I bought a two way satellite communicator. I’ve been testing it. Photo below. This post just had to come out because I worry that folks confuse gadgets with solutions.
It’s not a cell phone. A lot of reviewers bitched that the not-cell phone didn’t act like a cell phone and that sucks because it’s not a damn cell phone. (Click the link and buy stuff and I get a kickback.)
When it comes to the outdoors, I know what I’m doing. (I don’t mean to brag. Lots of people know how to handle themselves. I’m merely one of them.) Each person is different. Experience and personality guide us. Folks tend to pick a preferred “style” to our adventures and refine from there. My activities are limited mostly to things I can do solo, in North America, while holding down a day job, and on the budget of a normal human being. (When I talk about the outdoors, eliminate from your mind any activity that requires airfare to Africa, spandex, or sponsorship by Red Bull.)
Anyone who’s gone “exploring” either has a backup strategy or they’ll get their ass handed to them by fate. My proven strategy for dealing with wilderness emergencies starts with the basics; don’t fuck up. It’s a good strategy. I swear by it. I’m cautious, self-aware, think before I leap, and avoid rolling the dice on poorly understood risks. It’s boring, methodical, and incredibly effective. Of course, nobody’s perfect and we must make decisions based on incomplete information so mistakes happen. One is never 100% sure they won’t fuck up.
I also want to differentiate wishful thinking (“I won’t have an emergency”) from seasoned avoidance of emergencies (“that scree slope looks loose, I’ll hike around it”).
The next step is the mental flexibility to change plans as the need arises. I suspect this is something like wisdom because I did it a lot less in my youth. If you’ve never once encountered a situation where you thought “this is not cool, I’m going to bail out” you’re not flexibly adapting to situations that may arise. It might mean your tough or it might mean you’re lucky or it might mean you’re stupid. Regardless, if you “always stick to the plan” you’ll sooner or later march right off a cliff.
There are strategies I don’t like very much. Most common is the “never go alone” strategy. Somewhat related is the strategy of “walking on a mowed path in a park during sunny afternoons”. I get worried about the “don’t go alone” and “don’t go far” solutions. They’re just rationalizations of depending on others and hoping you never encounter something unexpected. Also, man was not born to endure the absence of risk. If you’re afraid to be alone in the dark, you’re not fully realized.
I was a hesitant to mention the SpotX because asking for help must be a last resort only. Beaming a signal to summon help should only happen if you’ve tried and failed at a dozen other survival/extraction efforts. Two dozen if you can pull it off.
If “ask for help” is your main plan, do the rest of us a favor and stay home. Choose another hobby. Go bowling, play an instrument, do drugs, take up knitting, get a cat, whatever you want but definitely stay away from mother nature because that bitch plays rough. At best you’re gonna’ get eaten by a bear and nobody will lift a finger. At worst some poor schmuck is going to take risks trying to save your pathetic ass when the bear had every right to eat you.
Here’s a Curmudgeonly Gem of Insight:
It’s gold plated asshole behavior to put yourself in jeopardy only because you assume some stranger will bail you out. Don’t do that.
We clear on that? Good. Now to the meat of the subject…
AC: Delete this if it’s too wordy.
From a book (I forget the title) on the qualities of survivors:
“The world we imagine seems as real as the one we’ve experienced. We suffuse the model with the emotional values of past realities. And in the thrall of that vision (call it “the plan”, writ large), we go forth and take action. If things don’t go according to the plan, revising such a robust plan may be difficult. In an environment that has high objective hazards, the longer it takes to dislodge the imagined world in favor of the real one, the greater the risk. In nature, adaptation is important, the plan is not. It’s a Zen thing. We must plan. But we must be able to let go of the plan, too.”
Great book. I rolled that paragraph around and around in my mind like fine wine, er, beer, on the tongue; I really like it. I haven’t killed myself yet- I’m rather conservative. Though I have done a few stupid things…
Oh, and even if SpotX did act like a cell phone, the yahoos still would manage to die stupidly. It’s friggin’ comms, not an actual rescue.
Good post, AC.
Thanks, glad you liked the post. Also the quote is spot on. Was the book “Deep Survival”?
Yes! By Laurence Gonzales. Thank you for doing my research for me. :-).
I couldn’t look up if I had read it cuz I’m paranoid ‘n stuff and don’t have my library’s account history turned on. Ya never know if the suits will come for you after reading something verboten…
Slightly OT: Do I recollect correctly that you’re a ham? I would love to read an AC review of ham radio on the high seas. Well, from a cute ‘lil sailboat on a lake anyway.
I’m a HAM and have a few Baofengs. In theory a little water resistant Baofeng should be the cat’s pajamas but so far it’s all theory and no practice. That’s part of why I punted with the SpotX. If I can figure HAM out for marine use from the tiny boat I’ll post it. I have big plans for the little boat.
No, not Deep Survival by Laurence Ganzales. I have read and re-read that one several times and the passage doesn’t seem familiar.
I’d be interested in reading tat book too.
Deep Survival is a good book. Though if you’re of the proper mindset there’s a lot of “well duh, of course that matters”. I’ve talked it over with other folks who read it and what they saw as “amazing revelation” I saw as “common sense”. Still a good read though.
Chapter Five “The Anatomy of an Act of God”, page 85. The paragraph begins with “Like David, we all make powerful models of the future”.