Stranded California Man Too 'Embarrassed' To Use Phone 33
Brian "Goat Man" Hopper, spent five days stranded on Roe Island, north of Concord in Suisun Bay, because he was too embarrassed to phone for help. Hopper lived off vitamins and native plants while trying to repair his inflatable raft. "I was embarrassed to be stranded on an island," Hopper said. "I thought I could fix my boat and make it to land ... I didn't want to spend the taxpayers' money to have the Coast Guard come rescue some stupid guy." After almost a week he finally gave up and called a cousin for help. No word on what makes Hopper the "Goat Man."
Ironnnnyyyyy (Score:2, Funny)
The irony of a man too embarrassed to use his phone to save himself who is presently safe and being publicly embarrassed on slashdot is approaching unbearable.
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And, perhaps I'm missing something, but why exactly was he embarrassed? Here's a better article, if anybody else happens to be able to make more sense of this:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/23/BA8N1GFV82.DTL [sfgate.com]
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And, perhaps I'm missing something, but why exactly was he embarrassed?
Are you saying if you were out rafting and became stranded on an island you wouldn't be a little bit embarassed?
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I'd consider the notion that perhaps I shouldn't have been out rafting in the first place, and that maybe I need somebody to come save my ass.
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I didn't see the island coming.
Perhaps it was hidden behind the waves.
The waves were not there a week ago.
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From the article:
Reeves said Hopper once lived in a cave in Nevada for three months, had walked through Death Valley and had made a Northern California forest his home for an entire year. "When we found him," Reeves said, "he was naked and fishing in a stream ... He's been living off the land for at least 20 years."
"A little bit embarassed" wouldn't even begin to cover the humiliation of having to be rescued after a few days if I was this dude.
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One cannot "live off the land" without breaking a few laws these days.
Why? (Score:2)
He went rafting; He had a leak; it happens. He then tried to help himself. He wasn't in deep trouble, so he did his best. He built shelter, he started gathering food. Eventually, but before he was in deep trouble; whilst he still had a cell phone working, he decided to ask for help. He got help. This is text book survival stuff. The rescue services are not there to help you when you stub your toe. They are there for when you finally really really need their help and can do no better. The fact tha
The rest of the story (Score:2)
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BEcause now he not only had to deal with the initial embaresment, but also hade the added embaresment of explaining why he waited so long.
And on top of thet he get to be an
self-rescue (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
(...) people are far too quick to call for search and rescue.(...)
I could not disagree more.
It takes a long time for SAR ressources to get to your location when you are stranded somewhere, sometimes up to several hours. It's not like when you're in the city and you just dial 911, and you have an ambulance, cops or firefighters at your doorstep in minutes. So when you decide that you've been stranded long enough, that your boat fire is out of control just now, that your plane is going to dive nose first, or that you've been lost so long that you can't remember... well, gue
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This is why I have regular flares, orange smoke flares, signal flash, water, food, bedding, etc...
When I go into the wilderness. I've never had to use anything more than water, food, bedding, matches/lighter, and bandages.
I'm prepared for more, but if the shit hits the fan, I want rescue teams to find me or those I'm with as fast as possible.
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There's a difference between "My burning plane is about to crash" and "I'm stranded, but I know enough to live off the land until I can figure out if I can get myself home or not".
If it takes five days to figure out whether you can get yourself home there's a bigger problem.
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I think it's commendable this guy did his level best to rescue himself before calling for a helicopter.
OR he could have just around day 4 or so made the same call and someone could have just leasurely came out with a BOAT. The helicopter WAS that unneccesary and embarassing result he was trying to avoid, and easily could have.
Not calling immediatley for help was bravado. Not calling for help by day 4 was just plain stupid
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Credit (Score:4, Insightful)
cell phone battery (Score:2)
"After almost a week he finally gave up and called a cousin for help."
I don't think my phone can last a week on stand-by. He probably watched the battery power on his phone closely, and that may have been what made him finally give up.
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Maybe he owns one of these [johnsphones.com].
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Let me guess your name is John right?
The Goat Man (Score:2)
There was an old Welshman who was walking with his grandson. Presently, they came upon a wall.
“Ye see that wall, there?”
“Yes.”
“I built it, I did. I built it with my own two hands. I built twenty others just like it. But do they call me Hugh the Wall Man? No.”
They continued walking on their way...
.
“Ye see that barn, there?”
“Yes.”
“I built it, I did. I built it with my own two hands. I built thirty others just like it. But do they call me the Hu
The Goat Man (Score:2)
The goat man (Score:2)
No word on what makes Hopper the "Goat Man."
But this article [sfgate.com] has an interesting excerpt of his "packing list":
said he started out Wednesday morning on the Sacramento River, where he loaded a $300 inflatable raft with camping supplies, two burritos, a bag of vitamins, a Bible and a mannequin of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
hmmm... I wonder whether this "mannequin" was "anatomically correct"...