Buried his street SUV tires in the sand and got to walk a whole 1/4 mile before the desert took him. I know exactly where he died, I 4W there all the time (actually I was in there with my dog about a week ago) and there is ZERO cell phone reception. Not very difficult trails but not the trails you want to take in your street SUV either. A terrible reminder to never venture anywhere off road without some basic supplies.
So this made me curious, if you like going where others don’t, what do you carry in your vehicle when you head there?
I always have all the basics for at least one/two overnight stay/survival in the car, plus basic hiking necessities if I do ever need to walk out like a daypack, water (A LOT OF WATER), snacks. A pretty comprehensive Medical Aid kit and an IFAK when I venture away from the Jeep. Also some repair stuff like zip-ties, tapes, small socket wrench set, screwdrivers, pliers.
As added insurance I upgraded my iPhone to the 15 ProMax because it now has Satellite Emergency messaging capabilities. Cheaper than buying a SAT phone that I was strongly considering. A 20 mile hike out of some areas around here is pretty much not doable by most, that’s why there are so many Off-Road “rescue” services in this area.
You have limitations and so does your vehicle. You can play it safe and enjoy the time or you can push it and pay the consequences. Nothing worse than high centering on a stupid little stump out in the middle of nowhere and having limited equipment or being completely berried in the mud and no tools to assist you.
I had an F150 4x4 with a lift, wench, and 35-inch tires. I had everything I could with me. I had seen this tall hillside and thought, that’ll be fun to climb. About 3/4 of the way up I spotted the top of the hill with a two-foot vertical side. I decided not to continue then came back down. I climbed up the hillside to check it out and that is when I realized it was about four feet tall. I turned around and headed back to the truck when I saw a mangled-up bronco setting up against a stump and realized that I was not the first to try to make it up the hill, but common sense or reasoning stopped me from trying. I could tell when I got to the top that no one has ever made it all the way over the top and I thank my lucky stars that I stopped and did not continue. Like I said before, vehicles have limitations and so do we.
I don’t pack light. I always have lots of drinking water for me and my truck. I always have lots of medical supplies and tools for me and my truck. Now that I am older, I don’t go out playing in the dessert any more like I did when I was a young man living in Clovis, but we do get into some wilder environments when we travel to Louisianna to visit the in-laws. Some of the cousins don’t even have driveways going to their houses. Just trails through the march.
I really posted this to try to get folks to think. When I lived by the beach I was in the habit of driving my daughter to college in the morning and then running my Jeep on the beach for a couple of miles headed back home.
I stopped doing it, not because I grew tired of it but because I grew tired of getting flagged almost every morning by some fool that thought his vehicle was suitable for beach travel. One morning it was a dude in a Corvette!!!
He had been stranded pretty much since the night before with a beautiful young lady who was well past the end of her patience on her forced overnight stay.
I told the guy that if I pulled him out I could guarantee I was going to crack the fiberglass on the front spoiler. His “girlfriend” made it clear that even if I pulled off his front end she wanted him to let me get them to the pavement. He sheepishly nodded so I hooked him up with my tow strap and I could hear the cracking of body pieces all the way back to the road. That was ONE expensive date for that guy….
I see folks in the desert trails with highly unsuitable vehicles all the time. And the trails around here, even the “easy” ones are loaded with jagged stones guaranteed to slice a road tire in minutes. I’ve given up on towing folks, there is no upside and only liability for me but I’ve given away tons of protein bars and bottled water and taken a bunch of “notes” of information to pass on when I got a mobile signal.
Thank God there are many off-road rescue services out here. But again, wrong vehicle, no supplies and poor physical shape or health challenges will kill you real quick if you’re even just a few miles off the beaten path.
Im in southern MI now. Carry alot of crap in the truck to get me unstuck or someone else. Otherwise not much else.
Now when i lived in AK, totally nother story.
Go out on a day hunt, carry enough for 3 days. Wife had a travel plan for me everytime (i usually hunted alone). If she didnt hear from me within a certain amount of time, call the troopers. Cell was spotty but usually could get a text or short call out.
Even road trips, always carried enough gear and supplies to live in the truck for a couple days, even in the winter.
ATV’ing, never went alone. Need someone to point to my body for responders
I must admit very early on my first couple of encounters with the Desert this former ‘city boy’
was luckily humbled by just how fast you can DIE in ‘The Great Southwest!’
I will keep the ‘Experiences’ short (not to hog the conversation)
I came upon a DB in a Hawaiian shirt and cargo’s (No bag, canteen, food debris of any kind.
Fried to a crisp and mauled by an assortment of critters I would guess. (No vehicle either that I found)
My first encounter with actual Vultures ( I had no idea they could get so huge!)
I have to go out further and further to shoot because of human sprawl. It was (3)
Migrants. Who were usually desert broken in by the time they reached the US. but they had one issue man made (bullets to the head). MOO! is they got too tired or thirsty, they stopped and were attacked by other Human Predator’s, hard to fight back when you are totally dehydrated.
The Vulture’s made quick work of them. I counted (11) Lord knows how many fattened up and flew off. That was a mess.
There are all sorts of ways to die out here without even trying hard.
