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Met One Seriously Underprepared Walker

B

beef

Joined
Feb 15, 2004
Messages
680
I was returning from an overnight solo trip around 3 30 in the afternoon. Sun goes down at 5 30 here. It was fairly hot, and I had just finished camelling up at a water source. Ten minutes down the track I met a guy, no shirt, tiny pack, only a 1 liter waterbottle, no map and wearing flip flops instead of shoes. He asked me how far it was to the river (about 4 hrs further on). I replied that there was a swamp not far down the track, and yes, there was some water there. He looked relieved.

He was a friendly guy, but grossly underprepared. The time he was walking in, he must have had to spend the night out there.

I'm amazed that only a month or so after there had been some much publicized English backpackers rescued from the area, that anyone would be so lacking in common sense!
 
did you gave any advice to the guy? like telling him that he only had 2 hours of daylight and that he seemed unprepared for an overnighter?
If I were you, i'd be worried about the poor guy.
well, I am kinda worried now. but hey, maybe he has all the knowledge in the world and had everything he needed in his little pack.
 
hector81 said:
but hey, maybe he has all the knowledge in the world and had everything he needed in his little pack.
Click to expand...

That is very possible. Different people need different things. If you read through the ultralight hiking stuff all over the net, you'll see packing lists that include very little, and wonder how they get by. A lot of Ultralight hikers wear running shoes, or sandals, or water socks. To me, that seems silly, but it works for them.
 
I've done some super light weight hikes, but not without proper shoes. :eek: That's just crazy.
 
Did I read somewhere that Cody Lundin goes bare foot? How would you like to meet him on the trail with no shoes on???
 
I saw a couple backpacking in Sequoia earlier this year with full packs.. The man was wearing flip flops and the woman was wearing some sandals. They were going through some pretty rocky terrain at high altitude too!
 
Unless I am hiking in rocky areas where some level of ankle protection is a must, I always wear running shoes. :foot: Is there some reason I should not? I find they offer light weight, excellent arch support, and breathability. I don't really need the side-to-side support, so please..."edumacate" me! :D
 
Katdaddy said:
Did I read somewhere that Cody Lundin goes bare foot? How would you like to meet him on the trail with no shoes on???
Click to expand...

I have met him and he has half inch callouses on his feet so he doesnt need footwear in summer. As far as hiking ultra lightweight hiking. Depends on the individual but these hikers have gotten into trouble and needed rescue.

Lightweight hikers that join our SAR team get a big shock when they see the loads we carry and when they learn why we carry them they understand. When they have to litter carry other unprepared hikers out for hrs on end it finally sinks home that unprepared lightweight hiking is foolhardy when a few extra lbs make it much safer.

Skam
 
I encounter allot of folks that are "unprepared hikers" I've also encountered a few that I would consider "over prepared" so I guess it works both ways.. Most of the time the underprepared people go out and return unscathed.. most of the time the over preoared folks go out and find a reason to use all there gear...I'm a wits above kits type of guy, but there are certain elemental bits of kit which are essential..
As far as foot wear goes.. I wear boots from late september to may the warmer months its Teva Sandals ore barefoot. (accept at work, boots are uniform)
 
skammer said:
I have met him and he has half inch callouses on his feet so he doesnt need footwear in summer. As far as hiking ultra lightweight hiking. Depends on the individual but these hikers have gotten into trouble and needed rescue.

Lightweight hikers that join our SAR team get a big shock when they see the loads we carry and when they learn why we carry them they understand. When they have to litter carry other unprepared hikers out for hrs on end it finally sinks home that unprepared lightweight hiking is foolhardy when a few extra lbs make it much safer.

Skam
Click to expand...


a few extra pounds of what? I keep seeing this and am curious.

How come i and hundreds of thousands of others can hike ultralight and we dont need rescuing? perhaps its because i dont rely on my gear and i use my skills instead............many a woodsman have relied on skills rather than gear. What are you going to do when all that extra lbs of gear floats down the river or breaks? You better have some skills at that point.....gear does not replace skills.

There is way too much reliance emphasized on the gear these days, and very little on skills. There is also a lot of ASSUMPTIONS about ultralight hiking.

anyways, with that, i'm going for a hike on the BC North Shore, with a knife, firekit, survival kit, cup, couple of sausages, hardtack, bouillien cubes, meal bars and my SAS jacket.
 
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Less is more.

I don't really want or need to carry a 60 lb pack. I have survived plenty of times with a 1 liter bottle and a steel cup. Drink the water, boil some in the cup, pour it into the 1 liter, boil another and drink that.

Of course it can be taken to a dangerous extreme depending on where you are, but as long as you have the basics covered, the rest is for comfort, not survival.
 
I hike in running shoes in dry season sometimes if I plan to stay on known trails. Flip floppers seems a bit under-kill. If there is such a term. One toe injury and all that gear you didn't bring is going to seem much more appropriate.
 
i am pretty comfortable in my backwoods carrying a big ol' knife and a few essentials. that being said i may not be spending the most comfortable time out there but i can live out there with minimal equipment if need be.

i can understand why the SAR teams carry alot of equipment though.
 
In some ways I see similarities between motorcycling and hiking in terms of skill and gear requirements. I've had people ask me why I always wear full motorcycling gear...full face helmet, gloves, boots, riding suit, etc. There's obviously some discomfort and extra effort associated with wearing all this gear. The argument could be made that if I increased my riding skills then I could forgo some of the gear...maybe wear flip flops instead of heavy leather boots because the chances of grinding my toes off would be lessened. I'll stick with a combination of good gear and sound skills to get me through the day...whether riding or hiking. Gear and skills can compliment each other...and when one fails the other can often pick up the slack.
 
