Dennaz1 Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Hats off to the firefighters and dispatchers that save us. They are true heros. www.gazettenet.com/07282003/news/7851.htm * Added on 7/31 * I was not the one to get lost, I am also a firefighter and my girlfriend was one of the dispatchers. [This message was edited by Dennaz1 on July 31, 2003 at 07:17 AM.] Quote Link to comment
+DeskJocky Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Yet another reason why I should waypoint the car... Quote Link to comment
+sept1c_tank Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 911 Rescue Hats off to Dennaz1 for having the guts to surface in these forums. Glad you made it out OK...one question...did they charge you for the emergency services (how much)? ==============="If it feels good...do it"================ **(the other 9 out of 10 voices in my head say: "Don't do it.")** . Quote Link to comment
+MaxEntropy Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 There's somthing missing there. Did his GPS not support "breadcrumb" trails? That's also a lesson to place a waypoint when you park. I use waypoint "C" Mickey Max Entropy More than just a name, a lifestyle. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Your little adventure has been discussed quite a bit in this thread. "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry Quote Link to comment
+Lothar69 Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 My God that's funny. The part I enjoyed the best was "Hurley said firefighters were concerned that Wood might fall waist deep into the marsh, get stuck and possibly lose his cell phone or GPS device before they got to him." - Yeah, cause it would be a shame if he lost his GPS device since it did him so much good. Quote Link to comment
+The Weasel Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 This guy almost deserves a honerable mention in the Darwin awards!!!! Quote Link to comment
+rubber ducky Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 I don't think Dennaz1 is the geocacher that got lost. Quote Link to comment
+sept1c_tank Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by rubber ducky:I don't think Dennaz1 is the geocacher that got lost. ================================================ I think he is. Here is the cache page with his log and another link to the original news story. ==============="If it feels good...do it"================ **(the other 9 out of 10 voices in my head say: "Don't do it.")** . Quote Link to comment
+rubber ducky Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Yeah, I saw that log. In the story, Timothy Woods, the lost geocacher, states he has found 16 caches in 20 attempts. Dennaz1 has logged only 3 finds, maybe he's just behind in his logs. But Dennaz1 doesn't state in either of his posts, here and on the cache page, that he's THE one. So how about Dennaz1, is it you? Quote Link to comment
+Huntnlady Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Is this guy blonde? He had is car waypointed, it was in the parking coordinates! In the article it said that's how they found his car after they rescued him. This guy should stick to 1/1's until he gets a guide dog or develops a sense of direction. _______________________________ Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth! http://www.geocities.com/cacheinon Quote Link to comment
+Woodbutcher68 Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Notice that his "log" is a note, not a find or a DNF. Also notice his post for Spruce Maze..."I felt like I was walking in circles around it" That's a good clue! REI has some nice personal locators for your next excursion! Maps?!? I don't need no stinking maps! I got coordinates! There's a fine line between Geocaching and mental illness, I just not sure which side of the line I'm on! [This message was edited by Woodbutcher68 on July 30, 2003 at 04:55 PM.] Quote Link to comment
martmann Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 If he parked where the cache description page said to, having a copy of the description page, should've been all he needed, assuming he knew how to enter a waypoint. Heck he may have already had the parking waypoint in his GPSr. Either way, not posting a 'couldn't find it' on the log, just makes him a loser. _________________________________________________________ If trees could scream, would we still cut them down? Well, maybe if they screamed all the time, for no reason. Click here for my Geocaching pictures and Here (newest) Quote Link to comment
Wanderingson Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Might I recommend a good book and a bag of breadcrumbs. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0525461523/qid=1059611514/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_4/002-2584641-2979226?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 Quote Link to comment
+McCaughan Family Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Woodbutcher68:There's a fine line between Geocaching and mental illness, I'm just not sure which side of the line I'm on! As someone who works in the mental health field, I have to use that quote! Great one! Thanks! Cathy Geocaching Families of East TN Quote Link to comment
+jollybgood Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 I think there's more to this story than was reported. My guess is that being a marshy, river area there were a LOT of water obstacles and he simply couldn't get from point A to B. i.e. there may have been a lot of SWAMP and WATER between him and his car. I ran into a similar problem looking for a cache in a SWAMP a year or so back. I had to follow a zig-zag course around inlets, small lakes and marsh on the way to the cache. On the way back I found I couldn't remember how I had negotiated the virutal maze between myself and the car. I had to coordinates to the parking spot but getting there proved to be very difficult. To make matters worse my batteries were low and it was getting dark. I started to panic when I remembered the bread crumb trail on my unit and was able to turn off the map detail on the screen so the trail would show up better. Jolly R. Blackburn http://kenzerco.com "Never declare war on a man who buys his ink by the gallon." Quote Link to comment
