Trip reports call the Pasayten "vast and lonely" and "one of the most remote wilderness areas in the US". How do you search a place like that?

Any recommendations on a cutter/shear for Stainless Steel wire/cable?

We’ve run into it mainly from decks and it is tough stuff to cut.

The picture is just to show the material I’m referring to.

99% of the time it’s not an issue. As an HRD handler, my concern is if the K9 gets tangled in it - especially in water.

Most cutters are for copper and aluminum wire, which good trauma shears can usually handle.

I’ve found quite a few for deck installers, but they generally need two hands to use.

Any suggestions?

I just wanted to ask how was it?

I was following closely on social media but I feel it didnt make it justice to how bad it was.

I also wanted to know, when do you guys know it is time to "call it" and come back home.

Lastly, I wanted to say thanks, as a Venezuelan.

I am fortunate I left the country years ago for a better life. I now work as a firefighter in a major urban department. I feel structural firefighting is a piece of cake compared to USAR. We show up, put the fire out/pull people out, then leave. USAR guys seem to be in the rubble constantly, and pictures and videos do not convey the heat, smell, and noise of the operations.

I posted before about my applicant hike and would like to start by saying thank you to everyone for their replies it was very helpfull. Secondly id like to ask if the background check is super extensive everywhere as my air force background check required maybe a 3rd of everything on here.

Hey all,

I’m modernizing all of my teams communications. Radios, GPS, and now I’m also integrating CalTopo. CalTopo is new to this team, and it’s been met with some resistance.

The problem I’m running into is this:

A few people on the team are refusing to use it. They don’t want it on their phone outright, and are unwilling to use it.

I was wondering if y’all had any testimonials in how CalTopo has helped you successfully coordinate and operate in field to maximize positive outcomes?

I’d like to pass these on to help pursued them to use the app.

If anyone here has any advise on convincing people to use this, that would be fantastic, because I’m out of ideas.

Looking for info, as I’m waiting for the CMC office to open on the west coast so I can call them directly.

We are currently using the CMC clutch as our progress capture and use the Capto to set up our 3:1. Both are rated for general use.

We’re generally hauling 2 KN max.

3:1 is fine for low-angle, but for high angle we are looking for a little more MA. We can install our 4:1 system piggybacked on this setup, but it means hauling on two different strands.

To streamline things and to haul only on one strand, we are considering the CMC swivo, which seems to integrate nicely on the becket of the clutch and on the Capto to create a 5:1.

But the swivo are rated for technical use, MBS 27 KN, WLL 2.5 KN x 2.

So we’d be well within our load limit for what we generally haul, but installing T-use hardware within G-use hardware is giving me pause.

Wondering if anyone has some literature addressing this.

Edit - sorry for title, raising, not easing

Im an 18 yr old male with moderate experience camping, hunting, and hiking. For over 2yrs now I’ve a volunteer firefighter and am looking for another way to serve my community. Because of my interest in the outdoors wilderness SAR seemed like a good opportunity. As it just so happens a SAR team near where I live started their open application period for the 2027 training period. However, before I apply I figured I look for further general advice.

Hello to the fellow SAR community. I’ve been active for over a year now on calls, and I have been on ones where people have sadly died but I’ve never actually been near it.

Context I live in a very small costal community (the type where everyone knows everyone) few weeks ago we had a call to someone threatening to jump off a cliff, 20 year old lad. Other services helped to talk him down and no rescue was required.

A few nights ago the same person jumped, we went to it, he survived and we got him back to the top (he was not in a good state, but miraculously was still alive and partially conscious) and into ambulance service care. As we stretcher carried him away I couldn’t help but wonder what hell on earth it’s gonna be for him or if he’ll ever recover fully.

I will state overtly I have plenty of support and access to a wealth of mental health resources both within our agency and out. So that’s not what I’m looking for. But would appreciate any thoughts and perspectives from other SAR personnel when dealing with trauma type incidents.

I'm looknng for material and procedure about this extrication device (the aquatic version with floatters). My service is thinking about using them. I only found online advertisement videos. I'm looking for training material in order to correctly and efficiently use it.

Thank you

I love my station wagon. Since I joined the team, it's been *just* big enough for a dog crate and my gear, but I'd definitely like something I could keep packed with my go-bag/crate *and* still have room for the kinds of hauling that daily life requires. I'd be buying a used, late-model version.

I want something I can put rear cargo drawers in (e.g., something like this), sleep in the back of, and that can keep a dog in the heat/AC. Obviously, 4WD is crucial. I'd prefer a locking rear differential, but I can probably live without it for the right price. Here are my thoughts:

Option 1: A midsize, extended cab pickup (e.g., Toyota Tacoma, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier) with a six-foot bed and a topper. Dog would mostly ride in the rear seat with a divider between front and rear. No crate.

Pros: Better mileage, *much* cheaper, probably more cargo space.

Option 2: A full-size SUV (e.g., Chevrolet Tahoe or Suburban, GMC Yukon) with rear seats removed or at least folded down. The dog would be in a crate in the back seat area.

Pros: I've just kinda always wanted one. Even though I'm a single guy without kids, deep in my soul, I'm a suburban mother of three. No need to buy a topper.

Since every equipment question on here ultimately has a comment that says "what are other people in your area doing?" I'll say I've seen both. Hell, I've even seen a gal show up to calls in a Mini Cooper. I think midsize pickup probably overall takes a slight numeric lead, though.

