Tips and tricks for averting chase disasters

[Dan Robinson]

So, here's a thread for how to avoid some of the common pitfalls that beset us when on the road. Add more of your problems and solutions! I hope we can get some great info compiled here that we can add to a more formal article in the WxLibrary.

Problem #1: losing expensive gear on the road

I made a $1,400 blunder on Friday that now frightens me to the core at how easily and quickly it happened. I was standing outside of my car shooting stills of the Wienert, TX supercell when an area of inflow along the RFD gust front started spinning, condensing and lowering directly to my southwest. Thinking I was about to get a front-row seat to a tornado in the field next to me, I scrambled to grab my video camera from the front seat, in the process setting my DSLR on the roof of the car.

In the excitement of the moment, that small but fateful act didn't register. I don't even remember doing it, that's the scary part! As the RFD precip arrived and my would-be tornado faded, I dove back into the car to stay ahead of the storm. My DSLR, after quietly tumbling off of the car somewhere between there and my next stopping point, crashed into the road and cartwheeled into a ditch that would then overflow its banks with floodwater 30 minutes later. I went back to look for it, but the water made it a hopeless endeavor. There would be no value in making a long drive to return for a search and locate effort later, as the only thing I could hope to salvage were the probably forgettable pictures on the memory card of the storm up to that point.

So, I've been racking my brain tonight on how to avoid a repeat. Adopt a policy of never placing things on the roof? That's not fail-safe - it's easy to forget in the heat of the moment. Do a 'pre-flight check' of all gear before leaving a roadside stop? Again, I already do that, but it's not a watertight safeguard. The excitement of an active situation can easily override any such forced habits or things that rely on memory or my own cognizance.

I've thought about some kind of permanent attachment (via a cable or strap) of my still and video cameras to my belt, meaning they can never physically be separated from me during a chase. While that sounds extreme and raises a host of comfort issues, it seems like the only way to avoid another incident in the future.

I've also been looking at some higher-tech solutions, namely proximity alarm devices like Tile and Hipkey. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Problem #2: Getting stuck

The easy answer to this is to not drive on dirt roads that don't have any aggregate/gravel. However, there have been a few times when I've started down a road without realizing its consistency, nearly getting stuck just feet off of the pavement. Even dry roads can trap you if they are sandy!

Here are some of the ways I've freed my car from mud or deep sand without any outside assistance. The key is to use your head and work slowly and methodically -don't just try to 'brute force' your way out! (These are all for when you're still on the level part of the road - if you're in the ditch, your options are limited).

• Rocking: works if you're still on the level part of the road and have near-zero traction on "cake batter" mud. Straighten the wheels. Gently shift between forward and reverse and give the driving wheel a slight burst of power each time, just enough to move the vehicle. Once you start to spin, stop immediately and reverse direction. Keep going until you get enough momentum to keep the car moving. Never spin the wheels longer than a second or two in one spot. Spinning for more than a few seconds will just dig you deeper into a condition that you cannot escape without help.
• Use roadside or in-car objects for traction. Anything works! Grass, rocks, sticks, trash, pieces of rope, floor mats, cardboard, anything you can put under the driving wheels! Make a path of these objects in front of the driving wheels.
• Dig a path where you want your wheels to go. Use your hands, an ice scraper or anything to dig a channel for your wheels to freely roll without the resistance of mud that the wheels would otherwise have to push away or roll on top of. Use some type of 'binder' or makeshift aggregate for wet mud to thicken its consistency. Even if it takes you 20 minutes and gets you mud-covered to dig a set of long wheel paths, it beats waiting 4 hours for a tow! A shower and a car wash can take care of the mess (once the mud dries).

Bottoming out: If your wheel drops off of a deep shoulder (into a culvert, for example) and bottoms the vehicle out, use the jack to raise the car level. Doing that, you remove the friction force of undercairrage-on-pavement as well as putting more weight on the driving wheels for traction. Back yourself out, allowing the jack to simply tip over. Repeat this in multiple steps if needed. Don't worry about damaging the jack - mine have survived two of these maneuvers. A new basic jack costs only $20-30 anyway! Money well spent to avoid a tow.

