage, and I was told they'll "cover all costs associated with getting you to the nearest repair facility;" since I was in Ridgecrest at the time, and I was looking at internal engine damage, that meant I was looking to foot the bill for a ~200 mile tow......at around $10 per mile.No thanks.
As for being out on my own and whether that was wise or stupid or otherwise, I've covered this. But I'll touch on it again. I've been accused of being over-prepared. "Why do you carry so much stuff with you all the time? Do you really need so much water for a five-day trip? Why the hell do you have such a big fire extinguisher/two first aid kits/a truckload of food/all your tools/four quarts of oil/waterproof tape/ad infinitum?" Well, frankly, because having all bases covered allows me to go out completely solo. If something happens, I am ready for it -- whether "ready" means camping out in that spot for five days, flipping myself on my feet, bandaging a major injury, or hiking a week to get help, I am ready to do it, not just physically or with supplies, but mentally, too. I know precisely my limits, and I will never step over them -- though I will push against them every opportunity I get. Yes, I rolled my truck- but I have always been consciously prepared for the consequences of that happening......and whaddyaknow- I actually successfully flipped myself back on my feet. To most, going out completely solo sounds stupid, irresponsible, daring, whatever -- this is because most are not prepared to deal with the consequences of going solo......that is to say, most are not prepared to have to leave their possessions behind and carry 80# of food and water for a week to get themselves to safety. 98%+ of my trips are solo, and most of those are with no more than my family (5yo, 2yo, and wife) with me -- I am prepared for family emergencies, too, including carrying my weight in supplies, gear, and children in order to get to safety. I'm glad my family wasn't in the truck with me when I rolled it, but honestly, not much would have changed if they had......except perhaps I would have driven home because I would have been less focused and therefore remembering to pull the plugs...... Being out on my own in such a remote place is only stupid or irresponsible if one is not prepared for the consequences! As mentioned earlier, I am better off solo than most are in groups -- would you have gotten me on my feet if you were with me?
Those who knew me best (wife, Matt, a few friends) never once thought about whether I was going to be okay. They knew that, since I had already posted pics, coordinates, status, and instructions, I was fine. My wife's primary concern was "how the hell are we going to pay for this?!!!?" (mine, too). Others were more worried about getting me home to my family, or making sure the truck got back home. My personal safety was the least of concern. Because everyone knows I'm the last guy to worry about being prepared enough. Truthfully, my wife and I are still gravely worried about how we're going to pay for this.

I'll touch on the mistakes made that put me in my situation later. Basically, three pinpoint mistakes were made, all of them small and stupid, and all of them with dire consequences.

 

Sounds like you're a "prepared for anything" type of guy, this experience will certainly make you even more so...

 

I'm not sure if the interwebs have enough space for that.

 

Ha! Thus the LB

 

No need to justify yourself to others, plenty of us go solo, it's a risk we take, just like the one we take when we decide to do the most dangerous thing we can do, drive a vehicle on a public road

 

Hell ya! Nothing better than building self reliance and resourcefulness. My personal stories typically involve mtb'ing. iPhone has saved my ass twice, although sometimes you have to get more off course to get signal to find your way back.

 

GPSkit app! No cell signal required. It uses gps exclusively.

 

Hmmm...Have you used it extensively? I'm interested. I just looked at it online, but I'm unclear on how it's reading it's location when out of cell coverage (lot of that in Alaska)?

How does it compare with a normal GPS?

More clearly, is it determining location from actual GPS satellites when out of cell coverage?

Any info appreciated, and my intent is not to hijack this thread.

 

I use the Maverick app on my android and it works like a charm. You view the maps of where you are going when you still have wifi/data connection and it automatically saves the map to your device so that you can view it without a data connection. Then it overlays your gps position on the map. The only issue is that it will only save the maps for one zoom level at a time, so you have to go through each magnification to save all of those maps.
To answer those questions for the Maverick app (not the GPSkit app, I haven't used that one), I've used it quite extensively without cell coverage. I used it in Australia and Argentina and it worked great, the GPS error was a little (not much, though) higher abroad but that was fine for my purposes.
I'm pretty sure it's the same as a GPS and goes off of satellites, but the error will be greater because it's a phone GPS, not a Trimble that's solely designed for GPS.
I originally used the free version but ended up buying the full version of Maverick because I was placing lots of waypoints and making a lot of tracks, so the $6 or whatever it was was definitely worth it for me.

 

I use backcountry gps works great and unlike some others in order to save maps you just highlight a large area of the map and set the zoom level you want. My phone has about the same gps ability as my dedicated gps, but with whatever maps i want.

 

Thank you both very much. I'm going to look into this some more and will check them both out. I appreciate it.

 

i had maverick and it worked great until i needed it, then it would force close when i tried opening it. luckily i had downloaded backcountry also.

 

Oooh, I hadn't heard of that one, that map saving method sounds really nice. Is that iPhone only? I only found BackCountry Navigator for android by crittermap software llc. Same thing?