Safety in the Bush

Hi All
I note with sadness yet another prospector lost in WA.Epirbs , radios, GPS can all help.Also theres a $1.50 item that should always be carried.The Bic Lighter.In extreme heat find any shade and wait till nightfall.Then light a huge fire.Im sure others will add to this post.
Cheers Dig
Ps A sure sign of dehidration is that you dont think your thirsty, by the time you do think your thirsty your badly dehidrated.

You should also carry a small mirror. In day light, a reflection from a mirror can be seen better by search planes than smoke from a fire.
wombat 

I would light a fire early in the morning  and make plenty of smoke .  Burn spinifex   if it is growing in that area .   Mirrors are good  but a plume  of smoke lasts longer .   I always carry matches,  you can get waterproof ones from Coleman .

Ground searchers will see a plume of smoke, planes might not be in the air .

Theres another added advantage of carrying a bic lighter.See how far you can swipe above the coil.The further away the better.Stops errors like detecting and finding that the switch is on cancel.
Cheers Dig

what about carrying a flare ? boats have them.

Smoker or non smoker, matches or lighter are a must have, when traversing alone through bush. A flare is not a bad idea either, just make sure it can't be accidentally activated whilst in your back pack.

Cheers Kon.

in my pack i have a flint match, compass, multi knife with a field dressing, water, super glue for any cuts or things that need sticking, dried biscuits,small can of food, apple, mirror, flashing bike light, spare batts, flare, emergency blanket, backtrack gps, plus cb attached to harness, fly spray, and any other odds and bits. haven't needed them so far but just in case. plus a hidden camera set up at my camp for any intruders. an old scouts motto ' be prepared ' not that i travel very far from my camp but just in case. all this stuff is small and light to carry
cheers

G'day

You might carry your survival stash for many years without using it, but if and when things go wrong you will very glad you did, its easy to make up a small pouch that you can attach to your harness or belt with a few necessities in it and each trip have a look at it and see that everything is still good, at the very least if you can get a fire going it will help you to maintain your spirits while waiting to be found and be a way of letting people on the ground know where you are.

While I also carry a plb and radio at all times, I have been wondering about what other device we could use to let others that are camping with us or attending ground searchers in the area to more quickly pinpoint your position, as I see it the quickest mode of help would be from those people who are out there with you once they have been alerted that you are in trouble, the problem with most searches is it takes far too long to get people mobilised and on the ground in the general area and more often than not in recent years its been too late.

The problem is that people who are already on the ground looking for you can't readily pinpoint your exact position and so a plb is of no use to them, and one of the reasons is because as we are detecting or prospecting we tend to wander all over the place and while someone may have seen you leave camp in one direction it does not mean that you are still out that way, so in the start of the search they may waste valuable time looking in the wrong direction first.

A method of quicker location is what is really needed, I did not consider flares as I was also concerned about starting a bush fire because a lot of the places we go even in the winter months can still be very dry, but if we had some sort of flare that could be shot into the air and explode to alert people of your location direction and put coloured smoke over your position, or something that would be longer burning that could be set off on the ground next to you and put up a smoke plume to show your position, many times people are not really that far away from where they started out from and its only the scrub that is making the search difficult, the real problem is that the longer they are left out there the chances of their surviving are diminishing, and even more so if they are suffering an injury or snake bite etc.

I was even considering a device that could be set off by the lost person and would emit a signal that could be tracked maybe by using a uhf radio, say its frequency was set at one particular channel or something similar, surely some of you that are more tech savvy than me can come up with something that would be efficient enough, even a tracking device that could be carried you that can be located such as the gps tracking devices that they use on vehicles and so on, anyway food for thought and money to be made for someone that could come up with something useful.

au-fever

When Mrs Redfin and I wander off, usually in opposite directions, we regularly sync GPS units [via satelite] so we can clearly see where the other half is.

Just trying to push this post along.In WA especially its easy to spike your tyres, so your 100k from nowhere and youve punctured 3 tyres.Youve only got one or two spares, so what do you carry to get you going.The simple answer is travel in pairs, but lets make it hard, phone reception nil, just you a vehicle with 3 flat tyres
Cheers Dig

Dig24crt wrote:Just trying to push this post along.In WA especially its easy to spike your tyres, so your 100k from nowhere and youve punctured 3 tyres.Youve only got one or two spares, so what do you carry to get you going.The simple answer is travel in pairs, but lets make it hard, phone reception nil, just you a vehicle with 3 flat tyres
Cheers Dig

G'day Dig,

We carry a good puncture repair kit with heaps of spare plugs and a heavy duty 12 volt air compressor. 10mins and we are back on the road again. Even handy at home, as it happened a couple of weeks ago went out to move the car and noticed that the back of the car on a funny angle, yep had a flat tyre on the back.

