7 ms·

We're actually pretty close to a hospital. Five minutes to shore by boat and maybe 20 minutes to a hospital. Didn't see any scary spiders, but will keep an eye

by tynan 13y ago

We're actually pretty close to a hospital. Five minutes to shore by boat and maybe 20 minutes to a hospital. Didn't see any scary spiders, but will keep an eye out next time I'm up there!

jacquesm 13y ago
Widowmaker, not widow spider. See, what you don't know could kill you ;) Spend some time in an unmaintained bit of forest and you'll get to know plenty of these things. Five minutes to shore when the weather is good and your engine starts. Really, please heed my advice and make sure each and every one of you knows how to do basic first aid, I hope you're never going to be in a position to use it but when you do you'll be happy you took the time and trouble. First purchase: a very good first aid kit. This is all not to piss on your parade but because I lived in a pretty remote area for 2 years and have a little bit of experience that might be relevant to your situation.
- intenex 13y ago
  Thanks for the heads up! We'll def be sure to get on that and get some basic first aid training across the board + med kit on site. Any other advice/tips we should be aware of?
  - jacquesm 13y ago
    You're welcome. Basic engine repair skills, something to patch up your boat in case you spring a leak, a basic comms kit+genny so you can call up the coast guard or a passing boat if you should need them (assuming your island is out of cell phone reach), cache of freshwater, fuel, waterproofed matches and a couple of days worth of tin cans in case you ever get cut off. Halifax coast in winter can be, how to phrase this, impressive, to say the least. Mind you, the real kick is when you are isolated but there is an additional degree of risk there. No need to get your appendix out as a precaution just yet ;) All of this is assuming you're on the salty side of things, if you're in a lake it's a lot more relaxed but you will still need to take basic precautions and you'll need to be extremely careful with what you do with your wastes (you'd need to be just as careful in the ocean with that for ethical reasons but there will be fewer watching eyes so you can drop the 'extremely').
    - npsimons 13y ago
      As a SAR guy, I can say the big big thing is the first aid (plus CPR). It sounds like you're relatively close to civilization, but realize that if someone has to come to help you, they're likely not going to be there within the Golden Hour (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_hour_%28medicine%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_hour_%28medicine%29). That, and just being prepared in general (ten essentials: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Essentials https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Essentials and knowing how to use them), having skills, and being wary. I've seen even well-seasoned people end up in bad situations; the best way to survive seems to be to avoid the bad situations. Also, never go alone.
      - philbarr 13y ago
        Reading all the advice that is being given in comments around this thread, it would seem the best advice would be: get someone who knows what they're talking about in the local area and get their advice; like the parent poster SAR but that also knows about dangers closer to home. Maybe you could make a weekend of it for your families or something.
        npsimons 13y ago
        My SAR group actually teaches a class where one of our stated upfront goals is to prevent people from having to be rescued. Depending on the area, the local SAR group might be too busy putting out fires to do similar (it takes a lot of planning and prep).
      - jacquesm 13y ago
        Good stuff second all of it, the last one you can't emphasize enough. 'SAR guy' -> Search And Rescue guy.
      - edkennedy 13y ago
        Although that area is typically serviced by hovercraft and close to civilization, having first aid skills are certainly essential.
  - ballard 13y ago
    A wildnerness first aid kit and training: http://www.outdoored.com/community/risk_management/b/wildmed/archive/2011/04/18/first-aid-kit.aspx http://www.outdoored.com/community/risk_management/b/wildmed... And an AED
- tynan 13y ago
  Ahh, I misunderstood. We're actually pretty close to the shore on one side, in cell phone coverage, and have the phone number of our closest neighbor. There's definitely danger there, and we're big on safety, but it's not as remote as it probably seems. Thanks for the advice and thoughts!
mtabini 13y ago
I think “widowmakers” doesn't refer to spiders, but things to watch out for, like falling trees, slippery ledges, sharp rocks, and so on. They're one of the “five Ws”—a mnemonic list of things you need (or need to keep away from) to survive in the wilderness: water, weather, wigglies (which would include spiders), widowmakers, and wood.
jw_ 13y ago
I suspect he meant "widowmakers" in the "bits of tree that can suddenly fall and kill you" sense, not spider sense: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widowmaker_(forestry) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widowmaker_(forestry)
- jacquesm 13y ago
  Yep. And suddenly fall they do (gust of wind, guy playing around with a chainsaw at the base, random chance).
  - hnriot 13y ago
    it's a miracle humans managed to survive the first few million years...
    - saraid216 13y ago
      Most of them didn't.
      - bentcorner 13y ago
        Literally survivor bias
    - dragonwriter 13y ago
      > it's a miracle humans managed to survive the first few million years... They haven't, yet; humans (H. sapiens) have only been around for ~200k years.
    - mcv 13y ago
      That's a matter of numbers. Lots of people die in unfortunate ways. I'd just rather not be one of them.
e12e 13y ago
20 minutes at what speed? How long to row if you engine doesn't start?
- moheeb 13y ago
  ...and you've accidentally cut off one of your hands building your cabin?
papercrane 13y ago
> Didn't see any scary spiders, but will keep an eye out next time I'm up there! One of the nice things about here in NS is that there are no native spiders or snakes that are dangerous to humans. The trees can kill you though. My father was almost killed by one back in his short lived forestry career.

