The Single Most Important Must Have Piece of Survival Gear

[Jfkudla]

Absolutely correct. The Military War Colleges preach that "No plan survives first contact with the enemy" yet substantial time and effort is devoted to training on how to plan. Why? Even if a plan becomes invalid, a well-prepared plan will be able to branch into a new response/reactionary one.

[handlebar1980]

Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

My thinking excatly......

[Ouroborous]

I work in my local SAR unit as well and likewise, can say from first hand experience that the above info would greatly enhance the odds of us finding a missing subject if not guarantee it altogether. Unfortunately, most searches start with a vague description of the subject and their whereabouts and this makes it incredibly difficult to pin point the point last seen. If every search had even half the info listed above, our ratios of rescued subjects would greatly increase.
I can also say that the second most important clue aside form the pls would be the what shoes the subject is wearing. A positive ID of the shoe on aluminum foil would be outstanding.

[TheGreenRanger24]

*sigh* Whenever I hear this wonderful piece of advice I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. I've tried telling some people that they need to do this one step to help better insure their safety, and some do get it. Unfortunately, I remember at least two cases within the past few months where I've nearly been to the point of wanting to argue with a few that just didn't get it. Case in point: I have had several moms "what if" survival situations so much that I was sore-pressed to just tell it like it is (basically, you need to think/plan ahead before doing pretty much anything nature related). It's funny yet sad how upset they were getting creating various scenarios involving them and their children and having no plan and no supplies. No matter how hard I tried to get the point across about having a plan first then carrying basic supplies with you, they just couldn't/wouldn't let that thought sink into their panic driven brains (and this was in a fairly safe environment; I would have hated to see them react to a real emergency).

Sadly, no matter how much you teach or preach, the world is just too full of those that are simply incapable of getting through their thick skulls that when "it" hits the fan, then is not the time to start thinking about survival. As the Boy Scouts say, "BE PREPARED!"

*Sorry for the rant, but I feel a little bit better now.

[misanthropist]

I like this thread quite a bit. Here is an example from a recent solo hike and summit I did of my approach to ensuring adequate information is available to potential rescuers:

1) research the route carefully. When I had settled on a good description of the route I intended to take, I saved it to my desktop.

2) whenever I hike, I make an equipment checklist. When I leave the house, the checklist and a complete description of the route and itinerary are left on the wife's desk, along with the file name of the route description I'm working from

3) When I arrived at the trailhead, I typed out an email stating the time and conditions and sent it off to my wife from my phone. In most of this country (Canada) that won't work but in this particular case I had intermittent signal. When the phone got signal, the email got sent.

4) I sent updates the same way, also mentioning the time (as the email might not send for a while) and conditions as well as my location. Additionally, I kept an eye on the time and advised my intended turn-around time for the summit if I thought I wouldn't make it before the weather turned etc.

Taking this approach, I feel it would be easier to get a good sense of where on the trail I'm most likely going to be if I don't turn up. If there have been updates every six hours, and it's now 10 hours since an update, that's a little off and if it's been 18 hours...

Further, it allows the SAR guys to get a sense of how fast I'm going on the trail. That really narrows down where I've ended up if I have a sprained ankle on the trail and I'm five hours late for an update.

Finally, the complete list of equipment and the route description I'm working from being readily available ought to give the best possible picture of what the SAR people are going to be dealing with...both in terms of what kind of problems I'm prepared for, as well as possible pitfalls if there is a critical omission in the route description.

I had never heard of the foil footprint...good trick.

I do list the specific boots I'm wearing, but the foil print is much better.


I don't take this kind of detailed approach if I'm out on a regular hike that I know well, say...but a first crack at a new hill by myself, yeah, I like to ensure that I'm going to get found if I fall off somewhere.

[Lawmaker]

Good advice. Clear head also. Stay calm.

[ray0351]

ditto