Safety

In Southern California I can make a fire with a bootlace and a sharp rock, using the "bow and drill" method with the Yucca plant. It will take a couple of hours to make the "kit" but only a few minutes to make the fire. Up here things are different. Forget about a bow and drill. It will waste valuable (survival) time. And those small Ferro rods attached to a small block of magnesium ...they are a joke, and will also waste valuable (survival) time. My advice is to watch many hours of You Tube videos, spend a few bucks on a "kit", and practice making fire in un-ideal conditions. Then customize your "kit" accordingly. My "kit" includes a nine inch blade knife, a ferro rod, two sealed aluminum containers filled with shaved magnesium, a small bundle of fat wood and a folding "silky saw". The "kit" is as small and light as possible (abut 1.5 pounds) but it also utilizes things such as Gorilla Tape. This is a subject that is difficult to discuss in short paragraphs, but I'm hoping that it sparks some interest (pun intended). Starting a fire with a water bottle is actually quite easy. I had fun learning how to do that.
 
Sort of thread drift (with a story): Saturday afternoon I was standing on a ste ladder pulling and breaking sucker branches off a pear tree. I felt something in my eye. 26 hours later I finally got this little piece of bark flushed out. So - I wasn't wearing any eye protection; no glasses - I wasn't using any kind of tool and still managed to get something in my eye.

When I go fishing I ALWAYS wear glasses. I'm probably the only fly fisher on this forum who has inadvertently stuck myself with a fly, right? (Arm, back of the neck, hand once). My buddy Jerry managed to stick a barbed fly top dead center of his bald head. Bled like a p i g. Glenn hit his forearm so hard with a tarpon fly he had an open wound where the point went in and a bruise the shape of the 4/0 hook. Moral: - wear glasses when you go fishing as it's no big deal to stick yourself in the hand, back of the neck or your bald spot but your eye??
 
One thing I’ve learned is the survival utility of old bicycle inner tubes. Get them for free at REI or any bike shop, and cut them into rings. Put them around whatever you’ve got and they're great rubber bands. Strike a few sparks into them from a ferro rod, broken bic lighter, etc, or set a brief flame to them and they’ll burn like angry bastards for quite a while and give you time to get your tinder and fire going. Chop one into bits and you’ve got tinder, too. If you get really lazy and have fairly dry wood (gather hanging branches, etc) you can even just rubber band the sticks together and set the band on fire.

Slice parts of the tube the long way and you’ve got a fairly strong waterproof bungee/lashing cord that can be pressed into service as fire starter/tinder. If you’re careful you can get a dozen or so feet per strip.
 
Anything plastic is made up of petroleum, and will burn. I've often used milk jugs to start bon fires. That being said.."Gorilla Tape" is, by far, the best burning stuff out there. I wrap it around my ferro rod to make a handle that can be used as tinder.. Gorilla Tape can also be used to enclose cotton, infused with petroleum jelly, to make highly combustible, waterproof "fire starters" that work well with a ferro rod. You tube taught me a lot.
 
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I'd like to add.... that starting a fire is one thing...feeding that small fire throughout the night, in a wet, rainy forest is a completely different thing. If you are lucky you can find dry wood, underneath fallen trees. Short broken branches above the wet forest floor (squaw wood) is also sometimes available. If you know about "fat wood" you may find some. If you have a large knife you may be able to "carve" or "split" off the wet wood to obtain the dry wood in the center of a stick, or log. A small tarp can be extremely beneficial during rainfall.
 
Buzzy, you are absolutely right about glasses for eye protection. I've stressed that when setting up many new people with gear while at Orvis, the 6+ years I was there.

Jim, I appreciate all of the fire starting advice, particularly about your "kit" and preparedness in general! I've watched many shows that talk about how to do it, but haven't practiced and will now.

I like how this thread has moved to a general safety thread! Cheers all! Keep the tips coming!
 
I have to admit that I became rather complacent about wearing a PFD. It was usually hanging on the back of the seat on my pontoon. That was until I had a heart attack while floating the Yakima Canyon. When I realized I needed to get off the river a couple of miles away it occurred to me that if the worse happened the recovery would be easier if I put on the bright colored PFD. A sobering thought, but could have been a reality. Now I wear a vest style one on my pontoon and an inflatable on my Lund from launch to takeout.
 
