The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

That would be awesome. Thanks.

That's awesome.

Talus slopes, scree, steep descents, all add terror to the experience!

@DVexile have you ever run that trail in Death Valley, South Park, where chicken rock is?

In 2009 a jeep went over there.

Not my pics,


Nobody died, but it rolled down the canyon a few times.

and they later recovered the vehicle.

 

Nope, but I remember seeing the reports and photos on that roll over when it happened. South Park Loop is another one of those always wanted to do, but a bit too wimpy to try routes. I've been down that end of Panamint Valley and up over Mengel Pass before but never driven up that route into South Park. Also really need to do some stuff on the west side of the Panamint Valley, and really I should do that this year while I'm in the LA area and Panamint is "on the way" to most of my other haunts. Seen some neat trip reports on canyons and mines on the west side.

But I did want to see South Park enough that I day hiked to it from Butte Valley once in the early 2000s. Looked like a neat place to spend a night if you could get your vehicle to it. Hike wasn't awful if you were in moderate shape, about 2000 ft elevation gain from Butte Valley. About 1000 ft of steep ass talus though. I did in it Tevas - ah, to be young and moronic again.

 

Very well stated!

 

@Crom you tha man!!! Wish I could go on one of those adventures!!!

 

I'm late to the game here catching up on Crom's awesome build thread. I wanted to comment on the solo part since I do lots of solo trips and have for a long time.

First it definitely isn't for everyone, but some people really need it. And it can be done at low risk, but you've got to prepare and have the right conservative mindset for it not to be an undue risk.

Preparation aside, when solo - slow down and think. Whenever something isn't quite as planned I make a point to stop, sit for a moment and consider the options and consequences. You really don't want to start taking *more* risks when things go pear shaped if you are alone.

This can lead to some seemingly unconventional decisions. For instance I stopped carrying a hi-lift jack awhile ago. I realized there was no situation I'd be in where it wouldn't increase the risk for a solo traveler. Stuck is better than lying unconscious or blinded by a hit from a hi-lift handle. Or pinned when something tipped or shifted. If I'm by myself and stuck enough to need a hi-lift then what I should really be doing is waiting for other people and help to arrive. Yeah, inconvenient and potentially expensive if I need to call a professional recovery service, but the risk of disability or death from using a hi-lift alone is just not worth it in my book. And it really is much more risky to do something like use a hi-lift when you are by yourself rather than with people who can render aid if you sustain an injury. (And obviously you can carry the hi-lift and just not use it when alone, which I did for awhile, but eventually I just decided given how much solo travel I did there was no point in carrying it).

I try to remember the "BRAND" decision making mnemonic when out alone (there are multiple versions and interpretations of this particular mnemonic):

Benefits - What are the practical benefits of taking a particular action?
Risks - What are the risks of taking that action?
Alternatives - What are the alternatives to taking that action?
Nothing - Can I do nothing instead?
Delay - Can I delay the action or decision?

I've seen multiple different words for N and D (Necessities, Discuss and so forth), and you can argue "Nothing" is a special case of "Alternatives", but my choices for those words doubly emphasize not doing anything at all right away. When alone I find the sound investing advice of "Don't do something, just sit there!" is often the best thing to do but isn't the first inclination so it needs a lot of reminding that doing nothing is a perfectly acceptable thing to do.

PLBs have reduced much of the stranded or injured but conscious survival situations. I've carried one since they were first around in the early 2000s. I've never had to use it, and I've only been in one situation where I was worried by the end of the day I might need it. Given how small they are now it is silly not to have one if you do a lot of solo stuff.

PLBs won't help you if you can't push the button though, and that is a real risk on multi-day trips where by the time you are overdue it may be too late. I've started using a Spot beacon as well because it allows me to send "OK with vehicle" and "OK away from vehicle" messages for check in along with "Mechanical problem, send non-urgent assistance" and of course "Rescue, life threatened". More advanced versions let you send full text messages, but the base ones let you send one of four preset messages - mine described above. Setting up a check in protocol with others ahead of time like this:

• Expect at least one "OK with vehicle" message from me every 24 hrs. If you don't get one contact <insert appropriate authority here> during normal business hours and tell them you've lost contact with me at last location. Idea here is no need to spin up helicopters because my beacon stopped working or something, park service or whoever will do a welfare check. If I'm with my vehicle I can survive for days if stranded.
  
• If you receive a "OK away from vehicle" message and do not get an "OK with vehicle" message by midnight contact <authorities> and report overdue hiker and last known location. Idea here is if I'm on a hike I can probably only survive a single night bivouac well and I may be in worse physical duress. I always send multiple "OK with vehicle" messages for a few hours after a hike to avoid false alarms.
  
