Dangerous Hobby

[ozzyrules244]

Well friends I am sure you all know I broke my ankle while on my last trip. I just wanted to put a little thought in everyone's mind, I have been fossil collecting for several years now had my fair share of accidents,broken bones ,poisonous snake bites,spider bites ,falls,ect Do not go out into the field alone you never know what will happen.Try to be as prepared as possible,I always have my trusty first aid kit,cell phone,water,food and whatever I can think of including clothes (Yes Herbie I learned from La Farge ) 70 deg. when I left home with shorts on 39 deg. when we woke up the next morning and just to add insult to injury it was raining and yes I was miserable. BE CAREFUL PEOPLE!!!!!!! So you will not be like me 2 months till my ankle heals I am having serious fossil hunting withdraws!

[CreekCrawler]

I sometimes go afield alone,but usually I am with a fellow/fellowette collector .What worries me the most is that in some of my usual haunts my cellphone doesn't get service whatsoever. I am guilty of depending on my cell too much to get me out of trouble.Evidence of that can be obtained by looking in my backpack and seeing no first aid kit.Seeing your post reminds me that I should start packing one.Thanks for the heads up....

Hope you heal up soon and get out in the field.

[bear-dog]

:unsure:Tell me about it,i was one of the wounded recently.No more crutches and hapily walking thank you.Hope your injury heals quickly and your back on your feet up to your knees in fossils.

[ozzyrules244]

:unsure:Tell me about it,i was one of the wounded recently.No more crutches and hapily walking thank you.Hope your injury heals quickly and your back on your feet up to your knees in fossils.

Thanks lol I am up and walking but still cant negotiate rough terrain Doc said I have 2 to 4 more weeks to go and I can't wait!!!!!!

[ozzyrules244]

I sometimes go afield alone,but usually I am with a fellow/fellowette collector .What worries me the most is that in some of my usual haunts my cellphone doesn't get service whatsoever. I am guilty of depending on my cell too much to get me out of trouble.Evidence of that can be obtained by looking in my backpack and seeing no first aid kit.Seeing your post reminds me that I should start packing one.Thanks for the heads up....

Hope you heal up soon and get out in the field.

Thanks , be sure if you go alone someone knows where you are so if something happens they know where you are at. A few years ago I took a nasty spill and threw my back out, any other time there would be 50 people out there fishing but not that day after laying on the bank for what seemed like forever (prob. 30 min but hey I was in a lot of pain) I pulled myself up using a tree and walked what seemed like 5 miles (1/4 mile lol) back to my truck just to find out that when I fell I dropped my keys on the bank,went back and got my keys then started the climb to the summit of Mt Everest (well the ###### seemed like a mountain at this point )got back to my truck and went home. so watch out it would have gone a fair bit easier for me if I had brought someone with me but lesson learned !!!!! So you all be careful !!!!

[tracer]

nature doesn't level the playing field. i haven't yet figured out how to address the issue of no cellphone service without paying the steep fees for a satellite phone. but sometimes texting can work where voice service doesn't quite get through, so that's a thought. other than that, i tend to tell someone more or less exactly where i'm going, and if i change locations, i text them the new one.

seems like much of the survival thing is staying situationally aware and not losing focus on the environment due to fixation on the fossil hunting. studying the weather and the conditions for a couple of years helps you understand the bigger picture. most of the "biggie" types of accidents/incidents can be run through in your mind and plans made. i mainly worry about dehydration, falling, getting in dangerous water, quicksand, quickmud, lightning, human attack, and animal attack. unless i'm carrying a machete that day, in which case i also worry about the blade skittering off something or having more momentum than anticipated and whacking myself with it. oh, and there's times when i've had to worry about getting "locationally obscure", but taking two gps devices helped with that issue. used to have the help of tj saying, "no dad, it's back that way".

i always carry more water than i think i will need. i always carry rope. my comms/gps stuff and vehicle keys are always in a dry box. i'm always armed. i'm usually legged.

my riskiest moments have been when i was tired and lost focus, or when i miscalculated the terrain or the weather or the water.

no fossils are worth my safety. i never take much risk intentionally, so my errors have all been due to miscalculation or failure to note variables.

[erose]

Tracer's words of wisdom are spot on. Be prepared. I do way too much collecting on my own. But I almost always have told someone (my sweet wife) where I will be. Did that well before cell phones and still do it now. I did that back in Ohio, New York and now here in Texas.

