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02-03-2021, 11:42 AM
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#61
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Rivet Master
2017 26' Flying Cloud
Tampa
, Florida
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 7,636
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I've met a number of Black Bears while hiking. I assume they were black bears even thought they're not always black. In every case, I froze, they acted surprised and jumped off the trail. I was left smiling and impressed how big their feet are!
The Brown Bear is what we normally see in Montana and Alaska.
There's a video of a guy sitting in a chair by a stream, and a Grizzly sits down next to him. I'd have had a heart attack. After a minute, the bear got bored and walked off.
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02-03-2021, 01:08 PM
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#62
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Rivet Master
2007 Interstate
Normal
, Illinois
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 18,065
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It looks like a big dog, just kinda checking out the River.
Hmmm, I don’t see any fish today...wonder how cold that water is?
I would maybe call that a “bear habituated to humans”.
Maggie
__________________
🏡 🚐 Cherish and appreciate those you love. This moment could be your last.🌹🐚
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02-03-2021, 10:41 PM
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#63
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Len and Jeanne
2005 16' International CCD
2015 19' Flying Cloud
Creston Valley
, British Columbia
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,793
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KK4YZ
Black Bears are common in the Eastern part of the country. We have Black Bears in our neighborhood. Unless someone feeds them and gets them use to people, they’re more scared of you than you are of them. However, if you see a cub, you better freeze and look around. Mommy is not too far away. If you get between Mommy & the cub, she’ll forget all about being scared of you.
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Famous last words: "I wonder where the mother bear is."
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02-04-2021, 03:36 AM
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#64
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International Grey Nomad
1999 35' Cutter Bus Diesel Pusher
Bulahdelah
, NSW Australia
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 232
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Quote:
Originally Posted by northfayston
Moosetags/Brian. Can you please share the name of the location beacon you use for hiking? When you bring it in the trailer at night - do you turn it on? There are so many types out there. Thanks.
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We use the Garmin Delorme SE tracker/emergency beacon/two-way text messenger. Ticks all the boxes for us, plus tie it in with Spotwalla to produce travel maps so family and friends know where we are (at 10 minute intervals if wanted)
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02-04-2021, 05:06 AM
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#65
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Rivet Master
2023 27' Globetrotter
Winder
, Georgia
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 517
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mollysdad
I've met a number of Black Bears while hiking. I assume they were black bears even thought they're not always black. In every case, I froze, they acted surprised and jumped off the trail. I was left smiling and impressed how big their feet are!
The Brown Bear is what we normally see in Montana and Alaska.
There's a video of a guy sitting in a chair by a stream, and a Grizzly sits down next to him. I'd have had a heart attack. After a minute, the bear got bored and walked off.
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I was waiting on the guy to offer him a beer!
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02-04-2021, 05:48 AM
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#66
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Site Team
1994 25' Excella
Waukesha
, Wisconsin
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 5,522
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Sometimes danger comes from things you least expect. One time I was camping with some friends in the Cloudcroft NM area on some Federal land. It was marked on the map as an area where camping was allowed, and we carefully followed a fire road late one evening to the site and set up camp. All seemed good when we went to sleep.
Early the next morning we woke up to what sounded like an army surrounding our campsite with the sounds of thousands of footsteps on the frozen ground. When we looked out the windows, we found ourselves totally surrounded by hundreds of cattle quietly grazing inches from us and as far as we could see from the window. At that point, our main concern was not spooking the cattle and triggering them to run in fear.
We had no idea that the land was also serving as a grazing area, and it was a great reminder to do lots more research before setting up camp in the future. Fortunately today we have lots more ways to check out an area before running into problems than existed in the 80s.
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02-04-2021, 05:59 AM
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#67
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Rivet Master
2016 16' Sport
Miami
, Florida
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 1,593
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lily&Me
Just an observation...
Gun enthusiasts seem to feel that carrying a weapon insures their safety.
Non-gun-toters rely on other things to remain safe, including their ability to accurately assess the level of threat to themselves from others.
Maggie
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That’s a bit of a generalization if not somewhat arrogant.
Most “gun-totters” I know realize guns are just another tool in the shed and may or may not be useful in all situations. If you do any reasonable weapons training you will see that assessment of the threat level is paramount.
