I think the blackout of 2004 and Katrina taught all of us that even
North Americans need to be prepared.

The government of Canada has even launched a campaign to encourage
people to be prepared to survive in their homes for 72 hours in an
emergency:

http://getprepared.ca/index_e.asp

Chris

On 12/7/06, ------------- <VW4X4@verizon.net> wrote:
> I've been on the mission lately about "Being Prepared" .
>  Who needs it!
> We have our cell phones, we have our MAC card, we don't need nothin.
> We don't have to think one minute in advance.  We're in the USA.
> We can buy anything, we need.  We can drive our SUV's  in a winter
> white out, in a T-shirt.  Someone will  ball us out!   We don't need nothin!
>
>                                                 Right?
>
>                                                  Joe.  W
>
>
>
> John Rodgers wrote:
>
> > It has been a lot of years since I have thought about this, but the case
> > of Mr. Kim and his family has brought it to fore.
> >
> > I don't know about todays regulations, but in Alaska back in my flying
> > days, every aircraft flying had to have an Emergency Locator Transmitter
> > - or ELT - on board, Known various as Crash Locator Beacons and other
> > names, they were activated by a "G" switch upon impact in case of a
> > crash or one could simply turn them on. These beacons trasmitted a
> > signal that would be picked up by search and rescue operations to
> > triangulate where a a plane was down.
> >
> > In time, personal emergency transmitters became available to pilots.
> > Transmitters that one could carry on ones person, as a supplemet to the
> > one mounted in the aircraft.
> >
> > I don't know if such personal loctor beacons are available to day or
> > not, but it might be wise to look into this and add one to ones
> > collections of safety gear when out and about. Most episodes such a Mr.
> > Kim's are just that, accidents. And accidents are always unexpected.
> >
> > If you are going to run down to the corer liquer store in a blinding
> > snow storm, then by golly take your personal ELT with you. You may get
> > disoriented in the storm and get lost. I'm being facetious here, but you
> > get my drift I hope. BE PREPARED.
> >
> > One thing I learned in Alaska. You don't goe even the shortest distance
> > in the winter without winter clothing on. Something could happen, and
> > you are done.
> >
> > I lived in Fairbanks, and there was a Mountain top there with an AF
> > Radar Station on top. A place called Murphy's Dome. One winter night an
> > Airman had to drive up there to relieve the other airmen running the
> > radar. Back then this place was a drive of a few miles, away from the
> > city on a dirt road. In 20 driving minutes and the guy should have been
> > there. The Airman was a flatlander, and he didn't put on boots. Wore
> > street shoes, Jeep broke down half way up the mountain. he tried walking
> > and froze his feet. Nasty damage. Got medically discharged from the
> > military.
> >
> > One cold day on the Kenai where I lived, I did such a simple thing as
> > walk to my garage, which was 20 feet from the house. In that short
> > distance I had a Moose Cow and Calf encounter. I couldn't get to the
> > garage nor to the house. She chased me but I found sanctuary behind the
> > wood pile. I  stayed out in the cold for a solid  45 minutes before she
> > decided to give it up and move on. Dang if I wasn't half frozen by the
> > time I was able to get back in the house. I had to sit in a tub of hot
> > water to get myself warmed up.
> >
> > Something I learned a long time ago from being a Boy Scout. , and it
> > holds true today. "Be Prepared"
> >
> > John Rodgers
> > 88 GL Driver
> >
> > TC wrote:
> >
> >> I have been following that story of the SF family that got stranded
> >> in the
> >> Oregon coast mountains
> >> my son asked what we would do if our 2 wd westy got stuck/broke down
> >> in some
> >> remote winter area
> >>
> >> besides that fact we prolly have 2 weeks of food , propane, dual bats
> >> etc &
> >> some Garmin 2 way radios
> >> we would prolly just hole up & camp out :)
> >>
> >> The interesting aspect was that the attempt to make a cell phone call
> >> and
> >> the cdr records allowed
> >> the searchers to grid search a cell phone tower coverage grid this
> >> allowed
> >> them to be located
> >> if everyone has stayed put the story would have a happy ending ...
> >>
> >> I was curious the Garmin rino 530 i always have in the van is GPS
> >> enabled &
> >> allows other Garmin
> >> 2 ways to track to each other bu the coverage is only 2 miles in bad
> >> terrain
> >> Yet I can usually get a GPS fix as long as there is not much tree
> >> cover just
> >> about any remote locations..
> >>
> >> Are there any inexpensive devices that would send a gps fix to
> >> international
> >> emergency satalite
> >> the allow searches to home in on sone lost / stranded in the westy
> >> wilderness ?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>