> -----Original Message----- > From: KEVIN M KENNEY [SMTP:kmkenney_at_PRODIGY.NET] > but in > reality one of the best signalling devices (during the day) is a simple $3 > plastic mirror available at lots of places. > > A good cheap mirror is a discarded CD. A lot of places have software on them that is no longer needed and throw them out. They are robust, very reflective and have a hole in the middle for lining up. My CD burner on my PC makes useless CDs regularly though not intentionally. I work for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority which runs all the rescues in Australian waters. I went and spoke to the SAR people who have a huge background in search and rescue. The comments they made were. In Daylight nothing beats a well aimed mirror or heliograph and it dosn't need to be very big. At night a good strobe is best THe best overall colour is bright orange as this can be seen in nearly all weather conditions. They showed me a book that they give to observers which has some good pictures with tiny liftrafts etc in it, and the orange certainly stood out. Fluorescent dye put in the water shows up extremly well and lasts longer than flares. I took some on a recent expediton and found that a film canister full would make a huge stream They said that the above is still needed if you are carrying an EPRIB as they often us it for that final honing in on the subject David Australia *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 02:08 PM 8/3/00 +1000, Whyte, David wrote: >> -----Original Message----- >> From: KEVIN M KENNEY [SMTP:kmkenney_at_PRODIGY.NET] >> but in >> reality one of the best signalling devices (during the day) is a simple $3 >> plastic mirror available at lots of places. >> >> > A good cheap mirror is a discarded CD. A lot of places have software >on them that is no longer needed and throw them out. They are robust, very >reflective and have a hole in the middle for lining up. My CD burner on my >PC makes useless CDs regularly though not intentionally. There is also a seemingly endless supply of AOL CD's. Thanks for the suggestion. I went to the "signaling devices" session at the AKT skills symposium last weekend and there was a lot of good information shared. Since PFD, paddle, and kayak colors were covered during the talk I thought it would be worth summarizing some of the topics. One of the most important points stressed was if signals are going to be used between paddlers communication of what those signals mean beforehand is very important. A anecdote was shared where on paddler could see a group of boats off a bit with they're paddles waving back and forth. The paddler sprinted towards them and when he finally caught up he discovered that they had a sheet of clear plastic between a their paddles and were trying to make a sail. They were unaware that the waving of the paddles back and forth was a common signal for "emergency". The mirror was one of the first things mentioned as a signaling device as was a bright white light. The battery operated head lamps were highly recommend (don't forget to carry extra batteries). Another dual purpose item that can be used for signaling was one of the bright orange bivy bags. There was a bit of joking about the instructions printed on the side of the bag and that it could be used as reading material while waiting for a rescue. The VHF radio was also highly recommended and several examples were related where it actually helped. Chris Duff had sucess with a VHF radio contacting a cruise ship after he broke his boat on a cobble beach in New Zealand. One of the important issues mentioned was just to use your head and be aware of the environment and conditions around you. There's not point in randomly shooting off flares if there isn't going to be anyone to see them. That also extended to carrying a weather radio (a VHF can double here) so that you're aware of pending weather conditions. The topic of flares was, uh, enlightening. A box of "skyblazer flares" was brought out and we were asked what we thought the success rate would be on the 3 flares in the package. Nigel Dennis responded that his experience that when the flares were within their expiration date range the sucess rate was less than 50% and went down signficantly after that. Parachute flares were highly recommend as were dyes. It was suggested that flares should be considered a last resort rescue device and should be carried in lieu of mirrors, lightts, etc. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:16 PDT