r/searchandrescue

Seems like there is a major riff developing between the volunteer backcountry SAR teams and CPW who is supposed be to proving funding to teams (specifically the Keep Colorado Wild - license plate $$$ that taxes payers individually opt-in on to give money specifically to SAR). They gave It out the first year or so but now it looks like they see it as big $$$ that CPW would like to decide how to spend. Sketchy.

Sounds like CPW is wanting to throw away decades of collaborative work between teams and trying to give away a big chunk of that money, that is supposed to be distributed to volunteer teams to pay for things like gas, and equipment to government contractors. They put out an RFP Looking for a 3rd party contractor to coordinate all this free volunteer labor.

With SAR being under the authority of the Sheriff, it seems like some of the SOs are split.

If you are on a Colorado SAR team, are you aware of these recent changes? Does it seem like CPW is fairly sharing funds? What’s your team’s take on all this? Why do you think they aren’t engaging directly with volunteers and instead just tell us what they think is best for us?

I’ve been doing GSAR in the states for a little while now and have been thinking about getting myself a chest kit for when I am in a rush/light-weight rescue scenario. I am also apart of my group’s rope rescue team so having a little chest pack to carry around while hauling ttrs bags around would be nice.

I’m looking for something that is on the cheaper side, but good quality (not some cheap Chinese-made material).

Also, it would be nice to have something water-resistant (but, I wouldn’t let this discourage you from making a non-resistant suggestion).

If anybody has any input, it would be greatly appreciated!

I am on a volunteer county team in the US mountain west. We are considering implementing meshtastic. For those who have experience with it, would it be worth the investment for our needs? Our specific systems, environment, and needs are as follows:

Our first level of communication is county issued encrypted digital radios and our second level is personal cell phones. Meshtastic would be a third level last resort communication for when radios aren't reliable and there is no cell service. County radios are not always reliable in the remote areas we sometimes end up in and cell phones are even less reliable.

We also use caltopo and use our personal cell phones for the location tracking. Meshtastic would be a second level solution for tracking as well and be the only solution when there is no cell service. I believe the county radios also submit an APRS packet with GPS coordinates with each transmission, but I have had little luck getting with anyone from the county who knows how to extract that data for our use, and even if we did get it, radio transmissions are not frequent enough to have adequate data to build a good route.

Our county is roughly 95% rolling sage plains and 5% mountain foothills. There aren't a lot of large obstructions. It's just freaking huge. We also have a large lake in the middle of the county.

A well placed portable repeater would remedy our radio problems, but getting one from the county has not been fruitful. I don't think they have any portable repeaters and if they do they aren't giving us one. But I believe a simple meshtastic repeater station or two would make meshtastic reliable for us in most conditions. Also it would be nice to just be able to manage our own system and not have to ask the county and wait 7 business years to get anything done.

And finally, is the ability to type on the device worth paying for? It looks possible to save like 30-50% per device if it doesn't include a keyboard.

And do yall have suggestions for specific ready to use devices that are durable and perform well? It needs a GPS receiver with the ability to automatically send a GPS position at regular intervals. We would probably be looking for 15-20 devices.

We are looking to close a gap in our capabilities and I would love to see the solutions your team uses for transporting a patient on a litter via UTV/ATV.

For commercial products, I'm aware of the QTAC Fire and Kimtech skids for UTVs, and the All Terrain Res-Q trailer (unsure if still in production).

Our terrain is mountainous western US. Our area has a variety of singletrack trails, 50" ATV routes, and full-size moderate 4x4 roads. We can generally get a regular ambulance up most of the full-size routes and the Cascade litter & wheel is great for singletrack. We lack a good way to transport a prone patient down the 50" trails, however.

We had been talking about a trailer, which would have the advantages of being able to be used behind any of our existing machines. I have some concerns about a trailer being partially decoupled from the machine - not in it falling off, but in the driver not being able to be fully aware of what the trailer is doing at any given moment. I also have some concerns about how long the entire arrangement would be and turning radius, especially if the trailer has room for a medic.

One of our fire districts has a UTV with a skid, and it seems like a good arrangement. A limitation here is there are very few true 50" wide UTVs available, especially with hauling capability. Realistically we can probably fit up to a 60" machine down most of the 50" trails which opens more options. Something like a Honda Pioneer 700-4 is intriguing, as we could pull the skid and carry more personnel when we aren't expecting a medical, or slide a skid in and still carry 3+patient.

Another idea a teammate tossed out was a 6-wheeled ATV, which would be true 50" wide, but still long-ish and a bit less versatile than a SXS.

What does your team use? What works and what doesn't for you? If you're able to share photos, that'd be super helpful!