NW WA Meet / BS Thread

Yeah that's exactly where Eric rolled... Very recognizable spot.

 

We did 311A, which was probably a good choice considering. I didn't notice any logs @ the 4-way, but I did see that 198 was open. We took a right and continued up 520. There were definitely some hard s-curve hillclimbs. 3 of us were in DC/LB Tacos which made for some VERY tight squeezes. You remember to dent I got on the Naches trip? Well, everyone has an identical mark now on their trucks. A little memento from Evans.

Found this in my truck this morning. Whose is it? I will mail it or hand it over at the next meet or whatever:

 

Found the other today, just missing one.. Not a big deal ill Jus catch up w ya sometime soon.

Ben I hope u got some good pics of me, I was white knuckled most of the day so I got 1 pic of my truck...

And I believe I forgot to mention that I owe mike a beer or 10, if he hadn't walked most of the trail to do an excellent job spotting Im sure I would have a dent or 10 more..kudos mike!!!

 

Hey Ben - The flashlight is mine. I'll just grab it from you next meet. It's not critical.

 

I think I got a couple pictures of you and some video. I REALLY wanted to get good shots, but it was hard to get over an obstacle, park, run down to get pictures, then run back to move up, and then back down for more pics.

That's we need a dedicated photo/video guy who can stage up shots.

 

We need to strap one of those go pros to mike's head since he's out walking the trails spotting on every turn..lol

 

i have a camera! ha

 

^^^
That's we need a dedicated photo/video guy/gal who can stage up shots.

OK fixed

 

Thanks Will!

..and thanks Shari for volunteering to be the dedicated trail photographer for the WA crew

 

I had a feeling that the Evans trip was gonna turn epic.

Nice work staying up all night and making it out safe!

 

I have an extra light talon! Just gotta find the bezel, that is if you want it...

 

that I can do!

 

Will, how long did it take for Fastenel to ship your bumper?
I thought Alex said he got his in like 3 days.

 

YES, i should have stopped on the way home but like ben, once we hit black top i still had a good 1.5hr drive home n didnt see my couch till 7a.m. you matt or anyone gonna be oly area or any closer to me any time soon?

still tryin to find a fender tho, not havin much luck!!

 

IIRC Billy sent it out Thursday and I received it on a Monday...

 

hmmmm
thanks

 

Hi all,


For everything you guys took in body damage, I took in personal damage. I woke up at 10am Monday with a severe headache and a bit queasy. At 2:30 ACR&O called to say my truck was done - I wanted to say I was sick, but I had a rental car clicking off the dollars, so I jumped in the car and headed to auburn. Made it all the way there before getting sick in the car rental restroom. Got the truck from John (I had a bad starter that needed replacement) and headed back out. Made it to the turnoff for Port of Tacoma before I had to give a show to everyone on the offramp. Got 1 mile of home before I felt like I needed to give an encore.
My headache lessened around 3pm today but I'm still fighting it and I have aches in my hands and feet. I will probably work from home tomorrow.

Now, on to give praise where it's definitely due:

Thanks to Matt (or Mark? I'm sorry I do bad with names sometimes - I will refer to you as Matt in this post) and his wife for continuos offers of food and drink. I was silly and tried to politely refuse, but what I did take (and it reminded me to eat) really helped keep me hydrated and healthy while out there. A good takeaway from that is to have an extra meal prepared just in case. I'm keeping it in mind for next time!

Thanks for all those who had recovery gear and proper recovery points. You really make things easier - not to mention possible! I think you can see how proper vehicle setup, plus proper recovery gear, can make an obstacle trivial... And how a lack of this can lead to damage, hairy situations, and distressed family.

Kudos to Will, Ben, Moe, and Tallon for having recovery gear. Having a versatile gearbag of the right equipment is so important. I know there's a few things all of us need to purchase (I'm probably buying a few more shackles and wishing I had a chainsaw), but we made all (and I do mean ALL) of it work

Thanks to Moe for keeping my spirits up in the wee hours. At the time I was losing hope and losing the will to keep going, you stepped in with new ideas and a positive attitude. It really helped me rally through

Thanks to Ben for being the field mechanic and getting Eric's truck to run again. You have an excellent gift of deduction!

