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  • What to do if lost in the woods

    This might be fine for someone with your experience. But not everyone always knows where they are. Perhaps this is a good discussion for another thread.

    Dick
    Since “What to do if you are lost in the woods” was my suggestion for the FAQ, I thought that I would take the lead on this. I think that “How to avoid getting lost in the woods” is a related topic that warrants discussion as well.

    First, as a beginner, I would not leave the house without the ten essentials. They tend to vary depending on who’s list you read and Kevin has covered most of them in his pack list but here is what I feel is important:

    Map, Compass, Headlamp, Extra Food, Extra Clothing, First Aid Kit, Pocket Knife/Multi-Tool, Waterproof Matches/Fire Starter, Water/Filter, Whistle

    The more you leave at home, the more risk you are willing to take. The most important thing that you can bring with you into the woods is not on this list and that is common sense. Also, you can bring all the survival gear that you want but if you don’t know how to use it then it is just extra weight in your pack.

    Another thing to do before you leave for the woods is create an itinerary and give it to a responsible person. As a beginner, I would not deviate from this itinerary. Again, the more you deviate from the itinerary, the more risk you are willing to take.

    If while out in the woods, you do find yourself lost or injured, don’t panic, the universal signal for a hiker in distress is three short whistle blasts.

    Iceman

    Edit: Another very important thing that I forgot to mention is that as a beginner, I would not advise hiking solo. It is best to have one or more partners that have some experience in the woods. When hiking solo, you have no one to rely on but yourself and if you don't have the skills required for the hike that you attempting then you are asking for trouble.

  • #2
    I'd say the most important thing to bring is not only common sense but knowledge paired with that. With the right outdoors know-how you can be fine without most of those listed essentials. I happen to be a bit of a minimalist. I train for it, too. I spend several-day stints in local woods when I can: I learn how to live with as little as possible there, and I have the insurance of a warm house fifteen minutes away if indeed necessary.

    Learn the uses of local plants ("Using Wayside Plants" is a very useful book), learn how to start a fire without matches/lighter, learn how to keep yourself warm, and most importantly, put it to use. Learn from experience. I've found that sleeping in a grassy field the way deer do with a mosquito net over my face is quite comfortable. Add layers of clothing if it's cool out. Learn how to keep yourself warm without man-made items.

    When I go out hiking, I go with a shelter, food, stove, extra clothes, lights, and just about everything else to satisfy my creature comforts. But I also go assured that I can get by if necessary without them. If I get lost, my main worry is getting found, as I've already prepared to survive.

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    • #3
      Here's some prior related threads on the subject:





      It's a fascinating topic, and in the "Lost!!!" thread there's an interesting article about the mentality behind those who get lost, and how often what you think is the right course of action ends up killing you.
      Attached Files
      Last edited by Kevin; 06-21-2006, 07:05 PM.

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      • #4
        Learn map and compass. Practice map and compass. It will make this issue go away for you. Take a course, read some books, go with someone that can teach you. Study the map(s) before your trip. ( I can usually see the map in my head by the time the hike day comes) Then practice on the trail and on the summits. Whenever you stop pull the map out and locate yourself (shouldn't be too hard on marked trails) and try to identify features around you. When on the summit in good weather take the time to orient the map and identify your surroundings. Eventually the map will start to look like the area around you. If you follow little dots (trail markers) through the woods and then lose the dots your lost. If you follow a mapped route through the woods (even on a marked trail) and get off the trail then you are not lost just off trail. And lastly, if you are not sure stop and figure it out rather than pushing on and getting in deeper. Usually only takes a minute or two. Confidence in navigation skills can't be substituted. The freedom that comes with knowing you can find your way is immeasurable.
        Die Free and Live

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Rik
          And lastly, if you are not sure stop and figure it out rather than pushing on and getting in deeper. Usually only takes a minute or two.
          And the variation on this I've learned and actually practice is to backtrack (assuming you know exactly where you just came from ). Within minutes, on several occassions, I 'found' the trail behind some blowdown, etc. Lots of little paths get formed, especially after the wind storms we had and the immense blow down issues. I'm guilty of blindly following paths, but like Rik says, knowing where I'm supposed to be going ahead of time triggers "uh oh" signals in my brain after a few minutes of heading in the wrong direction.

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          • #6
            Stop occasionally and look back from the way you came. Especially at junctions.

            The trail or terrain often looks very different coming from the opposite direction.

            You're also more apt to remember the way back to your last stop (and the one after that, and so on) if you do get "misplaced"

            Try to pick up on one or two features that are prominent at each stop.

            If you are with a group and become separated, everyone should use the PLS principle, Returrn to the Point Last Seen.

            Everyone should carry a whistle, one with a long range like the Fox40, as well as a flashlight of some kind.

            Everyone carry a lighter, waterpoof matches and some firestarter. You can always use flame or smoke to help people find you.

            Split the food up among the party so that if someone does become lost they and the group all have food.
            "If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it." Lyndon B. Johnson

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            • #7
              All good backcountry navigation tips so far, most I follow strictly, especially understanding map and compass AND continuously relating them to the terrain I am in.

