Responsibility Code

[ski3pin]

The Lady and I spend a great deal of time in the backcountry. We believe in the 10 essentials. From our many years doing winter Mountain SAR on skis, we have spent so many "unplanned" nights out in tough conditions. We carry extra gear to help ourselves and to help others. All the time we are asked by fellow hikers about our packs - how many nights you out for? You training for something?

Now, when asked, we have started politely handing out this page. Please consider doing the same. An once of prevention is worth a pound of cure and picking up the pieces afterward is no fun at all. Note, we borrowed this from another source.

HIKERS RESPONSIBILITY CODE​

• Become self-reliant by learning about the terrain, conditions, local weather and your equipment before your start. Set realistic goals based on your experience, not someone else's.
• Tell someone where you are going, the trails your are hiking, when you will return, and your emergency plans. Be sure this person knows who to call when you fail to return on time.
• When you start as a group, hike as a group and end as a group. Pace your trip to the slowest person.
• Weather changes quickly in the mountains. Fatigue and unexpected conditions can also affect your hike. Know your limitations and when to postpone your hike. The mountains will be there another day.
• Even if you are headed our just an hour, an injury, severe weather, or a wrong turn could become life threatening. Don't assume you will be rescued; know how to rescue yourself. Be ready for an unplanned night out.
• The International Distress Signal is THREE of anything, ie., three flashes of light, three whistle blasts, three lines tromped out in snow, etc.

• Share this code with everyone.

 

[ski3pin]

I need to add, this was the Lady's idea. She is a far nicer person than I am.

 

[Kolockum]

Good stuff. Also for us we are constantly telling people just because it is a trail in the summer does not mean you should follow the GPS track of the trail in the winter. I agree with you my ol' lady is much nicer than I am with this kind of stuff.

 

[klahanie]

Good list.

All the time we are asked by fellow hikers about our packs - how many nights you out for? You training for something?

My favourite was being asked, "are you running away from home?"

I often see people with next to no gear in the local mtns. Esp trail runners. Granted, it's usually at low elevation. And whether you are a solo or in a group makes a difference as does fitness level, experience and other factors.

I think the risk of getting injured and the effect that might have on getting out is often under appreciated - I'm always cognisant of foot placement and the risk of hurrying.

The unexpected can happen but the most important thing, I think, is to know yourself. And the beauty of it is, the more more you go out, the more you learn.

 

[Bigfoot Dave]

Thanks Ski and the Lady! As I read your posts I always wonder what you have in your packs. Back here in Minnesota/Wisconsin I have a core group of items that always goes into the pack and then items that are seasonal and depend on the type of trip we are planning. We really enjoy our hikes and XC/snowshoe trips and do communications for trail runs and sled dog races when we can. I also do sawyer work on the Superior Hiking Trail on the North Shore of Lake Superior so gear is important. It would be interesting to have a "what's in your pack" column.
Your posts over the time I have been a WTW fan have really opened my eyes to the area you enjoy. Thank you so much, Bigfoot Dave W0NWO, Duluth, MN

 

[Smokecreek1]

We spend allot time on this site discussing how to survive out there in the boonies (or anywhere for that matter): what to do and not do, what is the best gear, truck tires, etc, all the things to have a good time and not kill yourself or someone else. Yet, there is always that unknown out there that could change everything. Some days the bear gets you,some days you get the bear!

Several years ago we were discussing that factor here, you know when you can do almost everything right and still not make it. I think Ski remembers the one about the very seasoned back packer and his dog, I think in Colorado who took a short cut around the other side of a lake instead of following his planned route. Anyway he stepped on a rock slipped and his foot got wedged in the crack (and he was just out of reach of the lake and water) and he was trapped. When he didn't show up on time the search parties went out and didn't find him until it was to late! One mistake and that was it.

Then there were the Soffa's who took short cut and tried to drive a 2 wheel S-10 from Alturas, Calif, to Idaho across the high deserts of NECalif/NW Nevada/ SC Oregon, in the middle of a winter storm; they got stuck in a snow bank and somehow despite doing almost everything wrong survived! I worked and played for over 30 years in that country and you don't do that and expect to survive. As a side, I was on one of the many search parties looking for them when they did not show up in Idaho. All anyone knew was that they headed east from Alturas on snow covered roads with no gear, food ,nothing. into the high desert-they could be anywhere. Yet they somehow survived (ignore that made for TV movie they made about the incident). Oh yes they ended up trying to sue the BLM, a couple of county road departments, two states and even the USFS. because they didn't see the road signs thru the storm that said these roads were impassible during inclement weather because of the snow and weather. The trial judge thru the suit out the day it hit his desk.

