Outdoor Adventure USA

Redundancy

Webster defines “redundancy” as profusion or abundance. For those who use their vehicles for travel into remote and primitive locations, redundancy means the ability to survive, the wisdom to realize that things break, the importance of having spares, and the foresight to plan ahead for the type of conditions which will be encountered.

To borrow a phrase, your motto must be, BE PREPARED!!! There are many ways to do this, and the easiest of all is to read up on what to bring, to listen to others, and, of course, listen to these nets. The reality however, is that most us us learn the hard way, by experience, but it doesn’t have to always be that way.

If one looks long enough for the benefit of “hard learned lessons,” I suppose it is that they are the ones that make the most impact and are best remembered. But that’s way too optimistic, especially when the lessons are expensive or dangerous, or both.

Thus we offer redundancy as a means of helping everyone to be prepared, to plan ahead, to think about what you will encounter in the outback, and to do your best to avoid costly problems and dangerous situations. Since just about everyone has experience in this regard, let us know how you prepare.

REDUNDANCY (carry spares)

This post will be just a start, but a good one.

1. Spare keys (vehicles, padlocks, briefcases, computers, etc)

I've seen it too many times, but in reality, once was enough. Lock your keys in the car, without spares, and there will be repair costs costs. The cheap solution is to have NON ignition keys (more than one) hidden on the outside of the vehicle. If you lose your keys, have spare NON-ignition keys in addition to ignition keys which are well hidden in side.

This gets expensive:


2. Ham Radios

Ham Radio will be your lifeline to help in the event of an emergency. Following the commonly used firearm advice, but applied to Ham Radios, it goes something like this: one Ham radio is none, two Ham radios is one and three Ham radios is 2. When you are more than 100 miles from the nearest medical facility, having more than one radio (redundancy) is good insurance. Having two single band radios (like 2 meters) is good, but having radios that cover a wider ranger of bands, like HF, UHF and VHF, will increase your odds of getting help, and getting it sooner. Having one or more HTs is good advice as well.

An example of two dash top radios,,,,,,,,,,,,,


3. GPS and Paper Maps

New fangled electronic gizmos are all the rage these days, and it seems like there are more and more all the time. This, by the way, is not necessarily a bad thing, but absolute reliance on a single GPS, for example, to get you into and out of remote locations, can be a huge mistake. If there is one absolute about man made electronics, it is that they break, malfunction or get lost. Redundancy means carrying GPS units as backups, AND having paper maps and a compass to supplement in the event that the GPS units break, or, heaven forbid, the GPS satellites stop transmitting for whatever reason.

This means a few things:

• carrying spare GPS units, that you know how to operate, along with copies (more than one) of the operators manual

• carrying paper maps (more than one) that you know how to read

• carrying more than one compass that you know how to use

• know how to calculate coordinates from paper maps to a GPS

• IMPORTANT - you need to plot out your travel plans on a paper map- in other words, know how to get there and how to get back ON PAPER

Garmin offers (and has offered) some of the best GPS units on the market. One such example, which was in great demand by motorcyclists as well as the 4WD community, was the original model 276, now discontinued. So popular was the unit however, after its demise, that Garmin brought it back with some significant improvements, but still true to it's roots.

Original 276C


Current and improved 276Cx (https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/53972 ... 0-01607-00)


While the Garmin 276 GPS units can be put into service for hiking (and I have done it on several occasions) a smaller Garmin GPS will probably be a better choice, albeit with a smaller screen. Feature-wise the new small GPSs are quite remarkable and should be part of your travel gear.

No pretense here - I'm partial to Garmin. Their E-Trex model is smaller and will serve as a great hiking tool or a high quality GPS back-up. (https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/669244.) Do your shopping and you can get one for under $200.00, and with some models, under $150.00.


Some examples of good maps on which to plot your expected travels;


4. Blankets

This one is really a no-brainer. Good military surplus wool blankets are inexpensive and efficient. You can spend a whole lot more, but they won't really be any better than these surplus blankets. Having a few of these stuffed into the 4WD can make the difference between a comfortable night and a very unpleasant one. The internet is loaded with all kinds heavy wool blankets for just about any price range.


5. Flashlights, Batteries, and Chargers

Another no-brainer. Flashlights are one of the essentials that cannot be over done (almost.) From the smallest key chain light to the most powerful LED, there is virtually a never ending number of jobs for which they can be used. Between the high tech advancements made in both flashlights and their batteries, it's never been easier to shed some light onto the problem.

The advances in rechargeable batteries have made them a very attractive source of power, making portable recharging an option. In most cases, all of these batteries can be charged from a standard 12V vehicle socket (formerly known as a cigarette lighter socket.) Keep several charging cables handy along with the proper appliance to plug into the socket.

If you have been camping for a while, I'll bet that between your carry flashlights and those stowed in your vehicle, there are probably more than 10. As it should be!!!

One other note on batteries, whether for flashlights or not - carry a lot, carry them in several locations in the vehicle, and have a good selection of the most popular types, even if you don''t have devices that require them. When you start down this redundancy road, you will soon become the "go-to" guy that people will turn to for supplies that they failed to bring. Making another person's trip easier will go a long way toward making your trip easier, and more pleasant. Also, it is a great way to teach the benefits of redundancy.


