A 19 year-old British tourist who went for a walk in rugged terrain not far from where I live in the Blue Mountains ended up lost for 12 days.
He claims to have survived the freezing conditions by sleeping in a log and eating leaves and seed.
His story has resulted in lots of advice in mainstream media articles about how to survive in the bush with some experts commenting that he should have taken his mobile phone, four litres of water, eaten insects rather than plants, worn a beanie and the list goes on. But I’m yet to read a story that explains the value of a compass.
I regularly bushwalk in the area and always take my compass, tucked in my camera bag. I’ve been temporarily lost before, not in the Jamieson Valley, but regularly when I did field work in the riverine forests of south west Madagascar. Without reference to a compass it is difficult to maintain a direction in forested areas.
Media reports explain that the 17 year-old Australian bushwalker who died in the same region a few years ago didn’t have a map. But I haven’t been able to determine from these same reports whether or not he had a compass. It would seem to me that a map, without a compass, would be of limited use.
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Notes and Links
The photograph shows Jennifer Marohasy running through heathland towards Lockleys Pylon which overlooks the Gross Valley in the Blue Mountains. The photograph was taken on Tuesday – the day before Jamie Neale was found alive in the Jamieson Valley.
http://www.wildwalks.com/bushwalking-and-hiking-in-nsw/blue-mountains-leura/lockleys-pylon.html
Stories about Jamie Neale:
Police had expressed frustration Mr Neale did not register his plans with police or the National Parks and Wildlife Service before setting out on July 3. Police also urged bushwalkers to use personal locator beacons that are available free of charge from Springwood and Katoomba police stations and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Police had said finding Mr Neale was “like searching for a needle in a haystack”. http://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/news/local/news/general/lost-bushwalker-found-alive/1568799.aspx
Mr Neale, 19, from North London, had been missing since July 3, and was last seen above Ruined Castle, a rock formation in the Jamison Valley, about midday, police said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8150982.stm?ls
Jamie Neale, 19, of London was found by two “bushwalkers” about nine miles from where he had last been seen, New South Wales police said. He was taken to a hospital to be treated for dehydration and exposure, the BBC reported Wednesday. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/07/15/British-backpacker-found-safe-in-Australia/UPI-17691247638032/
10 ways to survive in the wild
A British teenager has survived a fortnight lost in the Australian bush. What are the dos and don’ts of staying alive in terrain like that?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8151510.stm
National Parks and Wildlife Service regional manager Geoff Luscombe says he should have been carrying a minimum four litres of water. The essential items for a day walk also include clothing for all weather, a waterproof coat, warm jumpers, a beanie and socks.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25791842-28737,00.html
Stories about David Iredale:
The NSW Ambulance Service has issued another apology over its handling of emergency calls, at a coronial inquest into the death of a teenage bushwalker. School boy David Iredale, 17, became lost while on a bushwalk with two friends west of Sydney in December 2006.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/07/2564042.htm?site=news
Soon afterwards, David made the first of three calls to Triple 0 saying he was lost. He was known to have four to five days of food with him and to have water-purification tablets, meaning he could fill up from creeks and drink safely. Superintendent Paroz had described David as “a keen bushwalker”.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/a-huge-hole-in-davids-family/2006/12/19/1166290543807.html
He had left his companions, did not have a map with him and kept moving after making his phone calls for help to police.
Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad president Keith Maxwell told The Daily Telegraph that not having a map was a massive obstacle.
“The difficulty is that David would have had to have found the tracks that came through off Mount Solitary to link up to a fire road which would take him up out of the valley – and it appears he didn’t have a map,” he said.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/no-clue-to-how-missing-teen-died/story-e6freuzi-1111112711937
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
In the Tahoe Sierra, you’d have to really work at getting lost in order to be successful at it. One method is to do a cross-country (off-trail) hike with irresponsible, gung-ho people, who are in better shape than you are. While vainly struggling to keep up, you’re less likely to notice landmarks. Then, when they’ve zoomed out of sight, you may realize that you haven’t the foggiest idea where you are. One more suggestion: Don’t look at a map before you begin.
About the compass. I finally bought one many years ago, after failing to climb a peak in the Trinity Alps, in the limited time that I had. It’s difficult to get your bearings in a canyon in the morning, when you can’t see the sun or any shadows. In more normal circumstances in the Tahoe Sierra, one doesn’t really need a compass. What?
