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Backcountry Safety By South Cox
imageIt wasn’t many years ago that I’d head out deep into the mountains for a week or longer on a solo bivouac hunt without any special safety gear. Filled with the enthusiasm of youth, I didn’t give personal safety or the consequences of an injury deep in the wilderness a second thought. Now, as personal experiences of mishaps and misadventures have accumulated, my youthful misconception of immortality has eroded. With age comes wisdom (sometimes) and responsibility to your wife and children. It is with that revelation that I began to make a more concerted effort with my safety preparations. No longer do I head into the backcountry without some sort of a plan and the necessary means to make contact should an emergency arise.
Cell Phones
The most affordable, albeit not the most reliable, method of communication is the trusty cell phone. You likely already have one, and in many areas of the lower 48 they work pretty reliably. There are three types of cellular signals available: Digital, PCS, and the older analog signal. Most subscribers will likely be using phones that are compatible with the digital signal, while a few of the providers use the PCS signal. Many of the cell towers in more remote mountain areas are still using the older analog signal. If you have a digital only or PCS phone, you will be out of luck. Dual mode, digital/analog phones are still available. If you do a lot of remote hunts, you might want to get one, even if you activate it only during the hunting season. If you have PCS, you’ll likely have no service unless you are near a major metropolitan area. Call your service, tell them where you are going, and they should be able to tell you whether or not you’ll have service. Climbing to the top of the mountain will sometimes get you a signal even if you’re a long way from the nearest cell tower.
Satellite Phones
If you’re venturing into country where cell phone service is uncertain or nonexistent, you can rent a satellite phone to stay connected. Rental fees are pretty reasonable (about $60-75 per week) – cheap insurance for remote locations. You pay by the minute for time used; depending on the provider, it can run up to around $2 a minute, so you’ll want to reserve it for emergencies and quick check-ins with the family.
There are currently three satellite service providers – Globalstar, Iridium and Inmarsat. Globalstar’s service is no longer reliable enough, in my mind, to stake your life on. Several years ago, I bought a Globalstar phone, knowing I’d be in a lot of situations where I’d be beyond cell service. I was really happy with the service in the beginning, but in the second year of service, I found I was rarely able to get a connection, despite having a good signal. Word is they are having some issues with their satellites that won’t be rectified for a couple more years. I eventually discontinued service with them and am considering buying or renting an Iridium sat phone. Globalstar’s service is limited to the northern hemisphere, while Iridium works worldwide. Inmarsat is geared toward data transfer, though they do have a handset for phone use. The drawback is their unit weighs about three pounds and doesn’t work in Alaska yet.
Iridium’s phone only weighs about 13 ounces and you can rent an extra battery and solar charger if you plan on using it often. Their battery life is touted at over three hours of talk time, so it is unlikely you’ll be burning even one of them; though as with anything electronic, it’s wise to have an extra battery. After surfing around the net for a while, I found the best rental fees through satellitephonesdirect.com. They were $59 a week and you could choose from paying for airtime by the minute at $1.75 per minute, or bundle the minutes with a choice of several packages that could drop the rates down as low as $1.19 per minute.
Personal Locator Beacon
For those who don’t want to incur the cost of renting a sat phone or just want the simplicity of a single push button for help, a personal locator beacon is the answer. The two that I see most applicable to the hunting industry are the SPOT and the ACR. They both communicate with satellites to pinpoint your location. The SPOT system uses Globalstar’s satellites, but not to worry, the data side of their system has not suffered any of the problems the sat phones have been plagued with. Because the satellites are privately owned, there is a subscription fee for their service. The unit itself costs about $150 dollars, with the annual fees running up to $100 depending on the level of features you choose. If you subscribe to all of their features, it is a really useful tool to have. The beacon has three buttons. The first is a “check in button” that allows the user to send out a pre-scripted message that tells their chosen recipient via e-mail or text on their cell phones that everything is o.k. The second button is a “send help” function that would be used in a non-life-threatening situation, again sent via text or e-mail. The third is the 911 button which will notify Search and Rescue, the local sheriff, etc. Your GPS coordinates are sent out and help is mobilized within minutes. Another function of the SPOT is when any of the buttons are pushed, your recipient can log onto the SPOT site and check your location on a Google Earth map. If you leave the unit on, your location will be transmitted every 10 minutes and that can also be tracked on Google Earth as well.
My "check in" message gets sent to my wife to let her know that I’m okay and that I’m thinking of her. It gives her peace of mind so she doesn’t have to worry about me on my solo hunts. On hunts when I’m using a packer, I program my “send help” function to notify my packer that I’ve shot a buck and need a meat haul or am ready to be packed out. The Spot system is not world-wide coverage, so look at their coverage map to make sure it works where you’re going.
ACR makes a couple of different models of PLBs. Both have the same functions; one is just lighter and more compact. The nice thing about ACR’s beacons is they operate off of government satellites, so there is no subscription fee and they work worldwide. They use the same technology that the beacons in airplanes and ships use. The initial cost of the ACRs is significantly higher (in the $700 range) but when you remember that you won’t have to pay an annual fee, it will be cheaper in the long run.
One company I found rents both the SPOT and the ACR beacons. Skycall Communications (801) 463-1869 charges $50/week for either one; they also rent sat phones, for a one-stop shop.
Global Rescue
A week or so back I was listening to a podcast on Bowcast.com and “discovered” Global Rescue. Global Rescue is a company that will evacuate you from the field after any serious medical mishap anywhere in the world and return you to your hometown, all for one low annual fee. Rather than working on a per-occurrence fee, you subscribe to their service for $329 per year per person. The service is partnered with John Hopkins’ Hospitals worldwide and uses partnerships with other SAR agencies to shorten lead times for calls that are outside of their immediate area. All of the operators who answer the phones are paramedics who can help assess injuries and offer first aid consultation. At least a handful of their staff are ex-Navy SEALs field medics; when they say they’ll go anywhere under any condition to retrieve one of their clients, they mean it. It’s worth listening to the podcast just to hear the story of the guy they pulled off of K-2 at 16,000 feet in Pakistan. I was sold immediately. I could have used their services when I got mauled by the bear. There also have been too many “almosts” during my adventures to pass up that kind of peace of mind. It took me years to pay off the helicopter extraction and ambulance ride I got following the mauling – all of that could have been covered.
First Aid Kits
For minor injuries that can be self-treated in the field or to stabilize more serious injuries, I carry a small first aid kit with me on my bivouac hunts. While it isn’t extensive, it has the basics. When I’m getting packed in, I’ll carry a larger one and leave it in base camp. I haven’t had to dip into either of them much, but with life experience, you begin to learn that you aren’t immortal and it’s more a matter of when than if. I use kits from Adventure Medical Kits. In addition to a good, smart selection of first aid choices, they have thorough booklets in the kit that go into good detail on diagnosing and treating injuries.
