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  1. #41

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    Quote Originally Posted by Leo L. View Post

    As far as it concerns the sad case of Inchworm (which I was following closely):
    I'm wondering that maybe, given the fact that she ended up close to the border, but inside this military area, maybe the civilian SAR didn't like to enter the area too much, and the military ones didn't bother searching places so close to the trail?
    Kind of a no man's land, she got stuck into?
    It was Navy land used I think for Escape and Evasion exercises. Think of the lucky Navy SEAL who could've gotten a medal for finding her in time.

  2. #42
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    I'm almost about ready to make such a purchase, probably something like this---

    https://www.acrartex.com/products/ca....ZRUUfttO.dpbs

    I keep putting it off as my cellphone seems to work 30% of the time and after 40 years of Backsackpackaging I haven't yet needed one. But . . . . ain't getting any younger . . .

    And as everyone knows, a PLB in this category is a One Shot Deal, used only for crippling situations; and not necessarily used on the first day of a hike and getting lost. Truly lost by Day 10? Sure, fire that baby up. Partially crushed by a tree in my tent? Sure. Rattlesnake bit? Press YES. Falling with my femur sticking out of my thigh? Yup.
    EXACTLY! I bought my ACR ResQLink+ from REI. With the REI dividend and a $50 rebate from ACR the total was a tad over $200. Mrs. Wayne said that she didn't need to chit chat when I was out in the woods. She wanted me found if something happened. The PLB rides on the shoulder strap of my pack. Don't leave home without it.
    Wayne
    Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
    https://wayne-ayearwithbigfootandbubba.blogspot.com
    FlickrMyBookTwitSpaceFace



  3. #43

  4. #44
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    Good idea . . . great idea. Did you send in the paper registration?
    I did register the day it arrived. I test it in my backyard under a tree canopy before leaving on a trip. I think you’re allowed 12 tests. That’s 2+ per year before the battery needs to be replaced. Did I mention that the unit transmits for 24 hours?
    Wayne

  5. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    EXACTLY! I bought my ACR ResQLink+ from REI. With the REI dividend and a $50 rebate from ACR the total was a tad over $200. Mrs. Wayne said that she didn't need to chit chat when I was out in the woods. She wanted me found if something happened. The PLB rides on the shoulder strap of my pack. Don't leave home without it.
    Wayne
    Not a bad idea, if I died out in the woods my wife would kill me.

  6. #46

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    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    Not a bad idea, if I died out in the woods my wife would kill me.
    My wife would kill me if I stayed at home.

  7. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    Partially crushed by a tree in my tent?
    In a situation like this PLB will work only if you are capable of activating it. The nice thing about Spot is that it has a tracking mode that transmits your location every once in a while, so if you become incapacitated e.g. you slip off a cliff it will keep transmitting even if you cannot press that SOS button. The not-so-nice thing is the subscription fee which actually makes me wonder if I should switch to Garmin inReach.

  8. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tundracamper View Post
    I was on a trail this weekend with lots of leaf cover. I could see how it is easy to lose the trail.
    I need to become more familiar with how to off-trail. Any suggestions on where to start?
    One thing you can try is geocaching. First learn basics of the game, and once you get an idea how to play it use your gps (or phone) to get (magnetic) bearing & distance to a geocache and then bushwhack using a compass instead of following a trail. Remember to do this in places where it is safe e.g. no cliffs, swamps, dangerous stream crossings etc. Use your gps or phone to keep track where you came from and use your tracks to go back to your starting point if you encounter some obstacles that are difficult to get around. Start small until you gain some experience and feel comfortable with going off trail. Go places with cell phone coverage in case something went really wrong.

  9. #49
    Registered User El JP's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Coffee View Post
    Yeah, I feel like a dinosaur with paper maps and at least a primitive understanding of a compass ... tons of people "see no need" for them anymore. "There's an app for that ... "
    I'm bringing a phone and an Ipad with both the Guthook and AWOL guide. However, my primary means of navigational planning and use is the maps for every mile of the trail and a lensatic compass. Don't have to worry about batteries or a signal with them.

  10. #50

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    Quote Originally Posted by iAmKrzys View Post
    In a situation like this PLB will work only if you are capable of activating it. The nice thing about Spot is that it has a tracking mode that transmits your location every once in a while, so if you become incapacitated e.g. you slip off a cliff it will keep transmitting even if you cannot press that SOS button. The not-so-nice thing is the subscription fee which actually makes me wonder if I should switch to Garmin inReach.
    So it does sound like I did "start" correctly, as I do have a PLB.

