DayTrip
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- May 13, 2013
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After reading a lot of the recent posts about getting stuck overnight, falls, ice, etc I've decided to take the approach mentioned by someone else in another thread about looking at each hike as a collection of "possible scenarios I'll encounter" and then organizing gear for that scenario and only bringing gear for scenarios I'm likely to encounter as opposed to carrying everthing for everything all the time. Many of these scenarios involve First Aid for specific injuries. I've been going through my current "kit" and rethinking it's adequacy for things I'd actually encounter.
So my question is: can anyone recommend either a website, book, etc with reputable information that would cover injuries, treatment and required gear to treat? Not general info but specifics for specific problems.
I had looked into a certification course in North Conway that sounded awesome but it was pretty expensive, required a 2 day stay and focused a lot on groups because it was a certification course. Unfortunately I don't have the ability to commit to that nor the money. And I hike alone so a lot of the instruction would have to be geared toward what I could do to myself (and yes I realize I can't self-treat everything). For example, the most obvious "scenario" of all in the Whites is probably the sprained/broken ankle. If I had to treat that and walk out on my own (or try) what should I have? Last year I did exactly that and was able to walk out but if it had been worse I don't think the stuff I had was adequate other than duct-taping the crap out of my ankle. Should I carry an air cast? Splints? Etc, etc. Knee injuries I expect are another common issue (twists or hyperextending), blisters, etc.
And for that matter if anyone wants to throw out their "most likely scenarios" for discussion purposes I'm sure that would help get me thinking about the right stuff. I'm not asking anyone to rehash the topics (many have already been covered of late). I'm looking more for the highly experienced hikers of the VFTT to say "well what if you're out on a hike and BLANK happens" and I can research. In another thread (which I unfortunately can't find) someone had a link to 10 most common ways people are injured/killed hiking. I believe unroped falls was number one but I'm not a climber, just a hiker. Looking for the common occurrences that would happen in the Whites in all 4 seasons doing "conventional" hiking on the 48 4k's.
So my question is: can anyone recommend either a website, book, etc with reputable information that would cover injuries, treatment and required gear to treat? Not general info but specifics for specific problems.
I had looked into a certification course in North Conway that sounded awesome but it was pretty expensive, required a 2 day stay and focused a lot on groups because it was a certification course. Unfortunately I don't have the ability to commit to that nor the money. And I hike alone so a lot of the instruction would have to be geared toward what I could do to myself (and yes I realize I can't self-treat everything). For example, the most obvious "scenario" of all in the Whites is probably the sprained/broken ankle. If I had to treat that and walk out on my own (or try) what should I have? Last year I did exactly that and was able to walk out but if it had been worse I don't think the stuff I had was adequate other than duct-taping the crap out of my ankle. Should I carry an air cast? Splints? Etc, etc. Knee injuries I expect are another common issue (twists or hyperextending), blisters, etc.
And for that matter if anyone wants to throw out their "most likely scenarios" for discussion purposes I'm sure that would help get me thinking about the right stuff. I'm not asking anyone to rehash the topics (many have already been covered of late). I'm looking more for the highly experienced hikers of the VFTT to say "well what if you're out on a hike and BLANK happens" and I can research. In another thread (which I unfortunately can't find) someone had a link to 10 most common ways people are injured/killed hiking. I believe unroped falls was number one but I'm not a climber, just a hiker. Looking for the common occurrences that would happen in the Whites in all 4 seasons doing "conventional" hiking on the 48 4k's.