Gremlin's Tall Stories

Yeup, you read that right. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been on a bit of a bent about survival and rider training.

Ages ago GiJoe had mentioned first aid kits and that sort of thing and I had shrugged it off. Since preparing for the GC last year I have been thinking of it more, especially when I had a few close shaves with cars on some runs, or helping people broken down in the middle of nowhere. Then Katiepie had her incident and it was a further reminder that I really should do something about it. How many nudges and reminders does a dummy need? I think I’ll avoid answering that.

Criss-crossing the country at random times of the day and night and covering large distances, it’s sheer odds that something will either happen to me (hopefully that day never comes) or more likely, I come across something. Now to give some perspective, there’s no point in jumping off the deep end in my opinion. I’m not medically trained (although I should probably do a first aid course) and realistically, at least for NZ riding, help would likely be within 100km, or perhaps 200km, once raised. My opinion of course.

So, I don’t need to have a full aid kit designed to rebuild people (because I’m more likely to kill them anyway ) but I do think the priorities need to be:
- Alerting the appropriate people to get response. Emergency services would be it
- Secure the scene to prevent any further damage/danger from occurring (which includes vehicles approaching, unaware)
- Assist people involved, priority would be preventing or slowing blood loss and generally patching people up so they survive until proper services can reach them.

Tackling the issues in order then…

First was how I would store any gear. To have that kit means I should have it at all times when riding in the country (ie, stored on my BMW) which means not the panniers as I don’t always carry them. Use up top box space? What happens if I need it for other gear? The BMW has almost no storage space under the seat, the small amount that is there is used for accessory wiring. The BMW does however, have the pannier racks fitted all the time, and there is space on the inside of the right rack, and having seen a bike with a custom job fitted while in Rapid City, a storage box (like this: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=268861) seemed a brilliant idea. It will have to wait until the bike returns, but I have shortlisted some numbers to talk to about some aluminium welding work (don’t look at me… again, I’d kill myself).

Back to the list. Alerting people. I always have my phone with me, that’s a given, but even Telecom doesn’t cover a lot of the places I’m likely to be, so while it’s good to have one, it isn’t going to cut it for the purposes above. This job falls to a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon, sometimes also called an EPIRB) or GPS Messenger system, like Spot. Reading reviews, finding information, the Spot has more functionality (ie, it can do more than just raise help), but performance seems a mixed bag, some people complaining it can’t get a signal, and from the specs, this makes sense, as it’s not as powerful as a PLB.

A PLB is a once off purchase, registering it online with your name etc, as each is uniquely identified. Mine cost $580, RRP was over $600. Batteries would need to be replaced every 6-7 years, which can apparently be expensive, but 7 years is a long way down the track for technology. A Spot costs less upfront, but then you have a yearly fee of around US$100, or US$150 to have extra tracking features, as it’s a commercial solution. I settled on a GME Accusat MT410G PLB.

Buoyant, comes with a pouch and well made. Still reasonably small, at a bit smaller than an outstretched hand, and GPS enabled. This means it tries to locate itself and sends the co-ordinates in the emergency signal, theoretically pinpointing your location more accurately. It costs more to have GPS functionality, but the way I figure it, if I’m using it, it may as well be the best and help services find me faster. 7 year warranty and features a strobe light on top which none of its competitors has. Ordered it earlier this week.

Securing the vehicle is on demand, based on where and how the incident has occurred, but when the bike gets back I’ll also be fitting Admore Lighting to the top box and pannier, which will give me 5 rear ward facing lights. Hopefully the hazards and bike in general will be very visible, and I’ll be putting more reflective tape and vinyl on as well. The visibility will help with general riding as well, which was the aim for the Hornet.

Helping people involved meant I should carry a first aid kit, so found a small one with all the basics in it from Outdoor Supplies. Comes in a handy sealed pouch, so easy to carry. Stuff like bandages and strapping tape would be most useful, basically slowing blood flow, if necessary. As I said before… a helicopter/emergency services would ideally be on their way anyway. I added a space blanket and bivvy sack to the list, along with a folding blade knife. I carry a pocket knife all the time, but this knife will be stored with the rest of the kit in the box.

Space blanket is the standard silver thing, intended to stop heat loss. Browsing their site I learnt about bivvy sacks, which are sort of an advanced version of space blankets. It’s a sack instead of a sheet (each with their pros and cons) and more layers, longer lasting etc. This is a handy link: http://www.outdoorsupplies.co.nz/Survival.htm

All the gear came to just $679, which is a drop when you consider how life saving it could potentially be. All the gear will be stowed in the box (which will be blogged later when it comes into reality), hopefully never to be needed, but there in case it is.

Thursday has been a busy day. Three couriers paid me a visit, Fedex for a USA shipment (2x sets of Pilot Road 3 for GSA’s, and air filters for the same bikes and 2 hornets), Fastway for the PLB and CourierPost for the Outdoor Supplies stuff… All my Christmases at once