Survival Sack: When things go bad...

[bobc]

A forgotten item in survival kits

I generally keep to the side lines and read everyone's posts but decided I had to jump in and add a reply to this thread about survival gear. The one item I would like to add is glasses. The first thing I put on in the morning is my glasses. The last thing that comes off at night before I hit the sack is my glasses. I keep a spare pair in my truck, my wife's truck and my motorcycle tank bag in crush proof, reinforced cases. If something happened and I lost my glasses.....I don't even want to think about it.

 

[calamaridog]

I generally keep to the side lines and read everyone's posts but decided I had to jump in and add a reply to this thread about survival gear. The one item I would like to add is glasses. The first thing I put on in the morning is my glasses. The last thing that comes off at night before I hit the sack is my glasses. I keep a spare pair in my truck, my wife's truck and my motorcycle tank bag in crush proof, reinforced cases. If something happened and I lost my glasses.....I don't even want to think about it.

Good post.

Also consider having a weeks worth (or more) of medication you can't live without.

While I have worn contacts since I was 16, I always own a current pair of glasses. I wear them maybe 1-2 times per year on average, but I always have a pair handy.

 

[JeepinBear]

I reloaded my .pdf's in earlier posts. They had disappeared monhs ago due to a server problem or something. I've updated them quite a bit but need to wait until I can remake the .pdf's from my spreadsheets. When I do I will reload them.

I still love this thread!:elkgrin:

 

[Scott Brady]

Good example of being prepared

This was posted on another forum by Jack (JSQ), a member of ExPo. Jack is an experienced guy, yet things still went unexpectedly "bad". When I originally researched my ditch bag and justification for its use, the water crossing scenario always came to mind, followed closely by the vehicle fire scenario. This is evidence of how quickly things can demand a rapid exit from the vehicle and potential survival situation.

This post is not to second-guess anything Jack did, just to serve as a reminder that we must always be prepared, even for a day trip into a ranch for your job.

It was pretty bad.
Certainly the worst fourwheeling situation I've ever been in and short of someone getting hurt it couldn't have gone any worse. It only lasted 12 to 15 minutes from the time we went in to when I swam to shore, including one failed attempt at winching.

It happened on a ranch where my coworkers and I were monitoring the effects of the storm. We only have stock Toyota trucks for work with no winches so we took my Disco. The spot is an improved "Arizona crossing" with a concrete bottom. We drove 2/3rds of the way across in about 2' to 3' of water and then all of a sudden we became a submarine. It's possible the concrete had blown out and we just drove right off the end. I still don't know. Maybe we just hit a wall of silt that caused a deep eddy? It was raining and the current was very fast and strong and the water level was rising as soon as we stopped moving. The truck stalled out and started filling up with water. I jumped out the window into the upstream of the river and was pinned against the truck. The water was about 40 degrees and large logs were coming down the current and hitting the truck. I wanted to work my way around to the front to get to the winch but the current was too swift. I climbed onto the hood and told my coworkers to climb out the passenger side windows onto the rack. The truck was shifting a little and wasn't quite stable. I was worried it would go with us in it. The hood was already under water at this point and I was on my knees reaching down to freespool and get the line out and the remote hooked up. By then the interior was filled to the bottom of the windows. My female co-worker dove off and swam about 15 feet upstream to the closest tree while we short-roped her. I threw her the winchline and she bubba clipped it around the line (all the recovery gear was underwater in the back of the truck). I couldn't get back in to steer so I just stood on the hood and tensioned up the line to try to anchor the truck. It broke immediately somewhere near the drum. At that point with no running engine, no winch line and the water coming up the windshield it was time to go. I got back in the river and went around to the back of the truck to open the rear door and grab their packs and my bug-out bag. We hauled those to shore and then we short-roped my other co-worker and he dove in and swam out. I was the last one off the island. It was tough to leave. From there we hiked a few miles out to get picked up. All of our cellphones died in the swim but the HT in my pack was fine.

That night the river got really high. Apparently it was all the way up to the roofrack. It has since stopped raining and the sun is out so the water is dropping. Tomorrow the forecast is clear so we go back to see if we can carefully get it out. The truck is ****ed but at least if it comes out cleanly a lot should be salvageable.

 

[Mr. Leary]

Scary... I always get that fear when I make crossings... that all of a sudden there will be nothing there to drive on...

... glad to hear nobody got hurt... on the spot decision making won the day.

 

[teotwaki]

Thanks for posting that Scott! It was really good to read that:

1. They had bugout bags prepared
2. The bags were readily accessible (in a raging river no less!)
3. They had the presence of mind to grab the bags

 

[Spikepretorius]

I have a continual dilemma of having kit close at hand in the truck or having it packed in ready-to-grab bags. This sort of story is a reminder to rather have the slight inconvenience of having to scratch in a bag when you need something.

