first aid above the tree line.

[Cobra64]

Hey guys. I am just curious as to what, if any, special equipment is carried in the north in the winter. Either in your first aid kits or in your survival kits. What do you use for fire fuel above the treeline? Do you carry tents or bivy sacks? Thanks.

[Driving Rain]

Cobra,
I flew for years before I took an Arctic survival course. After taking it, I thanked my lucky stars I didn't ever need it in the proceeding years. Thanks go to Mr. Pratt and Whittney
Take one and you'll have the answer to your question.

Here is what was covered on my 5 day real world course given by ex-military guys who were worth every penny my employer paid.

Survival psychology

Survival pattern, hypothermia, hyperthermia

Topography understanding including basic sea ice descriptions

Equipment and clothing requirements

First aid/medical scenarios

Shelters

Signals

Fire

Food and water .

[Cobra64]

Cobra,
I flew for years before I took an Arctic survival course. After taking it, I thanked my lucky stars I didn't ever need it in the proceeding years. Thanks go to Mr. Pratt and Whittney
Take one and you'll have the answer to your question.

Here is what was covered on my 5 day real world course given by ex-military guys who were worth every penny my employer paid.

Survival psychology

Survival pattern, hypothermia, hyperthermia

Topography understanding including basic sea ice descriptions

Equipment and clothing requirements

First aid/medical scenarios

Shelters

Signals

Fire

Food and water .

Sounds like a good course. Perhaps I should rephrase. Was there anything that they had in their equipment kits, either first aid or survival, that made you think "I would have never thought of that" and you now carry? Tips and Tricks kind of things.

[Widow]

Check out the "equipped to survive" website at http://www.equipped.org/. Lots of excellent information and advice.


Eg. -
Basic Aviation Survival Kit: http://www.equipped.com/basic.htm
Aviation Survival Primer: http://www.equipped.org/primer.htm

[Driving Rain]

Sounds like a good course. Perhaps I should rephrase. Was there anything that they had in their equipment kits, either first aid or survival, that made you think "I would have never thought of that" and you now carry? Tips and Tricks kind of things

.

A sat phone, a good compass with a personel GPS.

[Invertago]

Sat Phone / Personal Locator (Spot) if I'm anywhere remote. If you are in a very snowy area, one of those skier avalanche shovels could be worth its weight in gold while you construct a Quincy. One of those reflective blankets can be great. Wrap yourself up in it to keep heat, or turn the shiny side out and use it as a signal.

[Donald]

Something I would consider, is pulling out your survival gear and trying to use it. I've seen a demonstration where the trainer tried and tried but could not get the stove to light! It made for a light moment, in the hangar. Out in the bush, it wouldn't have been so funny...

[Invertago]

Something I would consider, is pulling out your survival gear and trying to use it. I've seen a demonstration where the trainer tried and tried but could not get the stove to light! It made for a light moment, in the hangar. Out in the bush, it wouldn't have been so funny...

Very true and good idea. Also, when you test your gear, if possible do it under somewhat similar conditions as what you might face in a survival situation. Many camp stoves don't light well at -30 or colder or in the wind and rain. Good to discover its weaknesses ahead of time.

[Driving Rain]

while you construct a Quincy

How are you to construct a Quincy if your above the tree line in the arctic?

A good long knife while you construct an egloo in winter and a shovel in summer.
I just take an Inuit along and then I know I'll be ok.

[Cat Driver]

I just take an Inuit along and then I know I'll be ok.

Do they still offer you their wife for the night as a token of friendship?

['effin hippie]

Check out 'Death and Deliverance' real world account of the crash of Boxtop22 (?) Herc freighter into Alert. It's a good read, and describes the worst case conditions.

For what it's worth, I lived in Iqaluit and Inuvik both for a few winters, and did some winter camping, as well as overnight hiking and skiing.

-OK the obvious: Don't Sweat. Take a course. The previous guys said some useful stuff.

-Fire paste, or those white bbq lighting bricks are a must for lighting anything, stoves included. How much stove fuel do you have? Enough to heat a shelter for a while?

-Can't wear too much. If you are instantly uncomfortably warm when indoors with your outdoor clothing on, you might be wearing enough to stay warm all night. Over-dressing for a regular work day should become a habit. I think working Medevacs in particular can make people pretty complacent about proper dress.

-Some method of sheltering from the wind is essential.

-Irridium phones are the ones that work in high latitudes.

-Keeping people hydrated is often overlooked in cold conditions.

I dunno, these are the quick things I can think of that would keep you going overnight - 24 hrs. Minimize frost bite. Things worthing being sure of every day.

But yeah. Take a course. Aren't employers mandated to provide safety training? Effective training?
Don't Sweat.

ef

[black hole]

Don't feed the white bears!!!!!!!