I also carry some very simple but effective stuff to help me out in a bind. I have a first aid kit: a small one with band aids, antibacterial creme, a bunch of gauze, ace wrap and a small tube of aspirin. It fits in my collecting bag. I carry at least two of those thermal blankets that fold up smaller than a wallet because I have seen hypothermia and it is scary. I carry two emergency ponchos so that I hopefully will not need the blankets. I carry my cell phone in a ziplock when conditions are moister than normal. I carry a map and a compass and have found the need to use them on several occasions. I carry a tiny flashlight, TP and matches. I carry a hat, bandana, and usually start the day in long sleeves to keep the sun at bay. I keep bug spray and sun screen in the car as well as a change of shoes & clothes, a more substantial blanket and more first aid supplies. I also ALWAYS carry water and some high energy food since a hypoglycemic headache can be just about as debilitating as a busted finger or toe.

The small first aid kit, blankets, ponchos and miscellaneous items take up just two small pockets of my rucksack. One thing I don't carry anymore, despite living in Texas, is a snake bite kit. Now this will get all sorts of opinions going but the current thinking about snake bite is to NOT start slicing yourself open with razors or attempt to suck the poison out. Stay calm, don't elevate the wound over the heart and seek help ASAP. The truth is we still know diddly about snake bite and why one person croaks and another just feels like snarge for days. What they do know is that plenty of folks have ended up with life threatening infections or worse from turniquits, razor wounds, or frost bite from being packed in ice.

Oh and I almost forgot: safety glasses. I wear shatter proof glasses normally but when I really need to do some serious pounding to get a great fossil loose I put on the wrap-around goggles. I have suffered scratched corneas three times, none from collecting accidents, but it ain't fun.

Edited September 23, 2010 by erose

[Stonebreaker]

I know theres transponders for back country hikers.When in a emergency you push a button and will send a signal, and use GPS for the cordinates and if u move they can follow you. I think its a monthly fee as well as a the up front cost of purchasing the transponder.But, it would be considerably cheaper then a satelite phone.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

This hobby WILL kill me, and when it does, I've instructed my family to go public with my site log...(no boobytraps please)

[dhk]

GREAT TOPIC... I always treat any nature activity as if it were a survival mission. Always travel with an emergency kit. Rope, duct tape and first aid kit. In a box in the trunk, keep a knife, a gallon jug of water with a few cans of food (pull top)or an MRE and some hand warmers, matches, dry socks and a fresh pair of walking shoes. Always file a "flight" plan with someone with times you expect to be back. Leave detailed locations (with me if possible) where your best sites are, lol. Wear appropriate clothing and expect problems. I learned survival training in the army so I'm all set... for the rest of you... plan ahead and always expect the unexpected... you will be OK, and make sure to have some fun while your out there.... Good luck

[AeroMike]

You gonna make it down for next month? I am fully certified now, lol

[ozzyrules244]

You gonna make it down for next month? I am fully certified now, lol

You know I am but I might still need help getting my gear to the water then its on fer sure!!!!!!! Maby this time Sharkdentist will not push me down and make me break my ankle to get that great tooth(Just kidding Herbie)lol

[FossilForKids]

Two words.................. Valley Fever :sick:

[jpc]

Fun discussion here. I almost always fossil hunt alone, when it is not for work. It is my escape. I have just returned from four days of it and feel wonderful, both from the freedom, aloneness and the cool fossils. Most of the places I go are way out of cell phone range. I find the isolation (=escape from modern society) to be liberating and rejuvenating. Priceless, to quote some damned TV ad.

Having said that, I carry some basics with me all the time... first aid kit and my almost-endless first aid training which is currenty slacking, snake bite kits (a suction device that attempts to pull the poison out before it gets too far into you... whether it works or not, I don't know, but it I'm betting it is better than nothing), water (and there's at least another five gallons in the car), duct tape, warm clothes esp if I'm camping, and a tool kit, jack or two, shovel and some wooden boards for making a road, a dirty ole sleeping bag and cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli in the car. (You can eat it without heating it... other brands suck as a cold meal). I've only recently started telling someone where I was going... again, that freedom thing, and I am getting older. Never ever drive a vehicle without a clutch. As you may know, if you accidentally kill the battery, there is no way to jump start an automatic. (Confession: our work vehicle is clutch deprived, and I have had to walk to the rancher's house with my tail between my legs to ask for a jump). I have a checklist I go through before heading out on most trips.

The closest I've come to a situation is almost getting dehydrated in South Dakota 20 some yrs ago on my birthday. Thank Dog there was a water fountain where I was parked. Lesson learned. And I had to filter the water through my bandana. Heat shock and stroke are the two things I worry about, esp if I have others with me. There's been scrapes and bruises along the way, and one puny pebble in my eye that cost me 300 bucks to unseat, (the crocodile skull was worth it). And yes I've extricated my vehicle from mud and sand and snow many times. Be prepared. So far no broken bones... knock on wood.

And if it starts to rain, beat a hasty retreat. Get out of someplace where 4WD (or 2WD) won't get you out in the wet. tracer's comments are indeed spot on... keep an eye on your surroundings and be prepared. Hmmmmm... should I really collect that fossil on the edge of the cliff??

