Redbeard

Glad it all worked out. Sounds like youhandled everything just right. I also always have survival stuff in my truck and enough in my pack to survive a night out. Really all you need is some water, a lighter, and a flashlight. Well TP is nice too. I was elk hunting in November and had a similar story except no truck. I was about 5 miles from my truck when right before dark I shot an elk. I decided not to leave it for the coyotes and risk getting lost in the dark on the hike back so I built a fire and skinned and quaretered it. I had a space blanket and water and a granola bar or two. I actually had a pretty nice night even though it got down below 20 deg. I just got up every hour and stoked the fire and turned over. I figured it was all part of the experience. I didn't expect anybody to be looking for me since I was hunting and camping alone and I knew I'd be able to hike out in the morning. Unfortunately around 4 am a helicopter started flying around with a spot light. I figured somebody must be lost. The helicopter landed in a meadow nearby and pretty soon I hear this guy calling my name. I figured somebody in my family died or something and he was sent out to find me. (This actually happend to a friend of mine on a Grand Canyon river trip once.) The guy comes up and asks if I'm OK and I said, "Sure, what's wrong?" He says, "Aren't you lost?" I said, "No, I just didn't want to walk back in the dark and leave my elk for the coyotes." He tells me that my Dad and his buddies had been out all night looking for me! I was hunting and camping alone and they were in another part of the area but decided to come see how I was doing and had seen my truck and waited for me. When I didn't come back my Dad got to worrying and called out the forces. I think I was the only one who got any sleep that night. Everybody got over it but it took a while. A few years after that a friend and I were left stranded in a huge snowstorm by another "friend" who was supposed to come pick us up at the end of a 20+ mile hike out of Havasupai from the river. We each had a sleeping bag but by the time we got to the trail head there was 6" of snow and we were out of food and water since we "knew" there would be a car waiting for us. We broke into an old abandoned trailer and slept in there then started a fire the next day to melt some of the 18" of snow that fell over night for water. The story gets worse after that but let me just say that we were not treated very well by the indians who lived nearby. We couldn't even get them to sell us food or let us use a phone or radio. When an indian snowplow driver came in he also wouldn't help in anyway. Not even make a call on his radio. We eventually made it out in spite of them but by the time we made it to the highway my buddy's wife had called the sherrif and he picked us up. They had called my wife wondering if she was worried and she just said, "They are big boys they will be fine." They couldn't believe she wasn't worried and started questioning her as if there had been some foul play. After years of me being a hunting guide out by myself all the time she is trained not to worry. I have to admit that after having kids I bought a Spot tracker.

Skip called this morning. He bought another new battery and it worked and the charger works. Tried the reset procedure on the dead batteries and no luck. I guess he just got a couple of bad batteries. Rob, do you know what is the best brand for him to buy?

Thanks guys. I looked it up on Doc's site and saw the info about leaving the detector on and how to reset it. I told Skip but haven't heard back if it worked. He doesn't do a lot of detecting but is good about keeping his batteries charged. Apparently he went out today to put them on the charger and said that the charger showed a green light but BOTH batteries were stone dead. He even checked with a volt meter. It seems odd that both would be dead at the same time and have zero voltage. He had one of his original batteries go dead last fall but I think these are newer ones he bought then. He uses a GP Extreme.

My buddy Skip called me this morning to say that his coiltek batteries went bad. I don't have these but I remember reading once that there is a breaker or something that can be tripped if you switch them off wrong. Is that correct? How would you reset that breaker? What is the proper procedure to prevent this from happening? Thanks Chris

A huge congrats to the new proud parents! Rob don't listen to what JP said about boys and girls. My two girls are definitely spoiled but they deserve it. The second we found out my wife was pregnant with our first I knew why I am on this Earth. Kids are what makes the world go round. Enjoy every bit of every day because they change so fast. I know you will be a great father. Chris

He's got some good Karma coming his way for sure.

I just wanted to publicly thank Flakmagnet for helping me out on my search for and 8" mono. I'm too embarrased to say what a "deal" he made me. With all the negative BS sometimes posted on these forums I think it is good to spread a little praise. I'm not sure if we have ever crossed paths but I hope we do in the future. Flak is a peach. I'll take good care of your little baby. Thanks man. I owe you one. Chris

Too bad for me but good for him.

I have been out of the loop for awhile so this is probably old news but I went by Russ's shop and it was empty. What happened?

Dropped off my early ballot today. Thanks for the reminder anyways Shep.