Hiker rescued near Marion Mountain 9/17

[halhiker]

Someone got separated from their group.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside- ... ntains.ece

[trcar]

Good for her that she had and used a rescue whistle. I am always tempted to ditch things like that when I go through my pack.

[Hikin_Jim]

A whistle and a plastic signal mirror with a sighting hole are so light and compact. Really "cheap" (in terms of cost, weight, and bulk) insurance in my opinion.

Glad she's OK.

HJ

[halhiker]

A lot of my daypacks have whistles as part of the sternum strap. I always thought that was a great idea and wish every pack maker did that.

[arocknoid]

Glad for such a favorable outcome.

A whistle is cheap/light insurance. Even Toots Thielman would have trouble a capella when dehydrated, which most of us have no doubt experienced personally.

(Ahhhh, Lauren Bacall's film debut...but I digress...)

and please confirm that this is a usual and customary misquote:

"The Sheriff’s Department urged hikers to carry GPS devices, maps and compasses and plenty of water whenever possible when hiking in the mountains."

And if it is not possible, just hike in the mountains without
GPS devices, maps and compasses and plenty of water. We'll come gitcha if you Tweet us. Y'all would be @Imamtnknucklehead, yes?

[Ellen]

And if it is not possible, just hike in the mountains without
GPS devices, maps and compasses and plenty of water. We'll come gitcha if you Tweet us. Y'all would be @Imamtnknucklehead, yes?

[RMRUpete]

Write up now posted on RMRU.ORG

Note: Something I did not put in the write up is that she had a one time use PLB, but did not want to use it up just being lost, wanted to wait in case she got hurt. It takes all kinds to keep RMRU busy.

[Hikin_Jim]

So, this brings up an interesting question. My PLB came with a warning that it was only to be used (I'm paraphrasing) if loss of life or serious injury were imminent with a threat of (IIRC) a $100,000 fine.

To me, if I were lost and I believed people would be searching for me, it would make sense to turn on the PLB and say, in effect, "here I am." The warning seems to imply that such a use is forbidden.

What's the scoop here?

HJ

[Andy]

To me, if I were lost and I believed people would be searching for me, it would make sense to turn on the PLB and say, in effect, "here I am." The warning seems to imply that such a use is forbidden.

HJ

Good point Jim. Seems that in a situation where a search has been initiated, Life, Death, Lost, Lazy is all the same. In other words, sources are being used and personnel are put at risk to locate you, regardless of the reason. So yes, I'd say activate the beacon and get it over with sooner than later. A caveat being that the "victim" doesn't always know that they're being looked for...

[zippetydude]

So, this brings up an interesting question. My PLB came with a warning that it was only to be used (I'm paraphrasing) if loss of life or serious injury were imminent with a threat of (IIRC) a $100,000 fine.

To me, if I were lost and I believed people would be searching for me, it would make sense to turn on the PLB and say, in effect, "here I am." The warning seems to imply that such a use is forbidden.

What's the scoop here?

HJ

My guess is that it's there to keep people from messing around and ending up with false alarms, sort of like when high school kids pull the school fire alarm. A fine of $100,00, even if it's totally unenforceable, makes people hesitate. Still, I totally agree with Andy though, in that if a search team is out there anyway, pinpointing your location is only going to cut down the time, risk and money spent in searching.

BTW, this makes me appreciate all the more the option on the SPOT that says (roughly) "I need help but am not in danger. Send someone to help me get out of here". This could be used if you were, say, exploring off trail and twisted an ankle (this happened to me once, and I was barely able to hobble back to the trail head) but would be fine with just the help of some friends. You wouldn't want to initiate an emergency response, wouldn't need a helicopter, but you would need some assistance.

I, for one, would have to be a death's door before I activated the emergency beacon, merely due to the embarrassment that I would feel, so they wouldn't need a threatening warning for me.


z