↓ Skip to Main Content
Oplopanax Horridus

Oplopanax Horridus

A veteran SAR volunteer's experiences in British Columbia

Main Navigation

  • About
    • About Me
    • Copyright
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Why Oplopanax
  • Popular
    • On Blaming the Victim
    • How to Kill Yourself Snowshoeing
    • Smart Phones and Battery Life
    • Don’t use Smart Phones for Backcountry Navigation
    • PLBs from the Rescuer’s Perspective
    • Finding Someone from a Helicopter
    • On Coordinates
    • A Social Media Storm
  • Projects
    • TrueNorth Geospatial
    • Missing Poster Generator
    • YourLo.ca/tion
    • SAR Teams Map
    • Range Rings
  • SAR Links
    • BC SAR Teams
    • SAR Agencies
  • Media
  • Contact

Category: Blog Entry

Regular blog posts

Canadian Military considering charging for Disaster Relief services

By Michael Coyle Posted on 10/01/2013 Posted in Blog Entry, Short Posts Tagged with cost recovery, current events, military, rescue
Canadian Military considering charging for Disaster Relief services

Canadian Military considers charging for disaster relief; is cost recovery every a good idea for emergency response?

Risk is part of Adventure

By Michael Coyle Posted on 07/01/2013 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with blame, opinion, rescue, risk, victim
Risk is part of Adventure

Comments on an excellent letter to the Vancouver Sun regarding the nature of risk, adventure, and the right of the individual to take risks

Opinions on SAR Cost Recovery

By Michael Coyle Posted on 20/12/2012 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with blame, cost recovery, ethics, rescue, risk

Some opinions and info about discussion on SAR cost recovery

The SpareOne Emergency Cell Phone

By Michael Coyle Posted on 10/12/2012 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with communications, emergency, gear, how-to, review, smart phone, technology
The SpareOne Emergency Cell Phone

The SpareOne: a simple, voice-only 2G phone powered by 1 “AA” battery, but DOES NOT WORK on the Telus (3G) network. Otherwise perfect for emergencies

Why does SAR Search for Dogs?

By Michael Coyle Posted on 08/12/2012 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with backcountry, dog, hazard, management, policy, social media
Why does SAR Search for Dogs?

Why searching for a Dog is in the interest of public safety

Stop with the Smart Phones already

By Michael Coyle Posted on 30/11/2012 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with backcountry, communications, gear, GPS, opinion, rant, safety, smart phone, social media, technology

People are still under the impression a Smart Phone can replace a GPS in the wilderness, and they’re still wrong.

Harvey’s cloud

By Michael Coyle Posted on 26/11/2012 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with accident, HETS, olympics, photo, rescue, snow, video, weather

Harvey’s Cloud, a weather phenomenon I encountered at Whistler during the 2010 Olympics

SARScene 2012 Presentation

By Michael Coyle Posted on 22/11/2012 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with communications, GPS, how-to, mapping, OpenStreetMap, SAR, smart phone, technology

This year I gave a presentation titled “Best Practices in Managing Geospatial Data for SAR Teams”

Remains of Missing Hiker found near Terrace BC

By Michael Coyle Posted on 21/11/2012 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with backcountry, death, SAR, search

The remains of missing hiker Warren Sill were found by the continued effort and perseverance of Terrace SAR

WorkSafeBC Report into death of SAR Volunteer

By Michael Coyle Posted on 15/11/2012 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with death, hazard, injury, opinion, risk

The WorkSafeBC report into a SAR Volunteer’s death is boiled down into headlines before the upcoming inquest.

Posts pagination

Previous 1 … 13 14 15 16 17 … 37 Next

Footer Menu

  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Why Oplopanax
Creative Commons Licence
Oplopanax Horridus Copyright © 2025 by Michael Coyle
All content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada License