All the knives in the world wouldn't help.......

[rhyan]

Last week I was in the orchard with a SAK, Firesteel, axe, fixed blade, saw, paracord - just playing and practising a few ideas for my next wild camp.

Then it happened - I slipped on a rock, my ankle went over, there was a funny popping noise from it and I fell to the floor. Phone was back at the house, Mel and the little one were out, dog was asleep in the kitchen. So I lay on the floor for about 10 minutes waiting for the pain and nausea to pass and tried to asses my situation. I'm only 150 yards from the house and a phone and yet I felt helpless, vulnerable and in all honesty a little scared.

I thought about all the times I just wander off to the dark peaks with no real plan or route and very often just with telling Mel where I might be leaving the car for a couple days.

I only had 150 yards to hop to safety, warmth, telephone etc - what if this had happened somewhere on Kinder Scout, in a forest? How would I have coped then? I notoriously travel very light on kit and would have probably ended up a creak minus a paddle.

As it happens I have torn ligaments in my ankle and its now only the size of a small rugby ball.

Its really made me reassess how I am going to approach my kit for day walks and overnighters and I am going to be making a conscious effort to try and plan routes and leave copies at home from now on. One thing I have purchased is a folding trekking pole from Alpkit to carry at all times just in case.

Bit of a boring story to share with you all though and a Happy New Year!

 

[dwardo]

Not boring at all. Good reminder of how easily things can get out of hand. Heal fast and well.

 

[Dreadhead]

As Dwardo said, a sobering moment. Hope you heal up enough to have a dram for the bells

 

[rhyan]

Healing good and planning trips with brandy a plenty, so all is good.

We think we have it all covered, shelter, food, crafting skills - think I need to work on my ninja reflex and dexterity more!

Thanks chaps

 

[Brynglas]

Not boring but good reminder how easily things can take a turn for the worse. Get well soon.

 

[ArkAngel]

You had all that stuff with you and couldn't McGuyver up a wheelchair to get you back to the house???????

Hope it heals well and you're back out soon

 

[Robson Valley]

Set a reasonable time for your return from a trip. Check in when you get back. I leave a map with somebody I trust to call out S&R if I don't get back at the more-or-less time I decided. Much as I'd like to wander off to explore something I see/find, I stick to the route I've marked on the map.

 

[tsitenha]

You where in an orchard and you could have used the saw to cut a couple of branches, ax to shape them, paracord to bind the splint. Saw or ax again the made a "stick or crutch". If you had a longer way to safety.
Learn from this that all is not lost when adversity happens.
Enjoy the moment with the reality that you overcame your lot and learned from it.
Heal well, guard in the future and realize that soft tissue damage heals but is permanently weak, so be prepared but do indeed enjoy walks again.

 

[David LaFerney]

Actually I've been thinking about this a bit lately. You see all these survival kits that contain all kinds of things - cordage, wire saws, fish hooks, more cordage, band aids, signal mirrors, guns, ammo, glow sticks, MREs... As if you will be homesteading for weeks in the wilderness when in truth it's hard to get out of earshot of traffic most places. But I think that in most survival situations that actually happen in the real world there are only two things that you have to survive (assuming that you don't have critical trauma) which are exposure, and dehydration - for 3-4 days tops. If you have suitable clothes a space blanket and some water you could probably survive (admittedly in great discomfort) for many days. If you had a charged up cell phone it would have been even better in this particular case. I'm starting to think that a survival kit needs to be built around a poncho, a sweatshirt, a water bottle, and a cell phone before anything else is even considered. Fire and shelter options after that.

This time you were in the back yard (more or less) but a simple day hike could have put you into terrain that would be almost impossible to negotiate with a bad sprain - even with a splint and crutch. Something to think about.

I hope you recover quickly, and enjoy the rest of the holidays.

 

[GGTBod]

A good lesson well learnt there than anywhere else you mentioned, thanks for sharing.

I had a rude awakening to the fragility of the human body about 5.5 years ago in my bathroom (june 2010), stepped out of the shower reaching for a towel and my back went for the first time, both legs twitched and all the muscles below my buttcheaks spasmed like i'd had an electric shock and next thing i know i am lying on the floor and every time i tried to use my legs or arms to get up the pain was unreal, i mean so bad i thought i was going to defecate and urinate at the same time every time i tried to move, i lay there for over an hour before i was able to crawl to my bed, spent 3 weeks bedridden before i was able to walk with a stick and needed cared for by family, i live alone and spent the first 2 days in bed before hunger forced me to admit to myself i needed help and dragged myself to the living room to use my phone, ashamedly the first thing i called was for a takeaway to be delivered and then i called family. It was bad enough that happening inside my own house never mind out in the wilds, i still need a stick to walk to this day

Wishing you rapid healing with your rugby ball sized ankle, they are definitely a weak point and you will have to be wary of that one for life

 

[Nomad64]

I only had 150 yards to hop to safety, warmth, telephone etc - what if this had happened somewhere on Kinder Scout, in a forest? How would I have coped then? I notoriously travel very light on kit and would have probably ended up a creak minus a paddle.

As it happens I have torn ligaments in my ankle and its now only the size of a small rugby ball.