by tynan 13y ago

We're actually pretty close to a hospital. Five minutes to shore by boat and maybe 20 minutes to a hospital. Didn't see any scary spiders, but will keep an eye out next time I'm up there!

jacquesm 13y ago

Widowmaker, not widow spider. See, what you don't know could kill you ;) Spend some time in an unmaintained bit of forest and you'll get to know plenty of these things. Five minutes to shore when the weather is good and your engine starts. Really, please heed my advice and make sure each and every one of you knows how to do basic first aid, I hope you're never going to be in a position to use it but when you do you'll be happy you took the time and trouble. First purchase: a very good first aid kit. This is all not to piss on your parade but because I lived in a pretty remote area for 2 years and have a little bit of experience that might be relevant to your situation.

intenex 13y ago
Thanks for the heads up! We'll def be sure to get on that and get some basic first aid training across the board + med kit on site. Any other advice/tips we should be aware of?
- jacquesm 13y ago
  You're welcome. Basic engine repair skills, something to patch up your boat in case you spring a leak, a basic comms kit+genny so you can call up the coast guard or a passing boat if you should need them (assuming your island is out of cell phone reach), cache of freshwater, fuel, waterproofed matches and a couple of days worth of tin cans in case you ever get cut off. Halifax coast in winter can be, how to phrase this, impressive, to say the least. Mind you, the real kick is when you are isolated but there is an additional degree of risk there. No need to get your appendix out as a precaution just yet ;) All of this is assuming you're on the salty side of things, if you're in a lake it's a lot more relaxed but you will still need to take basic precautions and you'll need to be extremely careful with what you do with your wastes (you'd need to be just as careful in the ocean with that for ethical reasons but there will be fewer watching eyes so you can drop the 'extremely').
  - npsimons 13y ago
    As a SAR guy, I can say the big big thing is the first aid (plus CPR). It sounds like you're relatively close to civilization, but realize that if someone has to come to help you, they're likely not going to be there within the Golden Hour (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_hour_%28medicine%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_hour_%28medicine%29). That, and just being prepared in general (ten essentials: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Essentials https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Essentials and knowing how to use them), having skills, and being wary. I've seen even well-seasoned people end up in bad situations; the best way to survive seems to be to avoid the bad situations. Also, never go alone.
    - philbarr 13y ago
      Reading all the advice that is being given in comments around this thread, it would seem the best advice would be: get someone who knows what they're talking about in the local area and get their advice; like the parent poster SAR but that also knows about dangers closer to home. Maybe you could make a weekend of it for your families or something.
      - npsimons 13y ago
        My SAR group actually teaches a class where one of our stated upfront goals is to prevent people from having to be rescued. Depending on the area, the local SAR group might be too busy putting out fires to do similar (it takes a lot of planning and prep).
    - jacquesm 13y ago
      Good stuff second all of it, the last one you can't emphasize enough. 'SAR guy' -> Search And Rescue guy.
    - edkennedy 13y ago
      Although that area is typically serviced by hovercraft and close to civilization, having first aid skills are certainly essential.
- ballard 13y ago
  A wildnerness first aid kit and training: http://www.outdoored.com/community/risk_management/b/wildmed/archive/2011/04/18/first-aid-kit.aspx http://www.outdoored.com/community/risk_management/b/wildmed... And an AED
tynan 13y ago
Ahh, I misunderstood. We're actually pretty close to the shore on one side, in cell phone coverage, and have the phone number of our closest neighbor. There's definitely danger there, and we're big on safety, but it's not as remote as it probably seems. Thanks for the advice and thoughts!

mtabini 13y ago

I think “widowmakers” doesn't refer to spiders, but things to watch out for, like falling trees, slippery ledges, sharp rocks, and so on. They're one of the “five Ws”—a mnemonic list of things you need (or need to keep away from) to survive in the wilderness: water, weather, wigglies (which would include spiders), widowmakers, and wood.

jw_ 13y ago

I suspect he meant "widowmakers" in the "bits of tree that can suddenly fall and kill you" sense, not spider sense: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widowmaker_(forestry) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widowmaker_(forestry)

jacquesm 13y ago
Yep. And suddenly fall they do (gust of wind, guy playing around with a chainsaw at the base, random chance).
- hnriot 13y ago
  it's a miracle humans managed to survive the first few million years...
  - saraid216 13y ago
    Most of them didn't.
    - bentcorner 13y ago
      Literally survivor bias
  - dragonwriter 13y ago
    > it's a miracle humans managed to survive the first few million years... They haven't, yet; humans (H. sapiens) have only been around for ~200k years.
  - mcv 13y ago
    That's a matter of numbers. Lots of people die in unfortunate ways. I'd just rather not be one of them.

e12e 13y ago

20 minutes at what speed? How long to row if you engine doesn't start?

moheeb 13y ago
...and you've accidentally cut off one of your hands building your cabin?

papercrane 13y ago

> Didn't see any scary spiders, but will keep an eye out next time I'm up there! One of the nice things about here in NS is that there are no native spiders or snakes that are dangerous to humans. The trees can kill you though. My father was almost killed by one back in his short lived forestry career.