4 ms·

The quest he mentions as inspiration - Tom Mahood's "The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans" - is a fascinating read and worth your time. https://www.otherhand.

by jonah 2y ago

The quest he mentions as inspiration - Tom Mahood's "The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans" - is a fascinating read and worth your time. https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/ https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hu... I first read it seven years ago and similar to the author, it inspired me to join my local Search & Rescue team which has been incredibly rewarding. I highly recommend doing that to anyone who wants to combine a love of the outdoors, specialized skills, serving the community, and helping people in their worst moments. (And doesn't mind getting up at 3am in pouring rain and going out and pushing through dense underbrush for hours!)

netsharc 2y ago
Ouch, I'm sort of annoyed that the author was inspired to be long-winded and have 16 or more parts to his story. I'm up to part 2 and there's a fear of disappointment that it'll be a boring waste of time. (In comparison to the Death Valley Germans story, which was captivating!)
- jonah 2y ago
  I just finished the ROV series of posts. It was sufficiently captivating. I enjoyed his narrative - I can see that he was inspired by Mahood's writing style as well as his quest.
- noman-land 2y ago
  It's really good. Keep reading.
lnwlebjel 2y ago
Is there a fitness test for SAR? Do you train to stay fit enough for it?
- jonah 2y ago
  Yes. It varies from team to team. Ours is a 4.1 mile hike (with 2,500+ ft. Elevation gain) carrying a 25 lb pack in under 2 and 1/2 hours. I'm also a volunteer firefighter and the "pack test" level of Work Capacity Test for wildland firefighters is 3 mi on flat ground carrying a 45 lb pack in 45 minutes. It is pretty important to be in shape as you are often carrying a lot of gear and don't want to bonk and cause an issue that would jeopardize yourself, your teammates, or the mission. Edit: to answer your second question, my wife and I hike recreationally just about every weekend and the team often hikes during trainings and does a weekly casual hike as well.
  - lnwlebjel 2y ago
    Thanks for this info. This is something I've been thinking about doing in a few years (once the kids are further along). Seems like a very cool thing to do.
    - jonah 2y ago
      Feel free to email me if I can answer any questions.
tired_star_nrg 2y ago
why is it asking me to sign in to read this?
- nmstoker 2y ago
  It was fine when I read the first five or so installments, then I got a random authentication request, which I couldn't see the cause of, but seems like it may have been triggered when I chucked an image. My guess is that during the time I was viewing the site, the owner decided they would lock it down to people who were authenticated. Shame as I was just getting to the point of progress!
  - bfLives 2y ago
    It’s accessible via the Wayback Machine, fortunately.
  - jonah 2y ago
    Curious. Maybe it was hugged to death and he or his ISP locked it down to cut down on bandwidth. Or maybe decided he didn't want a bunch of people reading it right now?
- GlenTheEskimo 2y ago
  https://web.archive.org/web/20200621094606/https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200621094606/https://www.other...
- nosrepa 2y ago
  The site was posted here and probably other social media in the last day or so. More than likely it's to prevent the site from getting hugged to death.
  - Dylan16807 2y ago
    Prevent?
anitil 2y ago
It's been a long time since I read that, and I still think about it from time to time. I suppose it's time for a re-read
ghaff 2y ago
As someone who has spent a fair bit of time around Death Valley, it really helped to illuminate how someone with no point of reference about the environment could really get themselves in trouble.
- VagabundoP 2y ago
  And how devastating heat stroke can be. Just look at poor Michael Mosley recently.
conscion 2y ago
If anyone is unable to access the otherhand.org site, it's available on the WaybackMachine https://web.archive.org/web/20240604123006/https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240604123006/https://www.other...
ramcle 2y ago
By the way, does anyone know why the site stopped being updated in 2019? Besides Death Valley Germans there were other interesting articles in there, about other Search & Rescue endeavors, Area 51, an interesting take on Bob Lazar etc. I hope the author is OK and in good health.
- burkaman 2y ago
  I don't know why he stopped updating his site, but I believe he is fine and posts to this forum sometimes: http://perryscanlon.com/MSJinfo_phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6172&sid=1c4e217482c8e89352ecf3ba4cc410a4 http://perryscanlon.com/MSJinfo_phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=.... His latest post is from a year ago: http://perryscanlon.com/MSJinfo_phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6218&sid=35b0342c5060cb5990cc8c9cafd6b5cd http://perryscanlon.com/MSJinfo_phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6....
dang 2y ago
Related: The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans (2012) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40568151 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40568151 - June 2024 (2 comments) The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans (2012) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34676129 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34676129 - Feb 2023 (147 comments) The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32871761 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32871761 - Sept 2022 (3 comments) The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans (2012) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23582417 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23582417 - June 2020 (75 comments) Hunt for the Death Valley Germans (2015) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19263057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19263057 - Feb 2019 (38 comments) The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12019567 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12019567 - July 2016 (61 comments) The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9723065 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9723065 - June 2015 (1 comment)

by jonah 2y ago

netsharc 2y ago

Ouch, I'm sort of annoyed that the author was inspired to be long-winded and have 16 or more parts to his story. I'm up to part 2 and there's a fear of disappointment that it'll be a boring waste of time. (In comparison to the Death Valley Germans story, which was captivating!)