              One more important point I'll emphasize that is only eluded to... if you find yourself confused, do not compound errors. The woods are full of continuous navigation clues, some better or more obvious than others. All must fit neatly into the puzzle. If any one does not make sense you must logically rationalize why not before you continue. It is relatively easy to find one error... just sit down, retrace your steps in your mind with memory and map in hand back to your last known identifiable location (you have paid attention to all compass headings and time traveled haven't you?). However, if you make a second navigation error, say alter course based on a previous mistaken assumption, recovery is exponentially more difficult. Unless you are hopelessly lost (then you stay put), you are better off to continue on course until you reach (or don't reach) a preplanned backstop terrain feature. Then figure out what the original error was. This point bears repetition... do not navigate based on compound errors!
              "Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -Walt Whitman

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              • #8
                all good points, as Wldrns has said.

                One thing I do on my maps is to take a straight edge, and draw a line across the whole map showing magnetic north. That line helps me orient the map later, at home, or in the field.

                When I'm planning a bushwack in, and out on the same path, I do my preliminary map and compass work at home, writing down everything I plan on doing, including line of travel, distance, degree I'm traveling at, waypoints, turns, etc...

                If I'm going to bushwack in, and out, on the same path, I will bring orange surveyors tape, and mark my trail in, and remove my flags on the way out. This is good practice. If you get lost (which is almost impossible on a flagged trail)... or if you get hurt, the person who has your written directions can give them to the DEC, and they can follow your trail right to you.

                Just be sure to remove your flags on the way out. If you don't, you can create problems for other hikers who might blindly follow your trail, and get lost, and it violates leave no trace practices.
                Last edited by Wildernessphoto; 06-27-2006, 07:45 PM.
                The Wilderness Photography of Gary F. Dean
                facebook photography of Gary F. Dean

                It's Not A Map...It's a "To-Do" List!

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                • #9
                  after reading the first post, I realized my previous post had more to do with how NOT to get lost, then what to do if you do get lost...

                  That can be a very complicated question. Survival is priority one. Your survival is dependent on many factors: health, weather, equipment you have with you, woodsman’s skills, intestinal fortitude (will to survive) and other factors. I could write a book on this subject.


                  There are many levels of knowledge and ability out there. If you have no gear with you, do you have the knowledge and skills to make the tools you need to survive? if you don't, you better have the tools with you before you leave the trailhead. The more knowledge you can gain, the better your chances of survival...

                  To make just one point:
                  Two tools I carry are an ax, and a whittling knife. With those two tools, I can make many of the things I might need from the raw materials all around me. I can cut firewood, build shelters, whittle utensils, build rafts, make fishtraps, snares, digging tools, spears, and almost anything else I might need. I could open a hole in the forest big enough to be spotted by a plane, and 101 other uses. Those tools, like the compass and map mentioned above, and things like primitive fire starter, are not very practical, if you don’t have the knowledge, and skills to use them. So tools, and the knowledge of how to use them is important.

                  There are some good sites out there to teach bushcraft skills:

                  Wildwood survival
                  BushcraftUK
                  The Wilderness Photography of Gary F. Dean
                  facebook photography of Gary F. Dean

                  It's Not A Map...It's a "To-Do" List!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Wildernessphoto
                    One thing I do on my maps is to take a straight edge, and draw a line across the whole map showing magnetic north. That line helps me orient the map later, at home, or in the field.
                    All of my maps are prepared with not just a single magnetic north line, but many of them, spaced about an inch and a half apart (a yard stick's width), covering the complete area of interest. I use these with my compass to measure azimuth on the map between any two points. With this method no declination math is required in the field, whether going from map to field or field to map. All measurements are referenced to magnetic north. Orienting the map to earth is not necessary when you navigate with this method, but may be instructional and handy if you have vistas.

                    If I'm going to bushwack in, and out, on the same path, I will bring orange surveyors tape, and mark my trail in, and remove my flags on the way out. ... Just be sure to remove your flags on the way out. If you don't, you can create problems for other hikers who might blindly follow your trail, and get lost, and it violates leave no trace practices.
                    I wouldn't always trust that your flags will be there. People have been known to remove them if not known to have been placed by DEC. There is just no substitute for proper terrain observation navigation and independently always knowing where you are.
                    "Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -Walt Whitman

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Wldrns
                      All of my maps are prepared with not just a single magnetic north line, but many of them, spaced about an inch and a half apart (a yard stick's width), covering the complete area of interest. I use these with my compass to measure azimuth on the map between any two points. With this method no declination math is required in the field, whether going from map to field or field to map. All measurements are referenced to magnetic north. Orienting the map to earth is not necessary when you navigate with this method, but may be instructional and handy if you have vistas.
                      interesting concept Wldns...Mine are 4" apart. I see where closer would be easier in the field.
                      I wouldn't always trust that your flags will be there. People have been known to remove them if not known to have been placed by DEC. There is just no substitute for proper terrain observation navigation and independently always knowing where you are.
                      Your right. this is a good argument for leaving ribbon if you find it, someone may be using it. Marking a bushwack trail is no substitute for knowing where you are, but if you do have a navigational issue, it's good to know the trail leads back to the road.
                      And ribbon works better then bread crumbs...
                      The Wilderness Photography of Gary F. Dean
                      facebook photography of Gary F. Dean

                      It's Not A Map...It's a "To-Do" List!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I agree with all the ideas and suggestions - I wouls also include a deck of cards - settle down - start playing some solitaire - before you know it - some goober will be standing over your shoulder telling you that you missed a move..........

