Ditch Bag Inventory

[Byrdman]

A few points. I use items in my ditch bag as to ensure they function properly.
Different bag content based on environmental factors and types of waters .
Interestingly I’m picinkg up a tone on this thread that gives me pause as to just why is it going on at all, much less on this forum as to where we share, learn, teach and or total mixes there off. Basically to assist others in the joy and pleasure of our C-Dory boats. Most of us are extended family for well over a decade.
I am speaking directly to and about Foggy’s mannerisms and flippant remarks and degrading statements to others.
Foggy if you have a point make it...politely and just be nice.
Foggy, If you just want to be a sarcastic ass, please take it elsewhere.
Foggy, If you are hurting and need help,, reach out. Many of us have and will help. Now that’s about all option I can form on this.
Thanks to all for keeping this site nice. Salute.

 

[South of Heaven]

Bob,

I've learned a great deal from your posts here. You are knowledgeable and are willing to share your knowledge without being a know it all or sounding condescending.

I would hate to think that insulting posts would be enough to quit.

Hope you see you and other C-Brats on the water this year, somewhere, sometime.

Stay Well

Quit? Dr Bob isn't gonna quit. He's too smart and too much of a gentleman to get pulled down to a lower level.

 

[hardee]

Dr Bob Austin, Don't let that t_rp get under your skin. Anyone who likes to hide behind the anonymity of the I=net and argue to the negative isn't worth getting the blood pressure up over.

C-BRATS has been a family friendly site. Has been that way for the last 15+ years I have been here. Kind of like it that way, and hope for it to stay that way.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon

 

[TyBoo]

The matter is resolved so let's not perpetuate it, please. This thread is about abandoning ship, not civility, and there is too good in here to lock it down.

 

[hardee]

Thank you Mike. For what ever. Love this place.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[hardee]

Not much you can put into a ditch bag that would help prevent the cold water shock, but I do carry hypothermia treatment accessories.

Back to the Cold Water Shock. It is rapid, serious and very frequently fatal. It is not hypothermia. It is a sudden, involuntary physical response. The initial gasp, inhalation of cold water, and resulting Ventricular fibrillation result in initial cardiac death followed in 4-5 minutes by brain death. All within the first 10 minutes in the water. If at all possible, keep your head from submersion in the water, especially your face.


Cold Water Shock Progression.



Cold-water shock is the first stage of the sudden and unexpected immersion in water which temperature is of 59*F 1(5 °C) or lower and occurs during the first minute of exposure. Cold-water shock likely causes more deaths than hypothermia.


1 Minute - Cold Shock
An initial deep and sudden Gasp followed by hyperventilation that can be as much as 600-1000% greater than normal breathing. You must keep your airway clear or run the risk of drowning. Cold Shock will pass in about 1 minute.

10 Minutes - Cold Incapacitation
Over approximately the next 10 minutes you will lose the effective use of your fingers, arms and legs for any meaningful movement. Concentrate on self rescue initially, and if that isn’t possible, prepare to have a way to keep your airway clear to wait for rescue. Swim failure will occur within these critical minutes and if you are in the water without a lifejacket, drowning will likely occur.

1 Hour - HYPOTHERMIA
Even in ice water it could take approximately 1 hour before becoming unconscious due to Hypothermia.


The cold shocking truth…. about cold water shock

https://www.rya.org.uk/newsevents/e-new ... hock-.aspx

The biggest danger is inhaling water and drowning, even if the water is flat, calm and you know how to swim. Cold Water Shock causes an immediate loss of breathing control. You take one or more huge gasps, followed by hyperventilation – very rapid breathing that is hard or impossible for you to control.

As blood vessels contract, increases in heart rate and blood pressure may result in cardiac arrest even in people who are in good health. At the same time a “gasp” response may result in water being inhaled into the lungs and your breathing rate may increase by as much as tenfold.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[JamesTXSD]

The matter is resolved so let's not perpetuate it, please. This thread is about abandoning ship, not civility, and there is too good in here to lock it down.

We understand, Mike. Good info in the thread and good people on this forum. And, a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King: "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Dr. Bob has a lot of friends; this forum has a lot of good people who support friends and forum. And, civility.

Best wishes.
Jim

 

[T.R. Bauer]

Not much you can put into a ditch bag that would help prevent the cold water shock, but I do carry hypothermia treatment accessories.

Back to the Cold Water Shock. It is rapid, serious and very frequently fatal. It is not hypothermia. It is a sudden, involuntary physical response. The initial gasp, inhalation of cold water, and resulting Ventricular fibrillation result in initial cardiac death followed in 4-5 minutes by brain death. All within the first 10 minutes in the water. If at all possible, keep your head from submersion in the water, especially your face.


Cold Water Shock Progression.



Cold-water shock is the first stage of the sudden and unexpected immersion in water which temperature is of 59*F 1(5 °C) or lower and occurs during the first minute of exposure. Cold-water shock likely causes more deaths than hypothermia.


1 Minute - Cold Shock
An initial deep and sudden Gasp followed by hyperventilation that can be as much as 600-1000% greater than normal breathing. You must keep your airway clear or run the risk of drowning. Cold Shock will pass in about 1 minute.

10 Minutes - Cold Incapacitation
Over approximately the next 10 minutes you will lose the effective use of your fingers, arms and legs for any meaningful movement. Concentrate on self rescue initially, and if that isn’t possible, prepare to have a way to keep your airway clear to wait for rescue. Swim failure will occur within these critical minutes and if you are in the water without a lifejacket, drowning will likely occur.

1 Hour - HYPOTHERMIA
Even in ice water it could take approximately 1 hour before becoming unconscious due to Hypothermia.