That’s right. Just remember that the sun rises in the East, sets in the West, and is due South at high noon (Standard Daylight Time), at temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Wearing a watch will help you interpolate from there. But isn’t a compass more accurate? Not necessarily. In my neck of the woods, the declination is more than 15°. Being slightly dyslexic, I need a lot of time to be certain that I’m correcting for declination in the right direction, rather than compounding the error. But if you use your watch, you don’t need to worry about that happy nonsense.
If your cross-country hiking route is perpendicular to a well-traveled road, it’s even easier. After you eat lunch, head back in the right general direction, and you’ll reach the road. (Knowing which way to turn after that, in order to reach your parked car, is a different story.)
There are a number of items that are a must even for day walks but I agree because of the ease with which one can become disoriented in thick scrub a compass would have to be a minimum. However even a map an compass can only be of limited use to someone who doesn’t know how to use them.
Whenever I introduce any of my nursing colleagues to bush walking a give them a whistle and a compass (orienteering type) as a memento and a lesson in map reading.
Agree with you 100% Jennifer.
Jen,
I have to agree that a compass and a map are the minimum that should be taken (but do they know how to use them). Years ago when I lived in Sydney I used to do a lot of walks in the Blue Mountains and have many times come across people who realy had no idea where they were, nor were dressed appropriately for the weather at the time they were out. They were in effect accidents waiting to happen.
We used to call in at Katoomba Police station and sign the book they keep, advising them of where we were going, what route we were planning and our likely return day. On return we’d call in again and sign out. It wasn’t difficult and the Police were very encouraging often providing trail conditions.
The ruined castle-narrow neck walk is not a strenuous one but the 6 P’s still appply (prior preparation prevents piss poor performance). It can also take time so it is easy to see how a person could become lost, especially if the trail has not been regularly used an has become indistinct.
Take cellphone, GPS(you can get ones with built in compass), 406Mhz PLB. Tell someone who cares, where you’re going and estimated check in time so that they can launch SAR.
A watch can be used as an accurate compass. Using an analog watch (or drawing an analog time face in the dirt or a piece of paper), you align the hour hand at the sun (no DST of course), then bisect a line 1/2 way between the hour hand and 12 o’clock. North is the furthest end of the line, from the sun. South of the equator, point 12 o’clock at the sun, and draw a bisect with the hour hand. North is closest to the sun.
I always carry a compass in my computer bag, but I use the watch method for a quick fix on my direction. Its handy coming out of a subway in strange city…..
Again, no DST, and use accurate local time. It’s less accurate close to the equator (especially near noon).
http://www.onebag.com/popups/wcompass.html
i agree 100% with Jennifer. we were very lucky to have a compass with us, while hiking in Scotland. 4 days of constant rain had made basically all streams impossible to cross. we constantly had to climb hills, until we found a “safe” traverse.
we ended up outside of our 1:50000 map, but still had a map sketch in a guide book. no more food, no tent no hut.
i was carrying a lot of rubbish along with me (badly packed. our bus arrived late and we just rushed on to the hike from a friends flat in Glasgow). i didn t leave my electric shaver at home for example.
but we also discovered a lot of useful stuff in my backpack, that i would have most likely left at home if i had the time to repack carefully before departure.
a couple of meters of half rope were extremely useful for crossing those streams. a roll of gigantic plastic garbage bags (i had bought them because i needed 1 to put dry cloth inside) turned into ponchos, when our gore-tex jackets gave up in the constant rain. duct tape turned more plastic bags into “wellington boots” (there were 10 to 20 cm of water basically everywhere). and i had brought several sets of long sleeve underwear, which i most likely wouldn t have brought, as we were starting in really nice weather. (everybody liked those ones on that trip)
but the compass made us choose the right valley, in the end.
and i consider the compass to be the best value per kilogram of equipment. i had just taken it along as a gimmick on that trip, but i now always bring it. (and an extra set of warm underwear, no matter how hot the weather is..)
We in the mineral exploration industry have this solved – its called a SPOT personal location beacon, uses lithium AA batteries, and when activated sends out a GPS position via satellite to nominated contacts via SMS to a mobile phone or email. Up to 10 destinations can be programmed in. Costs about $300 and while expensive, essential for anyone doing a solo walk. Otherwise a cheap Epirb is the other solution. And a mapping GPS would also be handy.