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                        • #13
                          All this is very nice but if you do get lost, and it has happened to experianced people as well, we have all seen what to do and know the priorities but.... as a 40 year experianced hiker/backpacker, I'd like to know exactly what I can expect my rescuers are doing so I can make it easier to be found. Maybe hiker/backpackers should be trained in SAR, or at least a basic knowlege of what they do.

                          I think it would be nice to know what the rescuers are doing and in what order. What radio channels they use n monitor. Do they scan family radio, walkietalkies, CBs, are they broadcasting anything I might recieve on my AM or FM radio? What are they physically looking for, when, and in any particular pattern. How much time do I have to wait before their search begins and for how long will they look? I'd like to know how much time I have to get ready for a search and exactly what order to prepare for each type of search. Do they have priorities such as where they will most likely look first, perhaps by streams or mtn tops, then low lands and wooded areas next?... circular patterns and how wide and how long each sweep generally lasts? Do they backtrack their searches or just sweep once? WIll they be using air search or just ground search and what determines when each will be used, in what order, after how much time and for how long?

                          Yes that smoky fire and blowing my whistle for 3 days is great but if the search wasn't started for the first 2 days I wasted plenty of wood and by day 3 I'm giving up on a fire thinking they have done a search by now. I set up a huge X and all the bright colored flags but SAR is still on the ground doing a circular pattern radiating only 1/2 mile from my expected route I am laying 2 miles out of the radius, it's now day 4 or 5 for me but day 2 to them. So unless it is all done at the right time, it's for naught but if we knew what SAR is doing we can know what to expect of eachother.

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                          • #14
                            All excellent question Paul ron.

                            Pete Fish once gave this advice (if lost) at a presentation he gave:
                            1) DEC will check in this order: trails, creeks and then ridges
                            2) break branches to hang down at eye level as you walk (they will catch the attention of a searcher)
                            3) clear debris from ground and leave a clear imprint of your boot
                            4) drink water! worry about beaver fever later

                            The average hiker does not expect to get lost and what they do in response to their predicament will have a tremendous impact on any SAR.

                            So again, good and fair questions.
                            Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.
                            It's about learning to dance in the rain.

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                            • #15
                              As quoted by Redhawk

                              I don't think that it is stressed enough to stop and look around frequently, and especially after taking or passing a fork or a junction in the trail. Always look back when you pass it as it will probably look much different from the other direction

                              On a hike that my husband and I took early this summer, we became "lost". This was the result of having multiple unmarked trails criss crossing each other which led to some uncertainty as to which trails to take on our way back out to our car. As Redhawk mentioned, I do make it a point to look around and especially look back from where we have just hiked from, but on this particular hike the numerous trails and the terrain made this very confusing on our return trip.

                              We had GPS and map in hand and lots of water, gatorade and munchies, but our first mistake was that we were not fully prepared for a short hike in the woods. Being only about 5 miles from our home, we left unprepared for the possibility of an overnight stay in the woods.

                              The problem on this particular day was that it was about 94 degrees outside with maximum humidity. I became ill from the heat and did not have the time to make any more mistakes getting out of the woods. So not only did we become lost, but the fact that I was not feeling well was having its affects on my judgement and behavior. I just wanted to quit. So after a very comical scene in which I threw my body over a big boulder and cursed my poor husband out, telling him that I was not going to hike another minute or bushwhack around looking for the right trail, I decided that I had better listen to him and get my composure back before I made myself worse.

                              My husband wanted to continue on trying to find the trail, but I convinced him that I was not well enough to do that and that we should hike out via the power lines that we had crossed earlier while hiking into our destination. We could see the power lines between the trees and they were the only visual clue that we had as to where we were. To hike out this way would mean hiking in direct sunlight (not so good for one already suffering from the effects of the heat), but it would prove to be better than trying to hike the 2-3 plus miles back to our car on trails that we were uncertain of. My husband agreed and we hiked out to civilization where we were able to call my daughter for a ride back to our car.

                              What I learned from this is to always be prepared for the worse case scenario when out hiking, one being that you may get lost or temporarily displaced as my husband likes to say. Another thing is that it does not take long for some people to mentally loose it when realizing that they are lost, especially when faced with other compromising factors. I'm a good example of that. Another thing is that you don't alway get lost far from the proximity of home. We were only 5 or so miles from where we lived.

                              Even though it was a bit embarrassing to hike out to a highway via power lines and to have to make that phone call for help from a public place with sweat dripping down our bodies and looking like we had just stepped out of hell, it was the right decision considering the fact that I became very ill once safely back at home. And it is so important to let others know exactly where you are going. I told my daughter that we were going on a hike not far from home and never mentioned the location. She never would have known where to send help to if we had not made it back home that night.

                              Windsong

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