Shannon

The death of CNet editor James Kim after he and his family were stranded for 9+ days (Kim was found 11+ days after the stranding, dead) in a remote area of Oregon has many people talking about survival tips.

A lot of commentary from "armchair experts" is critical of his decision to leave his vehicle, or questions about "didn't he have a cellphone" or "why didn't he have a GPS".

You can read many of the comments here

I've posted some replies but they haven't displayed on Anderson Cooper's blog yet. Namely -- apparently many people don't travel very far afield to realize cellphone coverage is NOT ubiquitous and is in fact very spotty, even in areas where you would anticipate coverage (eg. many of our Texas State Parks!). Also, GPS's are great, and while I do think it certainly wouldn't have hurt Kim's survival chances (he might have turned back to the car sooner, realizing the terrain and/or distance was prohibitive by following the drainage), it's erroneous also to think it would have been the savior. GPS works best with a clear view of the sky... in ravines, canyons and any forested areas, getting a decent GPS signal is difficult at best, impossible at worst. Further, in freezing or below freezing temperatures, batteries do not perform at all well and so even if he had a GPS unit when he set out on foot, it would have not been as useful in the conditions he was in as it would be in, say, Texas on a 90 degree summer day. (We keep our batteries in our pockets when camping or hiking in freezing or near freezing temperatures, putting the batteries in our units only when necessary so they're warmer and thus provide a better/longer charge than they do when ice cold. Works with camera batteries, and others, as well.)

There's a lot of armchair "quarterbacking" and I wanted to solicit comments, either about Kim's death, the comments about it (linked earlier in this post), or survival tips in general.

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- Shannon Moore
Your Host @ WildTexas.com

Purchases in the Wild Texas Gear Shop support our continued operation. Thank you!

campermom

It is difficult to judge what we would do. You can think of all the "what ifs". Anyone who has spent time outdoors should have a better understanding of terrain, weather, etc. But we don't know what other factors he faced. It's a shame that anyone would suffer the fate he did and my prayers go out to his surviving family.

We who go outside need to teach our kids what we can. You never know what skills you will need someday.

PaulR

Hope this doesn't ruffle any feathers for promoting another site, but equipped.org is a great site for survival stuff.

Knowledge, combined with a basic first aid and survival kit can go a very long way. But IMO, the most valuable thing is those decisions and actions that minimize your exposure to situations that can quickly spiral downhill.

CyberCelt

This is a blog post I wrote back in September.

The peak of the hurricane season past, folks are relaxing and beginning to plan for fall travel and upcoming celebrations and holidays. I went to Wal-Mart today and they have already put out Halloween AND Christmas decorations.

I have been working for a month or two on a blog post about preparing for and surviving a disaster. I have written and revised my article, trying to follow the steps I suggest. In case y'all have not noticed, my life appears to be marked by a series of disasters, natural and otherwise.

I have had trouble deciding exactly what we should carry when evacuating. Weight is always a problem, because I realize that we may not be able to drive our car out of a situation, so we must be able to carry what we need with us.

Looking for options, I discovered Nitro-Pak and their Executive 72-hour Kit. This kit was voted best overall 72 hour emergency kit sold in America by the Wall Street Journal(6/2006) and has been featured on CNN. Not only do they have kits that you may buy, but also lots of free information and checklists about disaster preparedness.

Nitro-Pak has items I never considered--radiation testers, masks for avian flu outbreaks, hand crank radios, solar chargers, freeze dried food, backpacker survival kits and space all-weather sleeping bags.

If you have ever wondered what you would do in an emergency like an earthquake, terrorist attack or flashflood,

Nitro-Pak is the place for you. If not, I should be finished with my blog post in another month or so. Stay tuned . . .

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Keep Your Wheels on the Road!

CyberCelt

USAer.com ~ RVing Texas
USAer Blog ~ Scenic Byways and Backroads

ploddinTod

Well, hindsight is always 20/20 when it comes to giving survival suggestions. I once saw an episode on the Discovery Channel's "I Shouldn't Be Alive" show in which the circumstances were very similar to the Kim tragedy.

A young couple takes a wrong turn on a mountainous road, lose their way, a storm blows in creating huge snow drifts and stranding them. After the storm ceases they strike out on foot to find their way to help. They become hypothermic and exhausted, and only because of luck do they bump into a rancher out driving his property checking on things.

