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Ron Sorem ©2001 |
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| You find yourself “off”… probably of your own doing… feeling a bit
foolish, and begin to assess your circumstances. Do you have enough
warm clothing? Water? Food? Do you have something to
use to start a fire? Do you know how to start a fire?
Rally cars go to some exotic and faraway places. Whether summer in the desert of Arizona where heat is a problem, or winter in the BC forests, or on the Alcan, competitors should put together a survival kit… This may be more important than the first aid kit. When rallying in the snow and cold, small problems can turn into big problems in a hurry. Our last excursion lasted an hour and a half before first sweep. We had (…I had) ignored the suggestion at the Novice Meeting (we weren’t Novices) to buy a local newspaper and get some matches before you leave town… Just in case. We did manage to borrow a lighter from second sweep, another hour after the first, and soon had a warming fire growing, away from the car, in the cover of the trees. We managed to find dry grass and fir boughs under the snow, under the trees. Adding lichen and moss, then breaking off the dead lower limbs from the trees around the fire, we built up a small flame, enough to hold while we searched for bigger, dry wood--deadfalls and blown down branches, up to 3 inches, which we could drag to the fire and break into a manageable size. The fire felt good… We were actually warm enough. We’d cleared snow away near the fire and piled dry needle litter around to stand on, instead of the frozen ground. Comfy? …Not really. As good as it was, doubt crept in… Co-Driver asked, “What if the
tow truck doesn’t find the road?” Driver responded, “They will.
But sweep said they’d come back if we didn’t check in at the finish…” The
shortfall of this statement was that they may not come back, they may assume
everything went as planned, and you may be waiting for a very long time…
(I was asked by sweep when I did check in, if I’d seen anything of another
car, which was still missing and unaccounted for…) (Pay attention
at the driver’s meetings, and get emergency numbers.)
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Here is a condensed version of RallyBC’s “Required Equipment for Tech
Inspection”
Working: Proper safety belts for all people in the vehicle…
“Significant loose objects” must be placed in trunk OR if kept in passenger compartment must be tied down adequately to hold position during a possible rollover…
In addition to the above, there is a “Recommended Equipment” list:
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| A quick note about running in deep snow (over the bumper powder).
It gets into everything. Stop as soon as you can and see that
the engine compartment hasn’t filled with snow, and that the radiator and
grille are still unobstructed. Also, if you park the radiator in
a snowbank, dig out the grille and radiator quickly, before the snow melts
and then refreezes into one big ice cube. Thanks to all those whose rally
stories contributed to the make-up of this list.
This is only a starting point but I’m hoping this will help, somewhere
down the road…
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Winter Rally Survival Kit…
(Remember you can last a long time without food, but not very long without water, drink a lot of water!). (Note that tow straps usually have “loops” at both ends and coincidentally most cars have “loops” for tow rings or tie-downs… get something that will hook loop-to-loop like a 3000# carabiner or quick link… or get a tow rope with “hooks” at both ends) |
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