According to the survivor, who walked from the crash site the next morning, the pilot-in-command was his father, occupying the left seat, the right seat occupant was his older brother, and he was in the back seat with two hunting dogs and an assortment of shotguns as they were returning home from a bird hunting trip near Storm Lake, Iowa. They had departed Storm Lake that morning between 9 and 10 o'clock. He stated that the pilot was maintaining a slow descent to continue visual reference with the ground because visibility was deteriorating in mist and light rain. He stated that he had just scanned the instruments from the back seat and their heading was 130 degrees and the altimeter read 2,500 feet. He further stated he felt uncomfortable at that altitude and location. They were experiencing no troubles with the engine, airplane controls, or navigation systems. The survivor stated that they encountered constant drizzle starting near Columbia, Tennessee, and he remembered barely making out lights on the ground at Piedmont from his back seat position. He stated that the sun was just setting, and that they simply flew into the mountain top. Their destination was Carrollton, Georgia, about 31 miles from the accident site.
I wouldn't call that a fail. I'd call it "knowing the limitations of the product for the trail" which is an honest critique and information that people can use. Best wishes to y'all for the coming year and to you too, Aaron.
To me, a no bugs at night, better rain protection and a better windbreak is worth its weight in gold. Your test gear seemed close to cowboy camping. I never knew anybody could have so much practical advice about pillows... Keep them coming :)
Would reccommend practicing sleeping on your back--something that is hard to get use to but pays in the long run..Knots--search on U-tube--all sorts of quicktie and quick release--handy to know................
@@johnnyhays2942 How on earth does it pay? It can create or exacerbate circulation problems, back problems, and other joint problems. That's not what I would call a payout, and I see no benefit whatsoever, other than you can maybe save 3-6 oz of sleeping pad weight. I'll carry the extra weight and keep my circulation, back and joints in proper working order thanks.
@@johnnyhays2942 I'd argue the opposite, side sleeping has often been shown to be better for your brain and has even been associated with less chance of dementia / Alzheimer's.
Has anyone ever complimented you on your voice? It is unique, very understandable, laced with character and absolutely perfect for the videos you produce. Great job.
Reasons to have poncho/tarp: 1. When you must have ultralight weight 2. When it's hot at night 3. You want super simple Reasons to have a tent: 1. Keep bugs out 2. Keep snakes out 3. Stay warm 4. Stay drier 5. Keep critters out of your stuff 6. More privacy 7. You expect wind Where I hike, bugs and warmth are the biggest issues. I really dislike things crawling all over me while I sleep, or having mosquitoes bite my face while sleeping. We also have a lot of problems with rodents getting into everything and lots of rain so overall I don't think I could ever get into the tarp system unless desperate.
I love to imagine walking in the pouring rain, soaked to my skin. Setting up a tarp in howling wind, rain and snow thick and fast. I get to my sleeping g bag and it’s wet... then I roll over and burrow deeper into my bedclothes
I'd recommend looking at the Corporal's Corner channel and searching out his "Quick Deploy Ridge Line" video. It is a quick simple way of setting up a ridge line for tarp shelters. I also recommend getting a piece of cordage about 3 feet long and, while you are sitting around camp or wherever, practice tying and untying a bowline, a clove hitch, a timber hitch, an alpine butterfly loop, and setting up a truckers hitch, and a prusik loop, until you can do them in the dark with your eyes closed. Teach your fingers to do them without your eyes and brain, so that when it's cold, wet, dark, and you are exhausted, they are automatic. I learned them when I was guiding rivers, but still use them all the time. A hank of cordage weighs very little, and knowledge even less. Together a rope and a few proper knots are endlessly useful, even lifesaving, tools to have.
I keep telling myself I need to learn about six good knots. I have loads of time, some of it could be sp;ent on learning a little trick that could help in a situation like you describe above. Just a little investment in time and maybe fun.
I agree. Knowing a really good tension knot, a few good hitches, a couple of good bends, and at least one rock solid stopper knot will go a LONG way, and will make a hank of line one of the most useful things you can possibly carry on the trail.
@@wisenber It's still a useful thing to know. There are a ton of ways to rig up something like a tarp or poncho, depending on location. Also, she is going to be trying out a hammock set up and it may come in handy.
Pillow advice: if the pillow keeps shooting out from under your head, take some peel and stick velcro strips and put about 3" on the back of the pillow and 3" on the top of the air mattress. It'll stay. I put a strip on the left and a strip on the right so it won't pivot either. Bonus tip: put the softer, loop side on the air matress and it won't rub you if you don't use a pillow. Put the hook side on the pillow.
