Going to the famous Wind River 24 Hour Pack Test means handing yourself over to their (un)tamed wilderness expert.

Some say his permanent residence is a fur limb hut,
and that he is a Search and Rescue god on earth,

All we know is his name is John Carlson.

If you don’t watch Top Gear that joke might be lost on you. Anyway, the 24 Hour Test. Basically the idea is to find out what works and does not work with your pack while putting you though the grinder. During the test I was meandering between varying levels of discomfort, while evaluating how much I really wanted to be in Search and Rescue. Now that I have had time to reflect, it was hard but a lot of fun.

As far as training we got to do helo training with the Coast Guard (practice loading and unloading with the blades running as well as sending and receiving the basket), high angle rescue (that left me with some bruises), high angle recovery, night navigation and shelter building among other odds and ends along the way.

For posterity I will list some of my learnings.

Taking notes: So you have waterproof paper? You using a pen? I was trying to take notes in the rain, the ink never make it to the page, it just ran away. Next time pencil.

Shelter: So you think that you will bust out a fancy fur limb shelter? You know how much work that is? Also do you really have the energy when its 1:30AM and you have been running hard since 12:00PM, oh and you are getting hammered by the rain? Have a plan for instant shelter. A tarp is not optional.

“There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing”: Striking the right balance between keeping your sweat off you and keeping the rain off you is a challenge. I learned this time its better to be sweaty than getting rained on. It does not take very long for my quality thermals to wick the moisture away. But if you are getting soaked from the outside, there is no getting ahead of that.

Navigation: You might be with someone who has more SAR experience than you. Watch your map and compass and gps and if you think your navigator is headed in the wrong direction, work it out before you get lost. We did not get lost because we worked out the problems before hand. Along those lines. When using your compass make sure there is nothing interfering. Three times I caught my partner sighting in while holding a surefire or GPS right next to the compass, ya that Fs the readings.

Gloves: They are going to get wet, be prepared.

Food: You have to fuel the machine. Make sure you have enough snacks. I did not have time to eat until really late.

Think that is all for the moment. I will probably think of more later.