I keep hearing I should not wheel alone. What is generally meant by that statement; ride with another Jeep or just ride with someone in the passengers side? I ride a lot but usually it is just me and my wife in our one JK. We both can drive and spot but I work the winch if needed.

I keep a hi-lift, gun, fully stocked Bug out bag, recovery kit, first-aid/trama kit, fire-extinguisher, camping supplies and food/water for at least 3 days in the JK just about all the time. Anything else I need to add since I usually wheel alone?

 

Caravan. Ride with at least one other capable vehicle. The importance becomes obvious when you breakdown on the trail and it's something that cannot be fixed on the spot.

Furthermore, it's just more fun to have a fellow Jeeper tag along.

 

You should always wheel with other capable vehicles. You never know what happens on the trail, and you or a passenger might have to get rushed away to safety. And if one of the vehicles is immobalized, this can lead to a serious situation.

 

This is why... happened last year outside of Charleston. Not long after I took this pic near the same spot while wheeling alone. Made me think.




from news report...

Man's body found in Francis Marion
Sunday, March 7, 2010

Authorities on Saturday discovered the body of John Eury, a 40-year-old man from Mount Pleasant, slumped next to his Jeep in a sand pit in the Francis Marion National Forest. Officials don't think any foul play was involved.

Eury had been missing since Wednesday when he phoned his father and told him he had gotten bogged down in a pit but that help was on the way, said Bill Salisbury, Berkeley County chief deputy coroner.

People sometimes drive Jeeps and other recreational vehicles in these pits, he said.

When Eury failed to return home, his father filed a missing person's report with Mount Pleasant police. Eury apparently didn't mention where he had gotten stuck, Salisbury said.

Saturday morning, a game warden with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources found Eury in a sand pit in the national forest between Huger and Jamestown. He had hooked a winch to his truck and a tree, pulling the tree out in the process. His body was found nearby.

 

I do almost all camping alone, my avatar is me 4miles (hiked) in Badlands National Park during a 2week "tour" alone out west which included 4 days backcountry in Yellowstone. I think if your prepared your most likely to die on the drive to the trail than on the trail. It's a dangerous world out there get out and enjoy it just be smart/ prepared! No doubt if your going wheeling and pushing the envelope hell ya go with someone! But I don't view this any different then my camping, kayaking, ect alone....get stupid and it will take care of itself! I fully intend to get involved with the group stuff, but I know I will be doing stuff alone as well. I guess it just a matter of what your comfort level!

 

I totally agree. Sure shit can happen anywhere and anytime you go out in your rig......or leave your house for that matter. If I didn't wheel alone I'd never do any wheelin'. There's lots of things "they say" you shouldn't do alone, but if a person wants to be worried all their life when you step out of your house, then you sure as hell ain't gonna have much of a life. Make smart desisions, be as prepared as you can, let people know where you're going, and go have fun...

 

BTW......This is a sad thing for sure, but what did he die from...???

 

Death of Mt. Pleasant man investigated
Published Tuesday, March 09, 2010 10:19 AM
The Gazette

An autopsy has revealed that a Mt. Pleasant man found over the weekend in Huger died of natural causes.

The body of John Eury, 40, was discovered off Highway 41 near Huger Saturday, Berkeley County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Salisbury announced.

According to Salisbury, Mr. Eury had called his father and said he had bogged down in his Jeep and that help was coming. When Mr. Eury failed to return, his father filed a missing person report with the Mt. Pleasant Police.

On Saturday morning, the Jeep was located in a bar-pit off Highway 41 in the Huger section of Berkeley County.

Found near the Jeep was the body of Mr. Eury, Salisbury said. There were no signs of trauma to the body and he was transported to MUSC where an autopsy was conducted Sunday. According to Salisbury, the autopsy determined that Mr. Eury died from natural causes.

 

Probably a heart attack brought on by trying to free his stuck Jeep. It was listed as natural causes, but at 40 years old, he might have made it out alive if someone had been with him to call 911.

 

If you're really going off the beaten track, bring a Sat Phone along; you can rent them fairly cheaply & they are invaluable when something goes wrong & you're miles from anywhere & out of cellphone coverage.

One of the guys in my Jeep club was out in the Simpson Desert (kinda like the Sahara; huge sand dunes you need to cross) alone, trying to catch up to a convoy that had left a few hours before him & he blew out his rear driveshaft. There was no way he was going to make it over the dunes with just FWD and the group ahead of him had just assumed he'd decided not to come along at the last minute when he failed to show earlier so they wouldn't have known to go back & look for him. Fortunately though he had rented a Sat Phone & was able to arrange for a new driveshaft to be dropped in by light aircraft the following day and also for some of the convoy to return to keep him company.

Cost a bunch of money for the aircraft charter & all but that Sat Phone he rented for a hunderd bucks saved his life, as it could have been weeks or months before someone else came his way and his food & water would have been long gone by then.