Buzzy said:
Sort of thread drift (with a story): Saturday afternoon I was standing on a ste ladder pulling and breaking sucker branches off a pear tree. I felt something in my eye. 26 hours later I finally got this little piece of bark flushed out. So - I wasn't wearing any eye protection; no glasses - I wasn't using any kind of tool and still managed to get something in my eye.

When I go fishing I ALWAYS wear glasses. I'm probably the only fly fisher on this forum who has inadvertently stuck myself with a fly, right? (Arm, back of the neck, hand once). My buddy Jerry managed to stick a barbed fly top dead center of his bald head. Bled like a p i g. Glenn hit his forearm so hard with a tarpon fly he had an open wound where the point went in and a bruise the shape of the 4/0 hook. Moral: - wear glasses when you go fishing as it's no big deal to stick yourself in the hand, back of the neck or your bald spot but your eye??
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Got a friend that fishes after dark a lot , I gave him a pair of clear safety glasses with bifocals , he uses them always .
 
flybill said:
I got mine on sale, don't recall the price, but a required piece of equipment if you want to stay safe out there, either floating alone or with others. Being that I'm a BIG guy, I can't always assume that there will be a jacket big enough to fit me and be comfortable! It does help that I've lost 50+ pounds in the past 6 months or so, dropped two pants sizes, from a 42 to almost a 38! Ozempic and stress will do that and I don't recommend either, especially the later but it's worked for me and more to go!

One other thing, and I'm sure there are others.. I carry a Jet Boil, some tea and a few cup of noodles or something quick to make and warm up! Extra batteries of course, and a change of clothes and some form of fire starter.. just in case! Most of it goes in a dry bag and just would stay in the boat!
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I carry a jet boil and sleeping bag in the jeep all winter…
 
I kind of hi jacked this thread with my fire making stuff, but IMHO a fire making "kit" is a worthy safety device, whether it is in your PFD, vehicle, boat or backpack. Making specific "kits" for each one can be fun, and practicing with them is a blast.
Researching this will inevitably lead to learning how to make fire from anything at hand, should you not have your "kit" with you. Bic lighter out of gas? I can start a fire with that. A water bottle and some ash? On a sunny day, I can start a fire with just those two things using solar ignition. An AA volt battery and some tin foil? Fire. Besides being fun, this will teach you what is possible or feasible as opposed to a bonehead idea that simply is a waste of time. Picture a city slicker from Seattle thinking that the $10 fire kit he bought at REI will start a fire in the pouring rain.
 
When I killed my first deer.
After gutting it, I headed for the truck, except the truck wasn't where I left it.
I walked back to my deer and waited.
Another hunter came along, said nice buck and walked on.
That hunter walked to where my dad was waiting at the truck for me, told him where I was and dad came along and helped me drag my deer out.
I knew where I was, but the truck was lost.
I got fogged in while pheasant hunting in the basin, but I finally heard a potato truck out on the road, that guided me out of there.
 
......Kids don't do drugs.

You will spend way too much time looking up stupid shit on the Internet that you will never use.

Now that is a safety tip!
 
Hey this thread is about safety so no one has jacked it! Love all of the tips! Carry on boyz!
 
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I'd like to discuss the safety issues regarding the "clothing" that is worn underneath the Chinook PFD. Whenever a person falls into the water, the PFD.... AND the clothing worn should be considered. If you are wearing a dry suit.. that is vastly different than if you are wearing a cotton hoodie. Assuming that you are wearing a PFD, you should, IMHO, evaluate and scrutinize your clothing choices with the thought of swimming for your life. Thick, warm "goose down jackets" are nice, but other options designed for "water sports" may be a safer option.
 
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Jim in Anacortes said:
I'd like to discuss the safety issues regarding the "clothing" that is worn underneath the Chinook PFD. Whenever a person falls into the water, the PFD.... AND the clothing worn should be considered. If you are wearing a dry suit, that is vastly different than if you are wearing a cotton hoodie. Assuming that you are wearing a PFD, you should, IMHO, evaluate and scrutinize your clothing choices with the thought of swimming for your life being severely significant .
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The general rule is no cotton, only synthetic's! I always have a change of clothes in a dry bag.. and a source for fire if needed! Can't be too prepared!
 
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