    AmKrzys;2181097: Might want to do more research. A PLB transmitter is notably more powerful than a personal tracker. Plus, the PLB utilizes more than one satellite system and interfaces through a government agency. I personally believe the PLB to be the best option for a last resort call for help.

  11. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by El JP View Post
    I'm bringing a phone and an Ipad with both the Guthook and AWOL guide. However, my primary means of navigational planning and use is the maps for every mile of the trail and a lensatic compass. Don't have to worry about batteries or a signal with them.
    you wont use all that(lensatic compass, Ipad) for the AT, maybe if you got way off trail you would use the compass but the trail itself is basically a hiking superhighway marked with a blaze every 500- 1000 feet through the woods and signs at virtually every road and trail intersection.

    also most of the AT is so heavily covered with trees that there is almost no place to shoot good bearings making a lensatic compass virtually useless. just use a basic compass something like Suunto M-3D

  12. #52
    Registered User jjozgrunt's Avatar
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    I come from a country where if you don't have a PLB, especially if solo, youré an idiot, full stop. I can understand if you are on a busy track like the AT not carrying one, but I still did this year on the AT and will again when I finish next year. No matter how experienced you are at navigation and bushcraft, s%$t happens and it's a $200,149 gram insurance policy against becoming a statistic.
    "He was a wise man who invented beer." Plato

  13. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by Leo L. View Post
    Sorry, distracted and tired I wrote complete nonsense.
    Going down is easy, going up is difficult.
    Thats how it is in the desert

    As far as it concerns the sad case of Inchworm (which I was following closely):
    I'm wondering that maybe, given the fact that she ended up close to the border, but inside this military area, maybe the civilian SAR didn't like to enter the area too much, and the military ones didn't bother searching places so close to the trail?
    Kind of a no man's land, she got stuck into?
    i think the searchers checked all they could, looking at the gps tracks on this map they were all around her...

    https://appalachiantrail.com/wp-cont...MAP_MWS_01.jpg

  14. #54
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    Thanks!
    So maybe Inchworm moved around a bit during the first days, by bad luck as if she was hiding from the SAR.

  15. #55

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    I'm sorry but with maps you need to now where you are in order to know where to go. Inchworms limited abilities in navigation demonstrate the main problem with maps. You have to maintain positional awareness in order to use them. I believe a gps app with directional capability would probably helped her much more, it would have displayed the trail and given her a general direction to walk toward it. I totally support the use of maps in remote wilderness as a foolproof navigation tool, but only if you have the skill to use them. However she had a functioning cell phone and that was probably her best tool if it's full capabilities had been used.

  16. #56
    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maineiac64 View Post
    I know who to feel sorry for.
    Apart from the Inchworm and her family, I feel genuinely sorry for all the S&R people involved. This one had to hit harder than most.

  17. #57

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    I just wouldn't be able to sit in one spot for days and then weeks waiting for someone to find me. I've been lost in the woods before and did exactly what a previous poster suggested...found a spring and followed it until it joined a few other springs and turned into a creek that eventually flowed into a large reservoir. I started at the top of a mountain but I knew there was a road and a campground that ran along the shore of the lake and if I followed that water I would find my way back.

  18. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by xnav View Post
    I'm sorry but with maps you need to now where you are in order to know where to go. Inchworms limited abilities in navigation demonstrate the main problem with maps. You have to maintain positional awareness in order to use them. I believe a gps app with directional capability would probably helped her much more, it would have displayed the trail and given her a general direction to walk toward it. I totally support the use of maps in remote wilderness as a foolproof navigation tool, but only if you have the skill to use them. However she had a functioning cell phone and that was probably her best tool if it's full capabilities had been used.
    if she had a map and even moderate intelligence she would have seen that there was a road directly downhill from her position.

    she wasnt nearly miles out in the middle of nowhere that some stories seem to make it.

    anyone else find it odd that the SAR people apparently couldnt make it there in a day because it was so far in, but a TV crew can manage to make it to the spot?

    sure, searching s you move is slow, but they cant pick up the next day where they left off?

  19. #59
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    If the SAR knew where to go, they would have been there within hours.
    We had a rather dramatic accident here recently, when a guy fell in a doline, and only in his 4th night out (OK, actually "in" the hole) he managed to message his GPS location - the SAR Team was up and at his point within about 4 hours.

    But as the long story of Inchworm got told, they searched at a different area miles off for days due to a reported sighting of Inchworm there - which was wrong. Days later they started from scratch, combing through vast areas.
    Why they didn't find her although the above maps indicates that some team member(s) have actually passed by her location - who knows.

  20. #60

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    Is it customary for SAR folks to periodically blow whistles and listen for a response along the search route?

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