leiniesred
Hard Core 4+
It happens to everyone eventually out there on the trail. A truck will break down. Great. Now what do we do Mr./Mrs. trail leader?
As the trail leader, you are not expected to be the world's greatest mechanic. "I only ride 'em, I don't know what makes 'em work. " (Meatball from Kelly's Heros)
Your job as the trail leader is to asses the severity of the breakdown, asses the available parts, tools, and mechanics you have available, take a look at your location relative to a bailout point, and then determine a course of action based on an estimate of long it is going to take to fix the problem.
Example: Truck cuts a tire, but has a spare that will work. You can probably afford to stop your trip for the 15 minutes the driver needs to change his tire.
Example #2 Truck breaks the knuckle and the left front wheel falls off at the golden crack. The guy has spare parts back in camp and you were able to get in ham radio contact with basecamp where we have a guy able to drive back into the golden crack with the spare knuckle. Maybe you will split the group and leave the good mechanic and his truck with the guy and his broken truck. The guy running the parts in obviously knows how to get them back to base camp after they get the knuckle replaced.
Every situation is different.
What other factors should be part of your considerations when dealin' with a breakdown on the trail?
As the trail leader, you are not expected to be the world's greatest mechanic. "I only ride 'em, I don't know what makes 'em work. " (Meatball from Kelly's Heros)
Your job as the trail leader is to asses the severity of the breakdown, asses the available parts, tools, and mechanics you have available, take a look at your location relative to a bailout point, and then determine a course of action based on an estimate of long it is going to take to fix the problem.
Example: Truck cuts a tire, but has a spare that will work. You can probably afford to stop your trip for the 15 minutes the driver needs to change his tire.
Example #2 Truck breaks the knuckle and the left front wheel falls off at the golden crack. The guy has spare parts back in camp and you were able to get in ham radio contact with basecamp where we have a guy able to drive back into the golden crack with the spare knuckle. Maybe you will split the group and leave the good mechanic and his truck with the guy and his broken truck. The guy running the parts in obviously knows how to get them back to base camp after they get the knuckle replaced.
Every situation is different.
What other factors should be part of your considerations when dealin' with a breakdown on the trail?