Remember the old warning we gave our kids in case they should become lost: HUG A TREE.
This means stay put until help arrives. In both of these cases, it appears that this was the best option for survival. Hunker down in your shelter (vehicle), make your area visible from the sky by starting a fire, place bright colored objects around, etc.

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PloddinTod

Shannon

Except that the Kim family had already been hunkered down for 9 days when James Kim set out on foot, and his wife and children were found also on foot after having just set out from their vehicle after 11+ days.

I think at some point, you do have to assume help may not be either looking for you in the right place or able to get to you, and you send someone able-bodied out to seek that help themselves. Ideally, that person is better equipped to withstand the elements than James Jim was... but we don't always get to choose the situations we find ourselves in (though this experience/story has probably made a LOT of families and travellers reevaluate whether they should bring that extra blanket and jacket, etc.

The latest word is that the road the Kim's took was in fact closed -- vandals had unlocked/broken a metal gate that is typically closed this time of year due to the trecherous conditions on the road. (Source: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/08/mis....ap/index.html)

Here are some good survival tips.

__________________
- Shannon Moore
Your Host @ WildTexas.com

Purchases in the Wild Texas Gear Shop support our continued operation. Thank you!

toejam

Don't try to take a back country mountain road short cut with the family station wagon in the snow.

Don't walk cross country through the snow for help without adequate clothing.

Don't do anything you saw on Man vs. Wild.

Sean

Hey, this is my first post. I've been reading for a while now, but I usually don't have much to say. I think we can second guess his actions all day long, but in the end I think he did what he thought was best for his family. It's hard to fault a man for that. I do think we all can learn from his mistakes though. From what I have read about the situation, it doesn't seem like he had much wilderness/survival experience. I think that is why he made desisions that may not have been the right ones to make. I've been to the USAF survival school, deployed twice, and have spent a lot of time in the woods/wilderness, and I have learned that nothing beats experience for knowing what to do. Experience for these situations takes a lot of time and effort to acquire. If you don't already have experience, I suggest that you at least buy a good survival book and keep it in the car. That way, if there is an emergency situation, the knowledge is right there for you, and if you do decide to wait it out, you got something to read to pass the time. There are a lot of good ones out there. My Bro-in-law just bought me the SAS one. It's a bit long, but not bad. Knowledge is a lot more important than any extra "stuff" you can bring along. Don't get me wrong, keeping a couple of wool blankets in the car is an extremely smart thing to do!
I hope we can all learn from this, and keep his family in our thoughts and prayers.

-Sean

copuswalker

Was it a short cut or a wrong turn? I thought it was a wrong turn?

After 9 days I would leave and try to save my family. I would have probably gone earlier?
Also you have to take into account he was already Hypothermic and disoriented.

Sean, good post and welcome

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There are those that hike and those that don't and those that say they will but won't.

toejam

First was a short cut to the coast. Then the wrong turn. He was miles from where he hould have been before he got to the open gate.

Kim was an ignorant city boy who shouldn't have gotten off the interstate. I find it shocking that the news media is comparing the lost climbers on Mt. Hood to him. They knew what they were doing, just got caught in a blizzard with 85 mph winds.

jwise

My advice would be to carry the kitchen sink. You'll be sorry if you need it, and won't mind at all if you don't.

Here's my "Wilderness Field Bag."



It contains:



and...



It rides with me nearly all the time, and goes with me on every adventure. It's my security blanket.

If traveling, I carry an Action Packer loaded with goodies.



underneath...




There's a lot more in there that is not shown (picture limit of 5 per post), and I always have water bottles, extra flashlight, extra gloves/tobogan and a jumpstarter in the vehicles.

I feel very badly for the Kim family. I have made it my life's mission to care for my family the best I know how.

BTW- I know a lot of you have different politics than I do, and seeing a firearm is "scary." My intention is NOT to offend you.

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J. Wise

Bigfeet

Ah...I see a lot of OD green and TA-50 gear in there...

I do something very similar. I wonder if there are any survival workshops around Texas that teach both traveling tips (the Kim family was mentioned...appropriate, and heart-wrenching, example) and wilderness tips. Maybe desert/Texas terrain workshops perhaps?

Thanks.

ONdRoad

Survival tips are really important but I think we must always be clam and alert when emergencies occur because no matter how knowledgeable we are if we are panicky, our knowledge will be of no use.