Round about 1994 I took a summer off and cycled across Canada, and it was awesome. To be honest, my girlfriend (at the time) and I hadn’t actually planned the trip, but the difference between a week long bike trip…
Blog Archives
GPS Dilution of Error Notice
In awesome space news, SAR Teams throughout southwestern BC were notified today that a known GPS dilution of error event will occur tomorrow (January 16th) between 2215Z and 2245Z. Converting Zulu (UTC) to normal time means that’s from 14:15 (2:15 PM) and…
Are GoPro Cameras correlated with accidents?
A friend emailed me the other day with the following question. Some friends and I were wondering if there’s a connection between people getting into difficulties in the back country, and the wearing of GoPro helmet or ski cams. The idea…
The SpareOne Emergency Cell Phone
Readers of the blog know that I’ve said before that you shouldn’t use a smart phone for backcountry travel. The most important reason for this is that you’re using battery life which will make it hard to use the phone to…
Tagged with: communications, emergency, gear, how-to, review, smart phone, technology
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Stop with the Smart Phones already
Last year I wrote about how you should stop using Smart Phones for backcountry navigation. News outlets continue to post comments from local SAR teams highlighting what I wrote about; people using their phones as navigation devices are running the…
Tagged with: backcountry, communications, gear, GPS, opinion, rant, safety, smart phone, social media, technology
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Calculating your own GPS accuracy
In my post on GPS accuracy I made some claims about the accuracy of GPS devices and used a graphic that was created by a third party that may have confused the issue for some people, as it appeared to…
Your GPS is lying to you
At the very least, you’re probably misinterpreting what it’s saying. People’s attitudes toward GPS devices are very interesting. Since 2000, when selective availability was turned off, GPS has become ubiquitous to the point where most people have one and interact with it on…
GPS Accuracy Survey
I put together a survey about how people understand GPS accuracy. I am going to use the results when I present at SARScene next month in Toronto. It would really help me out if you spent the 40-50 seconds to…
Hypothermia Kit Conundrum
Our SAR team maintains several hypothermia treatment kits, and without going into too much detail they contain equipment for treating and transporting hypothermic patients. There various sorts of shelter, specialized waterproof subject bags, tarps, heating equipment, stoves etc. One of…
Tagged with: Equipment, feedback, gear, Hypothermia, question, rescue, SAR, search
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The SnowBe Beacon
There’s an article over on the UnofficialNetworks blog about a new piece of “avalanche safety gear” made by a company called Snow-Beacon. The article, which I encourage you to read for yourself, describes the “SnowBe” as the “THE MOST DANGEROUS…
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TrueNorth Geospatial
Mapping Software for Backcountry Professionals
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Locate people using their SmartPhones
