For those that don't carry a spot,inreach or sat phone why not?

[Bnorth]

Try telling a SAR member you dont need one as hes leaving his wife and kids at 1 in the morning to head up the mountain with no details what so ever.

thanks!

I woulda had more than 45 minutes of sleep new years eve if the stranded group had an inreach.

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Was talking to Barry (S&R McBride) and he said the hardest thing for search is not knowing where and what they are dealing with. Every group should have a device to alert where and why to aid them.

Couple of years ago I got a call from a guy while at home. He was in parking lot at Renshaw.
Ron (this site owner) was dealing with a guy with a broken back and sent this guy to have me contact Barry to let him know where and why and other info they like to know. I saved them about 40min of prep time. SAR can not mobilize until told to by their group. It often takes 1-2hrs to get to trailhead because they have to call guys to go.
If this info were provided in all S&R situations many of the volunteers would have a much easier job to do.

Just my opinion based on conversations and again...yes I carry an InReach.

 

[acesup800]

Was talking to Barry (S&R McBride) and he said the hardest thing for search is not knowing where and what they are dealing with. Every group should have a device to alert where and why to aid them.

Couple of years ago I got a call from a guy while at home. He was in parking lot at Renshaw.
Ron (this site owner) was dealing with a guy with a broken back and sent this guy to have me contact Barry to let him know where and why and other info they like to know. I saved them about 40min of prep time. SAR can not mobilize until told to by their group. It often takes 1-2hrs to get to trailhead because they have to call guys to go.
If this info were provided in all S&R situations many of the volunteers would have a much easier job to do.

Just my opinion based on conversations and again...yes I carry an InReach.

Agree with everything said.

It would still be good if there was a common GMRS channel one could go to if you are trying to hail for help. Agree there is a low percentage with inReach and Sat phones, but almost everyone on the hill I see has a GPS of some kind and a radio. You get stuck down a drainage ditch and can't get out, your group switches to the common channel and start hailing and monitoring. I know the radio will not reach down to the bottom of the hill, but you will still get multiple KM of range. And if you reach someone, you can send the person you speak with the GPS coordinates.

This is a free solution to at least help SAR and the helicopter guys. If a helicopter is in the air, the radio is going to reach them immediately and you are no longer searching. This would be 10min vs hours??

 

[Tchetek]

Agree with everything said.

It would still be good if there was a common GMRS channel one could go to if you are trying to hail for help. Agree there is a low percentage with inReach and Sat phones, but almost everyone on the hill I see has a GPS of some kind and a radio. You get stuck down a drainage ditch and can't get out, your group switches to the common channel and start hailing and monitoring. I know the radio will not reach down to the bottom of the hill, but you will still get multiple KM of range. And if you reach someone, you can send the person you speak with the GPS coordinates.

This is a free solution to at least help SAR and the helicopter guys. If a helicopter is in the air, the radio is going to reach them immediately and you are no longer searching. This would be 10min vs hours??

There has been previous talk of an channel for strictly emergency use.

Possibly frs 16. But don’t quote me on that. The dual channel radios can monitor this second channel and still use their primary channel for group communication.

 

[moyiesledhead]

Most have a $50,000 truck $15,000 sled, and Probably $15,000 in gear, deck,trailer as a minimum.

Man I'm getting tired of hearing that ignorant uninformed statement!

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Man I'm getting tired of hearing that ignorant uninformed statement!

Please elaborate.

 

[moyiesledhead]

Please elaborate.

Get away from Revy or Golden and you'll find out what "most" people can actually afford to spend on snowmobiling.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Get away from Revy or Golden and you'll find out what "most" people can actually afford to spend on snowmobiling.

I've never been to either

 

[moyiesledhead]

I've never been to either

You didn't make the $80000 statement either.

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Agree with everything said.

It would still be good if there was a common GMRS channel one could go to if you are trying to hail for help. Agree there is a low percentage with inReach and Sat phones, but almost everyone on the hill I see has a GPS of some kind and a radio. You get stuck down a drainage ditch and can't get out, your group switches to the common channel and start hailing and monitoring. I know the radio will not reach down to the bottom of the hill, but you will still get multiple KM of range. And if you reach someone, you can send the person you speak with the GPS coordinates.

This is a free solution to at least help SAR and the helicopter guys. If a helicopter is in the air, the radio is going to reach them immediately and you are no longer searching. This would be 10min vs hours??

I agree, S&R should dictate one channel dedicated to their calls to assist. Once it’s know a Sledbetties is missing guaranteed other riders will monitor the channel. Maybe they wouldn’t end up in the “lost or big stuck” situation because guys would be checking on the channel just for curiosity through the day.
In the one days of CB Radios channel 9 was dedicated for emergency’s.

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Man I'm getting tired of hearing that ignorant uninformed statement!

