A little safety tip

[wordstew]

A little tip For all the youngsters that may not know....
Keep this in the back of your mind someday it may come in handy



SOS instructions

If you have a target you are attempting to signal, flash out SOS in Morse (three short flashes, three long flashes, three short flashes

[LittleTim]

Only works if someone sees it and takes it seriously. Maybe a light aircraft might radio it in if you're lucky, and then your hoping that the message with coordinates gets passed along to people who don't mind searching out in the middle of nowhere for something that could've been mistaken.

In mandatory hunter education here (at least in the 90's), a whistle was the preferred method to get help urgently. It's something that I depend upon, as it is also the preferred method to call distress on the water in my state (also a mandatory safety device for ALL crafts, even a kayak).

[wordstew]

yup whistle is preferred but it's a good to know alternate methods as well...just in case

[George]

if they can't do it on a cell phone, it ain't going to happen - don't waste your time

[Venchka]

A bit simpler and easy to remember: 3 of any type signals indicates distress. Whistle blasts. Mirror or light flashes. Smoke. 3 Big X on the ground.
PLB! Be safe Y’all!
Wayne

[wordstew]

A bit simpler and easy to remember: 3 of any type signals indicates distress. Whistle blasts. Mirror or light flashes. Smoke. 3 Big X on the ground.
PLB! Be safe Y’all!
Wayne

I'd be curious to see how many folks in a hut during the hiker bubble actually know this

[Venchka]

I'd be curious to see how many folks in a hut during the hiker bubble actually know this

It depends. How old are they?
It’s probably a Geezer thing. Learned by reading a book. Or during Basic Combat Training.
Wayne

[Venchka]

Found on the Internet with my phone. Who knew?

https://www.artofmanliness.com/artic...tress-signals/

“Consider building not one, but three of these pyres and placing them about 100 paces apart in a triangular configuration. Three is understood to be an international indicator of distress, as is the triangle layout.”
Wayne

[Puddlefish]

Considering we're talking about the AT, a mostly wooded trail corridor... like it or not, your first line of rescue is going to be a cell phone. Then a whistle. In theory a mirror might get the attention of a rescue pilot, but the chances of that pilot/spotter knowing Morse Code, or you being able to target the aircraft consistently to get off a comprehensible series of dots and dashes are nil. The random flashes will be enough. A small mirror is handy for tick checks, so carry one anyway. I can't recall any news article about anyone being rescued by a mirror flash on the AT/East Coast in ... ever. Three fires on the AT, a fairly dubious proposition. Too wet, or too dry, you'd need to get lost in Goldilocks conditions.

[Leo L.]

Strange, we have a slightly different SOS signal here in the Alps:

Put 6 signals evenly spaced within a minute, then pause a minute, repeate.
Answer would be 3 signals within a minute.
Flashlights would work perfectly here, whistle not so much.

When staying overnight in (on top of) the mountains on intent you'd better keep your headlamp down and low, too many times it had happened that people in the valley mistook the random flashing of a headlamp while setting up for a comfortable night for a distress signal, and some hours later the SAR people knocked on the tents door.

[Astro]

Found on the Internet with my phone. Who knew?

https://www.artofmanliness.com/artic...tress-signals/

“Consider building not one, but three of these pyres and placing them about 100 paces apart in a triangular configuration. Three is understood to be an international indicator of distress, as is the triangle layout.”
Wayne

Oh no, Justin Verlander has a thing about 3's. I hope it is not a signal that he is going to be in a point of distress in the game later today against the Red Sox.

[wordstew]

I guess if you're a millennial SOS means try three different cell phone and hope one gets a signal

[Puddlefish]

I guess if you're a millennial SOS means try three different cell phone and hope one gets a signal

You're 52. SOS and Morse Code were phased out of military use around the year you were born. Tiny niches of the aviation community have somewhat used components of it since then. The mirror is the least useful signaling device flat out possible on the AT. You may as well mock yourself because you don't carry a sextant and a book of tables. It's dead technology that isn't particularly useful in the woods.

[wordstew]

You're 52. SOS and Morse Code were phased out of military use around the year you were born. Tiny niches of the aviation community have somewhat used components of it since then. The mirror is the least useful signaling device flat out possible on the AT. You may as well mock yourself because you don't carry a sextant and a book of tables. It's dead technology that isn't particularly useful in the woods.

Oh man!!!! now I gotta carry a sextant and a book of tables in my pack.