Compass and map – not these days folks, people are no longer taught how to read paper maps or how to navigate with a compass, only us “old school” types know how to do that.
Navigate in the Bush? Harold Gatty wrote a book decades ago on navigating without instruments – just knowing which way trees have their foliage, which direction animals have their burrows and lots of other subtle signs.
Walkers can get EPIRBs from the local police station, I’m sure I saw it mentioned in one of the newspaper articles where the police said that Jamie should have told them where he was going and his estimated time of return.
I am happy for everyone that this bushwalk did not end in loss of life.
Hi Louis,
My daughter worries about me and my solo walks.
Perhaps I should get a SPOT. I guess it sends to the mobile phones via satellite?
What is an Epirb?
Orienteering is a BIG Scandinavian sport so every youngster is learning how to handle a compass and map in school, in the military and as well in Greenpeace ” how to survive in the forest” groups.
Sod, Did the electric shaver end up useful for anything? 🙂
My first choices would be a pocket knife, some twine, and a box of wax coated matches carefully wrapped in plastic. The matches would ensure that I could be located from the air on day 2, not day 12.
Interestingly, that location, indeed, most locations, are awash in the means to keep warm, even without fire. Once Mr Neale had found water he should then have collected a very big nest of ferns and leaves, half to go under him and the other half to go on top. Believe me, they are remarkably effective for keeping one toasty warm and dry. And even if one gets wet it will be a warm wet inside. In fact, after a day or two it will warm up like a compost heap or bush turkeys nest and keep you even warmer. If you really need some warmth you could even urinate in it to speed up this process but I suspect most people would rather opt for more foliage.
Leaves also provide a very useful cloak when moving about, the more leaves the better. And a number of short leafy twigs tied together at the butts can make a very useful conical “beanie”.
His next task should be to create the direct opposite of the camouflagers arts. The key elements of visibility, or rather, detectability, are size, shape, shine, silhouette, shadow, sound, smell and movement. Camouflage aims to reduce these elements while the lost must maximise them. So Mr Neale should have found a site, not too far from water, to defoliate so it will be visible from the air. If the matches are with you, and it is winter, not midsummer, then this is easily done. Just find a thicket, some dry grass and let it burn. It won’t go far but will produce smoke and a highly visible burned patch, or series of patches. And if you carefully examine your burned patches you might also find some pre-cooked food as well.
If you are lost in the fire season then just build yourself a normal campfire with appropriate bare soil buffers and drop plenty of green leaves to produce a safe but visible smoke column.
But if there are no matches then an existing rock outcrop is a good starting point as tree and shrub cover will be less to begin with. Then pull out anything that will come out and break off any branch within reach. If it won’t break of then just move further along the branch to the bits that will. Stack the foliage in a straight line so it appears as an anomaly from the air. Try to ensure that the cleared patch has a defined shape with clearly defined edges such as rarely occurs in nature. Then just relax, calmly go about your gardening, comforted in the knowledge that the longer you do it the larger and more visible your patch will be.
And if you started with a large rock to begin with you will be highly visible when standing on it and waving, with a large branch. Or if you cannot climb on to it in time it will form a stark backdrop that will highlight your shape as you stand in front of it. A progressively larger cairn of rocks on an exposed surface will also help your cause, being identifiable even when you are off having a drink of water.
It is all good fun really, and enough to keep your dinner guests enthralled for yonks. Me, I’d just prefer to light a few matches and get home soon with minimum fuss.
Jen an EPIRB is an emergency positioning beacon, I can’t remember what the other letters meam, now mandatory for boaties who go off shore.
Equally useful for showing the position of some twit who got lost in the bush.
If the truth be known, the world would be a better place if these things were banned. On the Darwin principle, the gene pool would be improved, if the twits were left where they were.
I did 53,000 miles around the Pacific, without these things, or a radio with which to call help. I have never been able to see why we should expect some poor sod, [ours excluded] to come looking for us, if/when we do something stupid.
In my experience, the value of those injured, & lost in rescue missions, far exceeds the value of those rescued.