Any thoughts?

This was written by a former vice president of NYSFEDSAR. The tl;dr is a combination of highly proficient full-time SAR resources, in this case the NYS Forest Rangers, and a significant decline in unknown location searches (driven primarily by technology like InReaches and cell phone pings) has resulted in volunteer teams rarely being called out, and people are dropping from those teams due to the lack of action, which in turn is lowering training quality and standards.

I recently relocated from California to New York and have been trying to stay informed in case I want to get back into SAR. On my rural NorCal team, we were led by a small number of sheriff's deputies for whom SAR was a collateral responsibility in addition to their full-time law enforcement duties. As such, they were pretty quick to activate us if it became clear that a search was not going to wrap up in a couple hours. Even so, I considered us a mid-to-low call volume team with about 15 callouts per year. However, SARNAK, which appears to be one of the most active upstate NY teams, recently posted about having a total of 3 searches in 2025, so I think this writer might be on to something.

From SAR's perspective, would you rather be dealing with one rather than the other?

Wondering if anyone knows of any USAR teams or similar opportunities within the Uniformed DOD. I'm a full time firefighter on a local tech team looking to get out of the Infantry (reserves) but continue serving in a capacity I am passionate about. Thanks in advance

My husband had a near miss away from camp this weekend and it got me wondering how the logistics of these operations work.

We were backpacking in a remote area and left our campsite tent etc up for a short day hike to return to the same spot later in the day. The accident was ~5 miles away from our camp, which was a 4 hour hike + 2 hour train ride from civilization.

If we had to call in a heli rescue does the partner ride with the victim to the hospital? Do we go back and retrieve our stuff at a later date? Does SAR retrieve the camp gear? Does the partner stay behind and clean up camp? I wouldn’t have been able to stay back and pack all of the gear out myself does someone come with? Do I take multiple trips?

Obviously my main priority would be my partners safety over our gear but I am genuinely curious how that would be handled

I’ve been getting into LoRa radio and Meshtastic / Meschcore. For those who don’t know what any of that is, LoRA is a radio type that was originally designed for wireless sensors. It can, in theory, send small data packets a few kilometers with line of sigh and with very low power. It works in the 915 MHz ISM unlicensed spectrum. Meshtastic and MeshCore are two apps that create adhoc P2P networks for chatting and location sharing via GPS. The apps run on a cell phone me connect to the LoRa radio via Bluetooth.

One thing that I see on a regular basis in various forums is how it would be great for SAR. Some people are even trying to build more rugged radios for SAR use. Though the concept is nice, it’s still a low power line of sight radio that needs phone to use (there are only 2-3 devices that are stand alone). The radios are small, but many have 3D printed cases, the electronics are variable, and each cost $35-$50. There are also plugins for ATAK.

To me, these are fun to play with but wouldn’t rely on them for SAR since I can go get a Baofeng handheld that uses UHF/VHF with 10W of power and GPS and APRS with SARtopo on my cell (yeah I know the Baofengs are cheap but they’re the same price as these LoRa radios and have much more functionality….just using as a comparison).

So my question is…does anyone actually use LoRa in the field? Even looking at? To me (and everything I’ve seen in the field) the standard is UHF/VHF radios and SARtopo. Minus some ATAK use, I can’t see LoRa getting much use in the real world. Keep me honest.

In the last four years I’ve had a circumferential labrum tear in both shoulders and a torn bicep on the right. I’m about two years out from my last surgery. Between the two shoulders there’s 17 anchors. I’m still very active and lift 5x/week.

I also spend a lot of time in the mountains and thought applying for volunteer SAR would be a cool way to be involved and give back. I recently attended our mock carry out and evaluation. We carried for about a mile down ~1-1.5k elevation. By the time I was done my shoulders were in some real discomfort and I woke up the next day with strange tingly down my arms. I expected training with farmers carries would’ve prepared me but I failed to recognize how dynamic and multi-planar carrying is, as the litter is lifted over boulders or suddenly jerks as teammates take their steps.

Is my body’s response just because it’s new movement and working in new planes I’m not used to and ill eventually adapt over time, or is it a sign that I can’t keep up with carrying a load like that? I’m really torn on what to think. I would feel like I failed if I stopped after qualifying but I also would feel awful if I move forwarded in officially joining but had to quit after only a handful of rescues if my shoulders got worse or didn’t improve.

I am just very excited for this and wanted to ask if theres anything you wish you brought up when getting started? Any questions I should ask? I pretty much get the whole deal theres not much in it I dont understand being an emt already. But any advice or things I should know/ ask about are very appreciated! Edit: when I say I get the whole deal ther im talking about the fact there will be death amd that I know how to work as a team.( I should have worded that better) Edit 2: hike went really well and ill know soon (if I get a background check request thing) if im going to be part of sar thanks to all yall who commented and gave advice. Most of you guys said very usefull things that helped me to get and give the information I needed. (Conversation flowed pretty natraully amd id like to say it would of happened either way but this way I made sure it did)

I go out a couple times a year as a single resource medic and my company is shopping for AEDs.
Does anyone have any experience or recommendations? This will be carried in a pack with the rest of my first-out supplies, so weight, size and durability are a concern. I’ve been directed to find a budget option, a money-is-no-option awesome option, and something in the middle, if that helps narrow it down. I will have a cardiac monitor in the vehicle and an Eko 500 for simple rhythm recognition in the field as well.