Anyone been stranded into the night or a day or two? Tell your story.


How many of you all put real emergency gear on your boat? In an organization I was in years ago, I used to teach aeronautical navigation and certain segments of survival training. Of course, that never left me and I am sort of a prepper. So I have a dry bag, that I carry with first aid kit, some pouch water rations, Datrex Food Rations (made in Louisiana--I think). And sun screen, VS Amber Romance and a special itch creme I found that will take away the discomfort. I also have TP and items like that. Compass, pop off flares, firestarter. change of clothes. All in a small bag. Not a lot of weight. I just keep it in the truck. Good bugout bag. When I used to fly, this was part of the things we did for every flight. Anyone else this prepared? I will probably put another together with just the extra winter items needed.

When I go out, I am by myself a lot, fishing or crabbing. Never know what may happen.

Datrex food rations.

http://www.amazon.com/Datrex-3600-Emerg ... B007C8EN06

These taste like a cookie that has minimal sugar.

Son, hunting partner and dog got lost navigating river in WMA in Arkansas one year. Son had to call it at dusk as they were running out of fule that they would have to spend the night in the boat. Pretty dangerous situation to be in as it was below freezing. They had cold weather gear with waders and they were dry so the night they were not in real danger but they were in for a chilly night. What helped was they were able to sleep on the fast grass of the blind and cover themselves with it too. And they took turns snuggling next to Rex, the lab. They also had a propane stove they could use if things go desperately cold but that never happened. From that experience, now those two always bring a duffle bag with them when they hunt which they call the Arkansas Survival Kit. It consissts of more warm clothing , a change of clothing if they get wet, an epirb, and other stuff to suvive in the cold or at night.

I've gotten to where I carry my rifle, a chest rig with 3-4 mags, a small first aid kit, and something to get a fire going just about everywhere I go

Wouldn't be a bad idea to add a water purifier, compass, and some candy bars or a mre or something but i like to keep it light

Always bring enough beer to turn a bad situation into a party...

But on a serious note, first aid kit, protein bars, water, bug spray, lighter in zip lock(with air in it), I always carry a pistol also

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PLB (Personal EPIRB in my PFD pocket), Heavy duty version of foil emergency blanket, magnesium fire starter, first aid kit, bug spray, water, SOLAS flares (More expensive than just CG legal but higher, brighter & longer burn), flashlight, batteries for GPS & flashlight (plus misc parts, fuses, wire ties, fuel line fittings, etc.)

I have an almost identical setup in all boats and my truck. I spend way too much time by myself and off the beaten track.

Good thread right here.

Hammocks are good for the woods bug out bag

I got stranded on 90 between Missoula and Butte in the snow. PBJ, sodas and a bottle of scotch and my lab spent 26 hours in the truck. Couldn't cut off the engine because I knew the thing wouldn't start back. Diesel Ford and -19 degrees don't mix very well.
Parked with high idle and heat, sleeping bag and a book.
Air cleaner kept icing up so I took it out and presto, no more problems.
Now when I'm out there in winter I keep all the above plus the tank is always full.

I took a quick fishing trip by myself one afternoon into Waituna on rising tide thinking I'll come out on the dropping tide later on. Must have been late summer a couple of years ago now.
Anyway packed just my rod, waders, lifejacket may have had a coat can't remember now.
The wind picked at close to full tide and kept rising so I hid behind some clover for a hour of so and started to motor out. When I got close to half way I ran right out of water to motor and started to tow the boat. The wind was so strong it pushed the water away down the other end of the lagoon and I couldn't hold the boat and took a wave. Managed to hold the boat and get back in. After getting back to deep water I had to motor for the huts. I got into to my hut just and called home and said I was marooned for a while. The next high tide was 2 in the morning so got the fire going and we always have an emergency store of soup, 2 min noodles and other canned stuff. the wind died sometime in then night so made a run out in the pitch black.

I carry flares and we have an old single shot .22 and stores at the hut if anybody ever needs them.

I always keep a spare tall-boy in the bow. Its been in there so long that the can is just silver from rolling around. My friends are some greedy thirsty bastards and can evaporate a 12-pack before we get off plane.

I have a multipack of those foil emergency blankets and two of the heavy duty mylar mummy sleeping bag type things. I have one main bag with the survival gear and will have another one with some winter stuff in it. I use the Ocean Lion 20 L bag, they are water proof and will float if you leave an air pocket.

What is the name of the Epirb? PLB?[/quote]

This is the PLB

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/acr375plb.html

This is the space blanket

http://www.cabelas.com/product/The-Orig ... cy+blanket

The worst hut emergency we ever had was one night at about 1 in the morning we ran into 2 flat bottles of Coke. I don't know if you've ever had the misfortune of drinking Jim Beam and flat Coke but its unpleasant. So out came the mobile and onto the roof for some cell reception and rang the hotline....nothing....but it did say if its and emergency ring this other number. So gave the 'Emergency' line a call and some sleepy sounding guy heard me out and explained this was for retailers who had an urgent problem with the product. So I handed the phone to my mate who is a retailer and he told him the same story ,The Cokes flat and its ruining good bourbon and we're in the middle of nowhere this is an emergency! That guy was pissed with us by the time he hung up lol

We fish in Everglades National Park, and believe it or not it's probably even more remote that some of the areas up in LA you guys are in. No man-made structures for 30-40 miles and almost no boat traffic. No cell coverage at all except at the marina.