It is true that not everyone fits that $100,000 category but there is a lot of money spent by sledders on this sport.
I remember not that many years ago peeps were saying “I’ll never spend money on an airbag or Avy course” and now look at the industry. People have been shamed into it (for good reason).
As the sledders market evolves we do push our riding partners to step up for safety because....if I’m the guy in a life or death situation I sure as heck want to have an InReach, a person trained in first aid etc there beside me.

Again...just my opinion.

 

[Beels]

Ordered a Garmin Inreach Explorer + this morning. Been thinking about it for a while and had a spare airbag I sold the other day and paid for most of it. It's one of those things I hope I never have to use, but if chit goes real bad it could be a lifesaver.

As far as being prepared, I'm pretty sure I have enough gear that I could spend a night or two out if I had to. I'm usually the guy in the group that gets pissed off at the guy who always wants to do the 3 o'clock drop. Pretty sure the point has been made and we've decided that playing Lewis and Clark should happen in the morning when there's lots of daylight to work your way out.

 

[takethebounce]

I agree, S&R should dictate one channel dedicated to their calls to assist. Once it’s know a Sledbetties is missing guaranteed other riders will monitor the channel. Maybe they wouldn’t end up in the “lost or big stuck” situation because guys would be checking on the channel just for curiosity through the day.
In the one days of CB Radios channel 9 was dedicated for emergency’s.

Why should S&R dictate a GMRS channel to use?

The other day when some folks I know were missing overnight and found the next morning S&R said they didn’t have the ability to use GMRS channels on their radios. So if they are not using a system that allows them to contact someone why have them dictate a channel to use? Maybe some SAR groups have GMRS/programable radios but it doesn’t sound like it’s a system worth implementing unless everyone can access it.

I am heavily involved in Emergency Response in my day to day employment. Right now in front of me I have a VHF radio with multiple channels, a hand held company UHF, another company UHF in the cradle to use for emergency calls and a CFD Motorola set to yet another emergency channel to liaison with Calgary Fire. This is arguably a billion dollar industry and they can’t get two or three systems to talk to each other. The idea of “just have a dedicated channel” for emergencies sounds great but it has a lot of hurdles, being a public unmonitored channel to start where everyone and anyone has access to so you can’t guarantee it’s only going to be those in need and those providing help using it is a large one. The fact that not everyone uses radios and not everyone would be aware of the channel is another, so you have a resource maybe wasted trying to make contact with someone who may or may not even be on that channel.

It’s great to get some discussion going but involve the local S&R groups in your area and ask them what they would want to see. At the end of the day it’s the backcountry and users shouldn’t have the expectation that someone is always coming to get them and I am not referring to any recent events but these people who are in these SAR groups will always do what they can and we should be the ones doing more to help them, not the other way around.

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Why should S&R dictate a GMRS channel to use?

The other day when some folks I know were missing overnight and found the next morning S&R said they didn’t have the ability to use GMRS channels on their radios. So if they are not using a system that allows them to contact someone why have them dictate a channel to use? Maybe some SAR groups have GMRS/programable radios but it doesn’t sound like it’s a system worth implementing unless everyone can access it.

I am heavily involved in Emergency Response in my day to day employment. Right now in front of me I have a VHF radio with multiple channels, a hand held company UHF, another company UHF in the cradle to use for emergency calls and a CFD Motorola set to yet another emergency channel to liaison with Calgary Fire. This is arguably a billion dollar industry and they can’t get two or three systems to talk to each other. The idea of “just have a dedicated channel” for emergencies sounds great but it has a lot of hurdles, being a public unmonitored channel to start where everyone and anyone has access to so you can’t guarantee it’s only going to be those in need and those providing help using it is a large one. The fact that not everyone uses radios and not everyone would be aware of the channel is another, so you have a resource maybe wasted trying to make contact with someone who may or may not even be on that channel.

It’s great to get some discussion going but involve the local S&R groups in your area and ask them what they would want to see. At the end of the day it’s the backcountry and users shouldn’t have the expectation that someone is always coming to get them and I am not referring to any recent events but these people who are in these SAR groups will always do what they can and we should be the ones doing more to help them, not the other way around.

Agreed, no expectation of S&R however it would be handy to have guys in trouble having another tool.

 

[RGM]

Why should S&R dictate a GMRS channel to use?

The other day when some folks I know were missing overnight and found the next morning S&R said they didn’t have the ability to use GMRS channels on their radios. So if they are not using a system that allows them to contact someone why have them dictate a channel to use? Maybe some SAR groups have GMRS/programable radios but it doesn’t sound like it’s a system worth implementing unless everyone can access it.