That's just my twoi cents. Accidents still can happen, but like the ole Boy Scouts say, be prepared.

And now here is a story... years ago I was checking out some land I had gotten access to in sw Wyoming. It was February. It was late afternoon. It was a little below freezing out. I was cruising along on a dirt road at about 50 mph (90 kph) heading towards a great big outcrop of Eocene Bridger Formation. All of a sudden there was a snowbank on the road. I was going too fast to slam on the brakes, so I chucked it into 4WD (gotta love that aspect of the old soobs) and went for it. Well, the snow patch turned out to be a frozen puddle... I crashed into it at 50 and kept going, but slowing down all the way, listening to the music of ice breaking under both sets of wheels. I made it though about 75% of the puddle and came to a dead stop. Insert cuss word here. I looked around to see if anyone had seen my stupidity. Yes, I was embarassed. I was seven miles from the nearest sign of human life... a soda ash plant I had passed, and there it was on the horizon. Then I looked around to see if the same people who were laughing at me could help get me out. Of course, there was no-one to laugh or help. I opened the door and it scraped on the ice. What to do?... I had my sleeping bag and warm clothes, and a few cans of ravioli. I could spend the night and walk to the soda ash plant in the morning. Or, I could try to get out. It might be easy to back out through the ice I had already broken. Or try to go forward. If I went forward, would there be more, longer ice puddles ahead? I walked out into the frozen water with my boots on (Wool socks be blessed) and walked around looking for rocks. Took me a while, but I stuck many flat rocks under all 4 tires, broke up some of the ice in front of me, put it in 4 Low and drove right out. To this day, I still wonder if I could have driven out just in 4 Low, without getting all wet and cold looking for rocks. What little sunlight was left in the day, I used to drive into town for a hotel room...that Bridger outcrop would still be there tomorrow after I got warm and dry. And it was , andit is one of my few bird eggshell sites. (That's for you, Auspex).

Thanks for listening. Meanwhile, Ozzyrules... hope the healing goes well. There will be fossils when this is all done and gone.

[TheFossilHunter]

Well friends I am sure you all know I broke my ankle while on my last trip. I just wanted to put a little thought in everyone's mind, I have been fossil collecting for several years now had my fair share of accidents,broken bones ,poisonous snake bites,spider bites ,falls,ect Do not go out into the field alone you never know what will happen.Try to be as prepared as possible,I always have my trusty first aid kit,cell phone,water,food and whatever I can think of including clothes (Yes Herbie I learned from La Farge ) 70 deg. when I left home with shorts on 39 deg. when we woke up the next morning and just to add insult to injury it was raining and yes I was miserable. BE CAREFUL PEOPLE!!!!!!! So you will not be like me 2 months till my ankle heals I am having serious fossil hunting withdraws!

Feel better pal..i can understand you better than anyone else here. I tore ligaments in my ankle on both sides a month ago + broke my fibula. It will take me even longer that you to heal. In addition, my car broke down exactly at the same time. so i couldnt even get out to drive to the emergency room. wish you a speedy recovery!

[Scylla]

Agree with all above, but to put it in perspective, the most dangerous part of a fossil hunt is the drive. Wear your seatbelt. That will save more lives than all the other precautions combined.

[Sundancer73]

nature doesn't level the playing field. i haven't yet figured out how to address the issue of no cellphone service without paying the steep fees for a satellite phone. but sometimes texting can work where voice service doesn't quite get through, so that's a thought. other than that, i tend to tell someone more or less exactly where i'm going, and if i change locations, i text them the new one.

seems like much of the survival thing is staying situationally aware and not losing focus on the environment due to fixation on the fossil hunting. studying the weather and the conditions for a couple of years helps you understand the bigger picture. most of the "biggie" types of accidents/incidents can be run through in your mind and plans made. i mainly worry about dehydration, falling, getting in dangerous water, quicksand, quickmud, lightning, human attack, and animal attack. unless i'm carrying a machete that day, in which case i also worry about the blade skittering off something or having more momentum than anticipated and whacking myself with it. oh, and there's times when i've had to worry about getting "locationally obscure", but taking two gps devices helped with that issue. used to have the help of tj saying, "no dad, it's back that way".

i always carry more water than i think i will need. i always carry rope. my comms/gps stuff and vehicle keys are always in a dry box. i'm always armed. i'm usually legged.

my riskiest moments have been when i was tired and lost focus, or when i miscalculated the terrain or the weather or the water.

no fossils are worth my safety. i never take much risk intentionally, so my errors have all been due to miscalculation or failure to note variables.

Well put Tracer.

~Mike

[Frank Menser]

Reading this, I feel incredibly lucky to have survived the last 50+ years.

[Nicholas]

I've had a few incidents due to my own lack of taking proper caution for the surroundings I was in. I can't stress that enough, don't lose focus of your immediate surroundings just because there is a shiny fossil off in the distance. Doing that very thing, I've lost my footing and have gone for a few tumbles... with some having better outcomes than others.