I have used a SPOT satellite locator once when I had a fuel diaphragm let loose on my outboard. It did its job and alerted about 10 of my buddies to my mechanical breakdown, but with the SPOT you only get three different outgoing messages (For isntance, mine are #1-I'm OK, #2 - SOS Medical Emergency which is going to get me a helicopter evac, and #3 is a custom message which for me is "Mechanical Breakdown, no medical emergencies but boat is disabled. Send help.") All 3 messages send lat/long coordinates.

The problem with the SPOT is that nobody can communicate back to you, and you can't specify what the exact problem is because the messages are pre-set and, therefore, pretty generic. For instance, you can't tell anyone "I need 5 gallons of fuel" or "I need a primer bulb."

Our SPOT worked as designed in May when we had the diaphragm issue, and Coast Guard alerted the Parks Service who came to get us but we had to leave our boat and go get it later. That led to some research on what else is out there.

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The best thing going right now is the DeLorme InReach SE and the Inreach Explorer. It's a small unit about the size of a cell phone that allows you to send AND RECEIVE text messages via satellite. You can also pair it to your smart phone via bluetooth so you have access to all contacts, and use your phone keyboard to text.

The cost of the InReach SE unit is about $250 online ($300 for the Explorer which offers a naviagtion screen, but if you have a GPS that's not really necessary---especially since if you are broken down, you won't be navigating anywhere.) That's a lot less than a Sat Phone.

Monthly subscriptions are cheap---$12 per month for 10 texts, and $0.50 for each additional text. If you're stranded, $0.50 per text is chump change.

The best part is when you send a text, anyone who receives it on a smart phone gets a lat/long coordinate AND a detailed satellite map of exactly where you are with a pin location, so they not only know where you are, but also what route they have to take to get to you.

I can't recommend this unit highly enough. It's awesome. And it works.

http://www.inreachdelorme.com/product-i ... eachse.php

I was back off the intercostal about 9 miles with no cell signal back in 2002 with one of the first mudbuddy's in Texas. on my drive to the launch that morning in the dark we hit a hog with the truck and it went under the boat trailer causing the boat to be jarred pretty hard we stopped to check it out all was good. got to the launch started it up. it was the 29kawasaki efi mudbuddy. (no Pull start) we make it to our hunt and it was a great one. we had a limit within a hour. go to start the boat now in daylight and it wont even turn over. the battery had fell over on its side from the running over the hog and emptied the acid. no paddle only a push pole. I push polled us down through the marsh to the intercostal which was about 4 of the 9 miles and then started push polling down the IC. tug with a hopper barge stopped and tied the boat off to the barge and let us board the barge till we got to the launch. was suppose to be a before work hunt and be at work at 10 and we didn't get home till 8pm that night.

Not really a survival story but I think an antigravity battery is a great thing to keep in the boat. It could defiantly get you out of a bind or save some time. One weekend a guy in a v6 inboard with a dead battery flagged me down. I handed him the antigravity battery to jump his boat off. He laughed until he turned the key then offered to buy it from me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_WTbDdjn2s

I've always wondered about how them things.

thanks for the great review on the Spot, TGunn

Most places I hunt aren't very remote, in fact one of my best spots in town, I've left my gun behind a tree to go across the street to go to the liquor store/ bar or Burger King and grab lunch. Even that close to home it's a shame to cut a hunt or any outing short when minor preparation could have lead to a banner day. I've only been a handful of places I felt a compass or GPS was necessary. That said , anytime I'm hunting and most of the year I have a bag in the truck for myself, my dog and my kids. I also make it a point to have extra keys around that everyone I'm hunting with is aware of. My bag, baby wipes, extra clothes warm and cool, socks, bug spray,sun screen, hats, gloves, bug nets, lighter, crescent wrench, leatherman, vise grips, headlamps, batteries, phone jumper battery, ziploc bags, trash bags, blanket and a towel rain gear and some decent rope, and lastly a couple of amazon gift cards for land owners. Dog bag has food, water bowl and water bottles, skunk wash, nail trimmer, superglue, frontline, Vaseline to slick up ears and belly to keep burrs off, first aid kit ,leash, paperwork needed to travel out state with dogs, vets numbers in places we hunt regularly and a towel. Also a little cash to pay vet bills for stitches and what not. Kids bag has earmuffs, pajamas for late arrivals and unplanned sleepovers when the hunt gets late or I drink too much to drive, diapers, drugs, water, multiple changes of clothes, snacks and juice boxes as well as a toy or two and face paint to buy extra time in the field. I keep a separate labeled tote for deer, ducks, upland, game processing which keeps me completely ready. I also keep an ammo box with trailer stuff like wires, connectors, ratchet straps, fuses, rubber gloves, pre greased bearings and tire plugs, boat plugs.
As far as stranded goes, we were caught on an eastern South Dakota county road in an unexpected April blizzard before we had kids, less than ten miles from our destination. It was about four hours from home and when we left it was sunny and 60 degrees out. Half an hour from the farm it turned from a little rain to a whiteout blizzard. We were literally high centered in the middle of the road in a matter of minutes in twenty some inches of wet heavy blowing snow. A farmer down the road ended up coming by with a loader on his way to dig out his parents farm and invited us to stay the night. He was nervous at first because a bank had been robbed that day in Sioux Falls and he thought we might be wanted,. The farmer left us at first to go home and get a chain to tow us and more so to call our relatives down the road to make sure we checked out. Apparently a few years prior, someone on the run was caught hiding In barn near there, so we were a bit suspect. It turned out to be a fun time drinking beer, checking cattle and sharing hunting stories. We got to meet a wonderful family who cared enough to invite strangers into their home. We were humbled by the weather and learned to be prepared for anything weather wise, and also to keep the gas tank full enough to run all night if needed.