• If you receive "Mechanical" contact appropriate authorities, they may contact an appropriate commercial recovery service that I will have to write a large check to. Again, I can wait with my vehicle an arbitrary length of time.
  
• "Rescue" bypasses loved ones and goes to the same place PLB calls would.

The Spot, along with increased cell coverage, has added more flexibility to my solo travels too. Before it was pretty important to stick as close to your itinerary as possible and list any alternatives you might take ahead of time. With the Spot I can give a more general area for my trip as my location updates along the way.

If you have family or loved ones who will care about closure if the worst happens PLBs also won't help find your body. Recent "OK" or tracking messages from a Spot will. That's kind of morbid, but it struck me when I took an intro mountaineering class from a SAR group years back they said they never heard back from the people they rescued nor ever received a donation from one - on the other hand they usually got deep thanks and often donations from the family members of the deceased they ended up recovering. Once you are dead you won't care where you are, but others might - a lot.

EDIT: I should add the Spot is not as reliable as a PLB in a true emergency, so the best option is to have both. The Spot for doing updates from your truck and at the start of hikes, but the PLB in your daypack for if it really hits the fan.

Keep up the awesome build thread Crom! Sorry to hijack with such a long post!

 

@DoorDing - Thanks for the pointer to the inReach. Been awhile since I looked at the options. The two way aspects of inReach of course have the drawbacks you refer too . But sometimes would be nice to get acknowledgement that OK messages went through, and Spot has no option for that. Looks like from reviews it had some problems for early adopters, but Spot did too originally. Great to have choices!

Do keep in mind the reliability in an actual emergency is much higher for the PLBs than for either Spot or inReach. In the "trapped in a slot canyon and have to cut your own arm off" worst case sky visibility situation the PLB will in fact get the SOS out within 10 minutes to about 6 hours. Even without GPS the SARSAT passing overhead can use Doppler processing to give a geolocation within about 2 miles. That's close enough for airborne SAR to then hear the 406MHz beacon and direction find on you. Its a strong 5W signal and the battery is good enough for 24 hours or more. So with your ACR PLB when you push that button you are getting rescued from pretty much anywhere other than a cave.

inReach and Spot just don't have as good of a chance in a narrow canyon or other poor sky access situations. You could easily never get a detection within 24 hours in a deep canyon. Signal is weaker and up at L-band where you have poor canopy penetration as well. Would need a previous GPS fix as they don't have a receiving satellite geolocation option that I know of. No beacon for local SAR direction finding either.

With relatively clear skies they will all get you rescued promptly, so like most things it is a trade off. Something is most definitely better than nothing! But for the primary function of true emergencies the PLB is still the best even though I've been very happy with what a messenger brings to the table as well.

 

http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html

 

Keep up the great work with all of the posts! I've been lurking and admiring the build and trips. Definitely will use your experiences to build up my own. Just wanted to say hi and Mahalo!

 

I respect your position but it would take air support for me not to carry a HiLift. Yes they can be dangerous but until I can get one tool that can double as a winch/come-along, extraction device, pry bar, ratchet extension/cheater bar, it will continue to 'weigh me down.'

I know it is not for everyone and would not expect many to follow but when I was in high school I took my first Advanced First Aid course (lived in farm town with volunteer fire and rescue). Subsequent to that I have taken other Advanced First Aid and Rescue Training (was on National Ski Patrol for 6 years). The American Red Cross facilitates some GREAT, LOW COST training. I think it should be required for any parent since you are our children's first responder.

There are some great survival books and classes. One of the best for me was a multi-day winter survival school. I have lived having to build and survive in wet snow and cold. Sadly I know what it feels like to be soaked in a snow cave at 25 degrees, manually shivering to keep myself 'warm.' On the other end of the spectrum, I know what my pee tastes like and small tricks to staying cool and keeping ones' head about them in times of an emergency. I know what it like not to make it to my own bed with nothing more than a flint, tee shirt, shorts, wet socks and running shoes in mid 30's weather. Some out of my own stupidity, some for the sake of learning.

I only say this because I hear many that say they would know what to do. And I am sure they may. What is even better is avoiding those situations all together. (I have to say, I have grown to love the rescue/recovery work.)

