Pictures - Everybody Likes Pictures - Here Are Some From My Collection
This picture came in from one of my readers, a Doc with the 435 Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility in Ramstein, Germany. It was titled "The CASF Dancers" and I am sure there is a good story here. They make the ECWCS outerwear look good though don't they. Note the snow blowing in at an angle. Get more about the CASF mission here. Thank you ladies for your service, we appreciate it and thanks David for the pic.
Still the best all-around jeep I have ever seen. Biased? Yea, I built it. Capable, dependable, comfortable. 98 TJ, 4.0ltr H.O., 5 speed, Rubicon Express lift, Rancho RS-9000s, ARB Lockers fore and aft, Warn winch, Gibson exhaust, 4.56 gears, Mickey Thompson wheels, 255-85-R16 BFG Mudders. Rear seat removed for my gear. A very bad ass ride.
Hand throttle, ARB switches, Hella flood lights, Motorola Saber VHF radio, hands free cellular, Husky liners.
Optima red top battery, ARB air compressor and accessory air line hook ups, custom air intake, oversize throttle body.
At the Water Rescue Rodeo, Arizona Department of Public Safety Ranger 52, a Bell 407, out of Phoenix Fires station 41. SAR, LE and ALS medical configured. They do it all. Great bird. Great crews.
Water rescue training with Phoenix PDs Firebird 3 in the CAP canal. At one time Phoenix had the largest fleet of NOTARs in the country. They have successfully transitioned out of them completely. Interesting bird, I liked it but it was not my favorite. Always enjoyed working with Phoenix. Professional, organized, on top of their game.
Firefighter Paramedic Brett Tarvers LOD funeral fly by. Phoenix Firebird 2, DPS Ranger 38 out of Tucson (they had not gotten their 407 yet, they were still flying the 206L3), MCSO Fox 2 (before the Board of Supervisors in their infinite wisdom decided to sell the better of our two 407s). Air Evacs AS350 was on our port side.
At the Water Rescue Rodeo with Loren leonburger and Fox 4. I have had the privilege of flying with many talented pilots and I don't think it will offend any of them if I say that this might be the best of the bunch. DFC winner, AZ DPS pilot, Guard pilot, contract fire pilot, fixed wing pilot, ski racer, hunter, and a man that can make a fantastic meal out of whatever is left over in the fridge. A great guy and one of my favorite people.
This military surplus OH-58 is older than I am yet it was still my favorite search platform. Sit in the middle between the two aft seats, hook into the hard point and scan out both sides of the aircraft. You can low and slow forever. The closest I ever came to crashing was in this aircraft out at Wind Caves, the operative word here is wind. It took three of us to get the seat out of Mikey's ass back at the hangar.
Fox 4 up at Four Peaks. CFI, news chopper pilot, and Alaska bush pilot Josh Johnson was at the controls. No, it never snows in Arizona and we don't have any trees either. Central Arizona offers the most diverse climate and terrain in the country. You can say what you want to about doing SAR work in Alaska, Colorado or Washington state but this rugged landscape is always trying to stick you, scratch you, eat you, drown you, freeze you, cook you or swallow you whole. Staying prepared for the mission here is a formidable challenge.
One of the movie stars of the rope rescue world is Reed Thorne of Ropes That Rescue in Sedona, Arizona. The courses are more intervention than class. They are intense. You go to one of the most beautiful places in the world and spend seven 10 hour days of classroom and field work with a guy that is a musician, master mason, climber, fire captain, and mathematical genius to learn not just the how but the why of rope rescue. You learn to think, not just do. I have survived a number of Reeds classes and had the privilege of assisting him in teaching others. Reed takes you to another level and...you don't even have to put your coffee cup down.
Short sleeves with snow in the mountains above us. Reed watches during a mid-face litter scoop of a simulated fall victim. The only thing simulated is the blood. Everything else is pretty real.
Same day but a little later. The art of clean rigging on the arch with Reed in the rain. Note the Arizona Vortex being used. I saw the evolution of this piece of equipment go from a gin pole made out of a road sign standard to the highly refined, adaptable tool that it is today. A lot of great equipment has come out of these classes.
What a classroom, huh? Reed running through mechanical advantages with a class on Hurricane Island. Skull sessions are an important part of the Ropes That Rescue experience. You gotta get the hay down out of the barn so the cows can get at it or however he says it. Can't you just smell the gray matter burning? I can. Still.
That's enough for now. Got some good pictures you want to share with the hardcore outdoor community? Send 'em to wade@hardcoreoutdoor.com. I would like to see some more from the troopers in the field. I want to see the equipment that is working for you.
Thanks.
Wade Nelson
Editor
Sorting through the fads and fashion of the outdoor equipment industry to identify and promote the very best wilderness gear for high end recreational users, backcountry professionals and government agencies.
Hardcore Outdoor is dedicated to those who can't or won't turn back.
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