Problem #3: Vehicle damage/loose parts

Plastic cable ties work great at securing loose or damaged parts, for example, dislodged air dams from debris/tree branch/sudden deep water impacts. You can daisy-chain multiple cable ties together to get longer lengths. I keep many bags of cable ties in the car, they can be used to fix and secure many things in a pinch.

Problem #4: Flat tires

I haven't put on a spare tire in many years thanks to air pumps and, if necessary, fix-a-flat cans. Most flat tires can be pumped up enough for short intervals of low-speed (40mph or less) travel, enough to reach a place to make repairs. Wal-Marts are the best bets for tire repair in the Plains - most decent-sized towns have them.

 

[Jeremy Perez]

Dan, those are all great points.

My condolences on Item 1. It was unsettling to read that & easily pictured it happening to me. Your thoughts on never-on-the-roof and pre-flight-check not working also sound about right. When things get hectic or exciting, methodical approaches tend to get lost. I think one thing that may help me out these days is I've started keeping my camera on a monopod. That combo is a lot less stable for laying down on a car roof, so it encourages being placed in the front seat if I need to set it down.

I have had anxiety about the video camera on the window mount falling off while jostling down a rough road. I tried attaching a lanyard to it and the door handle, but that got awkward for adjustments really fast.

 

[kevin-palmer]

Ouch, I can't imagine losing a camera during a storm chase far from home. Once I did the same thing as you Dan with a new camera flash. I went back and found it below the road but it was cracked and broken. I've also had my DSLR and tripod fall completely submersed into a creek when I looked away for a second. Thankfully the camera was alright because it was weatherproof.

Although I wasn't storm chasing, I once got my car very stuck on a muddy "road" in Northeast Missouri. It was 10pm, I had no cell phone signal and the nearest house was 2.5 miles back. After a lot of walking I had to rely on a nice but slightly drunk farmer to tow me out.

The only other tip I can think of, is if you're ever tempted to chase in Western South Dakota in early August, DON'T. Especially if you suspect your car might completely die and cause you to be stranded among hundreds of thousands of bikers attending the Sturgis rally. The tow truck driver near Murdo will tell you a lot of interesting stories about the times he rescued chasers. But it's still not worth the outrageous price of a tow to Rapid City IMO. Being forced to quickly buy a new car to continue on your way isn't so fun.

 

[Paul Knightley]

Very valid and useful points - another thing to watch is leaving a tripod unattended - I looked around last year and saw my Panasonic 3MOS camcorder crashing onto tarmac as mild outflow winds jostled my tripod. Easily avoided by either guarding the tripod, or even setting it up on grass. However, the biggest issue was that I'd not extended the legs fully into the max triangle - the camcorder still works, thankfully, but has a few dings.

 

[ngjere]

Yep. Was chasing in SD a few years back all alone and did virtually the same thing. Set my video camera on the roof to grab my still and then took off with the video camera still on the roof. Fortunately, it ended up wedging itself between the corner of the roof rack and the roof proper and took about a five minute ride that way until I realized the video camera was missing from the front seat. Luckily, I was on the inflow side of the Meso I was focused on and drove back to the scene of the "incident" rain free attempting a search and rescue not knowing what I was going to find.

I've been involved with remote television engineering for many, many, years. And one of the first things you learn is to know where your gear is and what its status is AT ALL TIMES! It becomes a survival instinct almost from the fact that one does not lose gear for long and remain employed. That said, I can agree that even that instinct goes out the proverbial window when faced with a situation that is changing literally second by second. If you need to escape from a position, the last thing you're thinking about is where the gear is. It's called "self preservation"

So my one cardinal rule that I operate with now when in the field is to keep things within a five step reach in front of your vehicle in your field of view. Absolutely nothing goes on the roof. If it needs to be set down outside, it goes on the hood of the vehicle. Again, in the immediate field of the drivers vision.

