For the test flights of our pressure suits we'll be flying in remote desert terrain near the Oregon/Nevada border. Today I started assembling essential survival gear for our balloonists; flameproof coveralls, helmet, gloves, hat, knife, firestarter/knife sharpening stone, compass, VHF radio, signal mirror, whistle, space blanket and so on. Incomplete -- just a first look at what we're going to need for each flier (for some time we will fly with two people aboard as we design the high-altitude, single-person flying system).
Some of my first outdoor & survival training experiences were in California's Anza Borrego desert with the Boy Scouts; I remember a lot of lessons I learned there, and ones I learned in North Kenya in 1987 and 1988, as well as what I researched for my Desert Survival chapter in Wilderness Survival for Dummies. This all feels natural and I'm excited to get outside again, now taking the technical world of space-suit building to the outdoors, in space-suit testing in challenging balloon flights!
1 comment:
Yes, the right equipment is the key to survival... that,and a cool head...
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