Hi Jennifer
Yes, it sends the position via the SPOT satellite system, and texts to a mobile phone and also the same message to email. It costs about $150 per year for the basic service, extra $50 US per year tracks your movements while it is on. Web interface allows you to determine which mobile phones and emails to contact. Also allows you to designate the 911 response contact.
Spot has 3 functions – 911 mode which sends in the cavalry, I am ok mode which sends your GPS position and message, and a third ” I need help and here I am ” message, without activating the 911 service.
epirb is small satellite transmitter that sends out a distress signal when activated and brings 911 rescue in. Early ones were only position. New ones are now registered in your name which is kept in a database in Canberra, and before they deploy the cavalry, they telephone the contact specified to make sure it isn’t an accidental activation. If it is, you pay for the rescue – $250,000 should focus the mind on the issue.
The SPOT device is excellent – I use it all the time and office knows precisely where I am and when. Usually press the OK button on arrival at base (usually a town) so the office people can go home assured I am ok. Also activate it midday and may be mid PM. All depends on the circumstances.
Brian Sommerville at GPS OZ in Mona Vale is your best supplier for this type of stuff.
” Main article: History of orienteering
The history of orienteering begins in the late 19th century in Sweden, the actual term “orienteering” was first used in 1886 and meant the crossing of unknown land with the aid of a map and a compass.[14] In Sweden, orienteering grew from military training in land navigation into a competitive sport for military officers, then for civilians. The first orienteering competition open to the public was held in Norway in 1897.[14]
From the beginning, locations selected for orienteering have been chosen in part for their beauty, natural or man made. For the first public orienteering competition in Sweden, in 1901, control points included two historic churches, Spånga kyrka and Bromma kyrka (a round church).[15]
World Orienteering Championships 2007 in Kiev, Ukraine. Winners of middle-distance event: Simone Niggli-Luder, Switzerland, and Thierry Gueorgiou, FranceWith the invention of inexpensive yet reliable compasses, the sport gained popularity during the 1930s. By 1934, over a quarter million Swedes were participants, and orienteering had spread to Finland, Switzerland, the Soviet Union, and Hungary. Following World War II, orienteering spread throughout Europe and to Asia, North America and Oceania. In Sweden in 1959, an international orienteering conference was held. Representatives from 12 countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, East and West Germany, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Yugoslavia) participated.[14] In 1961, orienteering organizations representing 10 European nations founded the International Orienteering Federation (IOF). Since then, IOF has supported the founding of many national orienteering federations. By 2006, 67 national orienteering federations were member societies of the International Orienteering Federation.[16] These federations enabled the development of national and world championships. World championships were held every two years until 2003, then every year.[17]
Throughout this time, orienteering has remained most popular in Sweden. There, the two oldest recurring orienteering meets have been held since the 1940s, and the single largest orienteering meet has been held every year since 1965 and attracts around 15,000 competitors (see Jukola relay, Tiomila, and O-Ringen”
Jen,
An EPIRB is an Emergency Position Indicating Response Beacon, they will operate for 48 hours and always float upright so that the signal is capable of being transmitted successfully. They range in cost from approx $500 for the no frills version to many thousands for the large industrial type. For most offshore yachts a spend of $1000 to $2000 will buy this reliable piece of safety equipment, now mandatory.
For personal use a PLB or Personal Location Beacon is recommended. Both for the size of the product and the intended use. PLB’s were dirt cheap but the frequency has now changed and they are about $500 plus with built in GPS. Once purchased they are registered with AMSA as mentioned in an above post. I use one for work as I often work alone in the bush and it provides a level of comfort to my family to know that I do have it in my backpack when in the bush alone.
‘m not as keen as Motty is on Spot as I dislike having to subscribe to yet another service, however having said that family, friends and work can log in via PC and find your location. I think that it is a very useful tool especially if venturing off the beaten track.
Aside from gadgets (which can let you down) your best insurance is to become a competent navigator. By this I mean knowing where you are all the time, develop a mental map of the area before you go out and while you are there. Many get lost in parties because only the leader knows where they are going, once separated from the leader they are babes in the woods. Don’t just go out for a chin wag, take an interest in your surroundings, it helps greatly if you have to retrace your steps. Solo bushwalking is generally frowned upon, but if you can find a relatively benign area i.e a few sqare km encircled by a road it is a great way to learn and build confidence. Try walking with the map securely tucked away, it really makes you think and be observant. I have been bushwalking for years and one of the biggest kicks I get is navigating a party through the bush without a map and compass, but I always carry them in my pack!
