Bothy Bags?

[mbrodw]

George,
I own the two person shelter, and i can't think of a technique to hold the shelter up around a casualty laying down. If you do know a technique for putting the shelter up and holding it up, then i would be very interested to know how-I take groups of scouts walking and we carry both, the bothy bags are usually used for lunch stops to keep the kids warm!

Mark

 

[max]

Hello Kathie

This method of pre prepared survival was covered on some survival courses i've done, including practical exercises in the event of casualty use. It was cosidered when out with a group you took both - personal survival bag and group bothy bag.

Bonus of group bothy bag was group containment, monitering onset thermal illness and much better for moral - both would be very difficult to control with people in their own survival bags.

A responsible group leader in the mountains would carry a small rope and the bag would be secured to something to anchor, also alot of models do not have built in seats so you sit on your rucksack.

Since the survival coureses, i have used bothy bags exactly as trained and in very bad conditions, they were fantastic and can be the difference between life or death.

Max

 

[tedw]

My 2-person Terra Nova bothy bag has "pockets" in the roof that I imagine are for slotting in extended walking poles as "tent poles". These would obviously hold the thing more upright and taut in a one-user or, maybe, a casualty situation. Never tried it!

Ted W

 

[alick]

Hi Kathie,
I used to live up in the lakes when I was a lad and remember one of the mountain rescue guys showing us how to use a large 6 seater version of these. It packed away into it's integral bumbag. On an exposed windy hillside it made a terrific difference. The temperature inside went up several degrees.
I was thinking of it when my daughters and I stopped to eat in a really windy spot at the weekend. I set up my tarp as a windbreak which was vital, but it isn't big enough for three and because it isn't enclosed, you don't get the temperature rise. Now the girls know why Dad insisted on hats and gloves !
I think these shelters are very practical and effective if you're a regular in the hills and walk with others. Cheers.

 

[george]

Mark

I must admit I'm not a fan of the 2 person bags at all - for little additional weight and bulk you could carry one designed for 6 people. In my opinion if you are out with a group you should have a bag big enough to shelter the whole group, they make them big enough to hold 12 and up.

If you can get 6 seated people in it you can have one lying down casualty plus 2 or even 3 treating them. Putting crossed walking poles in an X shape at one end or even a pile of rucsacs will keep it high enough to avoid too much hassle.

Max's idea of having everyone inside the shelter to help with morale and to allow group control and monitoring is right - but I would go further though and take 2 large bags per group - each one big enough to contain the whole group. If someone has an accident they can be dealt with in one while the rest of the group are kept safe in the other. It's not a good thing to have otherwise fit and healthy people sitting watching when you're trying to treat a casualty - I've been there on many occassions and it can cause a lot of upset for all concerned. You don't want to be dealing with people fainting when you're trying to deal with a more serious casualty.

George

 

[max]

Hello - this is a great thread :-D

Thats how we did it on the survival course , if i remember right there was 8 in the group and 2 instructors, the instructors and casualy in one shelter (casualty confidence) and rest of group in another, there was a lot more skills than this to the exercises we did ie, hot food and drink without stoves or naked flames, signalling and sending for help, casualty evacuation, etc, Can't remember bothy shelter sizes, but they were perfect for the exercises we did.

I've got 2 now though, 1 x2 person( terra nova) for on my own and 4 person ( outdoor designs)when with my mate. I also carry a blizzard pack.

The leaders did use sticks to support the casualty bothy, can't rember how :-?



Maxmountains

 

[Kath]

Thanks for all your helpful advice everyone. :-D I'm definitely going to get one now (as an additional piece of kit rather than any kind of replacement). Your posts have made me look back on a few emergencies that I've dealt with over the years and realized that a bothy bag would have been a fast and easy shelter solution had I possessed one at the time.

I'm trying to research colors atm, would prefer green or dpm (if there is such a thing, anyone?) Not keen on dayglo orange as it's too easy to look like an emergency case when you've just stopped for a cuppa. Had a mountaiin rescue chopper come down to investigate once when the kids opened up a foil blankie to keep warm while I cooked lunch (bloody thing put out my stove! :-x)

 

[max]

Hello Kath

Outdoor designs and Terra nova do a green, never come across dpm though.

Good luck and safe adventures with the kids :-D

Maxmountains

 

[mbrodw]

George,
Interesting to know! We (the scout group) have a couple of the larger ones but they are very old and are carried more for thew novelty value-it keeps the kids interested if they have somewhere warm to stop for lunch! The two person one is me and my father use when we go walking!

Kathie-the terra nova bothy is a lime green-which is better than day glo orange but still sticks out!

Mark