+TotemLake Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Jolly B Good:I think there's more to this story than was reported. My guess is that being a marshy, river area there were a LOT of water obstacles and he simply couldn't get from point A to B. i.e. there may have been a lot of SWAMP and WATER between him and his car. I ran into a similar problem looking for a cache in a SWAMP a year or so back. I had to follow a zig-zag course around inlets, small lakes and marsh on the way to the cache. On the way back I found I couldn't remember how I had negotiated the virutal maze between myself and the car. I had to coordinates to the parking spot but getting there proved to be very difficult. To make matters worse my batteries were low and it was getting dark. I started to panic when I remembered the bread crumb trail on my unit and was able to turn off the map detail on the screen so the trail would show up better. Jolly R. Blackburn http://kenzerco.com "Never declare war on a man who buys his ink by the gallon." You raise a good point. One of the things I have been doing is to purposefully veer off from my intended course after completing my cache hunt, then try to get back on track and follow my breadcrumb back to the car without looking for landmarks. As long as the conditions remain the same, your trackback is a relatively safe way to get back. HOWEVER... We all know how fast conditions can change and doubling back on the breadcrumb may not always be right on the mark. You still have to use your navigating wits. When darkness falls, this alone can change a perspective so much that if you are even close to being uncertain of your equipment, the best thing to do is to hold steady and call for help. Cheers! TL Quote Link to comment
+Searching_ut Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 I always thought soft terrain meant you left the good old fashioned breadcrumb trail of footprints In this case however, had I been this individual, I think I would have just called home to let them know I was okay, then spend the miserable night in the swamp I deserved to spend there. I still think their should be a big bill in this persons mailbox to cover the cost of the rescue. Quote Link to comment
+WildcatRegi Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 Good point Searching_ut, he did mention that he was never afraid - why call 911? But then again, I hope I'm never stuck in a swamp overnight when I'm obviously not prepared! "The hardest thing to find is something that's not there!" Quote Link to comment
Geo Quest Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 i don't understand how it is possible that he didn't know where he was. "He said I have no idea where I am except the (GPS) coordinates on a Web site." Are you telling me that this guy was out geocaching in a swamp and did not even know how to read his current position? Thank goodness he's proficient at cell phone operation. I feel bad for him but c'mon! Who are these people who think they can ignore common sense because they have a cell phone? Depending on technology to bail you out of a survival situation is asking for trouble. Suppose his cell phone didn't have any reception? Suppose the batteries went dead, or he dropped it and lost it? The bottom line is this guy made a mistake but got very lucky. This is a good lesson for all of us to heed. Technology is only as good as the operator and old fashioned outdoor skills are still valuable to a modern-day explorer. "Wise men talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something." -- Plato Quote Link to comment
+Wilky & Quebbly Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 My two cents worth: Having lived most of my life near the woods, I am intensly aware of how incredibly easy it is to get turned around and lost. When I first got my eTrex, I realized that it was hard to understand what it was trying to tell me. At first I used it to find places I already knew so that when I went to an unfamiliar location, I could understand how to get back. In other words I practiced with it, until I knew how to use it. That alone has helped me get out of some otherwise sticky situations. "One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say." Will Durant Quote Link to comment
Dennaz1 Posted July 31, 2003 Author Share Posted July 31, 2003 Hello All from Dennaz1, No, it was not me, I am a firefighter also, and one of the dispatchers is my girlfriend, if you read the newspaper article, she was familure with the web site because we geocache together. Thanks to all who knew it was not me, Good Luck..... Quote Link to comment
+retphoto Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Dennaz1:Hats off to the firefighters and dispatchers that save us. They are true heros. http://www.gazettenet.com/07282003/news/7851.htm This is great.....and I noticed I made the same mistake that I bet others have Made!!! the quote is "that SAVE us." not "that SAVED us." I know when I first read it, I put a 'd' in there...it's NOT there, and it makes a world of difference. I know that I've relied on my "breadcrumb" feature to get me back to my bike/car/out of the woods quickly. As far as swamps...yes I've encountered them....Hey I can get dry clothes once i get home. But on the other hand....If I know it's going to be an overnight situation, I'm prepared for it. I have almost everything I need except for cellphone, and considering that they don't work in 90% of the areas I am....why carry the weight. Give me a Tall ship, and a Star to steer her bye... The White Fleet.... Quote Link to comment
+RJFerret Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 quote:Originally posted by TotemLake:When darkness falls, this alone can change a perspective so much... Another good reason to only night-cache! Grin, Randy PS: I'm surprised nobody has mentioned a compass: a simple device that doesn't rely on batteries, coordinates, reception or illumination, permitting one to travel in a straight direction despite obstacles. PPS: Now it occurs to me, with attendants along, it could be a good exercise to go out, hand over the GPS to your attendant, then try returning w/compass only... Quote Link to comment
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