I'd be a bit wary buying pyrotechnics from a carboot sale; good odds that miniflares will have been liberated by someone in the army, and you'll hqve no idea how they have been stored and if they are still stable and safe, or if they will work at all!
What do you pack to be FOUND???
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I'd be a bit wary buying pyrotechnics from a carboot sale; good odds that miniflares will have been liberated by someone in the army, and you'll hqve no idea how they have been stored and if they are still stable and safe, or if they will work at all!
Our spruce and cedar forests are quite dense, sometimes to the ground, with a closed canopy.
Often difficult to locate a hunting partner, even wearing DayGlo orange and 50' away.
If I wasn't incapacitated and circumstances seemed reasonable, lighting 3 small fires in a row, say 6-10' apart,
is a most unusual occurance in nature. Airborne SAR with thermal imaging will find that quite easily.
I carry lots of fire starting materials, the mirror in my Brunton 8066 compass might be good enough.
Have 3 Mylar "space blankets" in another pack pocket and never without water.
Often difficult to locate a hunting partner, even wearing DayGlo orange and 50' away.
If I wasn't incapacitated and circumstances seemed reasonable, lighting 3 small fires in a row, say 6-10' apart,
is a most unusual occurance in nature. Airborne SAR with thermal imaging will find that quite easily.
I carry lots of fire starting materials, the mirror in my Brunton 8066 compass might be good enough.
Have 3 Mylar "space blankets" in another pack pocket and never without water.
White would be the best i would think, at night anyway. During the day markers are far better than light strobes.
Tonyuk
I would say Red.
White could be easier to mistake for someone just using a torch to find their way. Red tends to carry further. Modern rear bike lights for example can be visible to the naked eye for several kilometres in clear conditions.
J
Issued survival strobes are all white.
Red is the legally required color of left side nav lights. Green for right side.
Different up to a point. The aircraft that crash at sea are the same ones that crash on mountainsides. We packed substantially the same survival kits for either mission (or desert, woodland, or tropical) Definitely always the same nav lights and strobes.
From personal experience, police blue lights show up the farther than firetruck/ambulance red ones but are illegal for civilian use in many (if not most) places.
All that said, it's best to remember just what white light is: it's the full spectrum. If red light shows up well, it's part of the spectrum in white light. If blue light shows up well, it's also part of the spectrum of white light. And so forth, and so on.
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I see where your coming from but when it gets dark white will contrast far better, especially when its not guaranteed to be clear conditions.
Tonyuk
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Matches and a couple lighters, but I carry those anyway.
No other equipment.
I trust in God, but more in myself.
No other equipment.
I trust in God, but more in myself.
From experiments using optical light for communications links, red light certainly suffers less attenuation by the atmosphere at ground levels.
Though given that many head torches have a strobe setting, then that would be a choice as you have it with you anyway. (Even if you forgot about it, as I did on a survival course.)
But, if you have a red filter (as opposed to a red LED), then I'd suggest using the pure white light. As you are using your batteries to generate the power across the spectrum, so filtering some out is just wasting resource.
I would expect that and regularly flashing light, of any colour is going to be effective at night. And the regularity would make it stand out from the random flashed of people using torches to see by.
General carried to be found:
The knowledge that you have stuck to the route plan you left with someone back home. And you are going to be missed.
(Apologies if someone has already had that one....)
Being very pedantic, though it does not have a huge bearing on this topic....
Natural white light is usually full spectrum, but what we perceive as white, may be quite different. White LED/florescent lamps will put out a mix of red/green/blue, that we will see as white. Look at one through a prism (usually this is the bottom of a beer glass, when having this discussion) and you should see distinct colour lines. Incandescent lamps do produce more of a continuous spectrum.
Jules
Though given that many head torches have a strobe setting, then that would be a choice as you have it with you anyway. (Even if you forgot about it, as I did on a survival course.)
But, if you have a red filter (as opposed to a red LED), then I'd suggest using the pure white light. As you are using your batteries to generate the power across the spectrum, so filtering some out is just wasting resource.
I would expect that and regularly flashing light, of any colour is going to be effective at night. And the regularity would make it stand out from the random flashed of people using torches to see by.
General carried to be found:
The knowledge that you have stuck to the route plan you left with someone back home. And you are going to be missed.
(Apologies if someone has already had that one....)
Being very pedantic, though it does not have a huge bearing on this topic....
Natural white light is usually full spectrum, but what we perceive as white, may be quite different. White LED/florescent lamps will put out a mix of red/green/blue, that we will see as white. Look at one through a prism (usually this is the bottom of a beer glass, when having this discussion) and you should see distinct colour lines. Incandescent lamps do produce more of a continuous spectrum.
Jules
I think people today are too safety conscious.
( then we have the nutcases that indulge in crazy 'extreme sports")
For me, the very tiny risk is part of the overall experience. I strive to minimize it by being careful, watching where I step, how I use sharp implements and so on.
I did carry one more 'tool' in the Swedish wilderness I forgot to mention. A Ruger Security Six .357 Mag. loaded with hollow points for hard skinned animals.
( then we have the nutcases that indulge in crazy 'extreme sports")
For me, the very tiny risk is part of the overall experience. I strive to minimize it by being careful, watching where I step, how I use sharp implements and so on.
I did carry one more 'tool' in the Swedish wilderness I forgot to mention. A Ruger Security Six .357 Mag. loaded with hollow points for hard skinned animals.
I bought a couple of those to keep in my pack, tucked in the first aid kit. They're tiny lightweight, (Half a dozen of them would fit in a jeans pocket) waterproof lights with non-replaceable batteries. Ideal for sticking on the back of your pack or on a tent etc (waterproof adhesive appears to stick to anything) and you can stick them to tress & rocks etc. and leave a trail to find you if you have a few. They have flashing or steady modes.
As a long running ID light, they're very useful if you have very limited space or weight.
Survival blanket, matches, lighter and storm matches. Not o be used exclusively o be found, but can be used for that. Reflection, fire, smoke.
Likewise - I have a PLB (McMurdo Fastfind). Some people carry a SPOT - this recent post on UKSKGB suggests they are less than reliable as a serious "help" tool. http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=124692
Unfortunately Infantry flares are classified as a Section 5 Firearm (certificate needed) but agree they would be a very good way of attracting attention.
We do trips in the Yukon wilderness. Therefore mobile phone is not an option (no service in remote areas).
When guiding trips I carry a sat phone (iridium). If it is just me and partner, we used to carry a SPOT unit (one way communication with pre-set messages...subject to many miscommunications). But we have recently ungraded to the DeLorme InReach (two way satellite communication with text messages), which works great!
In addition I carry flashlight/headlamp, whistle, signal mirror.
When guiding trips I carry a sat phone (iridium). If it is just me and partner, we used to carry a SPOT unit (one way communication with pre-set messages...subject to many miscommunications). But we have recently ungraded to the DeLorme InReach (two way satellite communication with text messages), which works great!
In addition I carry flashlight/headlamp, whistle, signal mirror.
forestwalker
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Signal mirror (or at least the one on the compass), a PLB (McMurdo FastFind 220), a whistle. Mobile. Thinking about replacing the PLB with an InReach: lots of areas here with crappy phone coverage, thus the PLB, the InReach would give me more nuanced and 2-way communications. Thinking of pulling the trigger on the InReach before I teach the winter course this winter.
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