personal safety

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skibones

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I was thinking about personal safety when it was discussed going solo when a friend whimps out on you because the weather forecast was bad. Does anyone hike with something special for personal safety (gun, tear gas, pepper gas, etc.)
 
I don't bring any of the above-mentioned items, but I do leave a detailed itinerary at home. I feel I am more at risk of getting injured, than getting assaulted.
 
This topic comes on roughly every 3 months, so a search of the archives will turn up a lot of good info.

The bottom line: the most important thing to carry with you is your common sense. Of the things you listed, it is extremely unlikely that any of them will come into play over a lifetime of hiking in the northeast.

-dave-
 
skibones said:
I was thinking about personal safety when it was discussed going solo when a friend whimps out on you because the weather forecast was bad. Does anyone hike with something special for personal safety (gun, tear gas, pepper gas, etc.)
Since the time I fell off a cliff, broke my head, and got a concussion....alone in winter...my wife has been strongly encouraging me to hike with something special for my personal safety: A companion with brains.
 
4000'er said:
I don't bring any of the above-mentioned items, but I do leave a detailed itinerary at home. I feel I am more at risk of getting injured, than getting assaulted.
When I did my most recent solo bushwhack I placed a shortcut on the computer desktop called Neil Hike. If my wife clicked on it she'd have seen a Word doc and a jpeg. The jpeg is made from a Topo file and shows my intended route. The idea was that she could have emailed this file to anyone who might be getting ready to search for me. The Word doc had basic info like where I was parking and the emergency phone number to call. It also reminded her to infrom whomever she contacted that I had a radio which I would tune have tuned to frequency x.

Maybe next time I'll print both files so in case of a computer or power failure she'll still have the information.

Finally, the hardest part for me: Not to deviate from the intended route. :rolleyes:
 
sleeping bear said:
hand grenades and a machette

I prefer a flame thrower - works great on BW's too.

no - I just bring my head with me. there ain't nothing to worry about out there. I am more scared these days in boston :eek: :eek:
 
giggy said:
I prefer a flame thrower - works great on BW's too.

no - I just bring my head with me. there ain't nothing to worry about out there. I am more scared these days in boston :eek: :eek:

I do agree that walking in parts of Boston might be scarier than hiking in the hills. Born and breed in NYC makes me paranoid. For some some strange reason I'm more scared in the dark in the woods than I am walking in the middle of a combat zone in NY, not that I've done that recently.
 
I am always more afraid of DRIVING to a trailhead than hiking. Statistically speaking that is where the danger lies... (especially at 2am) :eek:

I do admit that after the 2 black bear mauling fatalites on hikers back in 2000 (one in Tennesee, and one in Quebec), I did purchase a canister of Grizzly Bear spray (mainly a high dose of pepper spray) for long solo remote trips. I did carry it a few times, but soon realized that the REMOTE chance of a hostile black bear encounter far out weighed the need of bringing it... :)
 
I try to be cautious and not get hurt. (maybe I should wear my mask? :D ) I make sure I have a map, compass and my gps, headlamp and extra batteries. Sometimes I even have an extra map. I also leave a detailed itinerary at home.
 
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From an expert.................

Doug Huffman, a survival specialist who's trained Navy Seals, Special Forces and FBI Special Agents just how to survive in such a situation, shared his knowledge with civilians during a 90-minute survival seminar.
Huffman, owner and operator of the Sierra School of Survival in Placerville, started the seminar by describing his triangle of survival, telling the audience that 80 percent of surviving is mental. The other 20 percent involves the gear you have with you and, more importantly, the ability you have to use it. Those who don't know how to use it could die, while those who have the knowledge and have common sense usually live, Huffman said.
The biggest portion of Huffman's triangle was the will to live. Quite simply, Huffman said those who are happy and have a reason to stay alive normally do. The following steps up the triangle included knowledge, training, use it and if you have and did those things, you make it to the top of the triangle, which is alive.
The 10 essentials he said every hiker should carry in their backpack include a map and a compass, first aid kit, knife, sunglasses/sunscreen, flashlight/headlamp, seasonal clothing such as a hat, extra clothes, rain gear, bandana, 12-by-12 feet of clear plastic and/or clear large garbage bags, signaling devices such as whistle, mirror, cell phone, water proof matches; water and water filter/purifier and an extra day supply of food and snacks.
News article
As for personal protection devices one might carry for protection from bears and the like, Huffman said if you can't get to it in two seconds, why are you carrying it?
 
‘‘After years of experience, I never leave my porno-strewn room in the YMCA on a hiking trip without my Taurus .357 loaded with 155 gram hollow points and a speed-loader with extra rounds; my K-Bar serrated 10 inch knife for close work; numchuks; a supply of kung fu shooting stars; a can of Mace; a black leather face mask with zippers (in case I meet the gimp); a copy of Tolstoy's Resurrection; a tube of KY Jelly; an anthology of Japanese Death Poems; an autobiography of Rlke; Jack Kerouac's Mexico City Blues; Alan Ginsburg's “Howl” recorded by Kathie Lee Gifford, spare Depends in case of bladder problems, the AP Style book, and a #2 pencil.’’

(The above was written by a colleague of mine here at the newspaper several years ago, on a thread circulated among reporters on gear to carry. I’ve substituted ‘‘hiking trip’’ for his ‘‘reporting assignment.’’ Yes, he was joking.)

Actually, the only time I deliberately carried anything for protection was when I climbed The Owl back in October ’95. I carried a rock in my hand, until the sun got high enough that I figured the bears were in bed.

Do bears sleep during the day?
 
Absolutely more worried about my early morning drives up and my "been up for 18 hours" drives home than I am on the trail.

That being said, I find that a couple of Claymore mines are worth their weight to carry - also a two-way radio that I communicate with the Air Force with...you never know when a well coordinated napalm air strike is needed to get you out of a jam. :eek:
 
I don't carry a weapon to work, and I work in a REALLY sketchy neighborhood. :eek: If I thought I needed a weapon to go hiking I probably wouldn't go.
 
Since 80 or 90% of surviving is mental, it doesn't hurt to have a psychological crutch like a knife or pepper spray, just understand that they probably won't be much help and may even be turned against you in a real event, unless you're combat trained. I think the best practical "thing" a hiker can carry is a small blast horn. You can get one at one of the "Marts" or at a marina. Blast one of these babies 3 times and you'll be heard and probably scare off anything that's scaring you.
 
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