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02-04-2021, 09:45 AM
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#68
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Rivet Master
2007 Interstate
Normal
, Illinois
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 18,065
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I did say “seem to feel”, to not include everyone.
But, there are definitely distinct schools of thought, which was the point I was making.
My late husband always had a gun in our Interstate, while I have never and would not.
Yet, I feel perfectly safe as do others who define risk differently.
Maggie
__________________
🏡 🚐 Cherish and appreciate those you love. This moment could be your last.🌹🐚
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02-04-2021, 06:03 PM
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#69
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Rivet Master
2007 22' International CCD
Corona
, California
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,180
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Boondocking safe?
The real bottom line to safety is situational awareness. The rest of it is just access to tools, or moving on if something feels sketchy to anyone in the party. “Gut feelings” have saved my butt more than once in both Military and civilian life, you just have to listen to that feeling and respond appropriately.
The worst one was considering taking an airplane ride from the aircraft carrier a friend of mine snd I were visiting to an airbase in South Vietnam during the height of the hostilities.
I got a funny bad feeling about that idea, and talked my buddy out of it. Several hours later we got the word that the airplane had landed and immediately came under a heavy mortar attack. The crew and passengers just barely managed to get off the plane before it got hit dead center and exploded.
Two more passengers would have been just a little slower, and someone could have gotten killed. No fun. My buddy insisted I let him know immediately of any other ‘funny feelings’ for the rest of our time in the Navy!
__________________
Rich, KE4GNK/AE, Overkill Engineering Dept.
'The Silver HamShack' ('07 International 22FB CCD 75th Anniversary)
Multiple Yaesu Ham Radios inside and many antennae sprouting from roof, ProPride hitch, Prodigy P2 controller.
2012 shortbed CrewMax 4x4 Toyota Tacoma TV with more antennae on it.
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02-04-2021, 08:41 PM
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#70
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Len and Jeanne
2005 16' International CCD
2015 19' Flying Cloud
Creston Valley
, British Columbia
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,793
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl
....
Scenario:
Stranger banging on your door (house, apt, trailer at cracker barrel or in the boondocks) in 0300 hrs in the morning saying they need help. Think it thru, what's your plan(s).
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We had this happen once. In our pre-AS days, we were tent-camping at a BLM campground in the North San Rafael desert of Utah. It was a designated primitive CG, meaning a dozen small sites each with a picnic table, and one pit toilet. No water on site. We were the only campers there that night.
We were fast asleep in the tent when I awoke to the sound of footsteps. Kind of like a ghost story, the footsteps got closer...and closer...and closer....
Suddenly a man called out, "Do you speak English? Do you speak English?"
I shouted, "Of course we speak English!"
It turned out that he had had been out for a day's flying excursion from his home in southern Utah, but had crashed his small plane on takeoff from one of the old air strips in the San Rafael, put in decades ago by Uranium exploration companies. He had two young grandchildren in the plane, and had not filed a flight plan. He told the kids to stay put-- with no emergency supplies that I could determine-- and had walked out 20 miles on a rough road to what he hoped would be a place with people.
If we hadn't been there, it could have gone a lot worse, with nobody else anywhere near us.
This was before we owned a cell phone. This man had one, but its batteries were low and reception was poor. We drove him to the nearest town, at least an hour away, where the local police met him at the convenience store and took over from there.
The kids got airlifted to be checked out at the regional hospital in Grand Junction, CO, and thankfully were OK.
So no, I guess there wasn't an advance plan, no sat phone, no dogs, no guns, just a sense that a panicked-sounding man on foot was probably legitimately in trouble.
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02-05-2021, 01:02 AM
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#71
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Rivet Master
2014 20' Flying Cloud
Sag Harbor
, New York
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 17,523
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Great post . . good that you were able to save some lives that night. Well done.
Good posts about "situational awareness" also.
"Do unto others . . . "
Decades ago I took some chances to help folks in danger, and we all lived through it.
Thankfully!
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02-05-2021, 06:01 AM
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#72
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Rivet Master
2014 27' Flying Cloud
Wenatchee
, Washington
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 512
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I am a firm believer in listening to your “spidey senses”, so much so that my Bride and I each have veto power on where we’re gonna park for the night. No second-guessing or discussion, we just move on to the next place to stop.