I had an amazing teacher who had spent time in the Marines and he had fun drilling kids on Proper Planning and Practice Prevents Piss Poor Performance

More funny than dramatic, on my first longtail motor, an 18 GD, the shaft key fell out and I had only a few tools. I ate lunch, some sardines, and took the metal keys from the cans and jammed in the keyway and it held till I got back some 10 miles downriver.

I bought that emergency case from Mudbuddy. And I had to use the mini jump battery a few weekends ago. I was crabbing and idled so much that it does not recharge the battery. Plus, probably time for a new battery. I also bought a light weight tool kit that has two types of spark plug sockets. Cheap and great to put in the boat and truck.

It is going to get cold, what do you want as your cold weather kit?

I have a friend that has a mud buddy that carries a spare clutch and switch.

This is one of the jump start batteries I carry in my truck, and then put it in my boat too. I recommend it because it is so small and light, but will jump both truck and boat. Saved me a few times.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01765W2WU?psc=1

I keep a camouflaged marine dry sack full of items that I call my "dunk bag". You never know when you will be walking out in the decoys, trip over a snag under the water and do a face plant. It has kept me hunting on a 10 degree day. I used to keep MREs in the boat along with a small propane tank and screw on one burner stove top...sometimes a can of stew or two. Now I keep the propane tank and a small torch that fits on it...the kind you solder copper with. I figure with that, I can defrost stuff or start a fire on land. My boat has a Beavertail blind. On cold days I have a buddy heater or two on board. If I have to bivvy overnight I will just pull up the blind and spark up a Buddy heater or two.

We rarely hunt until the end of shooting light anymore, so chances are much less that mechanical problems are going to leave us stranded overnight in the marsh. But it's still good to have some of that stuff on board. We are not always in cell range to call a buddy for a tow.

About 6 years ago my wife and I were running Bogue Chitto NWR off the Pearl River Canal at night and hit a tree. Put a fist size hole under the transom. We were heading back to the launch from check my limb lines. Got the boat to a sand bar before it went under. Luckily I had a lighter and we had jackets and some towels. We had no phone service or even our phones. Some fellas that were froging came by a few hours later and we patched the hole best we could and towed it back to the launch.

Blue tarp, canned food and a propane bottle heater/stove.


Remember Armistice day, shit can happen.

I frog a lot. usually by myself. usually don't have a clue where I am if i'm chasing frogs.

I carry a gps, compass, aerial map, phone, fire starter. slicker, warm clothes, 100' tow rope and bridle. a good hand saw should b in everybody's boat, a couple cans of spaghetti and meatballs WITH SPOONS.
various tools, bulbs, flashlights, tape, and a bunch of zip-ties.
some dawn soap, hand sanitizer, couple cans of off, wasp spray, a couple addepex, and a jar of moonshine.
and a roachclip[just in case]

and a antigravity battery to recharge/jump stuff.

^^ made me lol

This may seem like a lot of stuff, but it easily fits in a small bag in the front deck. as far as extra clothes, it all depends on the time of the year. Summer I have a sweatshirt and maybe another pair of shorts is all. Winter, I keep a full set of clothes.


small tool kit
first aid kit
multi-tool
zip ties
TP
jumper cables
duct tape
emergency blankets
disposable ponchos
firestarter sticks
couple bic lighters
change of clothes
folding saw
folding shovel
knife
compass
whistle
flares
tarp
bug spray
twine

I can see it now, the reality show Naked and Afraid doing a show where two have to get stranded in a mud boat in the middle of a giant marsh for 21 days.

The stranded list of my mud motor brothers


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I always have a dry bag under the bow with extra change of cloths, socks, fire lighting stuff and even whatever you call those things you put under food to warm them, knife, compass(yes the old school type ), first aid, flares. I know there is more just cant remember at the moment.

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