Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2006 15:12:17 -0800
Reply-To: Matthew <mpteleski@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Matthew <mpteleski@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Fwd: OT-stranded in the wilderness with a
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
you know that guy that lost his arm in the outback of
Utah? he is now promoting these sort of devices and
has full page advertisements in a few mags i read
(Rock and Ice, Alpinist, Climbing, etc).
-mp
Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2006 03:09:40 -0500
From: Bill Glenn
Subject: Re: Fwd: OT-stranded in the wilderness with a
westy what would
you do ?
The discussion about the Emergency Locator Beacons
(ELBs) and Emergency
Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs)reminded me
of an indicent
that
occurred during the height of the cold war, when there
was little co-
operation between the U.S. and the Soviets. The U.S.
satellite that
was
equipped to receive such emergency signals was either
out of position,
or
out of commission. A Soviet satellite picked up an
emergency signal
from a
remote area of Canada, and the co-ordinates were
relayed to the North
American Air Defense, who in turn notified the
appropriate authorities
in
Canada. The source of the radio beacon was the crash
site of a small
aircraft, which was located before the plane had even
been reported
missing. The radio beacon, and a humanitarion act on
the part of the
Soviets, saved countless hours of search time, and
perhaps resulted in
the
rescue of the survivors. Sorry, I don't recall if
there were any.
On the same subject, in Australia, where I frequently
travel, the use
of
EPIRBs is promoted not just for aircraft and off-shore
boats, but also
for
fishermen, hikers, mountain bikers, skiers, off road
4WD use, etc.
Though
I have not done so, it is possible to rent EPIRBs,
including
pocket-sized
ones for carrying on your person. To see what I'm
talking about,
here's
one website to visit: http://www.epirbhire.com.au/
Of course, these devices should not be used as a
substitute for self-
reliance, preparedness, and good judgement, but in the
event of a true
emergency, they can be literally life-saving. No one
wants to be the
subject of a successful search and rescue operation,
but it surely
beats
being the subject of an unsuccessful search (or no
search) when you're
in
need of rescue.
Bill
--------
"may the four winds blow you safely home"
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
|