So What is Your Emergency Plan?

I'm not a fire bug but in an extreme case, I would do it if it was safe and absolutely necessary. Forests grow back, houses can be rebuilt. Lost lives never return.

Clearly, you guys are not amused by my willingness to play God. It's one of the human flaws.

 

I just posted the below in the Other safety thread but I’ll share it here too and emphasize communication.

Having what you need is great but what about if you can’t walk out and nobody is around for miles or hours? Having a satellite messenger is worth its weight in gold. SPOT, DeLorme and others make great ones with sub plans as cheap as $150/year. That includes a helicopter if needed. Is $150 really that expensive? No. Get one, keep it charged or carry spares, and know how to use it.

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From other thread: Regarding safety supplies; I carry a fully charged phone, small backup battery, emergency blanket, first aid kit, whistle, small knife, and a SPOT Satellite messenger in my pack. I’d rather have it and not need it than...

I ride solo 99% of the time and want to be able to rely on myself. I also change the lockscreen on my phone to display emergency contact info, blood type, allergies, name, etc.

Having gone through scouts, EMT, mountain rescue classes and more, I don’t want to be that guy that hopes others will have what’s needed when an emergency happens. A few pounds of stuff could save your life.

When I’m doubt, slow down. Strava doesn’t care about your wellbeing.

 

This is about as prepared as a rider could be, riding solo. Signal flares and whistle? JK, Jordan : ) Maybe not on the whistle...hope for no rib injury...

Bravo on stressing the cost-benefit of a GPS-based device. I've had people* actually argue that one-time two-hundy for a PLB is too much money to spend.

*Who spend money on gas every weekend to ride and own a multi-thousand dollar bike...and used to post here

 

It has to be the most overlooked safety item out there. I can’t tell you how many times a satellite device/sat phone saved our asses racing in Baja.

 

Driving home from yoga I was thinking I don’t even have an emergency contact card in my backpack...how simple is it to write down a few names and numbers for someone to call if you’re knocked out or immobile. Sheesh, I need to get on this!
Great ideas guys, keep em coming

 

No one has mentioned a Road ID.
I wear one on almost every ride, it has emergency contact info, health insurance info etc.
Get it, use it. $20 and $10 per year .
a fireman friend wears it 24/7 .
Of course it'll only be of use once help gets there.

I ride with the cell phone in my shorts front zipper pocket, it's easy to get out. it could be difficult to access in the pack if injured .

 

Smart, I’ll check that out now, thx
I have my phone in my shorts pocket too, I think the guys used it to contact my peeps when I stacked

 

I did that last week and promptly fell on it. Like one minute into the ride!?! Now I've switched it to a back jersey pocket. Wish me luck!

Good reminder about the Road ID, @Danimal. I think I'll check it out, too.

 

And they’re also good for just coordinating a pick-up when coming out of the backcountry. For $15/month you turn impossible situations into no big deal.

 

Actually.....I have been wearing one every ride for the last 5 years. It has all the info they need.....once they find me.

 

I have no real plan. I carry my phone, and it's not locked. I always have my DL and my ATM card on me - if you can't wake me up you can go buy a beer. I'm also not one to commit acts of derring-do either, so the very few times I've crashed it's been scrapes and minor bruises, nothing more.

Almost 57 years and I've still never broken a bone. Plan to keep it that way.

 

Well the plan so far in retrospect..

Stack
Spew profanity
Drag my A$$ to my feet
Continue to Spew Profanity
Drag my A$$ and broken body back to civilization while continually spewing profanity

In seriousness I ebb and flow, I have some specific rules on long solo rides, but it is the Solo local rip it up rides in the evening I should be more concerned about especially since I am riding with a smaller (can't camp for days) pack

 

Rattle snakes are a real thing out in the local foothills. I have seen 3 in one ride before. In 2003 I was riding side by side with a buddy and heard a pinging sound behind me. I looked back and saw that a rattler struck at me.

So be aware of rattlers out there, especially when its hot.

 

I'm about right with you. I always let my wife know where I'm riding whether I'm solo or with friends and let her know when I'm done....even today when I'm in Whistler and she's at home in SoCal. She also has that locater app on her phone and obviously has my friends phone numbers...more importantly and it may have come up, do YOU have the phone numbers for the wives/girlfriends/husbands of people you ride with? I do which came in handy when my buddy Matt had his heart attack.

 

Oh good, I did not want to breach the subject but..... So did you land head up or head down from the tree? Was you bike on one side and you on the other still clipped in? How far below the grade did you stop? Bleeding? Profusely? Sprains?

I am a solo rider and have been for a very long time. I ride trails that do not have any or many people on them. I ride at night. I carry a cell phone, a whistle, a tiny one cell AAA backup light (never used) a tool kit (rarely used), a cell phone and a first aid kit of alcohol wipes, bandaids, liquid bandaids and gauze. I do ride radio free trails but try to mostly ride ones with reception. I have called on my cell a few times as a test and nobody answers, but it is also a backup light.

Happy night trails

 

Get a beacon, DBHbro.

