Dave wrote: >Fascinating story
I thought so too. I've been in a similar situation, but fortunately not so remote from help. >I'd be worried about someone with that kind of injury going into shock. It seems to me that shock is often psychologically induced. Taking actions to deal with the situation can prevent being preoccupied with the injury. I believe that can greatly reduce shock onset. In 1998, I was hiking alone in north Alabama's Sipsey Wilderness when I took a mis-step that resulted in a twist break of both bones in the lower left leg. It would have driven me crazy to just wait until someone showed up, so I began a crawl to the nearest trailhead, which was only a half-mile away. When I got there more than an hour later, some folks had just driven up that were able to deliver me to the nearest hospital. The only radio I had was an FT-50R HT, but no ham repeater or cell phone coverage existed in the low valley elevation where I was. My HT had the MARS/CAP mod, I knew the frequencies and PL tones of local law enforcement and Forest Service repeaters. I'm sure I could have accessed them. But I didn't consider the emergency to be severe enough to unlawfully communicate through those channels and deal with the resulting flap. Had the fracture been compound, maybe I'd have taken that drastic step. I was happy to have been able to deal with the situation without getting any governmental agency or rescue squad involved, or getting publicity. All I got was $30,000 in medical costs. A year later, while camping again in the Sipsey Wilderness, I overheard on local law and forest service frequencies the rescue efforts of a woman who broke her leg on a trail about ten miles away. I was sympathetic to her situation. The main thing I learned was that the possibility of unexpected injury exists everywhere, even when one is doing nothing risky or stupid. >Anyway, this seems like good fodder for a K1 advertisement. IMHO, it's likely the best K1 story ever! I think the fellow did a great job. >It certainly emphasizes many of the reasons why I consider HF QRP gear >to be a priority inclusion for backwoods outings like this. With great light-weight, high-capability sets like the K1 and KX1 now available, it would be inconceivable to me now to go on a backpack trip without HF QRP gear. In fact, that's *THE* reason I bought a K1 eight years ago. If I were going to buy a QRP rig today for backpacking, it would be yet another K1. I was amused by the youtube "goathiker" videos that have recently been cited here. His FT-817 is pretty heavy, and is extremely power hungry for a backpack rig, but that ham had those goats to haul the weight. >Cell phones and VHF/UHF gear would very likely be useless in such >locations. Very true. One of my favorite trail systems is along the Buffalo National River in the Arkansas Ozarks. Forget getting a signal out by anything other than shortwave along most of its 150 mile length. Mike / KK5F K1 S/N 175 (November 2000) _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
