RE: [Paddlewise] 0 for 3!!!

To KK's post -- thanks for the nice words, but thanks more for the
reference to the signal mirror.  I wrote my response late after a
cross-country flight, and I ommitted a couple of high-burner items that
KK has addressed.


KK:  #1 FILE A FLOAT PLAN! ..... even a rough idea of where to start
looking.

Absolutely!  One on me for leaving that out.  Used to keep
fill-in-the-blank float plans in my truck and fill out the critical bits
before launching, leaving the plan on the glare shield.  (At least in
theory.)

KK: #2. Always a good idea to have [a] signal mirror. 

Amen. I again claim jet lag for leaving that one out.  If I could have
only one passive survival item, I'd take a mirror first.  During
brighter daytime periods, that is the most powerful identifier with the
greatest range of all.  Absolutely the best daytime passive rescue
device available -- as well as the cheapest device in my bailout kit.  

KK: #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.

Great -- if it really works.  My experience is different but old.  (See
PW archives for an eight year old discussion on this topic.)  From what
I've seen in the past, the aluminum foil stuff is interesting but
unconvincing; have worked with some Coast Guard 42 footers prior to swim
supports in the past with various commercial radar reflectors aboard,
and have remained invisible to them at relatively close range and while
in visual and radio contact -- but, again, you can't prove a negative.
For radar visibility, I'd prefer a SART.  Transform yourself from a
possible blip requiring the oncoming craft to post lookouts to something
closer to Point Lookout and you'll be more likely to attract the desired
attention.  (Most people worry more about the bigger guy than us, funny
enough.  Become Nova Scotia -- see archive.) 

KK: #4 At night strobe lights stand out for a long way when the search
crew is on goggles.

For an active rescue device -- absent a reliable radio -- the strobe
would be my number one pick.  Again, you break the pattern of the debris
field.  You allow the SAR crew to discriminate to specific targets of
interest.  Strobes are valuable even without the benefit of night vision
devices on the SAR craft, as well.

KK: 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.

Definitely -- the stuff is expensive weight if you don't know how to use
it -- and that's not having RTFM-level experience, either: it's
experience from having tried to operate the gear in realistic scenarios
in the dark -- maybe in the water if the exercise can be controlled.
(I've run a few exercises with our local paddling club in the past where
we coordinated with the Coast Guard and local SAR and civil authorities
for a sanctioned flare shoot-off -- usually a 15 minute period with a
specific, pre-ordained start and stop time where we will attempt to
light off pyrotechnic signals of all sorts (1) for the experience of
actually doing it and (2) to see how effective they might be in a real
situation -- along with (2b) to see if they actually work!  Good,
practical experience, but haven't tried it in a few years, and can't say
with any assurance that it's still an option.  But ask!)


Thanks to KK and to others who have added to this thread.  It reminds me
of the old days on P'Wise -- where practical safety issues and
experience drove the show versus dissonant discussions of T&E procedural
flaws.  Such discussions are too close to my work to be interesting but
lighting flares and working SAR exercises are fascinating!

Joq
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