I now pay particular attention to sea cliffs, which is where most of my hunting goes on, taking care to only collect which has already fallen from the cliff and not the cliff itself... it can and has dropped rocks on my head after pulling fossils from the face.

There is no such thing as being over prepared, tracer makes some great remarks about that above.

My favorite piece of gear I take are my steel toe boots, I know they have saved my toes from injury on several occasions when rocks had fallen and my feet didn't get out of the way in time.

[MikeD]

Tracer's words of wisdom are spot on. Be prepared. I do way too much collecting on my own. But I almost always have told someone (my sweet wife) where I will be. Did that well before cell phones and still do it now. I did that back in Ohio, New York and now here in Texas.

I also carry some very simple but effective stuff to help me out in a bind. I have a first aid kit: a small one with band aids, antibacterial creme, a bunch of gauze, ace wrap and a small tube of aspirin. It fits in my collecting bag. I carry at least two of those thermal blankets that fold up smaller than a wallet because I have seen hypothermia and it is scary. I carry two emergency ponchos so that I hopefully will not need the blankets. I carry my cell phone in a ziplock when conditions are moister than normal. I carry a map and a compass and have found the need to use them on several occasions. I carry a tiny flashlight, TP and matches. I carry a hat, bandana, and usually start the day in long sleeves to keep the sun at bay. I keep bug spray and sun screen in the car as well as a change of shoes & clothes, a more substantial blanket and more first aid supplies. I also ALWAYS carry water and some high energy food since a hypoglycemic headache can be just about as debilitating as a busted finger or toe.

The small first aid kit, blankets, ponchos and miscellaneous items take up just two small pockets of my rucksack. One thing I don't carry anymore, despite living in Texas, is a snake bite kit. Now this will get all sorts of opinions going but the current thinking about snake bite is to NOT start slicing yourself open with razors or attempt to suck the poison out. Stay calm, don't elevate the wound over the heart and seek help ASAP. The truth is we still know diddly about snake bite and why one person croaks and another just feels like snarge for days. What they do know is that plenty of folks have ended up with life threatening infections or worse from turniquits, razor wounds, or frost bite from being packed in ice.

Oh and I almost forgot: safety glasses. I wear shatter proof glasses normally but when I really need to do some serious pounding to get a great fossil loose I put on the wrap-around goggles. I have suffered scratched corneas three times, none from collecting accidents, but it ain't fun.

Pretty good advice. I can testify to the entertaining quality of a cornea scratch.

[ozzyrules244]

Two words.................. Valley Fever :sick:

Been there done that . I grew up in the Bakersfield area but for the most part if you are exposed to it all the time when it gets you its just like a terrible case of the flu

[bear-dog]

The idea about filing a fossil plan with someone,is a good one as I hunt alone most of the time.Never done it before but it's such a good idea I am going to start.Great idea.

[erose]

The idea about filing a fossil plan with someone,is a good one as I hunt alone most of the time.Never done it before but it's such a good idea I am going to start.Great idea.

I don't think you always need to make this very detailed. Maybe just letting a spouse or other family member know that you intend to drive up to XYZ for the day and plan on being home by ABC at the latest. If you were going off-road or into a more serious stretch of backroads details would be better.

[cowsharks]

I recently sprained my back while out fossil hunting. I couldn't stand or walk, and left my cell phone in my back pack a mile away up the shoreline. I was alone and had to crawl on my hands and knees for over an hour to reach it and call the wife. Got rescued by her and my sons two hours later. My sons practically carried me for a mile walk back to the car through the woods. A CT Scan at the hospital showed no herniated disks or other damage, just a bad sprain. Pain killers, muscle relaxers, and a cain for a week got me back in operation. Doing much better now, two weeks later.

You can read the long version of this story here:

http://community.blackriverfossils.org/Forums/tabid/55/forumid/9/threadid/8199/scope/posts/Default.aspx

Be careful, plan, pack, and take the right precautions as if you are going to have an accident. This way, you'll be prepared.

[barefootgirl]

I sometimes go afield alone,but usually I am with a fellow/fellowette collector .What worries me the most is that in some of my usual haunts my cellphone doesn't get service whatsoever. I am guilty of depending on my cell too much to get me out of trouble.Evidence of that can be obtained by looking in my backpack and seeing no first aid kit.Seeing your post reminds me that I should start packing one.Thanks for the heads up....

Hope you heal up soon and get out in the field.

I always have first aid stuff with me in my pack when we go out hunting Barry, including a thermal blanket and small flashlight with a red strobe. I also carry a knife in case you hurt yourself so bad I have to put you down.....Just kiddin

I learned first hand to always let people know where I am and when I get out of the spot I'm hunting in.