jonah 2y ago
I just finished the ROV series of posts. It was sufficiently captivating. I enjoyed his narrative - I can see that he was inspired by Mahood's writing style as well as his quest.
noman-land 2y ago
It's really good. Keep reading.

lnwlebjel 2y ago

Is there a fitness test for SAR? Do you train to stay fit enough for it?

jonah 2y ago
Yes. It varies from team to team. Ours is a 4.1 mile hike (with 2,500+ ft. Elevation gain) carrying a 25 lb pack in under 2 and 1/2 hours. I'm also a volunteer firefighter and the "pack test" level of Work Capacity Test for wildland firefighters is 3 mi on flat ground carrying a 45 lb pack in 45 minutes. It is pretty important to be in shape as you are often carrying a lot of gear and don't want to bonk and cause an issue that would jeopardize yourself, your teammates, or the mission. Edit: to answer your second question, my wife and I hike recreationally just about every weekend and the team often hikes during trainings and does a weekly casual hike as well.
- lnwlebjel 2y ago
  Thanks for this info. This is something I've been thinking about doing in a few years (once the kids are further along). Seems like a very cool thing to do.
  - jonah 2y ago
    Feel free to email me if I can answer any questions.

tired_star_nrg 2y ago

why is it asking me to sign in to read this?

nmstoker 2y ago
It was fine when I read the first five or so installments, then I got a random authentication request, which I couldn't see the cause of, but seems like it may have been triggered when I chucked an image. My guess is that during the time I was viewing the site, the owner decided they would lock it down to people who were authenticated. Shame as I was just getting to the point of progress!
- bfLives 2y ago
  It’s accessible via the Wayback Machine, fortunately.
- jonah 2y ago
  Curious. Maybe it was hugged to death and he or his ISP locked it down to cut down on bandwidth. Or maybe decided he didn't want a bunch of people reading it right now?
GlenTheEskimo 2y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20200621094606/https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200621094606/https://www.other...
nosrepa 2y ago
The site was posted here and probably other social media in the last day or so. More than likely it's to prevent the site from getting hugged to death.
- Dylan16807 2y ago
  Prevent?

anitil 2y ago

It's been a long time since I read that, and I still think about it from time to time. I suppose it's time for a re-read

ghaff 2y ago

As someone who has spent a fair bit of time around Death Valley, it really helped to illuminate how someone with no point of reference about the environment could really get themselves in trouble.

VagabundoP 2y ago
And how devastating heat stroke can be. Just look at poor Michael Mosley recently.

conscion 2y ago

If anyone is unable to access the otherhand.org site, it's available on the WaybackMachine https://web.archive.org/web/20240604123006/https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240604123006/https://www.other...

ramcle 2y ago

By the way, does anyone know why the site stopped being updated in 2019? Besides Death Valley Germans there were other interesting articles in there, about other Search & Rescue endeavors, Area 51, an interesting take on Bob Lazar etc. I hope the author is OK and in good health.

burkaman 2y ago
I don't know why he stopped updating his site, but I believe he is fine and posts to this forum sometimes: http://perryscanlon.com/MSJinfo_phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6172&sid=1c4e217482c8e89352ecf3ba4cc410a4 http://perryscanlon.com/MSJinfo_phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=.... His latest post is from a year ago: http://perryscanlon.com/MSJinfo_phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6218&sid=35b0342c5060cb5990cc8c9cafd6b5cd http://perryscanlon.com/MSJinfo_phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6....

dang 2y ago

Related: The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans (2012) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40568151 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40568151 - June 2024 (2 comments) The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans (2012) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34676129 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34676129 - Feb 2023 (147 comments) The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32871761 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32871761 - Sept 2022 (3 comments) The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans (2012) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23582417 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23582417 - June 2020 (75 comments) Hunt for the Death Valley Germans (2015) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19263057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19263057 - Feb 2019 (38 comments) The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12019567 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12019567 - July 2016 (61 comments) The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9723065 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9723065 - June 2015 (1 comment)