x2 I used Iridium this year and it was like using a house phone. Clear, easy connect. I had used Globalstar up until last year and would have been better off with a walkie-talkie with dead batteries////
Re: Bush-pilot does not arrive, how long to wait before survival mode?
- Thread starter John Y Cannuck
- Start date
x2 I used Iridium this year and it was like using a house phone. Clear, easy connect. I had used Globalstar up until last year and would have been better off with a walkie-talkie with dead batteries////
So if I have nothing but an orange tarp....I'm f**ked?
Best to use your tarp as a tent and light the bush on fire......maybe that ##### that "crazy_davey" ran into will call in the fire
Before the big budgets and helicopter support everywhere, we used to prospect the north in 2-man fly-camps, with everything you could stuff in a 180, Dhc-2, or a 206B. We were always trained that if pilot missed pickup (and it wasn;t unusual, due to forest fires, other emergencies, aircraft grounded), that you immediately set up camp again and settled in.
Of course people knew where we were and we had an SBX11 and Don Taylor to talk to (speaking of altenatives to Globalstar)
Mindset and a bit of training will go a long way, anyone who doesn;t know that three fires, three logs in a triangle, three piles of rocks etc etc means SOS, should have stayed at home. Likewise with an eight mile map with a circle and an arrow scratched in and left with family or rcmp. Making your own luck is an unknown concept these days.
Of course people knew where we were and we had an SBX11 and Don Taylor to talk to (speaking of altenatives to Globalstar)
Mindset and a bit of training will go a long way, anyone who doesn;t know that three fires, three logs in a triangle, three piles of rocks etc etc means SOS, should have stayed at home. Likewise with an eight mile map with a circle and an arrow scratched in and left with family or rcmp. Making your own luck is an unknown concept these days.
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saskhunter
CGN Regular
- Location
- Sask to B.C.
Have you guys tried these globalstars lately? They had some screamer deal on them at $300 for the phone and $10/month unlimited minutes(one year contract), pretty good deal. A gal that works for me sometimes bought one and it locked up today in LaRonge sask almost immediately. I didn't call with it to see the quality but that is cheaper than my damn cell. just wondering if the new sat's they are putting up are helping or is the company itself just kind of shadey?
The guy from Telus told us that Globalstar wont be any good for a couple years due to poor satelites or something like that. he tried explaining it but it went past me pretty fast.......I found that Iridium phone was great in comparison (cloudy/trees etc) and it still worked better. I constantly had trouble with the Globalstar set up for years. Never was too sure if I was still talking or whistling in the graveyard.
This is one fascinating thread. I guess I'll toss in my 2 bits worth.
As a kid, I was in Air Cadets. I started off in 24 Red Deer, where one of the things we had to do, was outdoor survival training. The CO's logic was that if we all grew up to be bush pilots, we'd know how to stay alive & as healthy as possible, in all sorts of conditions.
As such, we trained out west, near Nordegg, Ab. All seasons. We learned everything from how to snare small animals, to making fish weirs and of course, first aid.
Of course, being the smartass I was, I and 3 friends got together for a "winter survival exercise" that lasted nearly a week. We had to survive off the land... So between the 4 of us, we managed to make a blind, a bow & arrows & one of the guys shot a deer. So we had venison the whole time. Of course we got in hell for it, but we rationalized it that "we're living off the land in a survival situation. (the guy, can't remember his name now, years later) has his license and tag, so we're covered for the legal hunting aspects for the most part. We were hungry, we decided one deer would go farther and keep us alive longer, than a couple bunny rabbits or squirrels". Suffice to say that the rest of the folks "stuck together" in one big group... And after a few days of next to no food (by the second evening, someone took mercy on em & gave em IMPs) they were pretty vocal in their moaning when the 4 in the group I was in, started cooking breakfast... We ended up giving about 1/2 the deer to em on day 4. Of course, we kept the best cuts.
The big thing though... If you're in a REAL survival situation, don't try to merely survive. Try to THRIVE. You'll be more fit & healthy when you're either rescued, or have to find your way out of the bush to civilization. Having the training, and PRACTISING it, is essential. Even now, I try to get in a bit of backwoods camping whenever I can, to brush up on some of those skills.
If in doubt, one book everyone should have with em (preferably double zip-locked) in either a bush plane, canoe or 4X4 or even in a backpack if packing in, is the good ol fashioned boyscouts handbook. So long as you're literate, you're set... And the pages not essential to survival, work wonders as tinder for a fire.
L
As a kid, I was in Air Cadets. I started off in 24 Red Deer, where one of the things we had to do, was outdoor survival training. The CO's logic was that if we all grew up to be bush pilots, we'd know how to stay alive & as healthy as possible, in all sorts of conditions.
As such, we trained out west, near Nordegg, Ab. All seasons. We learned everything from how to snare small animals, to making fish weirs and of course, first aid.
Of course, being the smartass I was, I and 3 friends got together for a "winter survival exercise" that lasted nearly a week. We had to survive off the land... So between the 4 of us, we managed to make a blind, a bow & arrows & one of the guys shot a deer. So we had venison the whole time.
Of course we got in hell for it, but we rationalized it that "we're living off the land in a survival situation. (the guy, can't remember his name now, years later) has his license and tag, so we're covered for the legal hunting aspects for the most part. We were hungry, we decided one deer would go farther and keep us alive longer, than a couple bunny rabbits or squirrels". Suffice to say that the rest of the folks "stuck together" in one big group... And after a few days of next to no food (by the second evening, someone took mercy on em & gave em IMPs) they were pretty vocal in their moaning when the 4 in the group I was in, started cooking breakfast... We ended up giving about 1/2 the deer to em on day 4. Of course, we kept the best cuts.The big thing though... If you're in a REAL survival situation, don't try to merely survive. Try to THRIVE. You'll be more fit & healthy when you're either rescued, or have to find your way out of the bush to civilization. Having the training, and PRACTISING it, is essential. Even now, I try to get in a bit of backwoods camping whenever I can, to brush up on some of those skills.
If in doubt, one book everyone should have with em (preferably double zip-locked) in either a bush plane, canoe or 4X4 or even in a backpack if packing in, is the good ol fashioned boyscouts handbook. So long as you're literate, you're set... And the pages not essential to survival, work wonders as tinder for a fire.
L
