Oil Spill Kits Discussion Thread

[Tbars]

..Thanks for sharing the video. I see they have a sign they are putting up in the video that requires the spill kit on that trail but I can't read the whole thing..

..Trying to host it here so this should work..

 

[REasley]

I had a long conversation today with Larry Blaine, out of the Barstow office of the BLM. He's the guy in charge of recreational off roading and racing in his district. BLM does not have across the board requirements for spill kits. Off road racing events have requirements, but mostly for fuel spills. Some specific high use trails (Rubicon ie) will require that the kits be available but they do not outline any minimum kit materials. I will talk to the Forest Service for more input, but I think it will be the same.

So we're kind of on our own here. My club sees this as a front of the curve thing. We've just had 40 some trails closed for this season without warning or public notice due to a law suit over water quality. It doesn't take much any more to get a judge to issue an injunction and one differential full of oil dumped could close a trail.

 

[Tbars]

..One of the major reasons I started a thread on this topic..

..I really appreciate your extra effort and can clearly see that yourself and others are also aware of the importance of doing our part and how easily our trails are taken away from us..

 

[Scott B.]

Not a kit, but my newest piece of trail equipment.

This container is really skinny, and only has openings at the very top. This should limit inside the vehicle spills...

 

[Tbars]

..While looking up some cutoff wheels for a local vendor I ran across these kits on their site...

..I saw the vendor out at King of the Hammers but don't remember seeing the kits..

http://www.roarksupply.com/product-p/2012spillkit.htm

Spill Kit Zorbent Kit 3 Gallon Capacity
http://www.roarksupply.com/product-p/spill kit zorbent.htm

 

[Eaglefreek]

Thanks for this Tbar, it was really informative. However, instead of kitty litter, how would you feel about investing in a spill absorbent product? I know this great product called SpillFix - works really well, isn't hard to use at all and is safe to use too. What do you think?

I think it sounds spamtastic.

 

[rayra]

Sounds like wag the dog. Get enough people to use / carry the kits, then it's easier / less resistance to promulgate a regulation requiring their use. There's no stop to this kind of manipulative petty tyranny. The kind of thing that mandates mercury-containing light bulbs but provides no means for proper disposal.

The oil came out of the Earth in the first place. I won't gratuitously pour it in a hole or storm drain, but cart around a kit? Hell no. It's got to stop somewhere.

 

[quickfarms]

Never carried a spill kit.

I would never do a trail ride with a group that required it. I actually avoid organized trail rides. Groups take away from the enjoyment. This is just a bandaid for people that do not know how to drive. I usually go further in my stock jeep than these guys go in there built vehicles with no damage.

 

[762X39]

I am a director of the OF4WD up here in Ontario. In the past we have included spill kits (donated by one of the members employers) in the goodie bags. Spills happen due to unforeseen catastrophic (or slighty less dramatic) events while out in the great outdoors.It has nothing to do with government conspiracies or knowing how to drive. People carry first aid kits, recovery gear and guns for just in case. Carrying a spill kit is hardly conspiratorial, it is just a good practice.

 

[Robert Bills]

There's no stop to this kind of manipulative petty tyranny. . . . The oil came out of the Earth in the first place. I won't gratuitously pour it in a hole or storm drain, but cart around a kit? Hell no. . . .

Never carried a spill kit [and] I would never do a trail ride with a group that required it. . . . This is just a bandaid for people that do not know how to drive. I usually go further in my stock jeep than these guys go in there built vehicles with no damage.

Seriously?

The purpose of a spill kit is to reduce environmental damage from an accidental spill, which can happen to anyone, even you with your "superior" driving skills.

Radiator hoses split, power steering pumps leak, differential covers get peeled back by a rock, rollovers occur. Are you suggesting that you would just leave that stuff on the ground?

Attitudes like yours evidence a lack of responsibility that gives ammunition to the environmental groups seeking to close public lands to all motor vehicles.

I've carried a simple "spill kit" for years. The government didn't make me; organizers of offroad events didn't make me; my jeep club didn't make me. Its just the right thing to do.

 

[craig333]

No one made me get a kit (I wish I could remember the who and where, I've had it for some many years the plastic cover finally disintegrated) it just seems like the right thing to do. Early in Jeeping days when I didn't know it all I peeled my differential cover back and had to clean up the spill. On the Dusy I ran into a guy whose transfer case had cracked. Stuff happens. It is a good idea to see what might leak. All I had to do was get out the grinder to fix my diff cover (covered with a skid plate now).

 

[Wh1t3nukle]

We carry kits not for ourselves, but for people like rayra and quickfarms. :facepalm:

 

[slomatt]

The oil came out of the Earth in the first place. I won't gratuitously pour it in a hole or storm drain, but cart around a kit? Hell no. It's got to stop somewhere.

I never understand the "oil came out of the Earth" argument.

Yes, crude oil came out of the earth. But then it was refined and run through a vehicle where it picked up a ton of contaminants. What leaked out of a truck is very different than what came out of the ground.

Also, when was the last time any of us was walking through the forest and came across a patch of "natural" oil just sitting there? Short of living somewhere where natural tar pits occur this just doesn't happen. Oil forms underground, not on the surface. It takes a very small amount of a petroleum product to pollute a large quantity of water.

I strong agree with the "take out what you brought in" and "leave it the same or better than you found it" philosophies when it comes to nature. There is no way to prevent oil spills, accidents can always happen, and it does not take much gear to be able to handle one. At the minimum you need a plastic bag and some paper towels, which everybody probably has already.

- Matt

 

[craig333]

I finally went out and looked. Unfortunately it looks like the bluedevilcompany no longers makes it.


These guys have a nice kit but no prices or online ordering
http://www.gatorinternational.com/spillkits.htm

 

[anubhavkishan]

Have a look at this link of oil absorbents where I always use to order for the oil spill solutions. They are having the collections of different brands of oil absorbent pads, oil booms, oil absorbents rolls etc. As far as I used their products, the quality is really commendable.