Mounted search and rescue

[Karen Nesbitt <spanishequines@yahoo.com>]

[Deleted HTML duplicate.  -Una]


Radios and cellphones can  be a real headache on horseback.
   
  As volunteers and through the years we have used various communications 
equipment.... For our personal radios  we have had to fabricate a cloth type 
carrier.  It has a strap that goes much  like a safety belt does in a car and 
has a sack to hold 
  the radio and it can be slung so the radio can be carried near the hip or 
more towards your rearend when sitting on the horse.   It also allows us to 
carry the radio either on our person or on the horn of the saddle.  Since we 
are on older equipment, the snub antenna is still a problem, however not like 
it used to be many years back when we used to carry portable CB's however, 
those are no longer practical due to their size etc and were a real headache 
taking up much room in the saddle bag and a real pain with the larger 
whiptype antennas.  Nothing like mounting up and having to kick over a three 
foot antenna sticking out of your saddlebag!  Thank goodness for modern 
technology!
   
  I have had problems with belt clip type radios and also carrying a cell 
phone on the belt  as they have a tendency to work themselves out of the belt 
and will fall to the ground riding.  You can easily loose a radio that way 
without your knowing it.  Getting a cell out of your pocket while mounted can 
be a problem too.
   
  Cell phones are great..plastic zipper bags will easily protect 
them....although the biggest issue there is holding the little phones while 
on a horse and talking as they are so easily dropped if you need to control 
your horse.  I would love to see some cell phone company come out with a 
phone that actually has a wrist strap attatched to the hard case or a make a 
cover that has a wrist strap  as dismounting and making a call is not always 
practical.  The new flip phones are flimsy to me in that they have too many 
"moving parts"!
   
  Waterproofing the radios are an even bigger problem.
   
  What the ride organizers provide us  to communicate back to them is what we 
are stuck with and have to deal with.
   
  Hands fre head gear would be great but then we have the the helmet and the 
bare head or cowboy hat!
   
  K. Nesbitt
  Illinois - Unaffiliated
  Iroquois County
   
   
   
     


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