Sod, Did the electric shaver end up useful for anything? 🙂
no. though i guess additional backpack weight improves fitness in the long term…
but i am pretty sure, the battery would have been flat anyway. and i guess that is a real problem with most of those high tech gadgets.
i also like to keep my equipment cheap (especially as a youth, i was prone of losing stuff…). with the cost of outdoor stuff, you already always end up carrying a small fortune around, that you will leave badly attended quite often. (while sleeping on the train, in cheap hostels..)
the compass is cheap, weights nearly nothing and will work, even if you left it in a backpack pocket for a couple of years. it takes some limited skill to use and some basic understanding of where you are (or a map).
the electric stuff obviously can do much more and require less skill. but they come at higher cost and need some care, or they might fail in the very moment you need them.
i think that advicing the rather casual hiker to carry two sets of satellite communication is slightly over the top. especially while a lot of people don t bring the most simple stuff (real shoes, warm cloth, rain jacket, water bottle and a mobile phone)
a lot of small things are really useful, like those plastic bags. (or a lighter, a candle or electric torch, knife, pen and paper or basic first aid kit. twine and needle..) but even those things keep adding up.
i think the compass is somewhere in the middle. i would bring it to certain trips and certain regions.
Which ends in why anyone bushwalks?
I don’t unless forced by lefty friends, otherwise why?
If you are content, then inaction
If you are discontent, then action
Louis,
People with a real interest/fascination in the natural environment – plants and animals – enjoy a bush walk. And why does almost everyone enjoy a spectacular view – a view over mountiains and into valleys even when it is not sunrise?
Thanks for this information from a reader:
http://www.findmespot.com/australianewzealand/index3.php
http://www.bwrs.org.au/pages/epirb.html you can get for free in Blue Mountains
And I’m going to buy one of those Spots when I’m in Sydney next week!
But did he have to pay for his rescue costs, like the boy in New Hampshire?
http://noconsensus.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/teen-charged-a-years-wages-to-be-saved/
Nothing is free in the US, unless you are an investment bank.
Jennifer,
Ah, the philosophical reason behind our actions – and I might defer to Cardinal Pell on this one, 🙂
That said, enjoy a bush walk? What prompts anyone to walk in the bush. To go to some where to watch a spectacular view? What’s wrong with the existing place? Boring views? I’ve had the luxury of almost being everywhere, and like it or not, ultimately it reduces to being rich.
I have been rich, and poor, and folks, being rich is better.
The irony is that it’s us richies who spur the next scientific breakthrough.
Louis wrote:
“Which ends in why anyone bushwalks?
I don’t unless forced by lefty friends, otherwise why?”
For those with the inclination, hiking and bushwalking is the most fun that you can possibly have with your boots still on.
When hiking in the US, remember that the moss always grows on the North side of your compass!
Being a keen landscape photographer, I envy the Katoomban’s back garden 🙂
Being easily distracted by ‘ooh.. that looks interesting’ and wandering off-track, I tend to take 2 maps. One for where I plan to be, one larger scale plus compass and GPS and spare batteries. GPS is great because it lets people get lost to a higher degree of accuracy than ever before.
Knowing exactly where I am isn’t much use if I don’t know where I need to be or any hazards en route.. But the altitude check I’ve found useful. The BBC’s advice is a bit depressing in ignoring basics like a map, but then I’m not sure UK kids are taught how to read maps any more. Why bother when they can buy satnav?
So I tend to go out Sod style, with lots of extra stuff ‘just in case’. I also make sure I check in with the locals before going out. Here in the UK, mountain rescue are volunteers and often found in the local pub & they’ve always been great with offering advice on current conditions, hazards, weather predictions and spots to shoot. Tales of rescuing intrepid explorers armed with road navigation GPS can get depressing though.
I learnt my navigation in the old pre GPS days and got plenty of practice leading bushwalks and ski tours for our local club. When the GPS became available it sure made navigating an Snowy Mts. whiteout much more comfortable. A GPS without a map is not a very powerful tool…yes it will get you back to where you want to be, but only if it is left on all the time and you want to walk watching the GPS and not the views. Still the best maps are the paper ones with grid lines (UTM/UPS), not the software ones included in some GPS packages. A map is only useful if you know where you are on it and this is where the GPS is good. Most of the time it can be left turned off. My most enjoyable walks have been where there is challenging navigation using a map and compass – it is a skill learnt and I think we all enjoy utilising skills under difficult circumstances.