I use a spare shirt over my sleeping pad and stick my Klymit X pillow inside to keep it from sliding around and it’s softer on my face if I side sleep.
Love to see that I'm not the only one that has a whole conversation with myself about why it could be nice to stay in that warm sleeping bag and not ever getting out of it unless it gets 70 degrees.
I’ve also settled on the Klymit pillow. That indentation in the center is what makes it work for my as I’m a side sleeper so my ear rests comfortably there. Also helps keep it from sliding away.
Me too. I told the spiders to 'leave her alone' and moved my hand to fling it away with a shudder. Dixie teaches from the elbow, sharing mistakes with grace and good humor. When she's tired you realize how grueling hiking is. Streams are cold. Stoves don't want to work. You don't know what's ahead but you're happy to come along. Some folks like to be too perfect on camera. Gear and miles of scenery covered like vacation photos. I'm glad Dixie packs us for the 'hike with a friend'.
I made a Frostline poncho tent a long time ago. Also used contractors plastic for a tarp. And then cuben fiber tarps. So many ticks, spiders, scorpions, mosquitos, and one night in Colorado a mouse trail across my face all night. A bivy helped some, but then I got condensation on top of my bag especially at the toe box, less so above the knees since it was a quilt. I gave up on tarps when the snow blew in on an elk hunt in September in MT. Wind changed and couldn't keep the snow out. So next weekend I took the ZPacks Solplex which I knew had hundreds of holes in the floor, and did not tuck in the polycryo ground sheet and woke up during a pounding night rain to my air mattress floating down at the feet. So as Rosanne Rosannadanna (SNL) says, "Well, Jane, it just goes to show ya. It's always something. If it's not one thang it's another."
For a pillow I use my cleanest T shirt stuffed with some of my other cleanest clothes. No extra weight and I can control size and firmness. Excellent video Dixie. Thanks
Hello Miss Kentucky, I don’t get to comment like I want because I watch on my TV ,so no way to comment. Love your Channel,everybody loves your channel!! I live in western NC ,so I have the AT in my back yard. My dad started me at 12 years old! Loved it every since. Keep doing what you do,your great at it! Enjoy life and hopefully our paths will cross one day it will be great to meet you.
I could not see myself using that system. Hikers should thank you for all that you do in showing and experiencing items that are good,better, and best. Now I know why water on the trail needs to be filtered......Dixie walked thru it barefoot !😂
It seems that using your raingear as your shelter would be too limiting in rainy weather. If you get to camp and have to remove the poncho to set up as shelter, you're exposed to the elements while setting up and while doing any camp chores like getting water, cooking( if you don't want to cook where you sleep), etc.
I think the concept is to sleep sitting while wearing the poncho. At least that was how I did it in Vietnam. You don't need to carry the sleeping bag and pads when you do it that way. The idea of putting it up as a shelter defeats the point of wearing the poncho, like you mentioned.
@@USMC6976 Sleep sitting? While wearing the poncho? I can’t think of anything more uncomfortable when hiking. My back would be stuffed the next day 😊 Tarp-poncho is great for light rain situations. If it’s raining when you get to camp then you simply set-up for sleep once you’ve finished chores & eating etc.. Easy.
It made me happy to hear you mention the Florida Trail in your video! Being from Florida I feel like Florida hiking does not get enough love and I'm glad it's going to be getting more exposure.
Your accent ramps up when you hang around other Alabamans I think! LOL People say that about me and my Canadian accent when I find fellow Canucks in the woods. ROFL
You should hear my Cali butt after about two weeks visiting family in Quebec or Lafayette. Which I did alot as a youngster. Cane in handy back when they shipped a bunch of people from Louisiana after hurricane Katrina. I became the Cajuns interpreter at my store for quite awhile. 🙂
Love the "ominous Vivaldi" music at the start! Makes it sound like winter is blowing in and will get you. And it was. And it did. Brave of you, Dixie, to try out the tarp and bivy sack set up in the cold. I could not do that and was not surprised, cold-sensitive that you are, that you postponed a more complete test for warmer weather. Hike on! Tortoise
I’m with MarDe. “What could you possibly like about it.” I know you enjoy cowboy camping and I assume the tarp is close to that, but I can’t shake the fear of bugs or other critters taking up housekeeping in my ears or wherever. I’m a fan of little wilderness houses.