Another great option for us is Bill Burke. I have been blessed to participate in a number of training events with Bill. He is a great trainer that knows his shit as well as being entertaining and an all-around great guy. My first event with home was a multi-day trip setup by Timmer on this board. I will never forget many of the tips and tricks he shared with us including the shaker siphons and using the HiLift as multi tool. Maybe we should put together another 'group buy' and do one with him. If you are interested in setting one up, let me know and I will see what we can do.

One of my experiences with him was the 4wd Toyota Owners event with the ARs

http://youtu.be/32GXla637s4
http://youtu.be/w18sfPWZK_I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9DKQc4-lCo



https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/38025681/4wd-toyota-owner-lwrc-international-llc
https://www.lwrci.com/articles/4WDToyotaOwner.pdf

 

Have to agree on the First Aid training. We recently relocated to this area from WV where we spent the 99% of our time kayak/rafting whatever river/creek was running. A lot of us took the time to take the Wilderness First Aid course which is absolutely worth every minute and penny, highly recommended. I took mine through SOLO but I know that REI offers the training as well.

http://soloschools.com/wilderness-first-aid-wfa/ .

 

Oh I definitely didn't mean to be preachy and tell anyone whether they should or shouldn't use a particular piece of equipment. Just using it as an example as a particular trade off in the do something/do nothing/do something else spectrum as it applies to me and my particular experience. I don't have lots of recovery experience with a hi-lift and I'm certainly not going to gain experience with it alone. Other people who have used one a lot would make a completely different choice.

To continue the point, in the US no matter how remote I get I do in fact have air support. So hunkering down to call and wait for help is always an option. And as a solo traveler no matter how much recovery gear you bring you still need to be prepared for stuck beyond all recovery attempts - which means enough water, food and warmth. Once you've got that every recovery decision is between getting yourself out or waiting for assistance. My example was just that there are likely cases where attempting self-recovery may be a riskier option than just waiting. Clearly how much experience you have in self recovery makes that decision different for everyone.

Great point, and reminds me it has been too long since I've done a refresher!

 

Thanks for sharing but you can do all of that without that tool. Great bit of sway for the buyers though.

 

Excellent!

Thanks Omar! Appreciate it. Would be fun to share the experience.

I don't mind the long post. Good info in there. People can read and take away what they want, and file the rest for future reference. It's all good.

Keeping a cool head during an unplanned event (emergency), is paramount. Very important practice.

I'm surprised you haven't got your license for Amateur Radio. My license cost $10. It's good for ten years, and gives me incredible operating privileges. I hold a General class license, with lots of VHF/UHF privileges as well has HF (High Frequency). In my truck I have the dual band (VHF/UHF) Kenwood, which I love. I make good use out of it on all my trips.

I don't have an HF rig yet. HF which bounces off Earths ionosphere, can be used to talk around the globe. With an HF radio and the knowledge to operate it, help is never out of reach no matter where or what terrain. No satellites, or subscriptions required. I need about $1.2K to get an HF rig with antenna in the Tacoma. One day I'd like to realize that dream.

There is a great group of off-road hams called Adventure USA (OAUSA.net). They hold "nets" each week on the air, and outdoor topic related to vehicle dependent travel is discussed. It's a lot of fun, and a great opportunity to learn new things and share experience, just like an online forum. They are an excellent bunch of folks. I hope to connect with them more this year. On some of their scheduled outings, there are reports of operating in deep canyons in Utah and success getting in touch with loved ones back home.

Amateur radio has so many interesting facets. There is a whole bunch of stuff that can be done with packet radio, for tracking, or email communication. Fun stuff!

I have a future post about comms in the wings where I want to share my experiences with the radio on trips.

I too carry a PLB. Got mine in 2010.

I feel very much like Paul about the Hi-Lift. It's just too valuable to me to leave behind. I look at it like a firearm. It can be dangerous, but incredibly useful too. Practice helps, I use mine once a month for regular maintenance on the truck.

You're very welcome! Mahalo for taking the time to comment.

Great stuff! Great topic too. I carry with me a small book with me by Eric Weiss M.D. It lives in the glove box of the truck.

Wilderness and Travel Medicine



It tells me exactly what I need to do given a medical emergency when no medical professionals are available. Very useful book IMO

 

Where did that book come from I wouldn't mind one

 

nice post CROM, i like looking at your stuff, keep it up.

 

Wilderness and Travel Medicine

Wilderness & Travel Medicine: A Comprehensive Guide, 4th Edition

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594856583/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awd_ubyKwb8T1R3AY

 

Thanks buddy

 

Not preachy at all. If I sound preachy, I am, it's one of my main character flaws.

 

Oh and if it helps with the pain of my perspective, I did have a door that got wiped out by a HiLift!