being "trail safe"

[Malamute]

So true, we all have to make the risk calculation and get comfortable with it. For me personally, the thing in this instance that supports what Tom Givens has been saying for some time, that is the multiple bad guys scenario is so common now, and how many rounds do you want to fight with.

That second perp who got convicted this week was holding the pistol gripped shotgun in the woods and supposed to be the backup to the shooter. When the bullets started flying she got scared and bugged out and gave the shorty 12ga to her 5 year old to hold when she reached their base camp. However if she had not lost her nerve and engaged as part of the robbery, it becomes a situation where I would sure like to have more than 6 rounds in the gun for the multiple bad guy scenario. That is the thing that has flipped me away from my revolvers. I think Tom's rule is "prepare for 3".....then I remember the story Spencer Keepers tells of the 5 bad guy scenario at his front gate when he only had a J frame in his pocket.

If we lived in a one on one world with the criminals I would not have this hesitation about revolvers. I competed with K frame for two consecutive years in IDPA back right after the turn of the century and got classified EX with one, and I have no reservations about my skills with one including the shooting and the reloads, just with that capacity thing now because I believe any fight I encounter will likely start and end with what is in the gun.

I cant fault your reasoning at all. Part of my perspective is carrying something I have a high level of confidence in to deal with the situation with as few rounds as possible, which is part of the equation regarding my ability to shoot it well, but as regards load effectiveness to deal with animals as well as possible rogue people. This is a large part of why I prefer to stay with full power 357 158 gr sjhp loads as my low end for anything above pocket gun. Next step up is 44 and 45 Colt. As with hunting deer or whatever, start with effective hits and you are less likely to need more shots. This is both placement as well as effect of a given load. No guarantees as to what happens when the shot breaks, but there are trends.

As with the bear pistol discussion, some feel fine with a 9mm and ability to shoot a lot, I understand their reasoning in an intellectual sense, though I still prefer a larger caliber and heavier load.

Again, we use what we feel most confident in. Thats different for various people.

[Salamander]

Not surprisingly, our main focus here tends to be on all things firearms related. Lately though there's been a cluster of stories on hikers found dead in the backcountry, this week it was the older fellow in Colorado whose dog was still at his side there months later.

That's a good reminder that there are threats other than scumbag humans or wildlife. Sometimes as as simple as someone getting lost or injured. A personal example: Several months ago during a three-day hike in the Kalmiopsis, outbound I passed a clearly marked trail junction. On the way back out, something felt wrong, I shouldn't have been going downhill at that particular section of trail. So I got the paper map out and verified. After backtracking (I'd gone barely 200 yards before catching the problem), it turned out that from that direction the trail junction was really easy to miss because someone had cut a side trail that bypassed the sign. It wasn't a problem because I'd done my prep. What was spooky was that there was an abandoned pack nearby, and no sign of a person.

For those who don't wish to maintain a subscription for something like a Garmin Inreach Mini 2, here's an alternative I found the other day that links to the NOAA rescue network: https://hikingguy.com/hiking-gear/ac...e-plb1-review/

[Default.mp3]

For those who don't wish to maintain a subscription for something like a Garmin Inreach Mini 2, here's an alternative I found the other day that links to the NOAA rescue network: https://hikingguy.com/hiking-gear/ac...e-plb1-review/

I don't think PLBs are really an alternative to something like an inReach, more of a great complement. PLBs don't allow for any form of communication, which is a strong argument for something like an inReach or a SPOT, since you can use it for commo, both emergency and non-emergency. On the flip side, PLBs are much more foolproof since they rely on a totally different system to trigger an emergency, the 406 MHz initial distress along with a 121.5 MHz homing signal, so that even in an area with poor/no GNSS reception (e.g., canyons), location can still be determined.

The best case is to have both, but if only choosing one, for raw SOS use, a PLB is the safer bet, but I think that satellite communicators have far more utility overall and is worth the subscription fee for those of us that go into the backcountry relatively often.

[Hambo]

I don't think PLBs are really an alternative to something like an inReach, more of a great complement. PLBs don't allow for any form of communication, which is a strong argument for something like an inReach or a SPOT, since you can use it for commo, both emergency and non-emergency. On the flip side, PLBs are much more foolproof since they rely on a totally different system to trigger an emergency, the 406 MHz initial distress along with a 121.5 MHz homing signal, so that even in an area with poor/no GNSS reception (e.g., canyons), location can still be determined.

