SAR Fundamentals/Ready Pack

00:00

3 min

Introduce topic title

Introduce Instructor

Present Objectives

00:03

A ready pack is the equipment you take with you into the field.

• support you in any circumstances possible to encounter

• could be 24 hours without contact (24-hr ready pack)
• any type of weather could set in (or already be happening)

Some teams in an urban setting have less stringent expectations

Pack is always ready

• don't spend 45 minutes trying to gather your stuff after you've been called-out

keep your ready pack pristine

vs. use your ready pack regularly (recommended)

• you know how to use your equipment
• you cycle items that expire
• use it for recreational, or for work, as your safety kit on vehicle trips

Distribute form for students to design their own ready pack.

The pack itself:

volume: 20 to 35L

packs without frames (bags)

• cheap
• light
• very uncomfortable to carry any significant weight

external frames

• old style
• most new ones are junk
• cheap
• bulky
• heavy
• can carry significant weight

internal frames

• modern style
• metal slates inside back
  • can be bent to fit your back
• light, but not as light as bags
• can carry significant weight

frames distribute the weight

• typically 70% on hips, 30% on shoulders
• can change while hiking for comfort

adjustments

• compression straps - compresses the load, attach items to exterior
• front shoulder straps - height on back
• hip straps - fit and weight on hips
• top shoulder straps - distance and angle on back, weight on shoulders
• sternum strap - angle and position on shoulders
• side straps - sway of load

most important when buying a frame pack

• go to a reputable store where they'll spend 20 minutes fitting a pack to your back
• find the right size
• test with real weight in the store
• good place: Mountain Equipment Co-op

How to pack

Heaviest stuff low down

• so it doesn't leverage you backwards

Heaviest stuff close to your back

• so when you turn not a lot of weight to spin

Protect against drenching when falling/dropping in water

• 1 large bag
• or bags for everything that can get soaked/damaged

Advantage to using lots of bags:

• bags tend to slip against each other rather than having contents tangled

Organize into sacks

• quick to find the right sack, then right item from sack
• compression stuff sacks - make things smaller

Mix of loose and tight sacks

• all tight: creates voids of unused space
• all loose: tangle

A few items clipped on the outside of the pack, in side pockets. What you don't want to put down pack to access.

have a student completely pull apart every item from an extensive ready pack (e.g. Brett's)

Discuss what item is for.

group discussion: What is the most unreasonable item in the pack? What is missing?

72-hour box

• emerging practice in SAR

Kit to bring to search base in case you're asked to stay longer.

• tent
• change of clothes
• extra food
• store off-season items from ready pack