↓ 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

SOLD: 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser

By Michael Coyle Posted on 18/10/2011 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with review, sale, sold

THE FJ SOLD for $23,000 Oct 22nd 2011 Keeping this post up for anyone perversely interested in reading about it.

The ACC requires digital avalanche beacons

By Michael Coyle Posted on 17/10/2011 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with avalanche, beacon, opinion, rant, safety, snow, winter

I’m a member of the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC), Vancouver Section, so I get their monthly “Alpine-E-r” newsletter. For the past several months I’ve noticed the following message in the newsletter: NEW BEACON POLICY The ACC has a new …

The ACC requires digital avalanche beacons Read more »

Move to WordPress

By Michael Coyle Posted on 06/10/2011 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with blog, meta, WordPress
Move to WordPress

The blogging wars are over, and WordPress won, deal with it. At least that’s what I tell myself. There’s lots of choices in the blogging world, but for a basic blog like what I write, WordPress is where it’s ad. …

Move to WordPress Read more »

Smart Phones and Battery Life

By Michael Coyle Posted on 15/09/2011 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay Tagged with communications, GPS, mobile phone, safety, smart phone, SMS, technology
Smart Phones and Battery Life

The biggest energy drain in a smart phone other than the cellular radio is the screen. Advice on how to best use this information, and preserve battery life

SPOT Connect and Smart Phones

By Michael Coyle Posted on 06/09/2011 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with communications, mobile phone, rant, review, safety, SAR, smart phone, technology

I’d like to direct people to Will Gadd’s article on the SPOT Connect. I’ve previously written how smartphones should not be used as a primary navigation device for backcountry travelers. Will points out that the SPOT connect, when paired with …

SPOT Connect and Smart Phones Read more »

Personal Locator Beacons from the Rescuer’s Perspective

By Michael Coyle Posted on 26/08/2011 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay Tagged with backcountry, beacon, case study, helicopters, HETS, management, map, personal locator beacon, PLB, rescue, safety, Tyler Wright, weather
Personal Locator Beacons from the Rescuer’s Perspective

A case study of a rescue with a Personal Locator Beacon in SouthWestern BC detailing rescuer’s difficulties accessing the location.

HETS Mountain Rescue in Yoho National Park

By Michael Coyle Posted on 15/08/2011 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with accident, helicopters, HETS, rescue, search

News tonight of a rescue in Yoho National Park. Parks Canada pioneered the rescue technique SAR people in BC know variously as HETS (Human External Transport System), or “Class ‘D’” operations (referring to the Aviation regulations that govern people being …

HETS Mountain Rescue in Yoho National Park Read more »

Finding Someone from a Helicopter

By Michael Coyle Posted on 15/08/2011 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay Tagged with backcountry, rescue, safety, SAR, search
Finding Someone from a Helicopter
Well hello there.

A description of a search, and of finding someone from a helicopter. Some tips on how to be spotted.

Popularity of snowshoeing

By Michael Coyle Posted on 11/08/2011 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with numbers, snow, snowshoe

In my article on snowshoe accidents, I noted that snowshoeing seemed to be growing in popularity, but could not find an industry reference on the numbers involved. Well, I found one that tracks numbers for the American market. The Outdoor …

Popularity of snowshoeing Read more »

What the heck is “Out of Bounds”

By Michael Coyle Posted on 10/08/2011 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with commentary, rescue, SAR, search

Some musings on how the media describe hikers and skiers as “Out of Bounds”

Posts pagination

Previous 1 … 21 22 23 24 25 … 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