I'm sorry I can't be of help with your gear situation but I was wondering, is there no way
your daughter can go with you?

As a divorced dad I know that time with the kids is extremely limited. Of course I don't know everything about your situation, each one is different, and it may not be "cool" to go wiht dad but she'll appreciate it later.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryan Campbell:
I'm sorry I can't be of help with your gear situation but I was wondering, is there no way
your daughter can go with you?

As a divorced dad I know that time with the kids is extremely limited. Of course I don't know everything about your situation, each one is different, and it may not be "cool" to go with dad but she'll appreciate it later.

Ryan
My daughter is now 26 months old. The thought of taking her with me has crossed my mind, but it is not really practical. She is too big to carry but still too small to walk very far/fast on her own. Plus I can't imagine how I could hunt with her in tow.

She loves to camp(what kid doesn't?) and fish. We go on day hikes several times a week and at 25 pounds she is just the right size to ride on my shoulders/daypack. We often pack a picnic dinner and practice being quiet and spotting game.

I'm sorry to hear about your situation(my is kinda the opposite as I have full custody). Dads usually get screwed when it comes to visitation. If there is any silver lining to your having limited time with your kids, it is that you can plan your time together to be all about enjoying "being together". Having my daughter full-time I often feel guilty about having her sit around while I am doing the boring everyday stuff that needs to be done(changing the oil, filling out paperwork, paying bills, etc.).

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Oh and in regards to the question about emergency signalling that started this thread, my decision was made for me when a fellow forum member very generously gave me a Spot that he no longer needed(he had upgraded to the Spot 2). Thanks again Larry!

being rescued is relatively easy in Idaho. Just start a small fire and pile some evergreen branches on it to make smoke.
In less than thirty minutes a BLM or Forest Service field agent will come by and write you a citation for harvesting live wood without the requisite permits. After he writes you the citation and leaves you can just follow him out.

You may think I am kidding, but it has happened on more than one occasion in this state several years in a row.

Rich

PLBs are really amazing these days. I wouldn't go on a backcountry hunt without mine.

Flares aren't that great for land use.

For the weight, after the PLB, I would take a signal mirror, then a strobe, and finally, consider a rescue laser such as this
http://www.greatlandlaser.com/

I agree, lasers are a very good long range signalling device,
especialy if it's cloudy or misty.
.

When I was in the Navy they issued all air crewman a survival vest which carried miscellaneous equipment for signaling, medical and so on. I still have the vest and I have used the three devises that was in the vest.
1) signal mirror
2) hand fired flare, looks like a metal pencil and you would screw on a cartridge (looks like a 357mag case) which shoots a flare to maybe 200 feet. Which could be a back up defense weapon.
http://www.truflareusa.com/index.htm

3) A strobe light, which is battery operated. The military version had a special battery which I was never able to replace but their are commercially available strobes available.

http://gruntgear.net/strobefirefly.aspx

These 3 items covers just about any condition you might encounter and it is no bigger than a box of shells.

My Pl Sgt in my SF unit had one of those flares that he got from a US Soldier. It was very good.

.

The worst thing about flares is they eventually pass their use-by date and become a problem to get rid of. I can't think what happened to mine - probably lying around somewhere becoming dangerously unstable

I have use-by consumption of 10 smoke 10 handflare & 3 parachute flares on average every 3 yrs .
I keep them all.
Back at the Bi-centenary celebrations I set off 25 yrs of collected safety equipment .
none were unsafe & only one parachute flare failed to ignite & it had obvious signs of having been underwater with a damaged seal .
surprising life to them, with a low failure rate.
I would be surprised if the little personal flareguns were any different.( but you need in-date cartridges to be sure)

I keep an in-date set to the statutory requirements and a couple of out of date extras on each boat.

I just went thru the safety gear on one boat today & fitted a new set of flares.

My neighbor is an avid backpacker and hunter and the four items he carries are:
- Spot
- Rescue Strobe for night or low light
- A cheap blind-spot mirror for daylight use and,
- a whistle

I borrowed these items last year for an elk hunt in CO but never had to use them. I normally hunt and hike with a buddy and are often several miles apart. We use a Garmin Rino to communicate and pin point each other's position via GPS.

I don't see any mention of amateur radio. There are those who go to obscure areas with minimal equipment and communicate well at long distances.

Mete, the Garmin Rino is a 2-way radio that has 15 (5watt)frequency bands that require FCC license to use and operate. In use in the Gunnison National Forrest of CO on an elk hunt last year, we got great reception and, although the range is advertised at 14 miles, I was able to track and converse with a hunter using a Rino from more than 20 miles away. The Garmin Rino 530HCx is, without a doubt the best money I've spent on hunting and hiking gear. My hunting buddy agrees. We used it two weeks ago on a Turkey hunt in SW OK.

I had in mind LONG distance .
Those types like the Garmin [ family radio] advertise best distance which means flat land etc.Mountain use may reduce that to 5 or even less.That license is usually ignored.
My thoughts were contacting someone 50, 100 or more miles.If you have GPS you can get your location and radio that to anyone you can contact.

Another vote for HAM radio. In fact I carry 4 devices on extended trips far out from any civilization.

1. Cell phone - rarely works.
2. Sat phone - (almost) always works, battery life is a problem
3. SPOT - works 50% of the time in Alaska, 25% in Asia
4. HAM Radio - works great in US, capable of transmitting on several bands inc. marine, 2 meter, 10 meter, etc, etc.

A late adopter, I'm a little ashamed to say I've not only sunk to the GPS and UHF radio, but now to hiring a satellite phone. What would Aldo Leopold and Jim Bridger think?

If you are in the USA, spot works just fine. Just check in a couple times a day. If somthing happens and you can't activate it, at least someone will know where you've been in the last couple hours.

quote:

Originally posted by eny:
If you are in the USA, spot works just fine. Just check in a couple times a day. If somthing happens and you can't activate it, at least someone will know where you've been in the last couple hours.

I used the spot in Cameroon and it worked about 95% of the time. I think their coverage is awesome.