Its really made me reassess how I am going to approach my kit for day walks and overnighters and I am going to be making a conscious effort to try and plan routes and leave copies at home from now on. One thing I have purchased is a folding trekking pole from Alpkit to carry at all times just in case.

Bit of a boring story to share with you all though and a Happy New Year!

Not boring at all. A trekking pole (or even two) is definitely something worth carrying, you can't always rely on having a tree handy to fabricate a splint or walking stick/crutch from. I'd always associated poles with eccentric Scandinavians until many years ago I did something similar to you while scree-running (something which I now leave to the Chief Scout ) about 2000' above Torridon Youth Hostel. I honestly couldn't see anyway I was getting down without use of a helicopter until someone lent me a pair of poles. Still excruciatingly painful and slow but I got down eventually.

A decent length of duct tape wrapped around an old credit card is also worth its weight in even the most minimalist kits for stopping bleeding, strapping sprained joints, holding splints in place - and of course fixing any loose ducts you may come across!

It was nearly a year before I forgot which leg I was supposed to be limping on so take any physio that is on offer and good luck for a speedy recovery.

 

[stonehippo]

See a physio. Ankles take ages to heal and the right exercises will help and strengthen it. I know because I did something similar in North Wales in the summer and it still hurts. My wife is a physio and she treats it and nags (sorry dear - encourages) me to keep up the exercises. Heal well.

 

[kawasemi]

Actually I've been thinking about this a bit lately. You see all these survival kits that contain all kinds of things - cordage, wire saws, fish hooks, more cordage, band aids, signal mirrors, guns, ammo, glow sticks, MREs... As if you will be homesteading for weeks in the wilderness when in truth it's hard to get out of earshot of traffic most places. But I think that in most survival situations that actually happen in the real world there are only two things that you have to survive (assuming that you don't have critical trauma) which are exposure, and dehydration - for 3-4 days tops. If you have suitable clothes a space blanket and some water you could probably survive (admittedly in great discomfort) for many days. If you had a charged up cell phone it would have been even better in this particular case. I'm starting to think that a survival kit needs to be built around a poncho, a sweatshirt, a water bottle, and a cell phone before anything else is even considered. Fire and shelter options after that.

This time you were in the back yard (more or less) but a simple day hike could have put you into terrain that would be almost impossible to negotiate with a bad sprain - even with a splint and crutch. Something to think about.

I hope you recover quickly, and enjoy the rest of the holidays.

This makes lots of sense. Many of us (me included) have all sorts of funky kit that we lug about. It makes our bushcrafting fun but certainly for a lot of our UK based jollies (acknowledging that there is not 100% coverage) survival after injury would be warmth, water and communication.

K

 

[rhyan]

Thank you for all the positive words and good advice!

Onwards, upwards and toasting a fall free 2016 for all the Bushcraft UK community!

 

[jandude]

I tore the ligaments in one ankle playing squash when I was 19. It was a year before I could walk properly and a very long time before I could run properly and play again.
When I dislocated my shoulder not that long ago I went to a physiotherapist - best money I ever spent. He had me back to normal very quickly. Find a good physio and I hope your foot heals quicker than mine did!

 

[RonW]

Oww.. I cringed reading this. Did the exact same thing once and I nearly fainted.
It'll take a good while to heal, so go slow and I hope you are not allergic to that sticky tape they use to tape the ankle and foot up. Tore of and out some pieces of skin when they took off mine after a while.

 

[Idleknight]

Important less and if someone can learn it from you rather than experiencing it themselves, you have done a good job. Hope you recover quickly

 

[Robson Valley]

My district, McBride, is one of the top destinations for snowmobile recreation in all of North America. The essential kit is a beacon, shovel, avalanche probes and even Avalung. Cell phones are useless.
Call by Satphone that a rider broke a leg, femur it was. Search & Rescue went up the Renshaw, 10-20 miles, stabilized the guy and skidded him out to a waiting ambulance. Accidents happen. We all hope it isn't another avalanche death. I'd suggest that an essential piece of kit is a set of inflatable splints to stabilize a serious injury. They weigh next to nothing and somebody else may need your help.

Things have been so bad that the Coroner's Service can predict the demographic of the dead = 20-45 yrs old, male, not local but with little other than flatland riding experience. Usually a dozen deaths each winter.

 

[Rocks]

I mind being in Afghanistan, and I cleared a piece of road the length of a football field of IEDs' (landmines). Doesn't matter how close you are to safety mate, if you are in trouble it might as well be a different planet.
But you are ok, and you have learned from this. I chalk that up as a win. Swift recovery mate.

 

[rhyan]

Thanks guys!
I know on the scale it's a pretty minor injury and I have definitely done worse in the past. I think the scary but was the fact I wasn't doing anything vaguely risky (or so I thought LOL) - makes me cringe when I think about how I used to tromp around the Lake District (in pea soup fog up a hill on shale) 15 years ago with no map, compass, just a SAK, flask and a crappy torch.

Think Mel is getting bored now. Set the fire alarm off practising friction fire in the garage yesterday and made a a amazing micro deadfall out of my daughters Lego this morning

Happy Sunday everyone!!!!