__________________
2018 Ram 3500 SLT CTD 4X4 pickup
2014 Airstream Flying Cloud 27FB
WBCCI #7180
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02-05-2021, 06:57 AM
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#73
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Rivet Master
1962 28' Ambassador
1961 19' Globetrotter
1962 26' Overlander
Mesa
, Arizona
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 5,996
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L&J
That a great example I can just imagine those footsteps.
__________________
Hittenstiehl
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02-05-2021, 10:00 AM
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#74
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Site Team
1994 25' Excella
Waukesha
, Wisconsin
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 5,522
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Anyone have any real world experience using one of the Garmin inReach units to stay in touch with the world while camping in remote areas? They seem like a good piece of kit to carry for safety reasons when off the beaten path, but it's hard to tell from their advertising just how useful they actually are.
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02-05-2021, 10:17 AM
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#75
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.-. -...
2017 25' International
Niagara-on-the-Lake
, ON Canada
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 1,836
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Quote:
Originally Posted by richard5933
Anyone have any real world experience using one of the Garmin inReach units to stay in touch with the world while camping in remote areas? They seem like a good piece of kit to carry for safety reasons when off the beaten path, but it's hard to tell from their advertising just how useful they actually are.
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I have one and use it for travel in places that have the potential to be without cell coverage. The texting feature is good and works better with the iOS app for typing messages than the device itself. I also like the trip following function so friends and relatives can see where you are.
__________________
Ray B.
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02-05-2021, 11:09 AM
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#76
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Rivet Master
2019 25' Flying Cloud
Airstream - Other
Airstream - Other
North Central Texas
, USA
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,003
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 21Airstream
I am a firm believer in listening to your “spidey senses”, so much so that my Bride and I each have veto power on where we’re gonna park for the night. No second-guessing or discussion, we just move on to the next place to stop.
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That's one of our strategies.
These people were in an Airstream...
Killer quickly convicted for slaughtering 6 at East Texas campsite
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...oUGrtjAwkithZH
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02-05-2021, 11:18 AM
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#77
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Rivet Master
2014 27' Flying Cloud
Wenatchee
, Washington
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 512
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That’s really sad! FWIW, I grew up in the same county they were from (Ellis County).
__________________
2018 Ram 3500 SLT CTD 4X4 pickup
2014 Airstream Flying Cloud 27FB
WBCCI #7180
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02-05-2021, 12:07 PM
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#78
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2 Rivet Member
2019 16' Sport
Nelson
, British Columbia
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 72
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Quote:
Originally Posted by richard5933
Anyone have any real world experience using one of the Garmin inReach units to stay in touch with the world while camping in remote areas? They seem like a good piece of kit to carry for safety reasons when off the beaten path, but it's hard to tell from their advertising just how useful they actually are.
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Hi Richard,
InReach is popular with backcountry folks in my area. They all seem very satisfied.
Scott
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02-05-2021, 12:22 PM
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#79
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Rivet Master
1962 28' Ambassador
1961 19' Globetrotter
1962 26' Overlander
Mesa
, Arizona
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 5,996
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RivetEd
That is an example for sure. Someone on here knew that family. Very sad and premeditated.
There is also a recent Galveston Beach example where suspects stole the victim's travel trailer and the suspect's images were captured as the suspects crossed into Mexico. I did not follow up on that case but my presumption is the suspects befriended them first before he took advantage. These are definitely isolated incidents and while there is no need to live in fear, awareness is a good thing. Psychopaths do mingle among the general population on occasion.
__________________
Hittenstiehl
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02-05-2021, 02:05 PM
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#80
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Len and Jeanne
2005 16' International CCD
2015 19' Flying Cloud
Creston Valley
, British Columbia
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,793
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Thank you, Hittenstiehl and OTRA15.
Richard5933, cattle (and sometimes sheep) grazing is all over the BLM and USFS land in the western states.
We've never been awakened by a herd of cattle, but we've seen plenty of otherwise nice sites with cow pies all over the place.
A shovel, bucket, and work gloves come in handy for removing cow poo from a campsite.
Also, there are, unfortunately some real slob campers in popular boondocking locations. People who leave outdoor latrines, garbage in the campfire ring, and broken glass lying around. Extra garbage bags are also a great idea.
Ah, wilderness!
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