I am heavily involved in Emergency Response in my day to day employment. Right now in front of me I have a VHF radio with multiple channels, a hand held company UHF, another company UHF in the cradle to use for emergency calls and a CFD Motorola set to yet another emergency channel to liaison with Calgary Fire. This is arguably a billion dollar industry and they can’t get two or three systems to talk to each other. The idea of “just have a dedicated channel” for emergencies sounds great but it has a lot of hurdles, being a public unmonitored channel to start where everyone and anyone has access to so you can’t guarantee it’s only going to be those in need and those providing help using it is a large one. The fact that not everyone uses radios and not everyone would be aware of the channel is another, so you have a resource maybe wasted trying to make contact with someone who may or may not even be on that channel.

It’s great to get some discussion going but involve the local S&R groups in your area and ask them what they would want to see. At the end of the day it’s the backcountry and users shouldn’t have the expectation that someone is always coming to get them and I am not referring to any recent events but these people who are in these SAR groups will always do what they can and we should be the ones doing more to help them, not the other way around.

Marine channel 16 is the emergency channel world wide for boaters. It is vhf but there shouldn't be any issue dedicating one uhf and one vhf frequency for a sledder emergency channel. The off road 4x4 guys have a dedicated channel. I think FRS16 should be used as a uhf emergency channel as for vhf I should maybe talk to a few guys and set something up. I will be discussing this with the BCSF soon

 

[LUCKY 7]

I am glad RGM started this thread as lotrs of people are talking about this topic.Lots of opinions and that might get some guys to change their mind and go out and purchase a spot or in reach

 

[Tchetek]

Why should S&R dictate a GMRS channel to use?

The other day when some folks I know were missing overnight and found the next morning S&R said they didn’t have the ability to use GMRS channels on their radios. So if they are not using a system that allows them to contact someone why have them dictate a channel to use? Maybe some SAR groups have GMRS/programable radios but it doesn’t sound like it’s a system worth implementing unless everyone can access it.

I am heavily involved in Emergency Response in my day to day employment. Right now in front of me I have a VHF radio with multiple channels, a hand held company UHF, another company UHF in the cradle to use for emergency calls and a CFD Motorola set to yet another emergency channel to liaison with Calgary Fire. This is arguably a billion dollar industry and they can’t get two or three systems to talk to each other. The idea of “just have a dedicated channel” for emergencies sounds great but it has a lot of hurdles, being a public unmonitored channel to start where everyone and anyone has access to so you can’t guarantee it’s only going to be those in need and those providing help using it is a large one. The fact that not everyone uses radios and not everyone would be aware of the channel is another, so you have a resource maybe wasted trying to make contact with someone who may or may not even be on that channel.

It’s great to get some discussion going but involve the local S&R groups in your area and ask them what they would want to see. At the end of the day it’s the backcountry and users shouldn’t have the expectation that someone is always coming to get them and I am not referring to any recent events but these people who are in these SAR groups will always do what they can and we should be the ones doing more to help them, not the other way around.

An emergency channel monitored on the dual channel radios could be useful for other people in the area to become aware of a situation and give some assistance and possibly prevent search and rescue from being required.

Search and rescue should use private channel for communication between themselves so the common folk don’t interfere.

 

[maxwell]

An emergency channel monitored on the dual channel radios could be useful for other people in the area to become aware of a situation and give some assistance and possibly prevent search and rescue from being required.

Search and rescue should use private channel for communication between themselves so the common folk don’t interfere.

Which brings up another point. Everyone always wants to help a fellow sledder. Which is great. But in most cases a small dialed team is far more effective. eliminates a rescue for the rescuers. it happens. That could be useful for sweeping the mountain in a search though. absolutely

 

[takethebounce]

Marine channel 16 is the emergency channel world wide for boaters. It is vhf but there shouldn't be any issue dedicating one uhf and one vhf frequency for a sledder emergency channel. The off road 4x4 guys have a dedicated channel. I think FRS16 should be used as a uhf emergency channel as for vhf I should maybe talk to a few guys and set something up. I will be discussing this with the BCSF soon

But why just sledders? Think bigger picture.

Please don’t get me wrong, I play devils advocate a lot, I enjoy seeing new ideas. I am on board with all of you but many backcountry skiers/boarders now carry the BCA links because of the marketing and availability of something simple with brand recognition. What about climbers? Summertime hikers and hunters? There is no reason one channel that aligns with a GMRS UHF band that couldn’t be used for everyone.

There is tons of discussions going on with it, you have been apart of some of them on Facebook but it needs the backing of all users, maybe suppliers who pre program the channel, regulatory groups, SAR groups and so on.

 

[Dooitorbust]

I am glad RGM started this thread as lotrs of people are talking about this topic.Lots of opinions and that might get some guys to change their mind and go out and purchase a spot or in reach

That would be me... I’ll be buying an Inreach in the very near future.