Get a photo vest. Lots of pockets. Make sure it's "High Vis"

If you're not sandbagging your tripod? you're just asking for a expensive face-plant. It's not a matter of if, but when.

And last but not least, If you can't afford to lose it? Don't bring it.

 

[Todd Rector]

Timely thread, as I was stuck in a flooding ditch after accidentally pulling onto what appeared to be red gravel, but was in fact red velvet cake batter in Texas last weekend. I was right in the path of a tor-warned cell and it was not a good scenario. The tow truck from Quanah (3 miles away) pulled me out of the ditch, and charged me $220! Grrrr...

Sorry about your camera, Dan.

Once I made the move to a full-frame camera and lenses, I was amazed at how much heavier the new gear is. It's much more top-heavy when sitting on a tripod.

 

[Marc R. O'Leary]

1. I never set my camera on the roof...I physically cant because of my roof rack. If I need to set a camera down it goes inside, or on the hood where I can't miss it.

2. Just being aware of possible road conditions is really the best first step. If you don't know the perils of clay roads when they get wet, or don't feel comfortable in you or your vehicles abilities, don't ever bother to use dirt roads. I have AWD...it doesn't mean s#*t on saturated clay/sand roads. And your brakes won't work either. Only way to be 100% confident on those roads is to have a tank, or maybe a helicopter. My first experience with Kansas Clay...road looked dry, and felt dry for a few miles...then I hit the creme brule. I was very lucky to get out unscathed, but it took a week to get the "concrete" out of all my car's nooks and crannies. I also carry a recovery strap. Haven't been stuck yet...yet being the operative word, it'll happen, guaranteed, even if I'd like to think I'm fairly experienced with those kind of conditions.

3. Excellent advice. I carry a lot of zip ties as well. But I also carry tie-down straps, bungee cords (saved me when I lost a bracket on my roof basket), and 550 paracord. May seem like overkill...but as the old adage goes, rather have it and not need it.

4. If anyone saw me on Saturday, or any time previously, they'll know I carry a full size spare on my roof basket of my Forester. I also still have the temp spare in the back...and two cans of fix-a-flat...and an air pump. The last thing I want it to be stranded. Again, yeah overkill, but you won't likely see me somewhere flagging down help for a dead tire.

I'd like to add:

FUEL - Its been my intention to get a couple of 5 gal Jerry Cans. Still haven't done it, but still plan too. I've been way too close to empty in the middle of nowhere, even after filling up before the action starts. I will carry these outside the car in my roof basket.

 

[Jeff Duda]

Put the strap of your camera around your neck. It may be cumbersome and you may look like a tourist, but you've already listed far more ridiculous solutions.

If for whatever reason you just can't do that, never remove anything from the car that you aren't immediately handling or working with. If you want to switch between one piece of equipment and another, put the other one back in your vehicle before taking the other one out of it. If you have that much equipment that you can't keep track of it all, then you probably need to rethink how much equipment you need to take with you on a chase. Strip back down to the basics for a chase and see what you need to add from there.

Probably the best piece of advice: don't put yourself in situations where you might have to peel out in a matter of seconds with no time to check yourself, your equipment, your passengers, or your vehicle. If you're gonna position yourself anywhere near a region of danger, don't pull a bunch of equipment out of your vehicle. If you get caught off guard with something spinning up next to you, then you are already too close and need to adopt a different chase strategy where you stay a little farther back from everything.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Put the strap of your camera around your neck. It may be cumbersome and you may look like a tourist, but you've already listed far more ridiculous solutions.

If for whatever reason you just can't do that, never remove anything from the car that you aren't immediately handling or working with. If you want to switch between one piece of equipment and another, put the other one back in your vehicle before taking the other one out of it. If you have that much equipment that you can't keep track of it all, then you probably need to rethink how much equipment you need to take with you on a chase. Strip back down to the basics for a chase and see what you need to add from there.

