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‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

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Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#31

Post by bombcar »

foobarian wrote: post #6
wil421 wrote: post #4

Do your research before getting into rivers. My local river has several gauges and hotlines you can call to get dam releases. They also have a chart of the water release amounts and if you could paddle/float/canoe/kayak etc. It even has a turbidity gauge that will show you if any harmful bacteria is present, we have issues with fertilizer runoff and e-coli. It's a rather mundane river in an area not as known as Glaci…

Acquaintance did some suburban kayaking and didn't see a 3ft drop (some kind of dam or culvert under a bridge) until too late. The fluid mechanics of that drop are such that there is a vortex at the base that makes it difficult to get out. He was able to stand but just barely - scary to think how close a call that was in a pretty innocuous looking setting.

https://www.weather.gov/lmk/LowHeadDamPublicSafetyAwarenessM...

Low head dams are the drowning machine, and they can look very safe and simple.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#32

Post by the_af »

wil421 wrote: post #4

Do your research before getting into rivers. My local river has several gauges and hotlines you can call to get dam releases. They also have a chart of the water release amounts and if you could paddle/float/canoe/kayak etc. It even has a turbidity gauge that will show you if any harmful bacteria is present, we have issues with fertilizer runoff and e-coli. It's a rather mundane river in an area not as known as Glaci…

> Do your research before getting into rivers

What's amazing from this article, and from others like it, is that even being reasonably knowledgeable is not a guarantee of anything. I mean, better be knowledgeable, of course -- but even people who should know better die and get caught in freak accidents. Or simply, one day they let their guard down. After plenty of near death experiences, the author of this article was still doing some dumb shit, she hadn't learned the lesson by her own admission.

This isn't an argument against research; of course you should know the dangers and treat the environment carefully. But even this isn't a guarantee of survival.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#33

Post by user3939382 »

itsmemattchung wrote: post #26

Some tips on where to begin to learn more about nature and survive in the wild? Maybe an REI class? I'm a little embarrassed to admit that should I ever venture out into the wilderness, I would definitely not survive. I lack basic survival skills and nature would eat me alive. That being said, I always admired folks who could go camping for days (or weeks), who could cook up a warm (and edible) meal over a campfire.

The first thing to learn is to have respect for the harsh reality of the environment. You’d be surprised how many people get killed because they don’t (looking at you Christopher McCandless). So your awareness itself is already a good start.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#34

Post by danenania »

AYBABTME wrote: post #14
foobarian wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Acquaintance did some suburban kayaking and didn't see a 3ft drop (some kind of dam or culvert under a bridge) until too late. The fluid mechanics of that drop are such that there is a vortex at the base that makes it difficult to get out. He was able to stand but just barely - scary to think how close a call that was in a pretty innocuous looking setting.

I almost drowned on a beach without surveillance, jumping into the surf waist high, for fun, until suddenly the receding water pulled me just a few meters further away and now I couldn't touch the floor anymore, and was slowly being pulled further and further away from the beach. My girlfriend of the time was on the beach far enough away that she couldn't hear or grasp that I was struggling. By luck and after perhaps…

The key in surf is to never fight against the rip. While it can feel scary to get pulled out, remember that 99% of the time, it will end after you are pulled past the break, at which point you can swim laterally a bit and then go back in with help from the waves. Breaking waves naturally create alternating channels in the sand that either push you towards the shore or pull you back out to the break.

The other 1% of the time is when you are close to the mouth of a bay or some other feature that creates a current independent of the dynamics in the surf zone. You'll know that's the case if the current stays strong after you're past the break. If it's too strong for you to swim against it, then you're in trouble and should start waving for help.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#35

Post by alocasia-1 »

kubb wrote: post #25
alocasia-1 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author made decisions to put herself in dangerous situations. What does that have to do with seatbelt laws or food inspection guidelines?

Depends on your worldview. If you believe that all regulation is inherently bad, you might be searching for reasoning chains that lead to the conclusion that she died because of it.

Feels like a serious reach, and trying to shoehorn unrelated issues into a discussion they don't belong. The author goes over her repeated brushes with death - and the warnings she received prior - and they don't seem to deter her from putting herself in more situations. Making everyone else unsafe isn't the solution. (If a "solution" is even needed. I think she's just describing her own instance of human behavior.)

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#36

Post by dahfizz »

the_af wrote: post #32
wil421 wrote: post #4

Do your research before getting into rivers. My local river has several gauges and hotlines you can call to get dam releases. They also have a chart of the water release amounts and if you could paddle/float/canoe/kayak etc. It even has a turbidity gauge that will show you if any harmful bacteria is present, we have issues with fertilizer runoff and e-coli. It's a rather mundane river in an area not as known as Glaci…

> Do your research before getting into rivers What's amazing from this article, and from others like it, is that even being reasonably knowledgeable is not a guarantee of anything. I mean, better be knowledgeable, of course -- but even people who should know better die and get caught in freak accidents. Or simply, one day they let their guard down. After plenty of near death experiences, the author of this article wa…

"Research" means something different than "being reasonably knowledgeable" in this context. You might be familiar with a certain river, but "Is the dam going to release water today" and "how much runoff from the mountains is there today" are question that you should still research before going out.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#37

Post by h2odragon »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #3

Because of modern civilization we have a rose-tinted view of nature and take it for granted. Raw nature is scary and easily able to kill you.

"Raw nature" is around you all the time.

Safety is an illusion, you never know when there's a meteor with your name on it.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#38

Post by Loughla »

itsmemattchung wrote: post #26

Some tips on where to begin to learn more about nature and survive in the wild? Maybe an REI class? I'm a little embarrassed to admit that should I ever venture out into the wilderness, I would definitely not survive. I lack basic survival skills and nature would eat me alive. That being said, I always admired folks who could go camping for days (or weeks), who could cook up a warm (and edible) meal over a campfire.

Look to your local Community College or State University extension office. Many of them offer outdoors classes.

The problem with private wilderness survival classes you may find in the community, even the light versions, is that they tend to come with a very particular political slant. And that slant tends toward the paranoid.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#39

Post by rozab »

danenania wrote: post #34
AYBABTME wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I almost drowned on a beach without surveillance, jumping into the surf waist high, for fun, until suddenly the receding water pulled me just a few meters further away and now I couldn't touch the floor anymore, and was slowly being pulled further and further away from the beach. My girlfriend of the time was on the beach far enough away that she couldn't hear or grasp that I was struggling. By luck and after perhaps…

The key in surf is to never fight against the rip. While it can feel scary to get pulled out, remember that 99% of the time, it will end after you are pulled past the break, at which point you can swim laterally a bit and then go back in with help from the waves. Breaking waves naturally create alternating channels in the sand that either push you towards the shore or pull you back out to the break. The other 1% of t…

The good news is if you don't struggle against the current you should be able to stay afloat for a couple hours, long enough for help to arrive

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#40

Post by james_pm »

bombcar wrote: post #31
foobarian wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Acquaintance did some suburban kayaking and didn't see a 3ft drop (some kind of dam or culvert under a bridge) until too late. The fluid mechanics of that drop are such that there is a vortex at the base that makes it difficult to get out. He was able to stand but just barely - scary to think how close a call that was in a pretty innocuous looking setting.

https://www.weather.gov/lmk/LowHeadDamPublicSafetyAwarenessM... Low head dams are the drowning machine, and they can look very safe and simple.

Practical Engineering discussed low head dams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVDpqphHhAE
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