My BK-16 saved my life...

Yeah, you did alright man. I was out saturday night into the early morning sunday looking for 3 bear hunters who had 2 rifles and the clothes on their back, which of course were tee shirts and jeans. No water, no light source, no gear to speak of except a cell phone. They were just hanging out shivering when we found them.
I made sure to point out if they'd had even a small light they'd have been able to walk out in 2 hours.
 
Like everyone else, glad you got out OK, and good advice from everyone on equipment. Every time I go out for a "day" hike, I am prepared to stay overnight if I get lost. Even with a map and compass, I have made wrong turns on trails, and got turned around. I've always found my way, but there's always a first time.

Nice work with a good knife.
 
Thanks Moose, while I am proud of my skills, I am a bit ashamed that I let myself and my friend get into this bad of a situation, we got careless with what gear we were bringing, and we panicked and got way off-course, not exactly the response I'd hope I'd have to this situation but very common from what I understand.

And this would have been a fun time for me too if it wasn't raining I had better clothes on and more water I don't really mind not knowing exactly where I am as long as I have a decent bearing on where "back" is, we got confused and lost that bearing.
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These things happen a lot of time when you just say "oh let's got out for a walk in the woods; it'll take just a couple of hours" and then you get lost. I bet anyone of us had a similar issue.
This episode also reminds me of an article I read many years ago on a USA's knives magazine, in few words the author suggested to bring a bigger knife on a dayhike because it could be of more help than a shor knife. He said that if you are out in the country for some days, you may have a shelter prepared or a camp and most probably you'll have a lot of tools that can help you in case of troubles; instead, when you're on a dayhike, you don't have many things to make yourself comfortable and a good knife can give you an help in case of troubles. For example if you need to build a shelter or a stretcher.
 
And that's why you prepare.

You got out, so you did good.

If you'll permit me to critique you a bit, I'd recommend practicing some lean-to setups with your tarp. A reflective tarp lean-to with a long fire in front should make a fairly warm shelter.
 
Pilot1 said:
Like everyone else, glad you got out OK, and good advice from everyone on equipment. Every time I go out for a "day" hike, I am prepared to stay overnight if I get lost. Even with a map and compass, I have made wrong turns on trails, and got turned around. I've always found my way, but there's always a first time.

Nice work with a good knife.
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that was the bitter irony of it all, I'm usually the one who brings an excessive amount of gear with me, of course the one time I leave the bigger tarp, wear cotton pants, bring minimal water etc. is the time we get really f'in lost. Adam's catchphrase from Equip to Endure just kept ringing in my head "if your not always prepared you're never prepared"
 
TheWambo said:
that was the bitter irony of it all, I'm usually the one who brings an excessive amount of gear with me, of course the one time I leave the bigger tarp, wear cotton pants, bring minimal water etc. is the time we get really f'in lost. Adam's catchphrase from Equip to Endure just kept ringing in my head "if your not always prepared you're never prepared"
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Yup, we never have bad things happen to us when we are "ready" for it.

And there in lies the problem. We start to get complacent, think, "I don't need to take blah, blah, blah...." "Too heavy, only going out for a while...." That's when we get into trouble.

I've come to rely on the knife kit. My BK2 kit can go a long ways, weighs 2lbs, and is always packed and ready to go. Alot of times, I'm out with a Mora, firesteel, and and a canteen cup.

I can get by pretty well with just that, but it ain't gonna be fun, and it ain't gonna be easy. Just enough to stay warm, and hydrated.

Emergency blankets are a godsend. I taught a few groups of Boy Scouts that a 12hr candle, and emergency blanket, and a bic lighter will go along ways to keeping you in the oxygen breathing group.

Its about the mindset, you can get by without alot of things, you just have to break that comfort zone, and keep a cool head.

Moose
 
SaturatedShadow said:
And that's why you prepare.

You got out, so you did good.

