[Sportsandrec] Forest Safety

Wed Feb 13 00:16:28 UTC 2013

Hi, Louise,

In the past I've been extremely comfortable with fire. I'm the idiot
who would hold braille paper in my hand and let it flare up like a
fireball, then toss it into a bonfire when it was already burning me.
I also recognize that my primary connection to fire was the light, not
the heat or the sound. I don't believe it's going to be particularly
dangerous or even difficult to find the torches safely, I just wanted
others' ideas on how to do it before I tried to reinvent the wheel.
Now that I don't have light perception, I'm sort of doing everything
over again just to make absolutely certain that I'm using truly
non-visual techniques. It's safer in my mind to start at square one
and move steadily forward than to assume I know what I'm doing and
light a group of people on fire.

I know that my cane will hit the torches, I just don't know how sturdy
the torches are. That will be a benefit to having a too-long cane. I
won't usually touch trees with my cane, because I'll hear the trees
well in advance of the cane tip making contact. One of the other
things that I thought about today was that I have an extreme advantage
over sighted counterparts regarding this entire light issue. I know
that the torches will be in separations where trees aren't. I'd even
be willing to bet that there's a minimum distance from the foliage
where fire is legally allowed. I can easily stay in the forest on one
side of a trail, click, and see the tree line of the other side of the
trail. In most cases the sound will continue on and bounce through the
trees, allowing me to see at least a couple dozen feet past the
initial tree line. It will be slightly inconvenient if there are any
forks in the trail, but if I'm running an errand for someone they can
just tell me to stay left, or forewarn me about a divide. It isn't a
perfect solution, but it's going to be fun testing it out.

I'm actually a little embarrassed to admit that the smell didn't even
occur to me. Now that I think back on it, I do remember a distinct
aroma coming from the torches. Thanks for the reminder.

Justin

On 2/12/13, Louise Walch <louisewalch at gmail.com> wrote:
> I’ve had only one experience with those Tiki torches, but perhaps that
> gives me some licence to add to the mix of good ideas so far.
>
> For starters, I’m wondering if it’s really that important to know the
> difference between a torch and a tree since when your cane touches the
> base, you will be navigating around it in either case. The only
> hazards I would imagine are if you were to knock one over, but failing
> that, I don’t think the risk to you is very high.
>
> Now to my actual experience—I think beyond feeling the base with your
> cane as in normal travel, the heat will be your biggest tipoff since
> there is probably going to be a lot of noise and cooking smell to mask
> the smell and sound of a torch.
>
> I was at a backyard barbecue using my cane and walked by a torch
> completely unaware of its presence until the wind blew and the flame
> licked over toward my face. I ducked to the side pretty darn fast, and
> for sure it had my heart racing for just a second, but in truth, I
> didn’t find the experience to have been so dangerous. Yes, it’s fire,
> so your caution is a good thing, but for what it’s worth, I’m less
> scared at the thought of navigating around these torches now that I’ve
> had at least this one experience. Although the flame touched me
> briefly, it wasn’t painful, kind of like snuffing out a match with
> your fingers. It’s not that I’m someone who does that on purpose, but
> at least I know that if it came to it, the risk of burning seems
> smaller. Again, yes I know we’re not just talking about a match, and I
> know fire burns and I’m not saying it doesn’t. Perhaps one of you have
> had another experience although I’m hoping it was no more serious than
> mine. Also, I can just imagine some of you out there thinking, who is
> this idiot? Sorry, just take the experience for what it’s worth.
>
> As to knocking a torch over, just so long as they are stuck in the
> ground pretty securely I think you’ll be alright. A lighter hollow
> fiberglass cane might present less of a problem in this regard, so I
> would maybe consider that, but I understand that it might not be in
> character with the renaissance genre. I’d say take both types of canes
> with you and have all options on the table when you get there and see
> how it goes. I suppose the foil wrapping around the bottom isn’t a
> half bad idea, but I can see how foliage might make distinguishing
> tricky. Try it if it isn’t that big of a hassle to anyone.
>
> Never thought I’d be having this discussion today, so thanks.
>
> Louise Walch, San Antonio, Texas
> louisewalch at gmail.com
>
>
> On 2/12/13, Jody Ianuzzi <jody at thewhitehats.com> wrote:
>> Hi Justin,
>>
>> Oh cool, that sounds like fun.  How about listening for the sound of the
>> flame or sensing the heat from the torch?
>>
>> If they are burning fuel you might smell it.
>>
>> JODY
>>
>>
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-- 
Justin Louchart
JALOUCHART at GMAIL.COM

Inveniam Viam Aut Faciam