6. Ham Radio Antennas, Co-Ax, and Parts

This set of "spares" (redundancy) goes along with the Ham radio advice, above, but for a slightly different reason. When you combine brush and tree choked trails with antennas, which are mounted on the outside of our vehicles, the inevitable result is damage (to the antenna.) We've seen it time and time again, and in many cases the damage is sufficient to interfere with, or completely prevent the radio from transmitting or receiving. Very bad result.

If you are beyond cell phone range, and need help, a broken antenna is a dangerous situation. The solutions is simple:

• carry extra antennas (more than one)

• carry extra hardware (more than one), such as the connectors, mounting hardware, springs, etc)

• carry extra runs (more than one) of STURDY co-ax with proper connectors on both ends

8. Fire Extinguishers

Previous nets have dealt with this subject, but the importance of proper fire extinguishers cannot be over stated. The potential ability to prevent a vehicle from fire damage should be reason enough to add them to your redundancy list. Make sure that you have fire extinguishers (more than one), that are properly maintained, easy to access, and easy to locate should someone need one from your vehicle.

9. Reading Glasses & High Magnification Glasses

This one applies to just about everyone, not just those who need reading glasses. A good pair of high magnification glasses can help everyone in various situations, such as splinter removal, reading small print on instructions, repairing camping gear that involves small parts, etc. For the rest of us who do require reading glasses, carrying just one spare is, well.............unwise.

11. Shovels, Axes (hatchets), and Saws

The need for these tools is large, AND becomes even more important as you travel further into the outback. Have more then one!!! Some of the more obvious needs:

• vehicles stuck in sand, mud, ice, and snow,

• latrine duty

• fire suppression

• tent perimeter trenching

• fire pit construction

• burying game animal remains

• clearing trails blocked by fallen trees or branches

• preparing firewood for warmth or cooking

• preparing emergency shelters

There are several of these types of tools, a few examples of which are:

1. Krazy Beaver Tools - Made in the USA (https://krazybeavertools.com/)


2. Forrest Tool - Made in the USA (https://forresttoolco.com/the_max.html)


3. Estwing Axes - Made in the USA

4. Cold Steel Mini Shovel


5. Camping Saws - Wyoming Saw - Made in the USA(https://www.wyomingknife.com/saws.htm)

Folds compactly, well made in the USA, and carries a lifetime warranty. Among the very best.


General List
HD Leather Gloves
tire valve stems
recovery straps
matches
gas can pouring spouts
fuses
medications
knives
duct tape
water purifiers

Redundancy

I find that I have redundancy for several reasons.

1.The first one that comes to mind of course, is to allow me to continue the trip with out undo discomfort. This covers failure to bring something, a broken tool, or loosing something. For example, I carry a new spring clip for my pocket knife along with a T6 torque wench. I order 3 to 5 new clips at a time. For some reason, I catch the clip and bend it out. It will only take once or maybe twice being bent back into shape before it breaks.

https://www.4x4training.com/w/are-you-keyed-up/

2. Very closely related, is to manage a survival situation. Maybe I will never need to survive the stuff I am prepared for but still ...!

3. Next comes the application. Sometimes I need different sizes, shapes and forms of the same basic item. A good example is a first aid kit. A large full size first aid kit for vehicle travel with larger groups. This one can be hard case to provide maximum longer term protection. I want a smaller one for my go bag. I also have a small EDU "boo boo" bag so I don't need to crack open the big box. These tend to be soft sided bags.

4. Then there are the "layers". I want a flashlight or headlamp always in reach. That means one in every coat pocket; every bag, every vehicle, brief cases, clothes bags, etc. I want a first aid kit with me most times. As above they scale up or down based on what I can carry. Some things in my pockets; A kit I can get past TSA when travelling; one in the go bag, etc.

The layering becomes an issue when I load up for a trip and find I have 4 first aid kits in the vehicle. One from each level. Or batteries in very conceivable box or bag because on there own they might be the only source I have.
If the vehicle is not loaded for a trip, I still want a stove, coffee pot, first aid, etc. available. So I have "deep' back up for some things.

5. Convenience- Most people purchase separate camping cooking equipment but it occurred to me one day that a new razor did not cost that much. I could build a separate travel bag to save time transferring and gather items. This can be applied to auto mechanical tool, and so on.

6. Discarded / Out of Date- not sure if this qualifies but I have a lot of duplicated items that have been displaced by smaller (perhaps bigger), better, faster ones. These may be new on the market, or I discovered someone using a better item. Of course, the older one still have useful life and are hard to throw away. They might sit on the shelve just in case they have to be pressed back into emergency service. I might be able to put together a complete evolution of Coleman coolers.

7. At home backup -- There are some items that actual stay home as backup. For example a spare tire. This would be a 6th tire. The purpose of this tire is to keep me on the road while the tire store orders in a replacement spare. That way I can leave on my next trip the next day with a spare.

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Highland, CA

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