I now have a PLB with GPS function as described above and the main reason for that is to keep the women in my life (mother and partner) off my back when I go backcountry flyfishing by myself.
Anything for a peaceful existence!
What to take Bush walking.
Secret Service??
(sorry I couldn’t help myself!!!)
Sod’s quite right – don’t rely on the electronic stuff, it can let you down. Don’t go on your own. Tell a home contact where you (think) you’re going and when you’ll be back. I think you may be able to hire EPIRBs from outdoor shops.
Get a compass and map and practice how to use them. Bushwalking and orienteering clubs hold training days and you may find you like the other members well enough to walk with them – much safer. Another way to learn navigation is to Rogaine. It’s an Australian developed sport that is similar to orienteering but, IMHO, much more interesting.
Clubs can tell you what you should carry but it’s wise to be prepared for anything. A fine sunny day in the mountains can very quickly turn into disaster.
Louis, I’m sure you’re being provocative.
Louis training for bushwalking.
Orientering is a great way to learn navigation. Most clubs will welcome new people and they don’t mind you going out, having a bit of fun and not being competitive. Why do some people have to turn life into a competition all the time ??
Rather than competing against others, compete against yourself. Don’t go out in a team, you learn more if you teach yourself. Don’t initially use a compass, learn to read the terrain and how it relates to the map. When you start to get good, make a quick sketch map of the course at the start and use that! Most of all have fun, its a bit like a treasure hunt.
Seems like a reliable writing instrument and sufficient paper to write farewell letters, just in case, is a backpacking requirement.
The media will pay ( is paying?) a small fortune for those letters.
PeterB,
Correct – I just caught a Luke Lungfish but threw it back – worse than blowfish.
Actually using Gatty’s methods I managed to walk back to the exploration camp from where I bogged the vehicle in the salt lake. Annoying to hear company vehicles in the near distance – so close yet so far away.
PeterB
A colleague is into orienteering, but when you do this stuff for a living, as I do, or used to do, it becomes a bit of chore to also do it in one’s spare time. In any case I have a gammy knee when I bogged a Unimog in the Kimberleys in 1995, (twisted the knee in a creek with wet sand) so bush walking isn’t really on the agenda these days.
And encounters with wild animals is always a risk – scrub bulls and feral dogs are a real worry these days – and of course feral pigs are a bit of a risk as well.
That said, if city slickers get their jollys by getting disorientated in the bush, then so be it. Just wait until Occupational Safety and Health police extend their influence to recreational walking though. Bound to come I suspect, especially with this latest case.
To give you an idea of what these OSH clowns require for me to do in fieldwork,
1. I am not allowed to be out there alone
2. I am not allowed to wear loose clothing, but must wear long sleeved shirts, long pants, steel capped boots, and wide brimmed hat. Clothing has to be high visibility – fluro coloured shirt etc.
3. I must have a personal first aid kit, satellilte phone, at least 3 litres of water, GPS, spare batteries, 2 way radio. All this kit requires a back pack.
So the job is to collect rock samples, or maybe doing a geochemical soil sampling program, and just where does one carry all that stuff. Well, we have a weight limit of 16 kg per bag, so the upshot of it all is that one does not get much work done.
And I’ve just completed compiling a Risk Management proposal for the NT worksafe people in Darwin – this all for being allowed to do field work in the exploration industry. They expect us to have tool box meetings, expect is to assemble at the start of the day and have a discussion on safety.
The problem is that the company directors are personally responsible for the duty of care of the company employees – one of the most nebulous and evasions of personal responsibility I’ve come across. If you do something stupid in the field, then it isn’t your fault but the company for not having trained you in procedure etc.
They expect us to compile “incidents” and log these in an official incidents register. Incident’s occurring in bushwalking scenarios we do when we do field mapping? Normally I would go out with a mapping board, pencils, Brunton Compass, graph paper, pencils and measuring tape. Now add all the OSH kit, and one needs a tribe of fieldies to hold all the kit. And who pays for all this, and we wonder that mineral discoveries are becoming harder and harder and more expensive.
