Hypothermic Hikers Rescued in the Pemi

[SVT]

My wife worked for Perigrine Outfitters back in the day.
Are you familiar with them?

I certainly remember the name but can't recall where they were.

 

[KRooney]

I certainly remember the name but can't recall where they were.

Were they in Williston, VT?

 

[TomK]

Seems like wasted weight, especially if you dunk it in a stream anyway.

I was taught that a pack should be a "bag of bags". Everything goes into it's own ziplock bag, preventing the item from getting wet in a dunking.

If one ziplock bag somehow gets open, the other stuff isn't affected.

Makes rummaging through the pack looking for something easier.

If something gets wet, and you need to swap, you can put the wet item in the bag that its replacement came from, preventing the wet item from getting anything else wet.

TomK

 

[DayTrip]

I was taught that a pack should be a "bag of bags". Everything goes into it's own ziplock bag, preventing the item from getting wet in a dunking.

If one ziplock bag somehow gets open, the other stuff isn't affected.

Makes rummaging through the pack looking for something easier.

If something gets wet, and you need to swap, you can put the wet item in the bag that its replacement came from, preventing the wet item from getting anything else wet.

TomK

I do the same for the most part. Just assuming in this case they didn't do that

 

[DavidG]

I certainly remember the name but can't recall where they were.

Williston vt

 

[Lone Stranger]

I was taught that a pack should be a "bag of bags". Everything goes into it's own ziplock bag, preventing the item from getting wet in a dunking.

If one ziplock bag somehow gets open, the other stuff isn't affected.

Makes rummaging through the pack looking for something easier.

If something gets wet, and you need to swap, you can put the wet item in the bag that its replacement came from, preventing the wet item from getting anything else wet.

TomK

I was taught that you should pack such that you can fall into a river and assuming you can get out, survive. That mentality has served me well over the years, but especially in '23 when I had roughly 45 days of rain on a 55 day hike. Learned a lot about being wet on that trip and I learned a lot about getting dry, even in the pouring rain. Good times

 

[DayTrip]

I was taught that you should pack such that you can fall into a river and assuming you can get out, survive. That mentality has served me well over the years, but especially in '23 when I had roughly 45 days of rain on a 55 day hike. Learned a lot about being wet on that trip and I learned a lot about getting dry, even in the pouring rain. Good times

Any best practices you want to share? I'm particularly curious about the getting dry in the pouring rain strategy. Love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Lone Stranger]

My process is simple. Find a spot, drop my pack, put up the tarp, put up the hammock, get naked, towel off excess water from my fur, get in the hammock, get dressed in dry camp clothes, pull quilt over me, then reach out of the bug net to get the kettle going to make soup. I've gotten good at piling everything under me to keep it as dry as possible which means it is all within easy reach. Often times in bad weather I just get in and never get out until morning.

 

[gil]

This is not a comment on this story of an 18 and 20 yo brother/sister who needed rescuing, but is a question on the use of poles - I wonder at what age people begin to see the advantages poles give you, and tend to start using them regularly? 40's? 50's? Older?

I think I decided to use them in my early sixties when I saw a picture of Messner on a wide open field with tracking poles. They definitely help me to walk better, safer, particularly on downhills, icy patches or crossing streams. I believe they are useful tools for all ages.

 

[Daniel Eagan]

This is not a comment on this story of an 18 and 20 yo brother/sister who needed rescuing, but is a question on the use of poles - I wonder at what age people begin to see the advantages poles give you, and tend to start using them regularly? 40's? 50's? Older?

Started using them after learning how to cross-country ski. Used to look down on people who hiked with them, now I think they are an essential tool. I don't always use them, but I always have them.

 

[KRooney]

Started using them after learning how to cross-country ski. Used to look down on people who hiked with them, now I think they are an essential tool. I don't always use them, but I always have them.

I put them in the same category as seat-belts. Just like I won't drive without a seat-belt, I won't hike without poles.

 

[Cartophile]

I've always hiked with some sort of stick or pole, but just one. (In snow, I've always used a pair.) Part of the thinking behind this was that I wanted to keep one hand free. A couple of years ago, I lost my pole--long story--and when I replaced it, I chose one that, I later realized, was really intended for use by the infirm, in town. The handle was not comfortable for trekking, because it became slippery with sweat. When I tried again to buy a single pole, this past spring, I found that hardly anyone was now selling them (at least, high-quality ones for hiking). So, with not much choice, I bought a pair, thinking that I'd either hike with both, or hike with one and have a backup. But all this past summer, I hiked with both, and I felt that my movement was more natural and fluid than it had been when I used just one. I wasn't entirely surprised; after all, I had the winter experience. Also, a few years ago, as I hiked down the Davis Path, I found a brand-new pole on the trail about a mile from Isolation, which had evidently fallen off someone's pack. I picked it up and hiked out using it in combination with my existing pole (which seemed the easiest way of carrying it out). This, too, was very comfortable. Left the pole at the sign at the trailhead. I hope the owner went back in the expectation that someone might do this.

So, I plan to continue to use them in pairs.

 

[SherpaWill]

I wish. He was what we would now call a brand ambassador for Leki, and he also wrote about using them in at least one of his books.

I did happen to run into Alex Lowe one time at All Outdoors in Manchester and gave him the scoop on the current (at the time) ice conditions at Frankenstein Cliffs.

One of my old climbing/hiking partners met him when he was ice climbing at the Flume. Alex was there with some people from the old North Face Outlet in Lincoln. Said he was very cool. This was a couple years before Alex died on Shishapangma.
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