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Idea

Movable signs for hiking and biking trails

Image credit: Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Contrived _voice

Contrived _voice Mar 16, 2022

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Create a new classification of signs that pro hikers can move depending on the prevailing conditions as a sort of heads up to anyone less experienced coming after them. They could include, dangerous animal spotted, loose soil ahead, advised path or even an advisory to reverse direction.
Why
Trail markers are pointless unless you have been hiking for a while and know what they mean.
Fixed animal warnings are also pointless since animals sometimes change their trails to avoid other animals or to look for resources. An update would be helpful.
Overnight rains may loosen soil and rocks, especially on frequently used paths making them a safety concern even with proper equipment.
When you're getting into hiking or anything like that, your first epexience greatly affects whether you'll keep at it or give up. Being in the know generally creates a sense of safety and makes you want to experience more.
If they make new trails every day, it might add to the sense of adventure each time you go there.
Major parks can afford scouts for this but public or even small private parks can't. This system could be implimented by working with their own hikers to preserve the safety of new hikers.
How it works
Every morning, at the guideposts they give their veteran hikers lightweight signs than can be planted on the ground. Since they enjoy carving out new paths it wouldn't necessarily be a bother to them. Everyone who comes after can then just follow the signs. These signs should be really self explanatory, no codes or hidden meanings. They should allow for a blank space where other people can write things on them maybe notes or just personalized messages.
Personal notes
I was on an endurance biking trail recently that started really early in the morning in order to finish the trail within the day . I found it strange that although the first bikes crossed paths with a hippo on the designated biking path, there was no way to tell everyone behind them to change direction without having to go back and warn them in person. It would have been great if they could just leave a sign informing everyone of the new path they took and another warning of a dangerous animal on the path we were on.

biking health hiking improvement

2

Creative contributions

Signs made of sticks that people can put together on the spot

Darko Savic

Darko Savic Mar 17, 2022

What if all hikers learned a few basic signs that they can assemble on the spot using sticks and stones. They wouldn't have to carry anything. There could be signs along the path teaching people the meaning and how to construct such signs.
Also, when the danger passes, how will they know? The signs should include a way to timestamp them. 
When encountering the danger sign, if at least 3 hours have passed and if the person is feeling brave, they could remove the sign and check the path out. If they encounter a problem (and survive) they could put a new sign in place. 

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Contrived _voice

Contrived _voice3 years ago

Imagine feeling brave then getting mauled by a bear. I feel like some people are a danger to themselves and should not be allowed to move those signs. You need a sort of familiarity with a place to judge how long the danger persists

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Darko Savic

Darko Savic3 years ago

Contrived _voice it's unlikely that someone will go ahead to check if the danger persists, and then go back to remove the sign. They will just let someone else do it. And the next person. And the next person. Because of laziness/inconvenience, the sign would remain in place longer than it should.

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Voice messages

jnikola

jnikola Mar 17, 2022

An idea
What if there are some places in the mountain where hikers with a "license" can leave their messages and the regular hikers can just listen to them?
Why?
No need for signs, sticks, or anything that somebody needs to carry around or that can be taken
Easy to update - the message can be recorded and sent to the desired voice message "station" (if you passed the trail and can't warn the people at the beginning)
Can be used for emergencies
Can be used as a place for the sign (instead of trees)
How would it work?
Metal or hard plastic poles with a solar panel on top of it that generates electricity. The pole device has a record and listen option.s
Record
Experienced hikers, who have been hiking for years and have a proof of many kilometers hiked, proof of a certificate from the mountaineering school or a similar course, could ask for a licensed app or a device (if they prefer to go without a smartphone, or don't have one). Once they have it, they can record or listen a message for any of the poles within the specified range.
Listen
Any hiker can press the button and listen the recorded message.

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Shubhankar Kulkarni

Shubhankar Kulkarni3 years ago

The problem here is damage to the equipment due to weather and animals. Also, where on the hike/trail would you put it? A dangerous area one day could be danger-free in a week.

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Contrived _voice

Contrived _voice3 years ago

Shubhankar Kulkarni, Have you ever done community service? There are these pins they stick into the ground with a sort of laminated sign on they use to mark where each group is going to clean each day. They are surprisingly resilient to the elements which makes them perfect for this.
As for where they should be placed, I think the ground next to the main path is a good enough place as long as you make them a really contrasting color like red. No one expects to see red in the forest so it should catch people's attention quickly.

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Contrived _voice

Contrived _voice3 years ago

Just give everyone a one-way radio for convenience? I hadn't thought of that as a solution but it sort of solves the problem

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Add your creative contribution

General comments

Shubhankar Kulkarni

Shubhankar Kulkarni3 years ago

Maybe even the first person to hike can change the signs according to the given situation. If you don't have volunteers, you might need to pay the people who will go out every day to plant the signs, which also suggests that someone needs to bring back all the signs at the end of the day so that the first person has the signs to plant. Or probably keep two sets of signs. The first person picks up the irrelevant ones and plants the relevant ones.

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Contrived _voice

Contrived _voice3 years ago

Shubhankar Kulkarni, You make a good point, if every day someone left a new sign out, that'd end up being even more confusing. What If management went out with the last group of the day at around 6 PM and took down the signs from the day before but left out the ones made on that day? That way at any single point there would only be 2 marked trails, the normal path, and the emergency or "adventure' path.

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Shubhankar Kulkarni

Shubhankar Kulkarni3 years ago

Contrived _voice There will still be two sets of signs on the trail and newbies wouldn't want to take the adventurous road by surprise. I think all signs should come off the same eve. In the morning, the first hiker puts up the signs.

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