Probably the best piece of advice: don't put yourself in situations where you might have to peel out in a matter of seconds with no time to check yourself, your equipment, your passengers, or your vehicle. If you're gonna position yourself anywhere near a region of danger, don't pull a bunch of equipment out of your vehicle. If you get caught off guard with something spinning up next to you, then you are already too close and need to adopt a different chase strategy where you stay a little farther back from everything.

Good points. To clarify, in that situation, I wasn't in any danger. I was about to get dumped on with heavy rain. I had to move to not get drenched and enveloped by visibility-hampering precip. I've been thinking of just keeping the DSLR strap around my neck - seems like a good enough compromise. I am looking into some of the proximity alarm solutions, as those would add another layer of protection. They consist of little tags you attach to your devices. When the tags are farther away than a set distance, an app on your phone sounds an alarm.

 

[Marc R. O'Leary]

I can see the proximity alarm being useful, but not if it only alarms as your camera slides off the roof as you drive away. May get annoying to have the range set so short that it goes off just by walking around the car.

I hate using my camera strap, but I do it all the time.

 

[James Hyde]

Sorry about the loss of your camera there Dan;

1. To echo what Jeff said, I really try to keep my camera strap on at all times. Another thing (for me) is I try to keep my monopod on my camera at all times and just stick it below my legs in its folded position. It's a bit cumbersome but you won't forget it! My worst fear in terms of losing material is losing my cell phone. It's usually in the car hooked up to the charger but I take it out for a quick twitter picture or something then that sets up the scenario that it could get lost. I haven't found a solution for that yet.

2. One old trick I learned from my grandfather a long time ago was A.) Get a set of really nice rubber car mats, the ones that have those traction grooves and can be cleaned easily. B.) If you get stuck, take the mats out of the car, stick them under the tires (or close to it), put it into a low gear, and ease those tires up onto those mats and slowly back out. If you can grab a piece of wood and use them as chalks to make sure you don't slide back in the rut.

3. My five critical in-car items. 1. Duct Tape 2. either a full-size spare or a can of fix a flat. 3. Large Trashbags 4. Zip Ties. 5. At least a 2 gallon (or enough for 60 miles) jerry can.

 

[Drew Terril]

In addition to the critical in car items that James mentioned, I also carry fluids such as engine oil, coolant, gear oil, etc. Used to carry transmission fluid, but my current truck has a sealed transmission. If I lose fluid, it's done anyway. I keep spare serpentine belts, plus a breaker bar to make it easier to release tension on the tensioner pulley. On my older vehicles, I kept a spare alternator and water pump and will again do so when I have spare money to buy ones for my current truck. Keeping a full set of wrenches and sockets helps in that event as well. In case of the pesky check engine light, I have an OBDII scanner to quickly diagnose what it is and either find a parts store to fix immediately, or be comfortable that it's minor enough for me to address it when I get home, albeit at a likely hit on my fuel mileage if it's something like an O2 sensor.

I keep enough tools on hand to do most repairs on the side of the road if need be. Engine and transmission issues are about the only thing that will truly strand me.

 

[Marc R. O'Leary]

Agreed with @Drew T, I also carry a set of tools, albeit a simple but useful selection for my particular car. I also carry spare oil.

I like the idea of a scan tool...that's a smart idea, as I've had the infamous CEL pop on during a chase before (only to turn out to be a loose gas cap).

 

[Drew Terril]

Agreed with @Drew T, I also carry a set of tools, albeit a simple but useful selection for my particular car. I also carry spare oil.

I like the idea of a scan tool...that's a smart idea, as I've had the infamous CEL pop on during a chase before (only to turn out to be a loose gas cap).

I think I paid $150 for mine in 2007. Only thing it doesn't pull is the older OBDI and also ABS system codes. It paid for itself in a pretty short period of time, but looking back I wish I had ponied up the extra cash to get the one that also pulled ABS codes. Considering some of us here think nothing of spending a grand on camera equipment (and some like me will spend the same on radio equipment), it's not that steep of a cost to help identify issues that pop up before they become bigger problems.