Testing Ones Self

I'm wondering how many of us out there actually test their systems ?

Last weekend after the Vic Exploroz Ruffy drive, Ilder Chris was explaining his choice of satphone and the first thought that occurred to me was to verify the comments, So we drove to a spot I know only 3km from a phone tower which is a dead spot
and sure enough a Telstra phone had no reception but Chrises satphone (GlobalStar ?) worked fully showing how useful they can be not far from Melbourne !

However it isn't just things that need to be checked, its also our own capabilities and with these thoughts in mind and the current search for a missing child in bush just 25km away, I thought its high time to test one's own ability to get thru some serious bush alone.

I nominated a point about 5km down a 4wd track I knew and plotted a difficult cross country bush walk to it, which was about 2km away.
Then set out on foot to get their and back allowing 6 hours for the hike and return.

The extra things I took other than the obvious was my trusty Garmin 276c GPS into which I had entered just the start and destination waypoints, a mobile phone and a roll of pink fluro tape and gloves.

The thick foliage meant that within 100 meters I was out of sight and relying solely on the GPS for direction and began marking the path with the fluro tape at least every 50 meters.

Quite a fascinating experience actually and after the first fall and a few cuts you soon start to think that this isn't a bad simulation at all.

Deep in one ferny gully and with heavy cloud cover the GPS lost signal and then I really did sit down and think about the best way to proceed.

It would be very easy to get lost, so I back tracked and made the last two pink fluro tape track markers more obvious and moved on keeping them roughly in line and always keeping one in sight until I reached a less dense bit of forrest where I positioned the GPS better and got it picking up satellites again.
Gloves came in quite handy as expected to break thru the bush, but in still took nearly 3 hrs to get to the destination.

Despite being near stuffed I embarked on the return trip without taking a drink and made it back in about 45 minutes following my markers.

Muscles where starting to ache by the time I got to the car and I wasn't in a really good mood when I was hit by 2 small incidents which really added some pressure to the endevour.

First the stupid car started ok but ran for about 15 secs and died.

I then realized it was the driver not the car that was dumb, I had parked the car on a steep slope when nearly empty and the fuel pump pickup was out of the fuel so it simply ran out of petrol.

Being an auto I couldn't drive it 10m on the starter motor to flatter ground and instead transferred fuel over the next 15 minutes to the main tank and hit the key, after a few anxious seconds she coughed , spluttered a few times and said
"Ok I hope I've taught you a lesson", RELIEF !

As if the bush walk and car test wasn't enough, I'd just driven off and doing the usual check for things as you do and I couldn't find my phone.

Cutting a long story short there was no phone service but I've been through that one before and pulled out a spare phone I always carry and began a back track search using Bluetooth (Well I did after I remembered to turn on the spare phones Bluetooth visibility).
I had had trouble with the last ravine but my luck was good this time as the phone was found only 50m from the car.

(Note as I finish writing this, the 11 year old child has just been found after 5 days in the nearby bush, fantastic )
Robin Miller

Member
My Profile  Send Message

Back Expand Un-Read 4 Moderator

Reply By: Tony Christian - Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 15:50

Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 15:50
Robin,

What a great exercise in testing oneself.

It got me thinking as I travel predominately solo, single vehicle.

My question to myself is now, do I have enough backups for the " Just in case scenarios" ?

I travel with:

PLB battery check but not much else one can do. I keep the PLB beside me at all times.
HF radio with radio checks on some nights.
Sat Phone with telephone call checks when available.

Last letting family know of ETA's etc.

I also minimise risk where I can, like walk around obstacles as opposed to climbing over. do not lean over the fire. Last year I was wandering around the GVD and got distracted by the scenery and found I had lost my back trail. So I just stopped, had a brew and worked my back trail until I got out. I do have several GPS' plus OziExplorer x 3 plus paper maps which helps. Even so I missed my back trail.

Apart from the aforementioned I can not think of much else one can do.

Tony Christian
Albany
WA.


AnswerID: 552094

Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 16:32

Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 16:32
Thanks Tony

I see that you see just what I was testing , and its not wether one can climb a bigger hill but rather that one can make a logical assesment of a situation which includes ones personnal limitations and act appropritely to that situation.



Robin Miller

Member
My Profile  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 837676

Reply By: The Explorer - Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 15:54

Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 15:54
Crikey! I dont know whether to laugh or cry.