The Nanny state is close to killing mineral exploration.
And on unintended consequence of this new regulatory system is that we no longer employ new graduate geologists – company policy – we can’t afford the risk of them making mistakes in the field, as they do, since how the heck can one learn anything apart from making mistakes.
Some years back a green young geologist was sent up to a drilling rig in the Pilbarra, and this individual died from heat exhaustion on site – never instructed in how to handle 45 degree temperatures etc.
So enjoy bush walking while you can because the safety NAZIS are coming to get you.
Don’t forget that the best landmark in Australia [at night] is the southern cross.
If you are travelling in the bush or at sea for several days, celestial south is the point where the pointers bisect the axis or about two and a half times the length of the cross through the sharpest point of the “kite”. In the northern hemisphere there is the pole star.
When the heavens are overcast a compass is handy.
In drought times when cattle were weak we would move them at night and after mustering them all day I would often fall asleep on my horse. The horse would sense this and immediately start heading home. This was unfenced, open range country and I would eventually wake up in the middle of the bush in the middle of the night not having a clue where I was except to know where south was.
This was always enough to find my way back to the cattle.
The aboriginal system when you wanted to let people know where you were was to make a big smoke.
Luke
I enjoyed the youtube video on ‘silly walking’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wippooDL6WE
And I couldn’t help but remark that he appeared allowed to walk on this own.
I would like to be able to continue bushwalking on my own.
Always carry a compass, and if you are at all serious, a backup. Compasses are cheap, relatively easy to use, and can save lives.
Carrying sufficient water, and leaving notes of where you plan on going is also very wise.
When hiking alone in the Texas trans-Pecos region mountains (Davis and Guadalupe), those strategies can make the difference between life and death.
One of the weaknesses many have of nature is that their views are based on Disneyesque movies, with nature kind and gentle and wild things cuddly and helpful. In nature, a lost hiker or bushwalker is just an under prepared meal, still in delivery mode.
The story on PLBs , EPIRBs is this.
They used to transmit when activated on 121.5 and 243Mhz (civil and military distress frequencies respectively, also known as “guard”). Any radio equipped aircraft could use a fairly simple procedure to home in on the area where the signal was to within a few Km or so.
The signals were later also detectable by satellite but it might be several hours before the satellite pass and subsequent launch of the search.
This system has now been replaced by new satellites which detect signals on 406Mhz within a few minutes of activation. The beacons may contain a GPS receiver which transmits the location with greater accuracy than available by the satellite location system and the beacons are individually coded so that in the event of activation the SAR authority can check in with the contact details and hopefully avoid too many false alarms.
PLB’s are quite small now and will fit in your shirt pocket.
Price is down to US$299 in the US(currently sround A$400 including shipping plus GST(why GST on safety equipment?) but in a stunning display of bureaucratic ineptitude in Australia we decided to adopt our own “standards” for the devices to be used with this INTERNATIONAL SAR system. The Australian model of the same US$299 device costs A$675 plus GST. Great.
There are also devices which are effectively temporary cellphone towers which can be flown in any aircraft and allow communication with cellphones where coverage is not normally possible. These are available off the shelf but the authorities here aren’t interested.
Glad you are having success with SPOT Louis. It isn’t all that reliable in airborne applications and both SPOT and PLBs require a clear view of the sky. Heavy tree canopies will be a problem.
Hasbeen, there are plenty of situations where boaters, pilots and even bushwalkers get into trouble through things that aren’t their fault. Getting run down by container ships where nobody is minding the store, hitting whales, semi sunken containers and soon the compulsory ethanol in the petrol leaching fuel contaminants out of the fiberglass resin in the fuel tanks, sudden spontaneous engine disassembly and medical emergencies spring to mind.
I have nothing but immense respect for the rescue folks who have to go out but don’t have to return.
Eyrie,
Airborne applications are irrelevant as each pilot has to initiate a SAR watch that then has to be cancelled on landing. No cancellation and and things start to happen.
Canopy obscuring the satellites is a problem, granted, but in using the device I notice that it might take 20 minutes before it transmits – usually because it cannot link to a satellite, so it there might be a delay in transmitting a signal.
