Bushwalk Australia

story about being prepared for mountain biking but just as relevant for bush walking

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-ge ... tml?page=1

5 dangerous bushwalking mistakes

if a logon screen apears for the link, just cancel it and you'll get the webpage


Standing atop a hill after a long and grueling hike, it's easy to feel invincible. You've pushed yourself to your limits, survived nature's sometimes unpredictable conditions — what could stop you now?

Turns out, it could be a number of simple beginner mistakes or time-saving shortcuts that even experienced hikers are guilty of taking. Even the most trail-hardened can be caught unprepared. Lisa Hendy, Yosemite National Park emergency services program manager, and Todd Duncan, Sierra Club program safety manager, share some of the most frequent and preventable mistakes hikers make on the trail, and some tips for staying safe:

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/explore/2 ... takes.html

wayno wrote:5 dangerous bushwalking mistakes

Standing atop a hill after a long and grueling hike, it's easy to feel invincible. You've pushed yourself to your limits, survived nature's sometimes unpredictable conditions — what could stop you now?

Here's a question. Has the ownership of a PLB made you feel more confident? Has it affected your preparation for the worst?

do you know how to create polls gpsguided? you could create one to ask this question to see.
look at the bottom when you create messages theres an easy to follow poll creation option

personally i dont think carrying a gps has changed my preparation that much. i still inform others of what i'm doing

Thanks Wayno. It could be interesting to have a poll on this and in a separate thread.

IT IS AN ISSUE TODAY people have electronic devices like a GPS or a PLB and rely on them but dont have backup options if they fail. as robust as PLB's are, they still arent fullproof
people have no map and or compass, no trip intentions lodged with anyone...

Foolproof Wayno. Foolproof.

Can't get to the sierra club blog post that wayno linked to above. I don't get a login popup just a blank page. Searched through the blog from their main page but couldn't find the post. Any pointers?

as an 8 year old on a boys brigade camp after a long energy sapping daay, i didnt like the look of dinner and shunned most of it, can't remember much about breakfast, but it probably wasnt a big affair either,,, unknown to me i ended up on a big hill walk with no food or water.... that was my first experience of "hitting the wall" as my body ran out of its limited reserves of stored sugar.... luckily for me it happend at teh top of the hill and i could still stagger back to camp to eat whatever was put in front of me...

one of my first big trips at 15 in mid winter in teh southern alps with air cadets, the instructors had told us to expect minus 20 degree weather, i started out walking with three layers of pants alone.... the outer layer was pvc.... it was a mild day, no wind, cool, but not cold... in minutes i had my own private sauna and couldnt get my kit off fast enough. i was walking in thin pants the rest of teh trip...

another trip a year later, this time mid summer.... we started in the middl of the sayn sunny, mid twenties. climbed 800 metres up a ridge to come out in the open.... i'd drunk two cups of coffee before i left home, on the walk, i sipped on my half litre bottle of highly sugared orange cordial and snacked on nuts raisins and chocolate... after a couple of hours i was totally parched, baking in the summers sun. feeling naueous, over hot.. getting increasingly tired and sick...
oh and we were lost... didnt use a compass and took the wrong track.... we were lucky, we ended up going in the direction we wanted to and got to a river before things got to serious....

McWade wrote:Can't get to the sierra club blog post that wayno linked to above. I don't get a login popup just a blank page. Searched through the blog from their main page but couldn't find the post. Any pointers?

No login popup and no problem loading the page for me. Could be temporary server issue, could be DNS problem on your end. Try again I'd say.