You should have your own show on the Discovery Channel - "Miller's Melodrama" would be an appropriate name :)

Cheers
Greg
I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message
Moderator

AnswerID: 552096

Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 16:34

Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 16:34
Greg you missed this opportunity to say that a Montanna would have been better than the 276c in this case and finally we would have agreed on a GPS question !
Robin Miller

Member
My Profile  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 837677

Follow Up By: The Explorer - Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 16:45

Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 16:45
I reckon the Monterra (Garmin Android GPS) is better than the Montana :) You can run OziExplorer, Hema Explorer, TwoNav etc etc as well as Garmin Maps...though still prefer the TwoNav Aventura.

Cheers
Greg
I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message
Moderator

0
FollowupID: 837678

Reply By: Dennis Ellery - Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 19:48

Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 19:48
Wow Robin that’s impressive.
It must have taken months of army training to get to handle that.
I’m awake up to you mate, you’re not an ordinary civy – you’re ex SAS aren’t you?
AnswerID: 552112

Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 20:53

Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 20:53
But Dennis, what you may not realize is the enormous cultural heritage that had to be overcome in this 4km walk.

Generations of our peer group have lived by the moto " Why walk when you could drive" !

Robin Miller

Member
My Profile  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 837692

Follow Up By: Dennis Ellery - Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 22:16

Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 22:16
No Robin I do realise the challenges you face when you keep pushing the envelope like this. To say I was impressed was an understatement
0
FollowupID: 837701

Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Wednesday, Apr 08, 2015 at 08:07

Wednesday, Apr 08, 2015 at 08:07
I was thinking that all this stuff is relative Dennis , the other day I went with an 89 yo aunt while she took a 300m journey with her frame thru a shopping centre , and I reckon she worked every bit as hard as I did to achieve her goal.
Robin Miller

Member
My Profile  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 837709

Follow Up By: Dennis Ellery - Wednesday, Apr 08, 2015 at 10:06

Wednesday, Apr 08, 2015 at 10:06
Cheers Robin,
I was only having a bit of a stir.
0
FollowupID: 837715

Reply By: Member - Ian F (WA) - Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 20:29

Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 20:29
Hi Robin,
Well written.
Ian
AnswerID: 552116

Reply By: Idler Chris - Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 20:50

Tuesday, Apr 07, 2015 at 20:50
Robin are you trying to kill yourself? You could have broken a leg, got bitten by a snake, had a heart attack etc.
My system is
1. stay with the vehicle.
2. get on the Sat phone for help or advice.
3. Have a cuppa or if after 3 have a beer and wait.
As far as testing my system, well I pretty well do it it most days so am extremely confident I will be able to do it all should the brown stuff hit the fan.
And yes my satellite phone is Globalstar.
What other people think of me is none of my business.
Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message

AnswerID: 552122

Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Wednesday, Apr 08, 2015 at 10:24

Wednesday, Apr 08, 2015 at 10:24
I tend to agree with your plan Chris (although 3pm is a little late) but I am no walker and it was good to actually do it.

I kept my post short but one thing that really surprized me was that at one time I went down a steep Deer path and there were some 6 deer and about 20 Roo's with 50m of me , in the close brush we didn't see each other , and then all of a sudden they took off one coming toward me when I slipped and dropped the 276c onto a rock as I rolled, and for once in my life the thing didn't land butter side down.







Robin Miller

Member
My Profile  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 837719

Reply By: The Landy - Wednesday, Apr 08, 2015 at 08:42

Wednesday, Apr 08, 2015 at 08:42
Great read Robin...!

I'm a big fan of this sort of stuff and I think it is important to make sure your gear, and yourself are able to perform in the way intended.

If walking I always carry a compass on Topo Map and regularly test myself cross-country, apart from being quite liberating and enjoyable, it provides one with a great sense of achievement whilst practising vital survival skills...

And it was great to see they found the young child!

Cheers, Baz...
AnswerID: 552146

Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Wednesday, Apr 08, 2015 at 18:48

Wednesday, Apr 08, 2015 at 18:48
Yep , as you said everyone has a plan until..... Then you hope everything works.

Found an interesting little equipment one the other day , discovered that patches I use for punctures don't stick properly.

With much better tyres these days its been 3 years since I have repaired a tyre and then it was just some plugs - actually the plugs probably have a shelf life to , better check than out !


Robin Miller

Member
My Profile  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 837744

Reply By: Member - nick b - Thursday, Apr 09, 2015 at 09:20

Thursday, Apr 09, 2015 at 09:20
I wonder how Robyn Davidson naved over the desert & how the camera bloke found her each time ?
Cheers Nick b

Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

AnswerID: 552207

Sponsored Links