Outdoor Adventure USA

Trail Blunders, Mishaps, and Disasters

Been 4 wheelin' for a while? Been out in the back country exploring for a few years? We have, and we know that it doesn't take years before a mishap occurs. And, truth be known, it is nearly a certainty that if you have been 4 wheelin' for a while, you have had one or seen one.

The purpose of this net is not to pretend that we are such great drivers that we have never had a blunder, a mishap or a disaster, because we all have had one (or more.) On the contrary, the net is meant to let everyone know that it is nothing about which to be embarrassed (well maybe just a little), but more importantly, to underscore the learning experience these incidents offer for the driver, and for all those who witnessed it as well. Ignoring an incident will just serve to reinforce the axiom that, "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it", and repeating any of these incidents can have lethal consequences.

At least for me, I will post pictures only, and will explain the facts on the net. While we have entitled the net, "trail blunders, mishaps and disasters", we encourage good trail stories and humorous ones as well, especially where there are lessons to be learned. So let us know your experiences on the trail.

And now, for a completely unrelated topic, I thought that everyone might be interested in the weather conditions that our repeater is currently experiencing. Here are shots taken Wednesday February 21, 2024, and Thursday February 22, 2024. Yes, we have had some snow, and more is predicted, but the repeater keeps on working.

Most trail blunders, mishaps and disasters have an immediate lesson to be learned, while others have a lesson which is not so apparent. I've had both, and in neither case do I want to experience them again.

While the large majority of trail incidents are the fault of the driver, there is a small percentage that are not the fault of the driver and could not and cannot be avoided in the future. The lesson to be learned in these unavoidable incidents is mostly "how to be prepared for the worst."

So I'll start with the least significant and work my way towards the most serious. Some of these are mine and some are members of our camping trips which I witnessed. Both contain lessons to be learned.


1. ICY SNOW AND HIDDEN ROCKS



2. WATCHING YOUR NAVIGATION SCREEN INSTEAD OF THE TRAIL



3. BROKEN TRAILER HITCH



4. TRAILER LOSS



5. FALLING TREES

This one was, by far, the most potentially lethal, the scariest, and the most damaging we have experienced. The pictures below tell a lot of the story, but the important details will be on the net.

Damage to the Hummer



Damage to the FJ3



The Tree

Here is a link to my mishap.

http://forums.oausa.net/viewtopic.php?f ... 137#p33063

CA Senate Bill 1160 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/face ... 1160#99INT

SB 1160, as introduced, Portantino. Firearms: annual registration of firearms.

• Existing law requires the sale or transfer of any firearm to be processed through a licensed firearms dealer. Existing law requires a licensed firearms dealer to record specified information regarding each firearm sale or transfer and to submit that information to the Department of Justice. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to maintain keep and maintain this and other specified information relating to firearms within the state.

• This bill would require every firearm in the state, except those specifically exempted, to be annually registered with the department. The bill would require the registrant to annually pay a fee, as specified, to be deposited into a special fund that is continuously appropriated to the department for the express purpose of carrying out the administration and enforcement of the firearm registry. The bill would require the department to establish and maintain a system for the annual registration of firearms and would require the department to make registration information available to other law enforcement agencies, as specified. The bill would require the department to make reasonable efforts to notify firearms dealers, firearm owners, and the general public regarding registration requirements.

• This bill would specify that registration shall not be deemed evidence that the registrant is lawfully permitted to own or possess the registered firearm nor that they are the lawful owner of the firearm. The bill would also, consistent with existing federal law, prohibit the use of certain federal records in establishing or enforcing the registry.

• This bill would prohibit possession of an unregistered firearm, a violation of which would be punishable as an infraction.

CA Assembly Bill 3067: https://trackbill.com/bill/california-a ... s/2520451/

• AB 3067, as introduced, Gipson. Residential property insurance: firearms. Existing law generally regulates residential property insurance, including homeowners’ insurance and renters’ insurance. Existing law generally regulates the manufacture, distribution, transportation, and importation of specified firearms. Existing law requires persons who obtain firearms to have familiarity with those firearms, including the safe handling and storage of firearms. Existing law requires a purchaser or receiver of a firearm to hold a valid firearm safety certificate.This bill would require an insurer, by January 1, 2026, to include questions on an application for homeowners’ or renters’ insurance seeking specified information regarding the presence and storage of any firearms kept in the household, accessory structures, or vehicles kept on the property subject to any applicable insurance policy. The bill would require an insurer to annually report this information to the Department of Insurance and the Legislature beginning on January 1, 2027, and would prohibit the inclusion of confidential identifying information in the report.

