Danger on the Trails
Burt Smith
safe and enjoy my search.
Often though, my trek takes me on trails that run very near homeless
encampments. Here I am
alone with expensive equipment - GPS, cellphone, pocket PC and some
cash and cards.
All very attractive to someone who is starving or needs drugs. My
question is have you ever felt
you were in danger? What do you do? Have you considered carrying a
weapon?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Karl Erik Birkeland
> Often though, my trek takes me on trails that run very near homeless
> encampments. Here I am alone with expensive equipment - GPS,
> cellphone, pocket PC and some cash and cards. All very attractive to
> someone who is starving or needs drugs. My question is have you ever
> felt you were in danger? What do you do?
Try to blend into the environment, choose clothing that won't stand out
and don't flash any expensive equipment (handle your GPSr discreetly).
Leave your valuables at home. Be friendly to those you meet.
All kinds of geocaches might get you into trouble - falling down cliffs
or into rivers; walking along freeways; acting in ways that'll make
Uncle Sam believe you're a "terrorist"; or tempting you into places you
otherwise don't feel comfortable about. If you can't handle such
challenges, consider going for another cache.
> Have you considered carrying a weapon?
Of course not. Lucklily, carrying a weapon is usually illegal in most
parts of the world. Gun-carrying people (and nations) tend to get into
more trouble than people who don't choose to present themselves as a
threat to their surroundings.
--
Karl Erik Birkeland, MDNV
Ralph
might be lurking.
Re carrying a weapon, sure. I always have my hiking staff with me when on
the trails. Pepper spray is legal in my area and I always carry some as
defense against any 2 or 4 legged predators I might be unable to avoid.
Unable to advise on it's effectiveness as of this time, never had an
opportunity to use it except as seasoning.
I was a Boy Scout and have never forgotten the motto "be prepared".
Whenever I leave the car I have my day pack with me. It has those
necessities which will make an inadvertent night in the woods more
survivable.
It seems to me that someone putting out a cache should be wise enough to
avoid locations where undesirables might be lurking.
Ralph
Michael Link
Burt Smith schrieb:
> [...] My question is have you ever felt
> you were in danger? What do you do? Have you considered carrying a
> weapon?
Some geocaches might bring you in a dangerous situation, of course. But
reading the cache description and the logs let me see what is to be
expected.
If I were to encounter strange guys, I's simply not go for it.
For some of the more difficult hikes, I perfer to form or join a group.
That's more fun and safer anyway, especially on lost places.
Carrying a weapon is not an option here. And if it were, I'd neither go,
as I didn't like the idea to use it.
Have fun,
Michael
(ksmichel)
Kate
First I will tell you that I come from a family that is long time country
folk and heavily salted with military and law enforcement.
If you must go into a questionable area, take a friend. Seriously. Why risk
it for a cache?
On the other hand -
I ALWAYS have at least a small hunting knife with me in my pack, for
emergency use in case I get lost or something. Not to mention a few good
energy snacks and ample water, a small flashlight, a small first aid kit,
something to start a fire with and a lightweight rain slicker. Generally the
pack is full of trade items so it serves both purposes
When I think I am going to be near somewhere I may need it, I carry a
carefully concealed snub-nosed .38 or my .9mm. Usually I leave the guns at
home, but if I am traveling a long distance or to an unknown area it's
there. It's the way I was raised. In fact the .38 was my mom's.
Others may strongly disagree with my point of view, that's their
prerogative.
I'm presuming by 'weapon' you mean a firearm.
I may be wrong, but on that note there are a few things you must think about
if you're considering carrying a weapon:
1) Don't carry it unless you are certain you would be able to use it. This
means, you may have to kill someone.
2) Don't think that just because you point a gun at someone they will run
away. There is every chance that they could take it away from you and kill
you with it.
3) Observe the laws in your state, many do not permit concealed weapons and
those that do require a permit.
4) If you are going to carry a weapon, be sure you know how to use it.
5) Instead of a firearm, maybe pepper spray or something along that line. It
would give you some sense of security and a chance to get away. This too is
often regulated by local laws, Check with local law enforcement.
6) If you're familiar with weapons and the use of them, then what the hell!
If your instincts tell you that a place is not safe to go into alone, then
don't do it. That's the safest route.
There may be a geocaching club in your area where you can hook up with other
cachers and buddy up. It can be a lot of fun when you have someone else
along.
Kate
"Burt Smith" <burto...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1171223070.6...@a34g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Karl Erik Birkeland
> When I think I am going to be near somewhere I may need it, I carry a
> carefully concealed snub-nosed .38 or my .9mm.
