CO8-OM-GoingintotheFieldPart1

Reprinted by permission at http://theweekendminer.com

THE WEEKEND MINER

Rediscovering American Mineral Resources

THOUGHTS FROM THE “OLD MINER”

Going Into the Field – or Desert – or Mountains, in Search of Your Interests

One of the things you usually think about, often just before leaving, is “What should I take with me”? In general, the list of items will always include water, food, maps, a compass or compasses, matches, a signaling device, and emergency medical supplies – normally a first-aid kit of some type. The form and variety of items carried will depend on how you will be traveling and where you will be going. Obviously a backpacker or hiker will carry items in a different form than someone traveling by off-road-vehicle or ORV. Individuals traveling by foot will only be able to carry a limited number and variety of items, for reasons as simple as weight. The variety of your kit will generally be determined by your intended destination and what you consider might be encountered; the desert often requiring different items, for example, than the mountains.

Whatever your mode of transportation though, I would always recommend you use a checklist. That way you are less likely to remember you forgot your snake-bite kit until just after hearing that ominous buzzing sound.

Before we get started, I have to sort of apologize. Some of these are pretty simple, but I have never had a lot of money and usually had to make do with what I had at hand, especially as a kid. Some of these suggestions may reflect that background. Well, let’s get started on the essentials.

Water; the amount you will need to carry will depend on where you are going. Mountain trips may require only a day or so supply, especially if you have chemical test and water purification supplies. Remember, water purification tablets don’t usually do much for high levels of mercury or arsenic in the local water, so if you are planning to drink local water, either take a test kit or check ahead to make sure it is not bad.

If you are heading to the desert, take a lot; as much as you can practically carry, and more than you think you will need. A friend of mine has an interesting way to carry his water. He uses plastic, milk cases and 1-gallon plastic milk bottles. He fills two of the four, freezes them, and uses green caps on them. When I say fills, he fills them about 90%, to allow for expansion, when the ice freezes. He uses this as his initial drinking water; as the ice melts it stays really cold. If you keep it covered the ice can stay cold for a day or more, so it’s great for weekend excursions.

The other two, in each case, he leaves empty, and marks them with blue or red caps. As the ice in his cooler melts, he fills these from the drain cocks of his cooler. When he needs water for washing samples or filling a spray bottle, or just washing hands, he uses this water. You can always use it for drinking, if you have too, but it may not taste as good as the drinking water.

To minimize the amount of melted water, I always take my bottled water, remove a little from each bottle and freeze it. The water I remove I put in a glass container in my refrigerator. If I have empty water bottles I use it to make some more frozen bottles; otherwise, I use it in my canteen. I line my coolers sides with the frozen water bottles and pack my food or other drinks inside them. As they thaw, the water is there for drinking, usually as true “ice water”- a real treat in the desert. I don’t believe it alone will keep the cooler cold enough, so I still use ice, but not nearly as much. I will get a block or two of ice if I can find it, as it lasts a lot longer that the traditional cube or broken ice you get at the party store. If I am going out for an extended weekend or can’t find block ice, I add a couple gallon jugs of frozen water to the big coolers. It will keep for 4 to 5 days, if the cooler is shaded or covered with light colored or reflective material, and give you ice water days later, as it melts. A “space blanket” or silvered plastic blanket, used for emergency covering of shock patients, works great as a cover, and is quickly available in case of an emergency.

Food; This is really your call. I have seen everything from minimalist freeze-dried staples; the “traditional” hardtack, jerky and beans; military MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat); to spreads, usually by clubs, that would put a “Superbowl Tailgater” to shame.

Two things here: Freeze everything you can, as it reduces the consumption of, and extends your ice supply; and, don’t forget the spices. Spices don’t take up much space and they add greatly to the flavor of foods. I often make up “spice bottles”, using old pill bottles with the labels removed. They each hold all the spices I need for a particular dish and can be stored in the cooler or elsewhere with the food they are intended to be used with. This makes them easy to find and use and avoids carrying measuring spoons and spice containers. If you need to add different spices at different times, a little clear plastic wrap can be use to separate layers. If you do use plastic, add a little extra spice as quite a bit may stick to it.

Maps: I cannot overemphasize the importance of a good map It, or they, can save your life or a trip, and will almost certiantly save you a lot of time and frustration. I really like the USGS 7 ½ Degree Maps, as they show a lot of detail, especially roads and trails, old mines, some springs, topography, and other features. This is one area that this site may be able to help you with. Go into the Topozone Interactive Map page and find your area, using the coordinates of a mine in the area of your destination. You can enter the degrees, minutes and seconds in the last box of the page we have “Hot Linked” you to to get the map area. You can print off a map of the area or order large, laminated, USGS maps through the Topozone website. These maps are hard to beat for value and level of practical detail.

Compass: (or Compasses) Take more than one. They are relatively inexpensive, and that way if one gets lost the trip doesn’t end.

Matches: Get waterproof matches or matches in a waterproof container, or make your own. The easiest homemade, waterproof holders are old pill bottles – the straight, high-sided type. Another standby is an empty 16 gauge plastic shotgun shell case full of kitchen matches, inserted into a 12 gauge shotgun shell case (or a 20 gauge in a 16 gauge, etc.) and dipped in paraffin. As kids (although the cases were paper then), with no money, we used to make them for Boy Scout camping trips, and they worked great.

