Importance of weather protection simulation

[Floridahanger]

How important is it to have a plan for weather protection?

Do I really need to keep my stuff dry? How do I dry it?

Well, many of us have talked about how important it is to always test new hammocks and quilts in the backyard or close to your car for safety. How about testing setting up in the rain. Yup, covered that to some extent.

How about showing a little bit of it instead of talking about it. Trip Smith from Sailing and Such just posted a video about just this topic. He completely soaked/dumped his entire gear in the Chipola River and videoed the entire experience.

Here it is:

[Snaps]

I've never done a simulation like this, but I exhaustively prepare and familiarize myself with my gear. It might be awhile until I can dedicate an hour to watching this video... why is my gear wet? Did my dry bags fail?

I think a key outcome of such a simulation is having a plan... knowing what works and what doesn't.

If you're in Florida (as I am), "cold and wet" is rarely an issue. I'm doing a three-day paddle with two others this weekend and the local low is predicted to be 50 overnight!

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[Carrico]

Besides getting hurt or lost on the trail, I would say hypothermia is probably the number one killer of hikers. It is good to have redundant Fire Starting capabilities, regardless of whether you have a campfire often or not. especially if all your insulation is down, there's no way you're going to dry it out enough to keep you warm, you'll be stuck relying on the heat from the fire all night to keep you from freezing to death. I always keep enough dry tender and kienlen with me to get at least two fires going and have fire starting waxed cotton balls along with several different lighters.

[Carrico]

I've never done a simulation like this, but I exhaustively prepare and familiarize myself with my gear. It might be awhile until I can dedicate an hour to watching this video... why is my gear wet? Did my dry bags fail?

I think a key outcome of such a simulation is having a plan... knowing what works and what doesn't.

If you're in Florida (as I am), "cold and wet" is rarely an issue. I'm doing a three-day paddle with two others this weekend and the local low is predicted to be 50 overnight!

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Even Low's in the 50s can cause hypothermia if you're wet. Although in Florida I guess you could just crawl in the ocean and stay warm enough;<)

[Snaps]

Even Low's in the 50s can cause hypothermia if you're wet. Although in Florida I guess you could just crawl in the ocean and stay warm enough;<)

We'll be inland, on the northern end of the Everglades, so if things get bad we can always get warm by crawling into an alligator.

I grew up in northern Maine, and as much as I thought we were always prepared when going on long snowmobile or cross-country ski jaunts by dressing right and taking some tools, I realize now that I often failed to tell someone where I was headed, and if a lake opened up underneath me, I would have been in real trouble. This, of course, in the dark, pre-cell phone days... *whistful sigh*

So, I can see the value of simulation, as it improves on the practicality of good preparation. What good is stowing a waterproof peanut lighter in your pocket if your hands are too cold and slick to grip and twist it open?

Truth is, though, I'm too busy even to get outside as much as I like for leisure, let alone to simulate leisure-gone-wrong. It's not a good excuse, I know... but these days I try to take all other means to make sure I'm safe when I go out, like sharing plans with people, checking in when possible, and preparing for scenarios in my head before I'm faced with them in reality. There's no substitute for experience, but we do what we can.


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[TrailSlug]

Yea, there's no way I would EVER intentionally dunk my down quilts in like this so I'm glad you did this for us. The GoPro you used, which model was it as my GoPro Silver mic doesn't work while in the waterproof case.

[SailingandSuch]

TrailSlug, I'm using the GoPro Hero 6 since it's waterproof without the case so it can get good audio while still being waterproof. They work well and I'm glad I invested in them (even though one got stolen.....) I've been through many cameras throughout my filming...... time..... and I like them the best so far but they aren't the perfect camera.

Floridahanger, thanks for sharing my video! Cya at Hang Con '18?