I'm just passing along a caution based on a tragedy that occured here in Michigan. A hunter was wearing a gillie suit with burlap strips glued to a nylon backing. He was lighting his pipe and his suit went up in flames. By the time he got it off he had suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 90% of his body. He got himself out of the woods and was aeromeded to a burn unit but died two days later. A bit of a freak accident but something to be aware of.

Jeff

[ 12-03-2003, 18:36: Message edited by: Skibum ]

Damn, that smoking will kill you no matter what. I guess he should have fireproofed the burlap on that ghillie suit. My sympathies to his family, though. - Dan

Apparently he had sprayed it with waterproofing which only made it more flammable. He was carrying a pipe that had been his grandfathers and he took it hunting as a tradition.

Jeff

This is not an isolated problem. There was a young man that died near Bismarck when his ghillie suit caught fire. He got too close to a campfire. He was with friends, but they could't get the fire out fast enough to save him.

It happened to me near a gass heater durring goose season....burlap burns fast...I was not hurt.

Urdubob

Glad to hear that urubob. It's just one of those fluke things you don't consider.

Jeff

Same thing happened to one of my soldiers (a sniper) during a recruiting display in a town shopping mall.

Pretty bad advertisement as he ran screaming into the water feature like a human fireball.

Quite funny thinking about it now though.

It's an interesting paradox to me, requiring a gullie suit to stay hidden from game, yet lighting a pipe with the associated far reaching un-natural odors. Sorry to hear he died from this.

Let this be a strong lesson to young hunters. If your trying to remain undetected by wild game regardless of your wardrobe, don't smoke!

JJ: Yeah, talk about smell from pipe tobacco. I was recently on a boat in the Gulf where smoking was allowed only in a designated smoking room on deck, but not below. When a pipe smoker came below, I could smell him long before he got near me. Cigarette smokers are much less noticeable.

True but if a deer can smell the smoke they can smell you.

Jeff