The cold shocking truth…. about cold water shock

https://www.rya.org.uk/newsevents/e-new ... hock-.aspx

The biggest danger is inhaling water and drowning, even if the water is flat, calm and you know how to swim. Cold Water Shock causes an immediate loss of breathing control. You take one or more huge gasps, followed by hyperventilation – very rapid breathing that is hard or impossible for you to control.

As blood vessels contract, increases in heart rate and blood pressure may result in cardiac arrest even in people who are in good health. At the same time a “gasp” response may result in water being inhaled into the lungs and your breathing rate may increase by as much as tenfold.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

All good reasons to stay in the boat

 

[hardee]

Totally agree. Cold Water Shock nearly always wins.

"Hypothermia kills over time as heat is conducted away from the body leading to a gradual decline in body core temperature and loss of swimming ability, unconsciousness and ultimately death. Conversely, most people who are susceptible to Cold Water Shock die in the first minute of immersion.

In the majority of cases, victims aren’t stupid or intentionally reckless, and many are strong swimmers. They simply have the misfortune of getting caught in an exceptionally lethal trap. Cold water preys on the unsuspecting and the careless, but it also waits patiently offshore for those with plenty of experience but who don’t take it seriously."

Nobody ever plans an 'accident'.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[Hunkydory]

I heard my sister who likes her comforts large scale & adventures small, years ago talking to JoLee about what she would do if the canoe turned over with all the cloths she wore while on our local very cold water lakes. JoLee said it really wasn’t a worry as if the canoe tipped over a life preserver was just so her body could be found. I think this still holds true now for many of us in the very cold water we choose to cruise in. On the other hand it is prudent to match as well as possible the contents of a ditch bag to the area & waters chosen to cruise. The individual acceptable risk sometimes determining just how small or large the ditch bag will be. Personally if abandoning the boat it will now be into a rubber inflatable, where I want a small lite ditch bag attached to me & Jolee & I attached to each other & to the inflatable. The balance between what might be needed before rescue with too much weight & bulk preventing lasting long enough to be rescued a necessary determining factor.

In my past mountain adventures by myself in remote wilderness for extended time periods on foot or horseback, there wasn’t the notion that rescue was going to happen if bad luck or bad choices brought about a life threatening scenario, so how to if possible provide heat, food & shelter, while dealing with injuries was always a concern with prevention better then cure. The skills for survival for me were learned starting at a very young age with many hard knocks in the process over the years.

Now with a push of a button rescue from ignorance, stupidity or bad luck even in remote areas is often at least in the minds of many only minutes away & the skills & equipment needed when those minutes turn to hours or days not learned or at hand to prevent good endings from bad happenings. Yes, bad things can happen, but with the good capability of our C-Dory boats & the areas most of the C-Brats choose to do their boating, really bad events happening are statistically very rare. Add to this modern radios, gps, personal location devices & help likely will not be long coming. So in my opinion, what should be in the ditch bag rest upon the individual risk acceptance & comfort level of the individual boater & the areas they boat. Barry, Bob & others have provided great list. Not all will want or possibly need them all, but great to chose from.

Jay

 

[thataway]

Jay's excellent post motivated me to measure and weigh our ditch bag. It is 12" high and 6" in diameter, weight: 6 1/2#. It will vary from time to time, and before we go on the Hontoon gathering I will go thru the content. I check all batteries and flares etc before each outing. It rides with me when we go out on the Caracal, as well as the usual safety gear aboard the boat.

I added retroflective silver tape on the sides of the ditch bag, and also on the collars of our inflatable PFD in the last year.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

T.R. Bauer.Boots are really hard to swim in by the way and if anyone doubts it, try it next to the lifeguard as you're probably going to need them.

My father was a good swimmer and wasn't happy with the limited swimming instruction we were getting in grade school. One "family night" at the public pool he asked the lifeguard if we could go in with our clothes on to see what it was like. Even in a heated pool in the shallow end it was an eye opener that I haven't forgotten. A baggy sweatshirt and change in your pocket become lethal.

He pulled off his pants, tied each leg closed, blew air into the pants with a leg on each side of him, and floated on it like it was a big pool noodle. A trick that he learned in the Navy. Only works in warm water and he called it the shark bait technique. I still remember that night and it always makes me think that falling off a boat is likely worse than falling off a roof.

 

[SnowTexan]

Wait. So the Binkey in my ditch bag is not manly? Guess I need a more masculine saddle. My plan was to ride an Orca back to the dock but without my Binkey I guess I’ll just die. It’s not really a Binkey though, it’s a woobie. Maybe theres some leeway there.

I notice that everyone’s ditch bag looks about like what we carry in our vehicles year round, and on our backs when we leave the house on foot. Anywhere worth going (to me) requires these things. Everywhere else is just down time. The mousegun is a unique choice, and maybe a bit redundant for a fellow like me, but i like it as an option.

There is some truth to the emotional support. When you carry and use survival equipment regularly, you know it works. You know you work, and it works, and what your real capabilities are. If you dont use your knives and fire starters to make fire in snow and rain, your compass to
Navigate in the dark, or sleep outside in just the emergency gear you carry, or fire your emergency gun in the cold when you are tired and hungry, they all become just hopeful dice rolls. Theres no real morale boost if you’re fumbling around in the dark using untested equipment that is unfamiliar to you. You could cut yourself with a crappy knife, shoot yourself in the foot, Waste your fire starter, and go hypothermic trying to sleep huddled up against a tree with inadequate clothing. But when you test yourself and your tools... yeah I feel pretty emotionally supported with my kit on my back or under my seat. Woobie on. It’s Probably way more comfortable than walking around with your pants off beating your man-chest. I mean, of course, after the initial fun of that wears off.