How to avoid becoming a statistic in Oregon forests

[vibramhead]

Some good advice from Jim Thayer. The part about the Pacific Northwest being "upside down," with roads along ridges rather than valleys, is particularly worth noting, at least in commercial timber country.

[UTurn]

Very interesting, indeed. I probably would have looked for the stream. Thanks for sharing!

[Charley]

You know, I think there might be something to that. Especially in the Coast Range. I'm not so sure it holds true in the federal parts of the Cascades (where I do lots of my hiking), but in the Coast Range, it does seem to fit reality.

[Koda]

Its very true in the coast range, most every ridgetop has a road and hiking off trail down into a valley will lead to more difficult travelling and the brush can…. WILL get impenetrable in places. Every valley has a stream and none of them are suitable for following. The best topo maps available don’t even come close to representing the actual topography and you easily find yourself climbing on all fours… The past couple years of exploring I’ve been trying to home in on an altitude… I try to stay above roughly 1700 feet when off trail, the hiking is much easier.

I think the old adage of follow the water downhill when lost might work in some places but not mountainous environments. In the mountains most streams lead to waterfalls and waterfalls mean cliffs and there is nothing about cliffs that any lost person wants to deal with. I would imagine this has to be true in any mountain range including the Cascades?

[romann]

Interesting point about NW forest roads being "upside down". Always thought of them being "mid slope" as a general rule (but indeed very few roads go close to the streams); will look closer at maps when I have time. And there might be differences in the Cascades vs Coast Range, vs Eastern Oregon (where roads do seem to follow water).

I also like a commenter's advice after the article:

Practice building those fires in all conditions. It’s a good skill to have. It also tests your equipment and ability.

It's indeed very hard to build a fire in damp weather, even with prior practice (once or twice I couldn't find dry wood & it took me more than an hour, another time I just gave up on it). Without any practice, it can take a while - depending on type of fuel - to make fire in ideal conditions.

[retired jerry]

It seems to me like building a fire skill was more useful 100+ years ago wearing wool and spending weeks in the wild

I would rather have tent and dry sleeping bag

Maybe if you got stuck without equipment

Hard to get fire going and keep it going if it's raining

Fire is good entertainment though

[Koda]

Agree with Jerry.

your not going to start a fire in the coast range in winter without a flame thrower....

[Crusak]

Agree with Jerry.

your not going to start a fire in the coast range in winter without a flame thrower....

I've recently been experimenting with traditional fire starting materials (like cotton balls and petroleum jelly) and I'm amazed at how well some of them work. But in the Coast Range it'd be super tough to find anything dry enough to burn, even if you already had dry tinder and a good fire starting system.

It's a good article with some excellent recommendations, especially for the fair weather hiker that is looking to tackle some wet, cold winter hiking.

I like Jerry's idea of the tent and sleeping bag. But just think of all that body heat you'd be generating if you spend time cutting wood and trying to build a fire. Hmmm but sweating too much might cause a stranded hiker other issues.

I always have spare clothing, extra layers, extra food, spare batteries and lights, ways to treat water, a small folding saw (with a 6" blade), a 5x7 survival tarp and several different fire starting things in my pack in winter. I could probably afford to carry a lightweight sleeping bag as well (I've got an old 35° rated bag that packs down super small that might work well in a pinch).

Next year I'd like to buy the DeLorme inReach SE device, especially after reading about Chase's positive experiences with it. But of course, an emergency communication device is no substitute for common sense and good decision making.

[Lurch]

Fire is much more than just a convenience. It's a valuable skillset to develop, and retain. But I will concede that the vast majority of the time, the benefits don't win out over the time and energy expended in building and maintaining one. Not to mention if you attempt and fail at building a fire it can be a critical failure.

For the most part around here you'd be far better off focusing on shelter from the elements, over building a fire. That said, there are a few tricks to getting a good fire going around here, even in the spring when everything is saturated, and it all really comes down to the 7 P's.. Proper Planning and Practice Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

If you do find yourself in a survival situation, and you do go all bear grylls and build yourself a "natural shelter". A: it takes a lot more energy and materials to do it properly than most people think, and it's definitely not something you'll do right the first time. And B: PLEASE find a way to mark it and make it visible from a long ways off. Otherwise you're just camouflaging yourself and making it more difficult to spot.

It's always good to practice your skills in *all* the conditions you may find yourself. Anyone can build a campfire in August, but you don't really need a campfire in August. The times that you need these skills are the times everything will be working against you.

/ramble

[retired jerry]

What I like for a fire starter is

You break up an egg carton into individual egg pieces. Rip off the extra cardboard so it's only about 1 inch high. Leave a tab that's a little higher. This weighs 0.05 ounces.

Wrap the outside with foil so it doesn't leak melted wax.

Put paraffin in. Take a knife and carve off some pieces. Don't cut off pieces of your finger. 0.25 ounces for summer or 0.5 ounces for winter.

Turn oven to lowest setting, like 170 F. Let it reach temperature and turn off. Put in tray of egg carton pieces with wax. Let melt - maybe 15 minutes. Make sure all the egg carton soaks up the wax. There can be some pieces of wax not melted as long as they're cemented together.

Take out. let cool. remove foil.

When you use it, rip off tab so there's a ragged edge for easier lighting. I like to make a little platform of small pieces of wood and put the fire starter on top, so any melted wax will flow onto this and it will all burn.

There's enough wax there to get even wet wood burning. A cotton ball with petroleum doesn't have enough BTUs to get wet wood burning. The wax, when cooled isn't messy or poisonous like some other fire starters.