So Day Hike.......what do you carry to be prepared?

[boomerscout 35]

After reading the thread this was spun from, I'd probably like to add a couple of signal flares and some smoke cannisters. Oh, and a hand-crank recharger for the cellphone.

(And here I thought a couple of credit cards would be enough.)

[le Voyageur 72]

Depends on the time of the year, and where...

 

But, my trip plan, which includes a Plan B, along with a duplicate set of maps, and coordinates are left with my "boss" before heading out.

[KC9DDI 11]

So, since a cell phone might run out of batteries, or might not have a good signal, we're going to refrain from carrying one? What's wrong with turning it off (conserves batteries), wrapping it in a ziplock and storing it in the bottom of your pack? Because, if you get lost or injured, it might have batteries, and might get an adequate signal - and might substantially contribute to your safety.

[Beavah 205]

Nuthin' at all, KC9DDI. Or with bringin' a HAM radio HT. Provided yeh know how to use each to communicate properly.

 

I was just talkin' about myself personally. I don't use GPS. It just annoys me. If you're good enough at navigatin' that tends to be the case. That's not to say someone else shouldn't bring along a GPS unit. They're fun toys. Just don't be completely dependent on it, anymore than I should be completely dependent on a single map or a compass. Especially since it just ain't as trouble-free as either of those.

 

These days with GPS-equipped phones and tower triangulation and such they are a touch more useful. I remember da days when some tom-fool of a lost hiker would call 911 and say "Help, I'm lost!". Which would always get a dispatcher to roll his or her eyes and try to keep from screamin'.

 

Beavah

 

[packsaddle 753]

I'm agreeing with Beavah way too much these days....I feel the same way about the GPS. I already KNOW where I am...no matter where I am. A GPS is dead weight as far as I'm concerned. I study the maps before I head out and if my memory can't bring up the needed information to make good choices while on the trail, I'm just going to enjoy the outdoors longer than I had planned. It's all good either way.

[boomerscout 35]

a freshly charged GPS will track your movements - either purposeful or random, and when ready, will inform you of your reverse course to get back to start

[packsaddle 753]

Boomerscout, take it from someone who has penetrated dense tropical rainforest in steep mountain terrain, if the environment is so rough and the vegetation so thick that memory alone can't accomplish the backtrack, GPS may not be all that great at it either - no signal, multipath, etc. In the kind of place like I just mentioned, reliance on GPS rather than skill, experience, and wit might get you REALLY lost, or worse. I might sound like a neo-Luddite (and I might be one at that) but this has also been my experience.

[BartHumphries 10]

To start with I tell someone else where I'm going and when I plan on being back.

[Basementdweller 608]

Gps's with internal rechargable batteries are a bad idea.......I use one that uses 2 AA's

 

That way when I go out for multiple days....I can change batterys and record my track.

[boomerscout 35]

dense tropical rainforest? I'm not going hiking in the Everglades. Too many pythons and boa constrictors.