Its NOT uncommon for people to freeze to death up North here....this is really a sad situation. I travel a lot in the winter and this has made my realize the I (and my girlfriend) dont carry enough gear with us. Sure we have cells and the coverage is pretty good but you can get yourself in a real jam when its below -20. Being alone in the bush when its real cold definitely can make you think about what can happen to you.

 

Isn't it the truth.

 

Agreed...
Carry supplies guys, the last thing we need are more people passing because they could have been better prepaired.

Dom

 

Yup, and the cost to put this stuff together isn't very high when you think about it. With the container I have its on the shelf during the summer and back in when the snow flies. Then you know you have everything there.

Still a sad story any way you cut it.

 

They just found the girl. She had fallen into a sand pit and froze to death, then was covered in 3 feet of drifting snow. It took them a full 7 days to find her. If you get stuck in a storm, stay with your vehicle, and carry a cell phone & a charger.

We almost had the same thing happen again! An old lady left to return to Kansas and got lost, then stuck. It took law enforcement 4 hours to find her. She is fine.

I cannot figure out why they don't call in the volunteer firemen though. The more eyes looking the faster they would find people who are lost.

 

that's a real shame...

down here in TX, we lose old people in the summer from heat

Forrest

 

geico, where at in NE?

we were in Omaha for 3 years, and even in a Metro area, we put a "winter kit" in the car around thanksgiving.

a buddy had a HUGE jeep, we were taking my daugthers BF home one evening, got it wedged in a snow bank on a state scraped dirt road. wife finally looked behind us, we had veered off the road some how, and were trying to go up the ditch.

was a huge drift at top of a hill in a prairie.

lots of snow = lots of scary problems

 

We are in Lincoln, NE.

It really makes me mad that the 911 dispatcher did not call for all available help when they these kids got lost. They were calling 911 for help and the best they can do is send a squad car for the search? They needed to call in the calvery! Every volunteer fireman within 100 mile radius should have been activated for a search and rescue.

It makes me sick to think of these kids panicing and freezing to death. Sure they made mistakes, but the 911 dispatcher is suppose to help them, and save lives!

 

Staying with the truck is always a good idea, for one you have the engine, run it until it dies (if you anticipate it's going to be a while maybe only run it at night when it's colder?). For what its with, our trucks burn about .5 GPH at ~1000 RPM with no load. That's 60 hours (not 15!) with 30 gallons in the tank. I wonder if other idlers got the same results. That was with my 3rd gen SO.

Here are things to keep in the truck. Some for saving yourself, some for helping others:

-Blanket
-High energy food that won't spoil (Powerbars? Taste gross but at the time you won't complain?)
-Flashlight
-Multitool
-Fire extinguisher
-Hitch mountable shackle & recovery rope
-Water or gatorade
-GPS Receiver. Garmin E-trex is $99. I use it for calculating distance when hiking.
-CB Radio - Channel 9 is useless, but 19 decent. I monitor this channel all the time (albeit my squelch is up pretty high).
-GMRS radio, I am just getting into. I beleive the "675" designator is used for emergencies. Jack might know more about whether people actually monitor it or not.

 

Two 20 year old college kids....male and female. Seems to me they should have stayed in the truck and cuddled until help arrived.

Poor kids...and poor family.

 

Here's a question a bunch of us guys a work were talking about in that situation.

We all agree to stay with truck until fuel run out.

1. Stay with truck anyways and use it for shelter

2. torch the truck, stay close by for warmth and hope someone see the blaze and smoke.

 

I wouldn't burn the only shelter I got. Typically storms won't last more than a day and you could be seen when the daylight comes and the snow settles.

I would burn anything but the truck. ITs like burning your house down, not a good idea. Staying out of the wind in the vehicle would at least afford a place if you don't have big clothes for warmth.

DON'T PANIC!!!

 

Maybe dumb but what about the batteries... there should be a way to get warmth from the batteries until you run em dead? Is there such thing as a 12V space heater?

 

There are 12V heaters but it would run the batteries flat i now time........ They draw big power and cold batteries don't have alot of reserve. You need fuel to run the engine and do it that way.

 

If you followed the story on these two lost souls, you can't really blame the authorities entirely. For the several calls the couple made to 911, they were reporting their position MILES away from where they really were. Even on successive calls, each position was completely different. They had no idea where they were. We also don't know if their vehicle would run, thus going to find shelter probably seemed the thing to do. Toxocology reports are supposed to be done with the autopsies. We will probably find out more than meets the eye. Since they had found shelter in a hut and then left, it makes you wonder about their mental capacity. I might have tried to start a fire there. It's easy to judge when you are not wearing their shoes. My prayers to their families on their loss.