 

Like others have mentioned: Most of the time I do not ride alone. Riding with others is the best emergency plan IMO, if the group can't take care of the situation, we can call or send for help. I always have a fully charged cell phone, cliff bar, small first aid kit, tube, links, etc and sometimes a laser and/or other light source. Occasionally when I do ride alone, I ride very cautiously as in just enjoying the outdoors rather than chasing PR's. Like Danmtchl brought up, I too use the find my phone app on iphone in which I can be located using gps from the home PC. Probably not the best of plans, but it's something. Always room for improvement.

 

I assume this is directed to me. I landed face up on the downside of the trail about 10 feet off the trail. My bike was still pointing down trail but closer to the trail than I meaning my feet were elevated above my head as the terrain slopes up to the trail. My left foot was still in the pedal, my right foot was under the bike out of the pedal. Because I was face up, this means my left knee was twisting to accommodate being locked in my pedal as I could not move my heal out far enough to disengage the pedal. The two right pelvic fractures hurt so bad I could not kick the bike off to get out. If I didn’t have cell service it would have been hours before they would have got to me.

Get a PLB, brothah?

 

With utmost respect for everyone praising the virtue of PLB's (and having the wisdom which might help you survive a serious accident or medical condition).. I find myself very resistant to the idea of carrying one of these devices.

I've been off the beaten track so much in my life, and it means so much to me, that carrying something tethering me to the city (and the security of rescue) runs counter to my spirit. I know I can die at any time, in any location. I'm OK with that. What's kept me sane throughout my adult life is the freedom to step away from the "safe" world and venture out into the unknown.

Most of my biggest adventures took place before PLB's were an option, but I doubt I would've carried one. I've carried a whistle at times (Ha!) and some orange smoke bombs on a long ski tour ('who' exactly was going to see them, since my buddy and I only saw one other person for 3 weeks and were at least a day's worth of skiing from any trail head?).

And more recently I've even carried a cell phone on some rides (mostly when leading a trail work event), but even that.. feels like an anchor to me. I mean, thank God, @Mikie, you had your phone and decent reception!?!

Anyway, it's hard to explain and/or justify.. But I was looking at PLB's online, and trying to wrap my head around it, but just can't pull the trigger. I suppose it's similar to my aversion of working out in a gym; I just need the adventure. The risk. The self-reliance of knowing I'll at least try--to drag myself back to civilization (not easy to do with broken ribs and pelvis!).

I don't claim to be some outdoorsman genius. Or super hero. Or anything else, really. Nor would I want anyone to follow my lead, for whatever reason. To each, his or her own. Be smart, test your limits, come home safe; ride another day.

kioti out.

 

I hear yah, I hear yah, I hear yah.
I’ll wordsmith it this way. They don’t cost a lot. They don’t weigh a lot. You don’t ever have to use it. Consider it in your junk drawer and you have to dig for it to even find it.
But when we ride the things we ride, stuff is going to happen. Unplanned stuff. If ever the moment when a person has lost control of their environment, like I lost control of my environment, that 3 bars of cell service was the greatest thing I ever saw! Because it gave me hope to regain control.
Without that...............................................................................................................?

Consider it the spare chute when all else fails.

 

I resonate with this, though I did plop the cash for an Inreach. With my wife and me 20 miles from a trailhead and my kids away at camp, parental angst wins out sometimes. The whole point of heading out is to get some peace of mind, no?

But these devices are definitely changing the backcountry. The last few years have seen the outdoors get crowded with FOMO/YOLO people headed out with their packs full of the latest gear and their minds filled with the latest bad advice from YouTube.

 

I'm in the market for a new device. Planning to, again, go with a basic PLB and liking the compactness of this unit:



https://www.westmarine.com/buy/ocea...personal-locator-beacon--17112913?recordNum=4


Hey, @Mikie, what did you end up with?

 

It's pricey but there are no subscription fees.

 

They were selling satellite phones on CostCo that looked pretty good:



$229...

You have to pay for a satellite plan, but the bare bones one is $11.95 per month, and includes unlimited SOS and 10 free text messages. Tracking points and location pings are a la carte at $.10 each. For $24.95 you can upgrade to 40 free text messages and unlimited tracking points and location pings.

 

The new Garmin inreach is about that size. I still wouldn't buy any device that doesn't have a communication capability. How often are you just running late or have something come up where the ability to send a message when you are out of cell service could be very useful?

 

Good suggestions, but I want just a PLB. Don't want to pay for and carry capability I won't use. Honestly, ev: never. I bikepack solo on an open schedule, so I'm never "late," and am completely happy with my system. Just need to replace a component of it.

 

Playing around with the Garmin Livetrack, I feel comfortable with it handling 99% of my use. It requires a cell signal, but I am rarely without a signal, and even then not for long. It will reping once a signal is established. If my GF knows I am out riding and my track doesn't update for a period of time, she can infer I am in distress.

I'm considering one of these. But not just yet.

 

Went to a family gathering yesterday and was talking to my wife's cousin who works for a company that does helicopter evacuations. Looks like an inexpensive alternative to (god forbid) one us needing to get airlifted - $65-85/year. Good coverage throughout the US. Any of you use this or a similar service?

https://www.airmedcarenetwork.com/m...riation2&_ga=1.30870015.1982603220.1464292226

I promise I am not getting any commission for this! LOL

 

Did you sign up Lubo?

 

My sister uses this, she’s in Nor Cal and is an endurance rider(horse) so she needs it, but thankfully hasn’t had to use it.
She does have a friend who’s had to use it, I can find out more from her if needed