Signaling Device(s): Modern technology has taken us a long way from the signal fire and flash mirror. Today you may find your cell phone operable, especially if you are in the hills overlooking a populated valley or area that has cell phone service. That is because cell phone signals operate on a line-of-sight basis. With your GPS coordinates handy, assistance, even in relatively remote areas, may be only a “phone call away”.

OnStar may also be of use, since it is a direct satellite feed in many areas, and in most areas and may be less impacted by mountains or obstacles that block cell phone signals. If one of your group has an OnStar equipped vehicle, when you set up camp call in and check if you or they have service. I am amazed at where I have been able to pick it up. If you have service, leave the vehicle keys in camp and show the rest of your group how to use it. The “Emergency Button” is probably the best way to go here. If an emergency arises, someone can call for help from the vehicle.

In conjunction with a base camp or multiple group hunts, two-way radios are useful and inexpensive. They can be used between the base camp and groups out hunting or between groups in the field to announce a find. The big problem I have with two-way radios is batteries. They tend to “eat” batteries and the life often gets used through conversations between cars of the groups by “kids of all ages”. Take lots of batteries for two-way radios and do nature a favor – bring the old ones home for proper disposal.

Citizen Band or “CB” Radios are still used in many areas. They can be effective communication tools in instances where you are relatively high and have a strong signal capability.

Another “modern tool” may be built into your GPS unit. Many of the higher-end units have an emergency transponder built into them. I think this is a great thing to have, even if there is only one in your group. It makes alerting and being found by emergency services easy as they can home in on the beacon.

First Aid Kits: I think this is where one’s personality and background really comes out. I have seen preparation levels all the way from “operating on a hope that nothing would happen” to people hauling around field dressing stations that would do a MASH unit proud. Practicality, as usual, probably lies somewhere in between these extremes. There are lots of sizes and applications available. The ability to tailor a kit to one’s needs and personality is probably limited for hikers and backpackers because of size and weight limitations. However, for ORV and other vehicle-based hunters, it offers endless possibilities for personalization.

I start with a mid-sized kit, but all of them seem to have a lot of what I don’t use very often and not enough of what I use all the time. In the latter category I include large arm and leg bandages, knee bandages, and hand and fingertip bandages. I prefer the specialized bandages to tape and gauze as they tend to be more flexible and durable. They often allow you to continue activities, even if it is at a reduced rate.

Another thing I tend to use a lot of is hydrogen peroxide. The boiling action, when poured over a cut or wound, cleans a lot of the foreign material out of the cut, making dressing quicker and less painful. It now comes in plastic bottles, which are a lot lighter and less prone to breaking than the old glass bottles, so larger bottles are easier to carry.

Take a few “chemical cold packs” for heat exhaustion and the like. A cold beer on the forehead may bring a snowstorm in the desert on commercials, but that’s true only in the commercials. Also, unless you have a motor home with a refrigerator or a really good cooler with block ice, your ice is pretty well gone by the third day.

Snake-bite kits are a must for over half of the US and very few first-aid kits contain them. I usually carry both common types, although I carry only the traditional type in my pocket as the suction units tend to be a bit large. The suction units are also functional for the removal of cactus spines and thorns.

Make sure you have plenty of aspirin, both in pill and effervescent form; which, by the way, tastes really awful in warm water. I recommend this, not so much for headaches, but as an immediate response to a suspected heart attack. As a trip preparation step, we always identify anyone who cannot handle aspirin. If someone exhibits heart attack symptoms and do not have an aspirin intolerance, immediately administer aspirin. If it is a heart attack it can save their life; if it isn’t, they will probably not have a headache in the morning. This has become more personal with my friends and me as we get older, especially if we push ourselves in hot, high-altitude areas. We often tend to get excited at a “find” and over exert. It is just human nature.

I always carry a roll of duct tape or two in my medical kit. Along with doing just about everything from repairing body damage on a vehicle to reinforcing broken sample containers, it can be used to make a temporary splint for a broken one. A couple of straight boards or limbs (which can be cut with the saw blade of the Swiss Army Knife) can be duct-taped together in an emergency.

Every first aid kit needs a “tool kit” and I tend to go for as complete of a selection as possible, without imitating an operating room. My kit contains three types of tweezers, pointed, traditional rounded tip and slant tip types; a variety of surgical needles with a selection of souchering thread; a pair of thin-bladed surgical scissors and a pair of heavy-duty surgical scissors; a magnifying glass; cutting implements in the form of new, single-edged razor blades, a small scalpel and a highly-sharpened Swiss Army knife; a pair of hemostats; a tourniquet kit; a pair of needle-nosed pliers and a pair of medium-sized nail clippers. I used to get funny looks about the nail clippers but they tend to be one of my most-used items. People are always breaking or splitting nails or smashing fingers when working with rocks. It is a lot less painful to cut back and bandage a broken or split nail that to pull it off. For a smashed finger, a small hole in the nail can be cut or “drilled” with the knife to relieve pressure and then bandaged.

And finally, I add aloe cream and an “After-Bite”-type product for bug bites and stings, to the kit. I use aloe for everything from sunburn to minor injuries and it always seems to help.

Well, this column has gotten pretty long, so I will stop here. In the next column in this area we will address vehicle-related kits, clothing and other essentials.