Clearly this is one of those polarizing issues. The guy who gets lost or stuck is blamed for having no skills. The gal who runs out of water/food or didn't have the right piece of first aid to deal with a problem is blamed for having not the right equipment.

The ultralighters feel like they have better skills then the guys who pull loads - compensating for their ignorance. The comfy campers wonder why somebody wants to get buy on 3 energy bars for 3 days.

Shit happens because a combination of circumstances, the perfect storm if you will, occurs and you just happen to be in the sweet spot at your particular skill level/equipment where things go outside your control. Truth is, the most skillful and most equipped of any of us can still have our butts handed to us by mother nature when she goes into PMS mode. Sure some folks take on too much, but by the same token we all learn from gradations of experience. Taking on too much have has a lot to do with our assumptions, our assumptions have much to do with our experiences. Sometimes those failures make us learn more and broaden them out.
 
I almost always pack heavy-I bring basically an entire bug out bag (minus the guns and ammo) if I'm doing anything longer than a 1 hour hike. That also includes about 6 liters of water in camelbak bladder and water bottles. I have ran out of water before. 6 liters in one day, it was high and dry and no water source around to filter-no shade, etc. It wasn't that I wasn't prepared enough-I was. I rationed my water as I needed it. But when you go from 1000 feet to 5,000 feet and it is 5% humidity, 90 degrees, dusty with no cloud cover or shade... you go through water real fast. Sometimes you can't blame hikers for what happens-it's the nature of the beast and the challenge is one of the reasons why we all do what we do. I for one will help a fellow hiker in need without being judgmental. It's a learning process, and you can't blame newbies to outdoor recreation that just don't know better. Constructive criticism or instruction will teach them the way of things without scaring them back to their cities.
 
This bloke was definitely not an ultralight hiker. He had what appeared to be a 15 to 20 liter canvas pack. A walker infront of me offered him more water and a map, but he refused.
I was worried about him, but there is only so much you can do. I do however wondered whether I should have contacted SAR and told them that they might have a case on their hands. What's the general consensus on that one?
 
i've run into some people who are obviously not prepared. other than giving them a heads up or warning theres really not much you can do, atleast in my opinion.
 
Bushman5 said:
a few extra pounds of what? I keep seeing this and am curious.

There is also a lot of ASSUMPTIONS about ultralight hiking.

anyways, with that, i'm going for a hike on the BC North Shore, with a knife, firekit, survival kit, cup, couple of sausages, hardtack, bouillien cubes, meal bars and my SAS jacket.
Click to expand...

Extra lbs like water, some food, extra clothing, jacket, a light of some kind the list can go on. Hiking so lightweight that your extra jacket is a garbage bag does not cut it.

Extra water is not a map to what hopefully is water. Extra warmth layer is not silk weight poly pro especially at altitude or shoulder seasons.

I day hike with 10 lbs of gear water included. When I see ppl with 15 lb packs for a weeks trip in the mnts I KNOW they are missing gear its just not possible and yes I know whats in their packs. Just because 1000's do it incident free every day means nothing as I get called for that one and more often than not its a body recovery.

My SAR pack has extra heavy fleece for me and the lost subject, food for me and the lost subject. 2 lights headlamp and handheld with 3 extra sets of batts, radios and batts, 10 x 12 shelter tarp, ropes, tubular webbing, extra socks a medical kit that is 4.5 lbs in of itself. minimum 3 litres of water, Casualty blankets. Thermo pad. In winter there is more food sleeping bag extra gloves stove and fuel. The list goes on and on.

So you see, if I can and do haul this stuff to come get somebodies sorry ass (dead or alive) maybe they could have hauled a few lbs more so I wouldnt have to in the first place.

I am not telling people to haul 50lbs of stuff just something like a small headlamp in case you get stuck after dark you can still find your way out. Or maybe some extra water becasue the water hole you counted on is dried up.

Just using ones brain goes a lot longer way than cutting of pack straps and toothbrushes in half. Carry some reasonable gear.

Agreed knowledge is key but GPS has levelled the playing field and has given people who have no business in the outback a sense of security with no skill sets to back it up. That said there is some gear that is not easily replicated in the field so its not as simple as saying knowledge is the answer to all risks out there because its not.

Hope that clears it up a bit, not interested in a flame war as I see it all the time when the phone rings at 3 am and I end up tracking a so called "experienced hiker", racing against the clock to bring them out breathing. When I find them they certainly DO NOT mind taking "MY" extra clothes, eat "MY" extra food and drink "MY" extra water while "I" build a shelter and they crawl into "MY" sleeping bag trying to stave of hypothermia next to the fire "I" started. All provided by "MY" 30 -50 lb pack "I" hauled up the same track they took with virtually "NO" gear.

Skam
 
I certainly look at it two ways, for the most part.

While im like most of you, I like essentials. Just the bare bones when I go camping. But I also have training, not like most. Most of the time, when we find someone who has had an atv crash and thats why they didn't come back, they dont have an ATV license, they dont have a helment, and they have nothing on them but a pocket knife, key for the quad and what ever gas is in the tank.

But, on the other hand, sometimes there are people who are armed to the teeth with gear, but they just dont know how to use it. And that is the problem, I have no problem with ultralights, but the thing is MOST of the time, they are not prepard, not only equipment wise, but mentally.

Bushman, in your case, and probably most of you friends I wouldn't worry. If I got called out for bushman 5, I would know something major has happend, and no gear in the world would help ya, know what I mean.

But when the call comes in for a group of tubers that whent down the river together, on a river they know is dangerous, I can bet their gear bag is going to look like their bag of skills for the woods, empty.
 
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