So, anything extra you can do, like the 10 essentials, is a hedge against against the unknowns-then there are the Darwin Awards to help us remember what not to do!

Smoke

 

[craig333]

Unfortunately few of our dogs are like Lassie.

 

[ntsqd]

In '78 or '79 I was taught the 11 Essentials in the BMTC. Your list plus bio-degradable TP!

 

[craig333]

That's got me to thinking. Even on the short hikes I do (or used to do, still haven't got the sciatica under control) something could happen. I should be carrying my pack all the time.

 

[PaulT]

I've gotten some good ideas on always carry survival gear from these two sites.

Leon Pantenburg
https://survivalcommonsense.com/

Peter Kummerfeldt
https://survivalcommonsense.com/category/learn-wilderness-and-urban-survival-skills-and-how-to-develop-a-survival-mindset/wilderness-survival-instructor-peter-kummerfeldt/

Be sure to carry a couple of heavy duty (3 or 4 mil) 55 gallon or larger plastic bag with a face hole cut out of the corner in your kit for emergency shelter. Available on their web site are blue and orange versions. I found standard black contractor ones locally but if you were out in the winter and used a black one for shelter in a tree well, you might never be seen.by a search party, so I bought high vis bags at the PDX Sportsman Show.

Paul

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Paul, when I started to browse both of these links, I got a block from Word Fence saying the number of pages I attempted was not possible from a human. I know that sometimes I’m more like my dogs, but...

Do you get anything like this?

I've gotten some good ideas on always carry survival gear from these two sites.

Leon Pantenburg
https://survivalcommonsense.com/

Peter Kummerfeldt
https://survivalcommonsense.com/category/learn-wilderness-and-urban-survival-skills-and-how-to-develop-a-survival-mindset/wilderness-survival-instructor-peter-kummerfeldt/

Be sure to carry a couple of heavy duty (3 or 4 mil) 55 gallon or larger plastic bag with a face hole cut out of the corner in your kit for emergency shelter. Available on their web site are blue and orange versions. I found standard black contractor ones locally but if you were out in the winter and used a black one for shelter in a tree well, you might never be seen.by a search party, so I bought high vis bags at the PDX Sportsman Show.

Paul

 

[craig333]

I had no problems viewing those pages.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

 

[SunMan]

I’m always amazed at the unprepared people I encounter on the trail. Ive spent the past three days hiking in eastern Yosemite, being late season I can’t count the number of people I’ve seen “day hiking” when I’m on my way out late in the afternoon and they are heading IN wearing Vans and hoodies. I always ask if they understand how much daylight there is left and if they are prepared. Mostly I get dumb looks.

 

[PaulT]

Steve,
I;m not sure why you encountered that error. It works for me on my Mac in Firefox and Safari, and on my iPad in Safari, Firefox. Also worked on Raspberry Pi in Chrome, and on Windows 10 in Edge and Firefox. Do you have a Wordpress development environment on your system with the problem?

Did the Peter Kummerfeldt page open? It looks like the the tab to the right of the error tab opened ok.

Paul

 

[Old Crow]

Steve,
I;m not sure why you encountered that error. It works for me on my Mac in Firefox and Safari, and on my iPad in Safari, Firefox. Also worked on Raspberry Pi in Chrome, and on Windows 10 in Edge and Firefox. Do you have a Wordpress development environment on your system with the problem?

Did the Peter Kummerfeldt page open? It looks like the the tab to the right of the error tab opened ok.

Paul

I get the same Wordfence 503 block on my Mac/Chrome laptop and on my iPad/Chrome tablet. On first connecting, I saw the site but anything I chose then resulted in a 503 screen.

I then tried a Windows 10/Chrome system and it worked at first. I was able to select several articles/posts and viewed the video on tarp grommets. But then I hit the 503 block on that system too.

(I do not have a Wordpress development environment on any system)
.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Paul, My experience is similar to Old Crow’s. Both sites open, but if I click on anything, I get the error. I am using an iPad with Safari, but haven’t tried my iMac or MacBook.

 

[PaulT]

Well, I tried the Brave browser on my iPad & I get the Wordfence error. the Ghostery browser also gave the error but the DuckDuckGo browser worked fine.

Went to the Wordfence site and found this post. https://wordpress.org/support/topic/visitor-bloked-by-wordfence/

Wordfence is supposed to protect the site from hackers but not visitors. They have a recent software update that might be responsible for the error. A possible problem going forward is that they apparently store the IP address of offenders. If so, I wonder if their software results in the visitor being blocked from other sires protected by Wordfence. We shall see.

No, Steve, you’re not crazy. At least, not for this reason.
Paul

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Paul, I am crazy...

Why else would I have a boat and RV?

 

[PaulT]

I qualify also for the same reason.

Paul