 

[Scott Brady]

This was good timing for me, as I had recently considered pulling the ditch bag from my Disco for daily driving duties. Since reading Jack's post, I have since pulled everything out, inspected and restocked the kit.

And I moved the winch controller to the front door pocket.

 

[Youngunner]

I'm working on a couple of kits for me and the girlfriend. Starting with pelican cases and adding as I go. I learned a lot from the Royal Air Force cadet program and being trained by the British SAS. The most important items have to be a knife and flint or a magnesium block which i carry on my person (Ontario USN survival). I also carry around a S&W .357 in a western style hip holster because I'm in Nevada where I can (who needs a CCP?) But really, whenever I'm in Mountain Lion or bear terriotory.

Here's the list (mostly):

Couple of MREs
Water pouches
Food ration pills
Small folding camp stove and a little aluminum cooking pot

Leatherman multi tool
Lifeboat/weatherproof matches
Small amount of fishing line with a couple of hooks and weights
Snare wire

British military rain poncho with eyelets in the corners (tie the hood closed and it makes an excellent shelter)
Tent pegs
Parachute cord
Spare set of clothing
Glow sticks
Chemical hand warmer packets
Whistle
Strobe light
TP for the lady! The Nevada desert has some great soft foiliage tho!

Compass
Map of area I'm travelling
Waterproof pad and pencil
Whenever I'm in the local area I carry my handheld radio for my dispatch. We cover 5400 square miles in our county alone and also venture to other surrounding counties.

Small first aid kit in each box (contents under review as I have another pelican case devoted to a extensive medical kit as I am a Paramedic)


DON'T FORGET MAN'S BEST FRIENT TOO!

I like having a little water reserve and some extra's in my first aid kit for my Great Dane (sutures, wound clotting, etc).

 

[StumpXJ]

And I moved the winch controller to the front door pocket.

This is a good point. I usually use my wireless controller, which I assume will be useless in this situation. My back up normal/wired remote is buried in with the vehicle spare parts... no way I could get to it in a hurry. I am thinking this may change.

I wonder why the winch rope broke so quickly/easily? That winch was pretty much the only chance for saving it that I can think of.

Thanks for cross posting.

~ James

 

[Sirocco]

I wonder why the winch rope broke so quickly/easily?

Did it get shock loaded from floating down stream?

On an even scarier note, I dont suppose you guys across the pond heard but a similar story here in the UK ended in disaster. On one of our remotest greenlanes in Wales a Discovery overturned into the river trapping one of its occupants in cold water. I dont know the full details as not much is documented but the folk that got out had to walk a few miles to help but it was to late. I dont know how experienced they were or what recovery gear they had or anything like that or even if a grab bag would have been of any use but it just shows how easy it is for it all to go wrong.

food for though.

G

 

[teotwaki]

This is a good point. I usually use my wireless controller, which I assume will be useless in this situation. My back up normal/wired remote is buried in with the vehicle spare parts... no way I could get to it in a hurry. I am thinking this may change.

I wonder why the winch rope broke so quickly/easily? That winch was pretty much the only chance for saving it that I can think of.

Thanks for cross posting.

~ James

Curious if the winch line was synthetic and if it would have been more likely to break than a steel line.

 

[johnnyrover]

<lurker status off>
I would guess the winch cable broke because of the additional forces from the current of the river and the added weight of water in the truck.
<lurker status on>

 

[rusty_tlc]

Which reminds me, I need to throw our 'mergency ammo can back in the Land Cruiser. I had to take it out to haul some stuff. The ammo can has a couple of MRE's and some first aid stuff in itI want one in each car but it takes time and $$ to get them all filled up. When all is said and done they will have the ten essentials in each one.

I keep the bulk of the survival stuff in a day pack. The Day pack contains stuff I take when I ride in other tucks or is to expensive to replicate for all three of the Land Cruisers. Things like my Ham HT and GPS. In general I re-pack my day pack twice a year. Spring and fall I swap out seasonal items, but more important I check to make sure everything is still there and in good order.

 

[StumpXJ]

Looks like 3/8 size (roughly 19,000 pounds strength?) Masterpull synthetic to me in the pictures. Regardless, it looks like quality rope, however if the river was flowing well enough to carry the truck down stream, I doubt much would have held it. On the same note, it doesnt seem like he would have tried to cross if it was flowing that hard. The story doesnt really portray a raging river, just a steady flow that got MUCH deeper than anticipated.

Eye opening none the less, sorry the truck got destroyed/flooded, but glad everyone is ok!