Thanks to Moe for sacrificing your brand new winch line. I agree with Tallon, Eric owes you big time for a new line (if i was eric, you would have synthetic line with a hook of your choice and a tree saver - costs less than a new vehicle!) Without both Ben and Moe's winches, we would have abandoned his vehicle, no question.

Thanks to Matt for his rigging skills. I'm not sure we put them to full use, but it's an exceptional skill to have. It's something I'm VERY lacking in.

Thanks to Will for the fastest on trail tire change I have ever seen.

Thanks to Tallon for his no-nonsense, professional recovery skills. He did a great job with snatching and was indispensable with a chainsaw.

Thanks to DJ for being brave enough to take his Jeep out with our Toyota crew. It can be intimidating being the odd vehicle out, but he drove with a an excellent level head that shone through as great skill. I think we only used the strap for you once (the same spot where everyone needed it). Invest in some recovery points to keep that jeep conquering places where few others may roam!

Thanks to Ben for getting me home safely. That was one tough ride home, and I wasn't even driving.

Congrats to all of us for setting up the Christmas tree in Wilkeson!

Lastly, thanks all to all of you who trusted in me. I feel very rewarded that I could use my skills for getting you home as safe as I could. Thanks for listening to me go on about safety and driving technique (even if you already knew). It helped me feel like those classes I paid for and all the Internet browsing I've done paid off.

 

Will, you are right about a lunchbox locker. I think it is also referred to as a Detroit locker or a lockright. Eric had at least one on his vehicle.

The reason people buy hem is that they are vey inexpensive, something like $500 rather than an ARB which is something like $1400(?)

However, a lunchbox locker is unpredictable. It engages automatically, which results in it not working when you want, and engaging when you really don't want it to.

Lockers are a bad idea in snow when you have slightly off camber or slick conditions, including downhill situations. On cliffsides, The back end wants to walk you sideways, and gravity wants to take you downhill. On downhill situations, the back end wants to catch up with the front end, and when a locker is engaged and you try correcting with gas, it will pull the back end MORE in that sideways direction.

For these situations, the open diff is actually best. I don't fully understand how it is operating, but the way it plays out is that the truck wants to do a better job of hugging the hill and maintaining a straight line.

Moe and Eric were the only ones with lockers. As you could see, Eric didn't have control and the locker decided where it wanted to take his truck. As for Moe, he can shut off his e-locker and not face any problems.

I don't think Eric's tread was as much of a concern. DJ and Will were on either street tires or A/T, I think the rest on MTs or aggressive ATs. DJ was having a super hard time getting grip, but he made it after a few attempts all under his own power

 

I'm hoping to meet all of you guys sometime within the near future, and glad that everyone is okay with no injuries, severe damage or crippled egos...

I'm chiming in with regards to the synthetic winch line:

I can get AmSteel at significant savings over what you'd pay through Viking, etc. I've done about 100+ splices, both the tuck and bury and 12 strand, and I'm confident that my work is comparable to the name brand manufacturers. If there is any interest, I'd be willing to put together a few setups with line, thimble and hook for materials cost.

Also, just scored an awesome house in the Bellingham area with a huge detached shop/garage that I've already got big plans for. Me casa su casa...

Lastly, just saw Munga's last bit about safety/repetition, etc. Being in the maritime industry I spend about 1/3 of my time preparing and training for that seemingly unlikely "what if". In a few situations that training and forethought has proven it's worth. Sometimes the ramifications of a particular situation "hitting the fan" are not clearly evident. The best you can do is prepare for the absolute worst case scenario.



Let me know,
Jake

 

Your place is a bit far for me, but hey - sometimes special occasions are like that! I think a good wrenching day would be something we'd all like to have (shackle flip for me is coming soon!). Even if I have nothing to do, you maritime guys could put on an awesome knot tying seminar I'm sure.
That's pretty awesome about the amsteel. I should think about a winch line extension, I'll look into how long I should get