KK6CTT for the online check-in; 02/22/24

Trail Blunders, Mishaps and Disasters:

• Late 70's, Lytle Creek, my life long friend, JEB, drives up on the shale/rock of the forest road "cut" and gets his front tire stuck in the sand and rock that are loose on the side of the road. It took us 2-hours to move enough material away from the tire to get the vehicle unstuck. Like sand, for every shovel of dirt moved away from the stuck tire, another two-shovels worth would fill-in, and there was a whole "hopper" of mountainside material to keep back-filling this biach.

• 1980, JEB at the wheel, in a two-wheel drive, lifted, Chevy Luv, driving an AZ desert trail, we run out of road and find ourselves on a sandy wash that was probably a road at one time or another. JEB keeps the RPMs up and we get a good piece into the soft sand until we sink up to our axles and we are now good and stuck in the middle of a bad, hot place. We try for a couple, maybe four, 10-12" jack & block the tire moves before we call it quits and decide one person stays with the vehicle & firearms (me), while the other goes back to a house we passed a few miles back (no cell phones or COMMs back then). JEB is gone for hours and I'm starting to feel the effects of the AZ sun with no effective relief from the heat in or under the truck. I have no water and I'm hurting because of it. Meanwhile, JEB is offered water and help from the residents of the house and the use of the phone to call a friend to help us out. We get the help we need but it was pretty tough on the "equipment guard" and I have a newfound love of old Chevy Apaches with NAPA 4WD running gear!

• 1990 somethin', after leaving work to meet up for a bear hunt near Lake Isabella, after poor route planning, I found myself driving all night before I ascended a winding road where I drove into the outside curve, downhill side of an embankment, where I got high-centered. I was good and stuck, like a lawn dart, in my XJ and I was so lucky a large truck happened by and had enough strap to get me unstuck. Don't leave home without extraction material/tools; a shovel and the usual self-correcting SNAFU equipment needed to work through a trail problem. Or, pay attention and don't over stretch your physical need for sleep verses hours driven. I've also come to understand, rachet straps can cinch down broken welds and other "loose ends."

• 2005/2006, I'm home on leave from a deployment to Bosnia and when I return, I find out one of my teams, , with the M60 Gunner, up in the turret during this maneuver, actually behind "The Pig" [affectionate term for the machinegun], while passing on a narrow country road, avoided a head-on-collision by over correcting back into their lane, hitting a berm on the side of the road, launching the HMMWV into a mid-air Dukes of Hazard barrel roll...coming to rest upside down in a muddy bog, sticking the landing, literally! He survives along with everyone else in the vehicle. Why? Because they practiced and perfected their "Role Over Drills" and were able to walk away only sore and bruised. They were blessed with good training and discipline (use of restraining harness/seatbelts) that paid off! Why was it important to list the fact that I was home on leave? Because I went from a stellar NCOER on that field trip to a comment that held me responsible for the accident even though I was over 6,000 miles away when it happened and now you know, "...the rest of the story." https://safety.army.mil/MEDIA/Risk-Mana ... 2/Rollover

• 2007, Iraq, we practiced and implemented sling sets that doubled as tow straps that were already affixed to the outside of our HMMWVs, ready to go, just in case. We also had an incident like Phil, (post #2, incident #2) only at night, where the driver cut a turn too close to an irrigation ditch with a 12-15' drop, sucked in our right rear tire and caused much the same "teetering" effect. Fearful of an attack, while one of three vehicles is now immobile, we quickly pull our slings sets off the vehicles and move, without haste, into stabilizing and preparing for a tug with the two good up-armor HMMWVs (heavy-ass trucks) while keeping security out. This was after all, a "combat mission." It all worked out quickly and we "almost" didn't skip a beat; the recovery went quickly and no chance contact materialized to complicate the operation; whew, thank God!

Sounds like a good net tonight.

Please check in Randy KF6KOC and Becky KF6RGR

Early check-in please, Ed KM6UWI. Thanks.

Check in Russ KC6JGZ

Please check me in KM6OJB
Thanks Joe

Check in please - Thanks - Bernie