Caliber 0.9 mm? That's a small gun! ;)
Don B
the other night, maybe five people wouldn't have gotten killed. Of
course I suppose someone could have walked up to him and talked him to
death.
member, , no email, allowed, 2006, 10, 22, 04, 24, 26
middle aged female. i carry mace & cell phone in my pocket, and i
keep the multiple high tech gadgets in the car. the less i have to
worry about, the more freedom i have to take care of myself. in urban
areas where less than desriable persons might be lurking, i dont waste
time on those caches. as a matter of fact, if i leave an area because
of such issues, i report it back on the log of the particular cache in
question. the second option of course, with common sense, is go with
someone.
Sionnach
"Ralph" <ralphc...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> It seems to me that someone putting out a cache should be wise enough to >
> avoid locations where undesirables might be lurking.
You would think so, but it's unfortunately not always the case. Sometimes
people are just stupid or uninformed, sometimes an area changes after a
cache is placed, and sometimes the situation is a bit of both.
When I was fairly new to caching (which was just this past summer) I went
looking for a cache which, on the map, was just off of a small park in a
smallish town in a semi-rural area. However, the semi-rural nature means a
lot of low-income folks, and the town, being the largest in the area, has a
substantial homeless issue.
The parking for the cache WAS in the park, but the GPS led me to the back
of the park, and then across a culvert which led to an overgrown area around
and under an overpass from the nearby major road (Route 40).
The moment I got across the culvert, it became obvious that there were
people living under the bridge - sleeping bags, a mattress, a junked couch,
clothes stored under a tarp, a fireplace built of bricks... and the GPS
clearly showed that in order to get to the cache, I would have to go right
through what was essentially someone's living room/bedroom.
Needless to say, I turned around and left without finding the cache, and
felt very uneasy until I was back out by my car, not least because I'd been
expecting something woodsy and was carrying my Nikon... if I hadn't had my
dogs with me, I'd REALLY have been nervous.
When I got home, I looked at the cache page and found that it had been
archived a week or so before (it had been downloaded to my GPS by a friend
about 6 weeks before).
What's shocking, though, is that logs going back well over a year noted
that the area wasn't good, including a report of a cacher passing someone
sleeping on the mattress... yet nearly all of those people had continued on
and logged the cache, and the cache hider kept the cache active.
And yes, had I not been a newbie, I would have read the logs FIRST, and not
gone there at all.
Unfortunately, a LOT of hidden bits of public property are like that; what
makes it an attractive place to hide a cache, in terms of secrecy and
privacy, ALSO makes it attractive to the homeless, to druggies, and to teens
who want to drink without parents knowing.
This particular cache was the worst case of that sort of thing I've
encountered, but not the only time I've seen clear signs of such activities
when looking for a cache.
It's one of the many reasons why I always carry my cell, and nearly always
cache with my dogs.
Kate
"Karl Erik Birkeland" <keb+u...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:53emb6F...@mid.individual.net...
Kate skrev:
> When I think I am going to be near somewhere I may need it, I carry a
> carefully concealed snub-nosed .38 or my .9mm.
>Caliber 0.9 mm? That's a small gun! ;)
;盾
I suffer from fat finger syndrome LOL
Kate
Meles meles
> Often though, my trek takes me on trails that run very near homeless
> encampments.
Homeless encampments? You seem to live in an interesting part of the
world.
Ralph
of the worlds major cities. Despite what their chamber of commerce might
say.
Rudolpho
It is called The United States of Amrica :-)
--
Rudolpho
... Do televangelists do more than lay people?
Dale
outdoorsmen" or "urban outdoorsmen" for short. We have lots of them in the
Tampa bay area of Florida, some areas have tents setup for them. But mostly
they are harmless, and want cash, not things they would have to hock for
money, too much like work, and too easy to get caught. After reading the
other responses, I feel compelled to add my 2 cents as well.
1. Like others I carry a knife (mostly used as a tool in my bag like the
pliers and flashlight), and I do have a carry permit and sometimes I do
carry my gun, but rarely do. (James Bond 007 walther PPK 380 in case you
were wondering) Long treks out into the woods I could come across lions or
tigers or bears oh my!
But seriously, snakes, boars, cougars or simply a rabid raccoon, and if I am
by myself I do have the right to protect myself.
2. Even pepper spray and knives (certain sizes) are considered concealed
weapons, so check your local laws.
3. Many times just not acting like a victim or a sheep to be sheared would
be enough. Criminals can smell fear and prey on those that act scared. Keep
your head up, chest out, look at them straight in the eye, don't turn your
back on them. Give the air that if they even thought about assaulting you
they would be in for one big ass whipping! If you carry a pack (you should
to hold your gadgets and trade items etc.) put you hand in it, they don't
know that you might have a gun in there?
4. You should try not to be waving too many gadgets around anyways, don't
want muggles to know what your doing right.
5. And above all, use your head, if it don't feel right get away. Same for
caches that are in areas that are questionable, private property with
notices, railroad tracks or other hazardous places.
Hope this helps and you have safe geocaching experiences!
Dale
"Rudolpho" <a...@b.invalid> wrote in message
news:45d4d5c0$0$328$e4fe...@news.xs4all.nl...