Idaho hunter recovering after crawling for days for help following leg injury

[aceplace57]

A major injury is just about the worst thing that can happen to anyone far out in the woods. I’ve turned my ankle a couple times and had a tough time getting off the trail and back safe. Hiking any long distance injured isn’t easy. I can easily imagine what hell this guy went through. Four days, crawling out on a broken leg and even then wouldn’t have survived if these men hadn’t seen him.

I’ve carried a PLB since Christmas 2007. Many thanks to my wife. Best gift that I carry and have never used. The peace of mind means everything.

I also carry a Hunters GPS. Primarily for the maps and waypoints. I’m a backpacker and it helps to mark my camp. I’m still learning all the features on this gadget. Mine is this model

good article on PLB’s and satellite messengers. I need to look into getting a satellite messenger. Looks quite useful to check in at home when I’m on the trail.
http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html

Idaho hunter recovering after crawling for days for help following leg injury

John Sain was tracking an elk alone in remote wilderness near McCall last week when his foot slipped between two logs and he fell. The accident broke both of the bones in Sain’s lower leg, leaving him badly injured and unable to walk.

“I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it out,” said Sain, a Darby, Montana, native who lives in Riverside, California.

The 50-year-old was miles from the trail, didn’t have cellphone service and was in a lot of pain. He briefly considered suicide, Sain said. “Contemplated on just ending it right there honestly,” he said.

But he changed his mind after writing goodbye letters to his wife and kids. Sain made a splint out of sticks and ripped cloth and began the arduous crawl toward the trail.

[thelurkinghorror]

In before “serves him right” nutjobbery.

I see no evidence that he didn’t, but this is why you tell people where you are going, and don’t hunt/backpack alone, although sometimes it isn’t otherwise feasible.

I Googled, PLB = Personal Locator Beacon? What makes a PLB different/better/worse than a GPS? It’s a purely activate-when-needed thing? Do they keep a charge indefinitely?

[aceplace57]

yes a PLB is only for emergencies. Its on a government monitored channel that will dispatch rescue teams. You have to register it with NOAA. It’s a last resort, please save my ass before I die device.

I’ve had a few problems on the trial. But thankfully never reached for my PLB. They aren’t that expensive and well worth the extra safety.

PLBs transmit powerful signals at 406 MHz (MegaHertz), an internationally recognized distress frequency monitored in the U.S. by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the AFRCC (Air Force Rescue Coordination Center).

[aceplace57]

This guy must of been way back in the woods. Its a miracle that he ran across these two men and that they saw him.

The motorcyclists chopped down some trees to clear a landing space for an air ambulance. Sain was flown to a Boise hospital, where he is expected to stay for a few more days while he recovers from leg surgery.

[the_diego]

One for Reader’s Digest “Drama in Real Life.” And still no serves-him-right-those-poor-deer posts. There is hope.

[CerebrAl]

that ordeal had to suck…4 days of incredible pain oy!

[Muffin]

@thelurkinghorror

I Googled, PLB = Personal Locator Beacon? What makes a PLB different/better/worse than a GPS? It’s a purely activate-when-needed thing? Do they keep a charge indefinitely?

GPS

A GPS (Global Positioning System) trilaterates on satellite signals to figure out where you are. A GPS on its own will only tell you your grid coordinate (e.g. universal transverse mercator grid coordinate or latitude and longitude coordinate), which you can then use to find yourself on a paper map. Fancier GPS units come with a screen that can display a map with your position on it, and do other cool and groovy stuff such as track where you have been on the map and save your track so that you can put it on a map on your home computer. GPS units do not call for help.

PLB

A PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) sends out a couple of radio signals signals to COSPAS-SARSAT (Search And Rescue Satellite-aided Tracking) satellites that have excellent coverage over most of the world, with the exception of the far north and the far south, where there is less frequent coverage. When a satellite hears your PLB’s signal, SAR (Search and Rescue) will come for you. The satellites will triangulate/trilaterate on your 406 MHz signal to get your general location. Once the SAR team is close, they will home in on your PLB’s secondary 121.5 MHz signal. SARSAT satellites no longer monitors 121.5 and 243 MHz (although some ships and planes still do), so if you purchase an old PLB, check that it sends at 406 and do not get one older than 2007.

All PLBs made since 2007 broadcast at 406 and 121.5 MHz. Some of them also have a built in GPS that sends your map coordinates to the satellites rather than just your registration/serial number (when you get a PLB, you must register it, including your contact info and your emergency contact person’s contact info, and update your registration periodically, although there is no registration fee). If you get a PLB, get one that includes a GPS so that the SAR team will know from the get-go exactly where you are.
Satellite Messenger

Satellite Messengers (e.g. DeLorme/Iridium or Spot/Globalstar) send GPS signals to private satellites. If you press the help button (and if you have paid your annual registration fee), the satellite messenger will also send a signal that instructs the company to contact SAR. Some models also come with map displays and tracking features. None of them send out as strong a signal as a PLB, so get in a clearing when you use one. World-wide coverage is spotty in the far north and the far south, and SPOT is spottier, particularly in the middle of the south Pacific.

Satellite messengers let you create a limited number of your own pre-canned messages at home (for example: “Going to be a few days late” or “Come and pick me up – bring pie”) that the satellite messenger service will send out to email recipients when you press another of the unit’s buttons. Satellite messengers also can be set to let Facebook and Twitter denziens follow your track. Delorme has a unit that offers two way text messaging, which is a very big step forward in helping sort out what sort of assistance or rescue might be needed (or not needed), and in clarifying instructions with support teams.

You must renew your satellite messenger subscription annually. For a higher fee, you can get rescue insurance, which may be very important depending on where you may be when you need rescuing.
Satellite phone

Satellite phones let you talk (and some also let you text) via satellite. For about a thousand bucks more than a satellite messenger, you can get an Irridium satellite phone that also has a gps that lets you track and let others follow your tracks. The service fees on satellite phones are high.
Power

Most portable GPS, PLB, Satellite Messenger units are powered by lithium batteries, which last for years if you do not turn on the unit. If you turn on the unit but do not use it, the batteries will last for a few months. If you use the unit to send out repeated rescue-me signals, or to track yourself, or to send out a few hundred text messages, the batteries will last for a few days. If you are using a satellite phone, on stand-by the batteries may last for a couple of days, but when in use for conversations the batteries will only last a couple of hours, so be prepared to have to re-charge if you are using it for anything other than emergency use. As with any batteries, even lithium batteries do not last as long in the cold, so keep the unit inside your parka rather than in an exterior pocket or pack.

[Muffin]

Edit of the final sentence: As with any batteries, even lithium batteries do not last as long in the cold, so keep the unit inside your parka rather than in an exterior pocket or pack when you are not using it, and try to be in a clearing when you use it so that the signal has a better chance of being received by the satellites.