BH

[Meatservo]

I have a bag with:
Spare pair of boots
Spare clothes ( extra mitts, socks, hats, neck tubes, face masks, etc)
Some of those "hot shot" type mitt and foot warmers.
Some of those sea rations, they taste like sweet sawdust and have, like 100 000 calories and protein.
Parka (should really be wearing it but find it bulky for inside the cockpit)
Bottle of tabasco sauce(for good luck)

In the plane there should be:
Saw or snowknife
Snowshoes
Multi fuel stove (can burn plane fuel but also gasoline or naptha)
Toilet paper (aside from the obvious you can use a roll as a wick inside a coffee can with jet fuel as a crude blowpot)
Coffee can (see above; also for melting snow, etc.
Shovel (not a grain scoop, a real shovel)
Five-Star rated sleeping bags, plus some extra smaller ones

As well as your standard survival/first aid kit with basic camping supplies, of course. In the old days it was a good idea to have lots of freeze-dried food, but I have a hard time imagining having to wait more than a day and a half to get rescued these days. Even a few hours is plenty long enough to freeze to death if yo don't contrive some kind of shelter, though. The aftermath of a crash is not a good time or place to build an igloo for the first time either. Learn now.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. The idea of bringing a box of those white charcoal-lighter bricks is a good one. If it's below -30 a small chunk of that can be put under the generator and lit on a multi-fuel stove to warm it up enough to run on its own.

[seniorpumpkin]

Lots of good stuff so far! Imho the most important part of any survival kit is firmly lodged within your cranium. That's right, you need to know what your doing to make any piece of survival gear work properly!
If your serious about the prospect of spending time beside your crashed bird, you need to take a course about how to survive outside. I think it's also a really good idea to spend some extra time recreating outside (playing in the snow; go for a jog 'because' it's -30; build a snow shelter in your backyard, maybe at night; whatever, as long as it's outside) you might even have some fun!

PS: don't try to warm up your shelter with a camp stove, you will die of carbon monoxide poisoning before you get warm, that has killed a lot of campers

[canwhitewolf]

quote from Meatservo
but I have a hard time imagining having to wait more than a day and a half to get rescued these days.
unquote

******************************************************************

not so true when one considers the case of steve fossett and Ron Boychuk

[canwhitewolf]

there isnt much to burn in the arctic if you are that far north except maybe your planes tires, or if you are lucky enough to be flying an anson, you could always burn the plywood in the plane as well

a CD disk makes a pretty good "sunlight signaling device (if there is any sunlight) and even has a hole in it to look through

also some other tips from various sources

survival pocket chainsaw
http://www.pocketchainsaw.com/

stratus trailstove
http://www.trailstove.com/

avoid bears with bear shock( if you have battery power)
http://www.udap.com/BearShockvideo.htm

how to build an igloo
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/003371.php

how to buld an igloo VIDEO
http://www.nfb.ca/film/How_to_Build_an_Igloo/

swedish firesteel
http://www.grannysstore.com/Wilderness_ ... _Steel.htm

petroluem jelly fire starters make yourself
http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/ ... -starters/
(carry a container of petroleum jelly and some cotton balls)

survival US army manuals
http://www.equipped.org/fm21-76.htm

sas survival methods..good info
http://www.wilderness-survival-skills.c ... books.html

[Jastapilot]

Hi, Lots of good points. For me, I expect to be rescued within a couple days, so food isn't a top priority for me. Ideally a working knowledge of how to make various kinds of shelters in various climates would be crucial. Igloos, for example, aren't as hard to make as you'd think, if you have a snow saw or machete or something similiar for cutting blocks. A snow saw doesn't have to be something fancy you buy for $50. A 3 foot long 1X4 with some saw toothed notches cut into it would do a fine job as well. A small, portable shovel or snow shoe would be good for piling snow for a quincy in case you have powdery snow that's no good for making blocks. I don't like quincy's because i usually get soaked from crawling and digging out the hole, but hey, it's better than nothing.

An understanding on how to make a fire using various methods and materials.

A way to purify and/or filter water is important too. In the high arctic, you'd need a way to melt snow or ice and a pot to put it in for melting.

Learn how to use a mirror or something reflective to signal airplanes.

carry rope, you can never have too much rope. I like para-chord or similarly sized nylon cords.

A survival manual in your gear would cover just about everything else.

It's been a while, and i'm sure there's more too add, but this is just off the top of my head.

[devious_flygirl]

I took an Aircrew Survival course with Highlands Wilderness, they have both an above tree line and boreal forest course, as mentioned below those same topics were covered. I learned lots and now pack a bit my kit differently. The instructor is also a bush and commercial pilot. Great course and located just north of Toronto, for anyone looking.

[grimey]

Something I would consider, is pulling out your survival gear and trying to use it. I've seen a demonstration where the trainer tried and tried but could not get the stove to light! It made for a light moment, in the hangar. Out in the bush, it wouldn't have been so funny...

This, more than anything else. Know what you have in your kit, know how and when to use everything in it, and know how to maintain it. And don't test things when you're feeling great. Do it when you're exhausted after a long day.

[1000 HP]

I dropped 8 canoeists and a guide off on the Thelon River (way north) many times and once as we climbed up on shore I saw the largest grizzly tracks i've ever seen. The creepy part was that the sand was still falling into the claw marks....
So unlike the canoeists who carry tinkly bells I would recommend carrying a blaster. (I hope this doesn't spark another ridiculously long extended debate on the best blaster because that is obvious: The best blaster is one that you have on you and will kill not "piss off" a grizzly)
The rest of the comments and suggestions make good sense, except the Inuit women one

[jet a1]

.

[angry inch]

"Catdriver" hasn't been here for a while & that post is 5 yrs old.... just sayin'