If you'll permit me to critique you a bit, I'd recommend practicing some lean-to setups with your tarp. A reflective tarp lean-to with a long fire in front should make a fairly warm shelter.
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I have and usually sleep in them in the summer (if I'm not hammocking) we waited to long to start setting up a shelter and it was getting too dark to find our way to a treeline to set up a proper shelter, so I made due with what we had, but yeah if there is any lesson to be learned from this its the following

1. as everyone else said, pack for the worst
2. take time to make a good shelter
3. don't get f'in lost in the first place
4. take time making navigational decisions

Being with another person was a blessing and a curse, we sort of panicked togetger getting more lost (whereas individually we probably would have stopped sooner, less water to go around, and one more person to shelter, on the other side of that coin we kept each-other warmer and gave each-other a moral boost.
 
Glad you made it out ok. Makes for a valuable learning experience.

Even for short hikes I take my gear pack, If I can't haul around 20 pounds I don't need to be out. There have been a few times I have been really grateful that I brought it along.
I've been off track a few times, biggest thing is to calm down and keep a clear head. Make a fire, gives you something to do to take your mind off of things and calm the panic that sets in, keeps you warm, and now your camping instead of being lost. The mindset is what defeats most people.

Now clean that 16 up and get your gear together. :thumbup:

For the record, I never get lost but sometimes I do find alternate and interesting long ways to get back to the place I started from.
 
Skystorm said:
Glad you made it out ok. Makes for a valuable learning experience.

Even for short hikes I take my gear pack, If I can't haul around 20 pounds I don't need to be out. There have been a few times I have been really grateful that I brought it along.
I've been off track a few times, biggest thing is to calm down and keep a clear head. Make a fire, gives you something to do to take your mind off of things and calm the panic that sets in, keeps you warm, and now your camping instead of being lost. The mindset is what defeats most people.

Now clean that 16 up and get your gear together. :thumbup:

For the record, I never get lost but sometimes I do find alternate and interesting long ways to get back to the place I started from.
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oh did I say we were lost, I meant to say we found a place we didn't intend to
 
so you guys spooned? :eek: how'd you guys decide who was going to be in front/back? :D that's the reason why even on day hikes i take overnight load out during the winter...glad you guys made it out okay!
 
JV3 said:
so you guys spooned? :eek: how'd you guys decide who was going to be in front/back? :D that's the reason why even on day hikes i take overnight load out during the winter...glad you guys made it out okay!
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We entered a heterosexual thermal preservation position lol :D
 
JV3 said:
so you guys spooned? :eek: how'd you guys decide who was going to be in front/back? :D that's the reason why even on day hikes i take overnight load out during the winter...glad you guys made it out okay!
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TheWambo said:
We entered a heterosexual thermal preservation position lol :D
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TheWambo said:
oh did I say we were lost, I meant to say we found a place we didn't intend to
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Only thing that would make this better, would be a good fire, a few cold beer, and miles away from civilization!
 
I glad things turned out well! I recently read a story were during hurricane Katrina people were calling in their addresses to notify the choppers where to pick the people up at... As it turns out, everything was underwater, so one of the guys on the chopper remembered that he had Google Maps in his phone and was able to pinpoint addresses from above, lol.

I may buy a Becker now, I just need to ask someone about the sheath dulling problem I heard about though.
 
Cross Bones said:
I glad things turned out well! I recently read a story were during hurricane Katrina people were calling in their addresses to notify the choppers where to pick the people up at... As it turns out, everything was underwater, so one of the guys on the chopper remembered that he had Google Maps in his phone and was able to pinpoint addresses from above, lol.

I may buy a Becker now, I just need to ask someone about the sheath dulling problem I heard about though.
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the dulling is very minimal, Ka-Bar reduced the glass content in their sheaths (thus reducing wear) and you don't really get much dulling unless you drag the blade along the sheath. Thanks
 
TheWambo said:
the dulling is very minimal, Ka-Bar reduced the glass content in their sheaths (thus reducing wear) and you don't really get much dulling unless you drag the blade along the sheath. Thanks
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Cool, I had heard something about them fixing it, then they were waiting on the sheaths to sell out to the new and improved ones, but I bet that's over now.
 
glad it worked out for you guys and that the 16 pulled through for you. thanks for sharing this.
 
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