The best case is to have both, but if only choosing one, for raw SOS use, a PLB is the safer bet, but I think that satellite communicators have far more utility overall and is worth the subscription fee for those of us that go into the backcountry relatively often.

I bought an inReach mainly for areas without cell reception. What I like is that I it sends coordinates to a list of people. As one friend says, send to your spouse and someone you trust, so I have the county lands crew chief on my list. I love the navigation linked to my phone. It does eat my phone battery, but I carry the inReach in my pack and my phone and a power bank in my HPG chest pouch. If I really want to have three means of commo, I can take my handheld radio and Slim Jim antenna.

[whomever]

Long winded anecdote on two-way comms vs just SOS...

Some years ago I was solo hiking a section of the PCT. I had a SPOT, which (at the time) let you send an SOS, or a couple of canned messages to friends ('I'm OK' or 'I need help', or whatever). For example, we had arranged with friends that if they ever got an 'I need help' from a trailhead, that meant 'car is busted, get on the phone and make a wrecker appear'.

I had a knee blowout 35 miles from the ending trailhead where we had a car stashed. Not bad enough that I was willing to push the SOS button (and it was absolutely filthy weather, as in cloud level in the treetops, so helicopters were going to be a dicey proposition). There were closer trailheads, but some/many were closed because prodigious spring flooding had taken out a lot of back country roads. If I walked 20 miles to an alternate trailhead and sent my wife the 'I need help' bat signal, and it was at the end of a washed out road ... problem. And idiot me hadn't researched which trailheads were and weren't open. I asked every hiker I ran into where they had come in, hoping someone had come from a nearby trailhead, but no joy. So I gimped on for 35 miles with white flashbulbs of pain every time my knee hit the ground.

When the two-way inReach came out, we got one. With two way comms, I could have said 'Honey, I'm at X, bum knee, what's the nearest open trailhead', and gone to it for pickup. Much less drama.

Also, my understanding is that 90+% of the SOS activations are false alarms - either butt dialing or 'ooo, I have a dime sized blister'. If, for example, you're laying there with a compound fracture of the femur, being able to communicate that might up the priority with the SAR folks, if they know it's not Yet Another False Alarm.

Also, this is coming up, maybe:

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/starl...ellite-service

(That would surely be sweet, although I dunno that most cell phones are as rugged as an inReach, SPOT, or PLB...

I wonder if there will be a 'contact 911' option for all phones, in the way you can call 911 from a no-plan phone)

[GJM]

Good comms take the "search" out of search and rescue. Pretty standard equipment in AK is a 406PLB, sat phone and an inReach. Newer iPhones have off grid texting and Starlink is becoming increasingly common in remote areas.

[Clusterfrack]

...I dunno that most cell phones are as rugged as an inReach, SPOT, or PLB...

I wonder if there will be a 'contact 911' option for all phones, in the way you can call 911 from a no-plan phone)

Mrs. CF has a new iPhone with the emergency satellite feature. I really like having that, but we've decided not to rely on a cell phone as our primary emergency device because as you pointed out they aren't very rugged. As well, the phone is also a camera, a notebook, social media feed, etc. The likelihood of it getting broken or lost increases because it's in constant use. I like having the inReach because it has only one or two functions, and is very rugged.

[whomever]

Mrs. CF has a new iPhone with the emergency satellite feature. I really like having that, but we've decided not to rely on a cell phone as our primary emergency device because as you pointed out they aren't very rugged. As well, the phone is also a camera, a notebook, social media feed, etc. The likelihood of it getting broken or lost increases because it's in constant use. I like having the inReach because it has only one or two functions, and is very rugged.

Something like an Otterbox case (there are cheaper clones) can help with the ruggedness, but not the lost-from-constant-use part. But their bulk will likely be unacceptable to a lot of frequent users.

[BobM]

FYI Cabelas is having a sale on the InReach beginning next Friday

[texasaggie2005]

FYI Cabelas is having a sale on the InReach beginning next Friday

REI has a sale going on right now for the inReach Mini 2; $299. Just bought one.