Being in a spot of bother however, tends to focus the grey cells and knowing that the SPOT needs a clear view of the sky causes one to act accordingly. Falling off a cliff is another matter entirely – no no EPIRB or SPOT could help in that situation. You would then be in a serious SPOT of bother, I suspect.
Ahemmmm.
As an experianced tramper, I know the value of a compass (I have a watch with one built in), but more important is know how to find your way without a compass.
As a rule of thumb, head downhill until you eventually see a stream, follow the stream, it wont go round in circles and will lead you towards the sea where in most case you are more likely to encouter people.
Also knowing how to find your by using the stars, the sun and signs such as moss growth on rocks etc…
Hi Jen
Let me be the first to say, you do not need a compass if you have a map. It is a simple matter to identify features on the map and then orientate the map to the features. You now know exactly where you are and which way you are facing.
Regards Stan
Ahhh, come on guys. We all saw the interview after he was found. He’s not the sharpest hammer in the tool box is he. Burke and Wills could have used his survial skills (NOT). It’s a scam. All you have do is light a fire. Bang , you,ll be picked up in an hour, go figure.
luv u Jen
Ian
I always carry a compass, pocket knife, length of cord, a coil of fishing line, some fish hooks, needle and thread, several boxes of waterproof matches, and a small stainless steel mirror. I have it made up as a small parcel so never forget any of the bits and pieces in it.
I also used to carry this onto planes in my day pack, considering that if I was unlucky enough to be in a crash, but lucky enough to survive, I could look after myself.
However, thats impossible these days.
I also have Harold Gatty’s book ‘Nature is Your Guide’ and would recommend it to anyone, if only for the very simple explanation of why it is that almost everyone will walk in a circle given enough time, and how to figure out what your own tendency is (right or left).
Dear Stumpy,
One of the reasons Jamie was lost was because he followed cedar creek downstream, your “rule of thumb” will not work in 95% of situations in the Blue mountains. Unlike most mountain situations most Blue Mountain walks start from the Plateau (at the top) and proceed down (into the wilderness) if you follow the creek downstream then you be getting further into the wilderness. The best advice is to get information from a reputable source (Like the “Think before you trek” scheme etc). If you are lost, the advice is to stay put and try to be as visible as possible, moving around just makes things worse for the search party. Jamie moved in and out of the search area a couple of times and ended up miles away from where they were looking. If he had borrowed a beacon he would have most likely had just one cold night.
Moral of the story is “Do not use a rule of thumb from a character called Stumpy”
Most important item to take is a source of fire – (can be matches or lighter but needs to be waterproofed in a sealed glad bag or similar).
If British walker had started a smoky fire he would have been found next day, and would perhaps had a more comfortable time, with some chance of light and warmth.
Regarding maps and compasses, I agree you do need to know how to use them. I have taken a compass on every walk but have actually not had need to use one on a walk for last 20 years. I also always take a map and recommend photocopying the map for every member of the party and the leader. A photocopy in the hand is much better than a map inside your backpack, when you have a choice of paths etc. If one member of the party is seperated, then an annotated map copy is good for them to have.
I do use the map almost every walk, and it gets destroyed (so a copy is best).
Richard
Just filing this here:
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25957130-23272,00.html
Jan Souman, Ilja Frissen, Manish Sreenivasa and Marc Ernst from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tubingen, Germany, tested the theory by having people walk in a large forest and in the Sahara desert.
Writing in the Current Biology journal, they said four people walking in a forest on a cloudy day repeatedly crossed their own paths without noticing it.
There’s some useful information in The Great North Walk Companion that I found on a website at http://www.thegreatnorthwalk.com. I also found an article about a small group of people who got lost on a short section of the Great North Walk. They had no supplies with them and inadequate clothing. So it is important.
Hmmm….
I am reading some very dodgy comments about navigation on this site.
The people who use their watches to find North will be very dissapointed…..and highly innacurate..
DONT DO IT…unless your at the equator around noon…..otherwise you will be anywhere from 30-60 degrees out….If you can afford a watch…you can afford a Compass.
And take the time to do a NAV DATA SHEET…..and even INTERVISABILITY SHEET.
You will grow in confidence just by doing these easy things properly.
I carry Sun Tables and 2 Compass. One in MILS and the other in DEGREES And a small calculator, Notepad,Pratractor,pencils. All up its 280grams of weight.
Enjoy.