My Xterra (2015) is a little more tricked out than stock and I won’t take risks, rely on my GUT, and if it looks too rough I won’t venture far. I can’t, Even w/ what Enzo, and others mentioned I packed the back with enough supplies to wait for help. But still 95+ degrees I’m no Camel, and my physical condition is fair to good but I don’t expect to get miles outta my legs.
She’s a very good truck but she’s got 180,000! miles on her. We are both in the same boat, We Don’t take unnecessary risks.
I’m a very long time ocean boater. You learn very quickly that water is not where humans belong. I’ve seen people that didn’t know what they were doing drown in the little hundred acre lake behind my house. Even a couple miles off shore, if things go seriously wrong (and they can in an instant), and you’re not prepared or don’t know what you’re doing, you’re most likely dead. What might look like a big boat on the trailer seems tiny out in the open ocean, out of sight of land. If you think you’re going to swim to that gray smudge on the horizon, you’re wrong. You can’t.
Anyway, it (and the many classes I took) taught me to be maximally prepared for anything. People would be shocked at the toolbox, parts and general supplies I carry in the truck. I’ve done fairly serious roadside repairs, and I could camp for days in the truck if I was out and the SHTF. I don’t go to the store without being prepared for the worst (I like @Scott52 's picture ).
I have not 4 wheeled in the desert, but that’s another place like the ocean where, if you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t go.
Truth! If I do occasionally go ‘Off roading’ It’s often within sight of rooftops or using my brain for a change I familiarized myself with the comings and goings of the Open Space Ranger paths. I was met up with them on several occasions (I wasn’t in need of assistance but talk them up a bit each time letting them know how harmless I am (Muahahahahahahaha, my master plan is working!) They didn’t mind me shooting on the Mesa (I policed up my brass and raked up my DVD Debris so they really didn’t care (much).
It was when I was watching the comings and goings of the AF and the Army Chinooks, Apache’s and C-130’s that I drew unwanted attention to myself. (NO GUNS except on my hip) they realized I was just a fan enjoying the air parade. (and after showing my Wallet-full of Licenses, Base Passes and Dod clearance they let me be. Sheeeeesh! The first couple of minutes were dicey! (I understand Security, but come on already, I’m as pure as the driven snow …amirite?
The ocean is a rather unforgiving bltch. I sold my 22” CC a few years back because of lack of time, but I love being out in the middle of nowhere and the ocean was just another place to do so.
I’ve spent decades offshore sports fishing and NOTHING will make you feel so small and helpless as being out on a small boat where there is no shore in sight. And weather is never your friend. I’ve gone out on an ocean flat as a dish only to return a few hours later to 5-6’ swells from 25 miles offshore, and the weather guys never forecasted anywhere near this. That’ll jump your heart rate and there’s no room for error.
But at the end of the day it is a real joy to sit on your docked boat at the beginning of the season enjoying a few cold beers and watching all the new boat owners trying to dock their new toys
When I was a kid, maybe 10 at the time, I went out fishing with my Dad in his little 16’ tri-hull. We lived in the booming metropolis of Dickinson, Texas at the time, launched from the ramp at the Highway 3 bridge over the Dickinson Bayou, then traversed the bayou all the way out to the Gulf of Mexico.
We had a good day fishing. It was one of the only things my Dad ever taught me about. Not the greatest of father figures.
On our way back to the ramp, the engine dies. We broke out the paddles and started rowing. After about an hour of rowing and not feeling like we had made any headway, we were rescued by a fleet of Girl Scouts in CANOES. They formed up in three lines in front of us, tied on and towed us back to the ramp five miles away.
After that incident, Dad mounted a small emergency engine on the back for JIC purposes.
I paid a BIG bill every year for maintenance in my engine, an ultra reliable Yamaha 250hp 4 stroke. Wife never but he’d about writing that check because she knew I’m a stickler for reliability. That engine started on first turn every time!
I did that because exactly what you said happened to my dad and I when I was a kid in our cousin’s boat. I was only 5 or 6 and I remember my dad getting really nervous. That one made a huge impact on me.
We were lucky a larger boat came by on their way back to their marina. Our boat was drifting on heavy waves towards some nasty rocks about 200 yards off the shore. These guys threw us a line and towed us in. We didn’t even have a paddle.
I could probably write a book about offshore adventures. I went tuna fishing out of Daytona many times over a 15 year time span. The boat was a 27’ Contender with twin 2-stroke 250 Yamahas. We took a lot of SHTF safety equipment including a life raft - just in case. Most trips were 125 to 150 miles offshore and back in one day.
With that said, one of the scariest trips I ever took was off Port Canaveral. I had a 33’ Egg Harbor that was later destroyed at the dock in Sebastian by hurricane Francis (2004). Anyway, it was a lake calm July day off Canaveral. We had fished North up by the 20 mile weather buoy. We stayed out as long as we could watching an on-shore storm and hoping it would die down. We headed straight into heavy rain. My GPS went out on me so I used the compass to head due South to avoid the shoals that run up to about 10 miles offshore North of the inlet. Long story short, we ended up in 12-15 footers with an 8-10 second period for several hours. I was quartering the waves and burying the bow about every 3 to 4 waves. We were very fortunate we stayed East of the shoals or they would have knocked the bottom out of the boat and we would have been in the water at the mercy of the ocean.
Edit: The Hogfish in my avatar was shot spearfishing about 100 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico in an area called the MIddlegrounds
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