Hiker breaks ankle/wrist and survives 8 days

See here or here.

The summary: it seems he had left a detailed itinerary at his home, but hadn't shared it with anyone (?), and he lost his PLB in the fall. Not much detail on what he did for water and so on, but he had his gear with him so likely he was relatively well equipped.
 
Wait a minute...

I thought you only had to survive for an average of 3 days :D

There's food for thought here about the difference between average and range.



Kind regards
Mick
 
SouthernCross, that is a good point. Our planning should follow the motto, plan for the worst, in this case more than 3 days with debilitating injuries, and hope for the best, back home in the warm bed when you're supposed to be.

Charlie
 
If you consider that you could go out on a seven-day trip, get hurt on day 2, and no-one would report you missing until five days later, then obviously it's foreseeable that you could be out more than three days.

Once you're reported missing, though, if you left a good trip plan and stuck to it you should get found within a day.

And it bears pointing out that if you take "prepare for the worst" seriously, if you accept that serious injury can happen to you, and you travel solo in the backcountry, then you should worry less about surviving seven days and more about where to buy a PLB or SPOT.
 
Zaner01 said:
If you consider that you could go out on a seven-day trip, get hurt on day 2, and no-one would report you missing until five days later, then obviously it's foreseeable that you could be out more than three days.

Once you're reported missing, though, if you left a good trip plan and stuck to it you should get found within a day.

And it bears pointing out that if you take "prepare for the worst" seriously, if you accept that serious injury can happen to you, and you travel solo in the backcountry, then you should worry less about surviving seven days and more about where to buy a PLB or SPOT.
Click to expand...

I agree about the wisdom of leaving a trip itinerary with a trusted person, who will raise the alarm should you not turn up as expected. I also agree that a PLB is a useful piece of equipment. BTW what is a SPOT?

However, as you pointed out in your first post, a PLB can be lost in the incident that brings about the situation in the first place.

Personally I believe it is wise to be able to survive for extended periods. In this way you are trully "prepared for the worse".

Bear in mind as always, others opinions may vary on this.



Kind regards
Mick
 
SouthernCross said:
However, as you pointed out in your first post, a PLB can be lost in the incident that brings about the situation in the first place.
Click to expand...

True. Never put all your eggs in one basket.

SPOT is essentially PLB-lite: a device that uses sat phone technology to either send "I'm OK" messages to family/friends, or "Holy crap come help me" messages to a call centre that then contacts authorities.
 
When I have gone alone, never more than 3 days I have always left my itenary told my wife where on the trail I expected to be each day and signed in any trail registration boxes I have passed.
 
I carry an ACR PLB that I bought before the SPOT came out. I've read that the SPOT can be set up to transmit your progress on a hike to your friends at home, which could be a good way for folks to keep track of you.

By the time my PLB is ready for lithium battery replacement, there may be an even better SPOT type device available so I might go that route. I'm also looking to buy a satphone for extended raft/canoe trips in AK. I've rented in the past.

DancesWithKnives
 
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