The catenary cut of the MLD Pro silnylon tarp works best in the A-frame mode, which is pretty good for marginal weather, but limits move-around space pretty severely. I have a flat poncho tarp from 2004, I think, which is more versatile, but still very small. I use my hammock 98% of the time and my Hilleberg Akto when I expect heavy snow, iow, weekend higher altitude winter trips. I have a Gossamer Gear Spinn Twinn tarp if I really feel like sleeping on the ground and crawling in the mud. It made a nice hammock tarp for my 9 foot hammock, but I just traded up to the big Hammock Gear DCF winter tarp. Occasionally I take out my poncho tarp and mess with it to try to make it work better for long trips, but it's just too small.
I got all hungry at the start. Thought I was about to see Chef’s Table. I don’t think I would like night hiking. I like to see and would feel like I was in a tunnel. It is super cool to see the familiar sights of the Pinhoti in your videos.
@@stephenpowstinger733 mmm thats what I thought too. I wanted to clean her cut with iodine solution because a bandaid and neosporin would just get torn off in the brush. I remember palmetto from Florida and the thorns just hung up in your flesh.
For 35+ years, I used a poncho or tarp as my main shelter, following the footsteps of Colin Fletcher. If pitched correctly in the right location, one will stay dry and condensation-free in any type of weather conditions. Having said that, tarps are not for everyone and most are better off with a tent.
Watching this made me realize two things: one, I’m glad you’re willing to try new things and share your experiences with us, and second, I need a cool logo!
I haven't tried cowboy/bivy camping yet but I've been interested in giving it a go. I've been considering this bivy paired with a Gatewood Cape, which looks to provide a bit of extra wind protection over the MLD tarp/poncho at the cost of versatility. The idea is to have a backup plan for if I don't have trees for my hammock and tarp. Using the cape to replace my raingear only adds the 7.5oz of the bivy and an 8oz small insulated sleeping pad to my kit, unlocking being able to sleep at sites without perfect trees. About a pound extra added to my normal kit weight to have access to cowboy/bivy camping, tarp camping, single-wall tent camping, as well as hammock camping. It's overkill, sure, but I'll be able to pick whatever site I prefer plus I'll have options and redundancy for if something goes wrong on the trail. Scouts drilled that 'Be Prepared' thing in hard. XD
a poncho is great for day hikes or emergencies if you need a quick shelter. it's great in the summer if you just want to keep a light rain off, it's great for keeping your gear dry but for anything else it is too small and too cold.
11:50 NTSB Plane Crash Report: www.planecrashmap.com/plane/al/N735JZ/ On November 2, 1998, about 1715, central standard time, a Cessna 182Q, N735JZ, registered to R. A. Hollingsworth Family, LLLP, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed into a mountain top about 4 miles east of Piedmont, Alabama, while in cruise flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed and the private-rated pilot and private-rated right seat occupant sustained fatal injuries. A rear seat passenger, also a private-rated pilot, received serious injuries. The flight originated from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, about 2 hours 45 minutes before the accident.
Too bad the poncho did not work out for you on this trip. This is the problem when always looking for ways to decrease the weight of your pack. You will reach a point where you find out that you overdid things and by then it's too late and could even leave you in a pretty bad situation. I absolutely love my hammock/tarp/underquilt combo and am a strong believer in that no matter how bad the trail was, a good sleep will make it all worth while. The opposite can also be said, that when you had a bad night sleep, the trail the next day has to be seriously amazing to make up for it. Good luck with your hammock, I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do :).
Love your objectivity. You have the best reviews. Looking forward to my first thru hike on the LT this coming September. Owe you for all the great advice! Thanks Dixie
I tried a poncho tarp but wasn't overly keen for UK hiking, I prefer the rectangular Monk tarp or Cricket from MLD, just nicer living spaces for not too much weight penalty, great vid as always Dixie
Here in Scotland we have around 30 000 lakes and a gazillion streams never mind loads of rivers. I gave up buying walking boots decades ago and wear Wellington's during autumn, winter and spring. Open backed sandals (as I did in The Sahara for a decade) during the summer.
When I was younger I lived in Colorado. I loved cowboy camping in the mountains. However, I live in Arkansas now. Its not the spiders or mosquitoes that I worry about wanting to join me in camp. Not even the coyotes bother me. It's the rattlesnakes that want to get warm next to my body that I really don't like. I have the Zpacks Triplex, but I'm thinking of going with a hammock set up so I can enjoy that openness again.
Aw, that little guy was cute, though! Was he a dangerous sort? Aussie here, + for all the jokes about how big our spiders get - & they admittedly can get pretty big - some of the most venomous ones are actually quite little species. Redbacks, for 1 example.
@14:58: Beef marinara??! 😂 I"ve also read great reviews for their chicken poke bowl and their pork sushi... Kudos for your respect for spiders (that wolf spider was a looker...). And beautiful shot @17:07
I like cowgirl camping also, but I don't see the weight savings between a light wt. tent and a tarp, especially if you have to have a bug bivy too. So I gave it up and have settled on a lt wt single wall tent. Happy New Year to you all.
