Quote:
Originally Posted by kindlekitten
and you keep those packs solvent and pristine all the time!?  I have a hard time keeping my search and rescue pack packed! and I've been doing this for a lot of years!!!! |
All the time.
Once bitten, twice shy. We change the water and check the batteries every two months. Not even a day late. It's just way too important. Everything else is static. I put in my time with Sierra Madre S&R back in the late 60's when Minor Harkness was running it, then continued when I moved to New England in the early 70's. Keeping my 'ready gear' ready is no problem any more, especially these days as it doesn't get used. I only stopped teaching winter mountaineering and skiing because I left the states to move to Asia.
In April of 2000 we had spent a wonderful week scuba diving and had just left the island a few days before when the Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas landed on Sipadan, Malaysia's tiny but spectacular dive island, and abducted 21 hostages including dive tourists and resort staff. Less than five months later, armed rebels struck again taking hostages from the Pandanan Island scuba diving resort near Sipadan. The following year in yet another attack inspired by the huge ransom payments the Abu Sayyaf demanded and received for the release of the Sipadan hostages, 15 more hostages were abducted near Sipadan.
We dive these waters several times a year. These days we carry what we call our 'hostage rescue kits' with us any time we are not under water in these areas. The kits are the little cigarette box sized waterproof boxes that fit in our pockets. Inside we keep fresh Cotrimoxizol, amoxicillin, Tramadol, Imodium, water purification tablets, heavy duty plastic bag, razor blade, and both US and Japanese money. Then we pray that we never need to use it.
Frankly, I trust this sort of stuff more than the health insurance I have to pay for.
Stitchawl