How to avoid needing a rescue at Black Rock

by Stratofox

This page suggests preparations that everyone can make in order to avoid needing a rescue, to avoid needing to request help from outside your group, and to prevent waiting for rescue from becoming a life-threatening situation. So while we call this "how to avoid needing a rescue", it's really "how to avoid needing assistance from outside your group." If you're able to rescue your own people and they're able to wait for a rescue to arrive, you've made your own problems much less serious than they could have been.

This page also has a companion, How to conduct search and rescue operations at Black Rock.

Though Search & Rescue is not the purpose of Stratofox, we've done enough of them to post some notes from our experience. Our experience has led us to believe this is good advice. But use common sense. We can't guarantee any results in circumstances you encounter. We'll continue to update these pages over time.

Avoid breakdowns - maintain your vehicle.

Make sure your vehicle is in good working order before leaving on your trip to the desert.

Bring at least minimal supplies when venturing away from camp.

Some thing you should always have when leaving camp...

• water - you're in the desert, remember? Have enough water in case you need to wait overnight for a rescue.
• a GPS - set a waypoint for your camp and know how to navigate back to it.
• Snacks or food - have enough to wait overnight for a rescue.
• a radio - preferably a Ham Radio (requires an FCC Amateur Radio license) but minimally anything with an antenna outside the vehicle. Cell phones do not work at Black Rock!
• fuel - does your vehicle have enough gas?

Tell people where you're going

Make sure everyone knows to tell someone where they're going and when they expect to be back, before they leave camp.

Don't leave anyone behind.

Don't leave the lakebed until everyone in your group is accounted for. Be proactive on starting searches well before dark if anyone is missing. (If someone is stuck in mud, rescuers will want to see the mud.) See How to conduct search and rescue operations at Black Rock.

Stay in touch via radio.

Every group of vehicles should have at least one radio so they can call for help from others in their own group.

If you don't have a radio, stay on well-travelled paths at all times.

For large events like AeroPAC's regional high-power rocketry events, there may be a trail of cones from the playa entrance to the event. If you don't have a radio or no one knows where to look for you, don't stray away from the path and event site. For other events, if people are just following their GPS from the playa entrance to a GPS coordinate, don't stray away from that well-travelled path unless you're prepared.

Don't run out of gas.

Fuel consumption is higher on the playa because it's sand, not pavement. Have enough gas with you. (Fill up in Empire or Gerlach.)

Be alert for soft or muddy areas.

The far east side, especially next to the railroad tracks, is usually muddy even in dry periods of the year due to the springs and streams that flow into the playa there. And the Quinn River area (north and east of the Black Rock Range mountains) has many spots that look dry on the surface but can sink any vehicle in the mud.

If you find a patch of mud...

If you start getting into mud (you can hear bits begin hitting your wheel wells), don't stop. Make a turn gentle enough to avoid losing traction and go back out of it the way you came in.

Use radio antennas outside your vehicle.

Don't count on FRS radios to work for any long distance, especially not if you use the built-in antenna inside a vehicle. If you can install a magnet-mount external antenna outside the vehicle (such as with a CB, GMRS or Ham), that will work much better. Ham Radio (which requires an FCC Amateur Radio license) has the highest power and best chances of communication over long distances. Holding radios up higher increases their range - you can also stop and stand on your car or truck to do this.

Set check-in times for your group.

Make sure everyone in your group knows some designated times for check-in on the radio. The group should begin searching for anyone who doesn't check in. In Stratofox, we have Amateur Radio operators in every group and recommend anyone who has APRS (Automated Position Reporting System, a Ham Radio data protocol) capability should send out beacons every 2-3 minutes so that others have frequent last-known positions on them.