Knowing my luck if I tried to tarp tent camp I'd end up with some venomous snake curled up with me, or a nasty spider. If you ever come to Australia, Dixie, leave the tarp tent behind! Also I laughed out loud at you screaming at the other hiker.
I would love to hear you talk more about not being an early riser. Neither am I and it does not seem to sink up with other hiker's schedules, so I don't hike as much as I would like. When I do, I don't get restorative sleep trying to keep up with early risers, so I find myself sleep deprived and fatigued. I suppose I could do more solo, but I'm not necessarily comfortable with that, and it's hard to find other hikers that would like to sleep in and maybe hike at night, hummm....
I use a Sea to Summit Aeros and I find it fabulous. But you have to have lock in stickers on your sleep pad to keep it in place. With the lock in stickers it DOES NOT MOVE!
I have all three of the large brand pillows you tried. I agree, the Klymit X is the most secure. It creates a really nice pocket for your head, gives some neck support, and doesn't tend to wander as much. It works well in a hammock and on the ground.
Tarps have their own charm, but the MLD "Pro Poncho Tarp" weighs 198g (DCF version), and the MLD "Superlight Solo Bivy" weighs 230g. That is 428g combined. The Zpacks "Plexamid" tent weighs 433g - and "yes", you will need to add some rainclothes into this weight comparison, but after the other gear and food items has been packed, i dont think this will be very noticeable...
The airplane wreckage was a Cessna 182 that flew into the mountain top in bad visibility. A father and his two boys returning from a hunting trip. The son in the back seat was the only survivor. Though badly injured, he walked out the following morning.
I recently own and use a 8X10 tarp as well as a minimal bivy sac. The tarp is my favorite shelter compared to the tent. My biggest problem is that it scares the heck out of me. In this video Dixy came across crazy spiders while night hiking. As much as I want to do 20's and backpack like that, I don't get how to use a tarp and not get one of those things on your face. People use tarps successfully on all of the big three (AT,PCT,CDT). How do they not get put in the hospital from Spiders, Scorpions, and some of the centipedes. Is there a trick to avoid late night visitors? Those spiders seemed more interested in you compared to running away. You cant put Permethrin on your face. I'd like some advice because between Dixy and Jupiter Hikes, my goals might be stopped by this dilemma.
I have slept on bare ground in the summer by florida canals in survival classes. Spiders everywhere....on the ground,in the trees. It's mostly a mind thing. I have hammock camped in Amazonia and Panama with my boots sitting in the jungle. Shake your stuff out before you put it on and it shouldn't be a problem. That stuff is out there with you all the time just like ticks......it's just how much you let it get to you. You could use a headnet if you were really worried about your face.
I know this trip is more about trying different gear but I wish you talked more about the trail itself. That last clip looked like it was the little piece of the Chief Ladiga Trail.
Was just down in that area of the Pinhoti in November. The views out there are phenomenal. Walked right by that plane and videoed it as well. Alabama surprised me.
That is a very narrow tarp to camp under, as it is also proportioned to be a poncho. ( too much of a compromise?) I would like the option to stake it closer to the ground to block wind, for comfort and stove efficiency, but it is too narrow. Even flying it high you still don't have sufficient height to sit up comfortably to cook, drink, organise gear, etc. Site selection is crucial - wind is your enemy - and it can change direction in the night ! I would recommend a square tarp, not smaller than 7' X 7' and pitch it from one elevated corner, plough point style.
The SMD Gatewood Cape is more shaped and not that much more weight than the ML. I have had great experiences with the Gatewood Cape and a bivy. It may not work for you, but for an older, verticality challenged female like me it is my preferred shelter system. Best wishes on your hikes.
The klymit x pillow looked very logical on head placement. A lot of the reviews said it didnt lift your head enough or at all... then you mentioned you like small pillows at home. I just bought a trekology will try it out
Love my Alsek also, but purchased a Wide version, with 2 oz of overstuff. The wide really helps in keeping those draft out. About to switch to the Nemo, Tensor Alpine pad. Hoping that will sure up my sleep system. Still haven't made the switch to a pillow...
Great video, Dixie! Engaging, aesthetic & well-edited. Thanks for sharing another adventure w. us. :-) And re: the tarp, I agree w. others saying it's not a fail to have judgement about the best tool for a situation. The people who designed that poncho tarp probs didn't intend for it to be a cold-wind shelter. Happy New Year from Aus!
