Jack, Great post. As a fellow 22 year SAR pilot, I'd like to pile on a couple if I may be so bold. Extra food for thought: #1 FILE A FLOAT PLAN! It's a big world out there-- I have a much better chance of finding you if I have even a rough idea of where to start looking. Even something as simple as sending an e-mail to a friend with a rough start point and end point, and roughly how long you expect to be out can help. #2. Always a good idea to have some rescue items that work with no power. I like the signal mirror. I can see it in the air from quite a ways out when it is used properly. #3. Many search platforms these days have radar on them. Bring some tin foil along, and if you get in trouble crumple it into a loose ball and hoist it up either on your spare paddle or on something like a fishing rod. With today's radars I can see something like that quite a ways off, and if you're paddling at 3 kts or above you'll stand out from the surface clutter. #4 At night strobe lights stand out for a long way when the search crew is on goggles. Jack is exactly right, get a good strobe and turn it on if you get into trouble. Lastly, be familiar with your gear and know how to use it. The worst time to figure out how to use your fancy GPS or radio or whatever is when you're in trouble and really need it. Overall really useful post-- Jack really knows his stuff. Hoping none of us ever needs any of this-- Sluf *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Jul 23 2007 - 05:44:29 PDT
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