Cheers.

Mike.

Being purely hypothetical. As I haven't given it more than a few minutes thought.

I would have my recovery kit with me. And in that I have.

Snatch strap
Tow strap
tree trunk protector
equaliser strap
Some chain and shackles.  
And I always carry plenty of Telstra rope.

Bering in mind, I have a 4WD with open centered diffs front and back.
I would probably remove my rear tail shaft.
Place last remaining tyre on the front and build up the opposite tyre with my assortment of straps and what ever it took to get it close to a similar size.
On the back. I would attempt the make up some sort of skis, made of tree trunks. And keep replacing them as necessary.
Or worst case. Just drag the rear end on the rims?

Hi
Good improvisation Neo , but the trick is be prepared. Mike hit it in one.1 12vlt heavy duty air compressor, the cheap ones dont work.2Repair outfits .Dont know if there available on tbe eastcoast, but in Wa they sell kits that plug tubeless tyres.Split rims are invaluable if you know how to split them.Then you only need extra tubes
Cheers Dig

Gday

Tyres are always an issue in the bush, some trips you may not even get one flat but on other trips you may get several, basically there are only two ways to go, the first being to remain with using tubeless tyres, but in my experience I have had far more punctures with these due to the thin side walls on most of them and as they tend to be wider so they suffer more sidewall damage on the narrow bush tracks, but the up side is they can be plugged quickly to get you moving again, as mentioned a good 12v compressor is vital and well stocked plugging kit, they are available online or in most auto stored like Supercheap and Repco.

The other option is to use split rims, this is my first option as they are in my own experience less problematic than tubeless tyres, and narrow tyres are much less trouble in the bush, particularly here in WA, and after reverting back to using them (touch wood) have not one flat tyre for the last few seasons, they are easy enough to repair if you know how, but they are very dangerous and some tyre places will charge you more to fix them if you cant do them yourself, spare tubes are easy to carry, and as with tubeless tyres a good 12v compressor, a well stocked patching kit, also you will need two tyre levers and a rubber mallet, you can also get a device called "tyre pliers" that you use to break the bead seat, its easy to use and makes the job less of a hassle, you must of course keep your rims in good order, as they will rust inside and make removing the tyres difficult, so before you start using them its a good idea to have them apart and make sure the inside is clean and rust free, that way if you have to fix one in the bush you will be able to get it apart, another thing to carry is a good strong tie down strap to wrap around the tyre when you are blowing it back up as a poorly fitted retaining ring can come of and bite you, the people who make tyre pliers also do a safety harness for the job apparently but I have been unable to find an agent for them to get one.

The other thing with split rims is you can get some really tough tyres for them, 12-14-16 ply and so on, these are all what they call rag or cross ply tyres with many chinese and indian brands available, they tend to have much thicker side walls as they are intended for bush or agricultural use rather than a smooth or quiet ride like the tubeless tyres are made for, I know quite a few people who use them now and when I run out the tyres I have I will be looking to replace them with heavier ones, anything that you can do to avoid vehicle issues in the bush is a good thing and will make your trip safer and more enjoyable.

au-fever

Hi guys. you could drag a chain when detecting then you could find your way back to the car easily enough. So long as it is not raining.

Dig24crt wrote:Hi
Good improvisation Neo , but the trick is be prepared. Mike hit it in one.1 12vlt heavy duty air compressor, the cheap ones dont work.2Repair outfits .Dont know if there available on tbe eastcoast, but in Wa they sell kits that plug tubeless tyres.Split rims are invaluable if you know how to split them.Then you only need extra tubes
Cheers Dig

Cheers Dig,

I have a tendency of considering situations as a worst case scenario.  
I always carry my TJM air compressor and Repair kit with plenty of plugs too. Not much use with bad sidewall tears though.
I have thought about split rims and they are by far the best option for WA by the sounds of it.
If I get my act together between now and next season. I'd be keen to get over to WA and I will definitely be considering split rims.

Cheers,
Neo.