4 ms·

Eh, in his situation I would have probably attempted the macguyver approach knowing full well if it fails I'm just back in the hoofing it situation. 10 days of

Eh, in his situation I would have probably attempted the macguyver approach knowing full well if it fails I'm just back in the hoofing it situation. 10 days of water in the desert probably becomes a lot less when you're hauling it without a combustion engine assisting. I've done a lot of manual labor in the mojave. When rebuilding a roof in July I was going through 5-10 gallons a day - and that's not dragging heavy shit across the wilderness. I doubt the motorcycle rode particularly well, it probably more resembled a self-powered wheeled sled for precariously carrying him and his supplies with less effort than without fire. My assumption is it tipped over often and was quite graceless...

Tossrock 5y ago
5 - 10 gallons per day?? Are you including washing and other non-drinking usage? Because drinking more than 2 gallons of water a day, even in high, dry heat with physical exertion, is extremely difficult. I've done a good amount of desert labor and a gallon/day is about right for drinking, even at 100+ degrees.
- pengaru 5y ago
  No, strictly drinking. It's practically all lost to perspiration and respiration - I struggled to drink enough water to manage a single wee throughout the day. This was 120F ambient air temps, much hotter surface/roof-in-progress temps operating in close proximity to. Basically every drink break put down 2 Brita pitchers worth, refilled from a 5-gallon water cooler bottle. Typically I'd have to go down and refill the 5-gallon bottle once per day... hence 5-10gals.
  - Tempest1981 5y ago
    How did you avoid hyponatremia?
    - pengaru 5y ago
      Didn't do anything in particular, dunno. Maybe all the canned sardines in water I was eating/drinking the broth from delivered enough sodium? I didn't feel ill or anything like that.
richardfey 5y ago
But if you tip that contraption..fuel is going to spill. And pretty fast you're out of fuel, or injured
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
rob74 5y ago
But if you spend a few days on the "MacGyver approach", and it doesn't work out, will you have enough water left for reaching civilization on foot? While walking, you should probably find some shadow (if available) and rest during the hottest hours of the day, that would also help save drinking water...
- pengaru 5y ago
  > While walking, you should probably find some shadow (if available) and rest during the hottest hours of the day, that would also help save drinking water... It sounds like he used the cab as shelter once removed intact. Presumably he hid idly in its shadow during the hottest hours of the project as well... But yeah at some point if the hack isn't bearing fruit you have to cut your losses and walk.
smoe 5y ago
Why carry all the water supply? Looking at the map he seems to have been a 1-2 day walk to Tan Tan probably less going back to the military outpost were he was turned back. Edit: This article says: "The nearest village was 20 miles away and Leray didn't want to risk making the trek on foot." http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/photos-man-escapes-african-desert-doom-turns-wrecked-car-diy-motorcycle-article-1.1107099 http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/photos-man-escapes-african-...
- pengaru 5y ago
  So you think he misjudged the difficulty of the hike? Maybe the terrain is difficult with lots of elevation change.
  - smoe 5y ago
    I don't have an opinion on what really happened. But there are things that sound off about the story. Also it doesn't help that seemingly only a handful of media outlets and blogs copying from each other have picked up on the story 10 years after the fact without asking critical questions. I could even imagine that he did get stranded out there and knew worst case he could just walk back, so why not try to build a motorcycle for the fun of it and then dramatize the story years later.
    - sswaner 5y ago
      This explanation sounds most plausible if he did in fact ride a machine back to Tan Tan.
  - teruakohatu 5y ago
    The car managed the terrain, so it couldn't have been that difficult. It strikes me as bizarre that someone stuck in the desert with supplies would engage in experimental engineering rather than a two day hike.
  - michaelt 5y ago
    I've known some people who don't have a calibrated idea of what the human body is capable of. Is a marathon a huge athletic feat, that the fittest people you know spend months in preparation for, and even then may only do once in their lifetime? Or is it the distance a person of average fitness can walk in a day?

Tossrock 5y ago

5 - 10 gallons per day?? Are you including washing and other non-drinking usage? Because drinking more than 2 gallons of water a day, even in high, dry heat with physical exertion, is extremely difficult. I've done a good amount of desert labor and a gallon/day is about right for drinking, even at 100+ degrees.

pengaru 5y ago
No, strictly drinking. It's practically all lost to perspiration and respiration - I struggled to drink enough water to manage a single wee throughout the day. This was 120F ambient air temps, much hotter surface/roof-in-progress temps operating in close proximity to. Basically every drink break put down 2 Brita pitchers worth, refilled from a 5-gallon water cooler bottle. Typically I'd have to go down and refill the 5-gallon bottle once per day... hence 5-10gals.
- Tempest1981 5y ago
  How did you avoid hyponatremia?
  - pengaru 5y ago
    Didn't do anything in particular, dunno. Maybe all the canned sardines in water I was eating/drinking the broth from delivered enough sodium? I didn't feel ill or anything like that.

richardfey 5y ago

But if you tip that contraption..fuel is going to spill. And pretty fast you're out of fuel, or injured

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

rob74 5y ago

But if you spend a few days on the "MacGyver approach", and it doesn't work out, will you have enough water left for reaching civilization on foot? While walking, you should probably find some shadow (if available) and rest during the hottest hours of the day, that would also help save drinking water...

pengaru 5y ago
> While walking, you should probably find some shadow (if available) and rest during the hottest hours of the day, that would also help save drinking water... It sounds like he used the cab as shelter once removed intact. Presumably he hid idly in its shadow during the hottest hours of the project as well... But yeah at some point if the hack isn't bearing fruit you have to cut your losses and walk.

smoe 5y ago

Why carry all the water supply? Looking at the map he seems to have been a 1-2 day walk to Tan Tan probably less going back to the military outpost were he was turned back. Edit: This article says: "The nearest village was 20 miles away and Leray didn't want to risk making the trek on foot." http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/photos-man-escapes-african-desert-doom-turns-wrecked-car-diy-motorcycle-article-1.1107099 http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/photos-man-escapes-african-...

pengaru 5y ago
So you think he misjudged the difficulty of the hike? Maybe the terrain is difficult with lots of elevation change.
- smoe 5y ago
  I don't have an opinion on what really happened. But there are things that sound off about the story. Also it doesn't help that seemingly only a handful of media outlets and blogs copying from each other have picked up on the story 10 years after the fact without asking critical questions. I could even imagine that he did get stranded out there and knew worst case he could just walk back, so why not try to build a motorcycle for the fun of it and then dramatize the story years later.
  - sswaner 5y ago
    This explanation sounds most plausible if he did in fact ride a machine back to Tan Tan.
- teruakohatu 5y ago
  The car managed the terrain, so it couldn't have been that difficult. It strikes me as bizarre that someone stuck in the desert with supplies would engage in experimental engineering rather than a two day hike.
- michaelt 5y ago
  I've known some people who don't have a calibrated idea of what the human body is capable of. Is a marathon a huge athletic feat, that the fittest people you know spend months in preparation for, and even then may only do once in their lifetime? Or is it the distance a person of average fitness can walk in a day?