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Have you ever been lost?

Have you ever had a crisis in the field?

What are some of your favorite tips for staying safe if things go wrong?

I am going to include a small flare this year, like the ones used in some car kits when you get stuck along the road. I got seperated from my party a couple of years ago in Wyo. I spent the night out in the snow 10 below and 35 mph winds. I was stubborn and the mistake I made was thinking they were...just over the horizon. They picked me up 14 miles away.

I think about this gentleman from time to time also. Kim

Kim
IMHO, was no superhero, he was superstupid.

But you don't get smart by being ignorant to survival. They had all they needed right there.

Jeff

The two tips I would offer would be fairly simple:

1. Have at least a basic survival kit with you at all times.
It doesn't stay in your car.
It doesn't stay at camp.
You don't drop it to make a stalk.

2. Know how to use (and have practiced using) all of the tools found in your survival kit.


Mr. Kim was not super-stupid. He simply didn't have any knowledge base to work with and so; he made the best decisions he could in his ignorance. Unfortunately, though not unexpectedly, those decisions resulted in his death.

One of the results of the excessive urbanization of our world is that very few people understand, respect, and can cope with the realities of nature.

Due to blood thinners I carry a first aid kit + coagulate. A couple of years ago I almost bled to death from a briar scratch on the top of my right hand. I was a mile from my car. I stopped the bleeding by holding my hand high in the air and calming down. If I'm in the woods, so is my first aid kit.

I am not brilliant when it comes to survival. I do at least know that much is to be said for shelter and all the tools available to the vehicle. That you have water, IE snow, and food isn't a worry at all, and that folks will come to find you eventually....

I should not have used the term stupid, ignorant is the correct term.

I'm with you on tips.... I carry survival to an excess ANYWHERE I go, save if we sat down to rest and took the packs off and I go 100 yards to look at something.... but the rest of the time, and thats how my wife and nephew are learning, it stays with you like its an appendage.
Water is a big issue, and fire is a big issue, beyond taht all is good. But of course I carry a spot system now days everywhere if its one of those hunts where the cell phone doesn't work.

Jeff

Not getting into a bad situation is the best way to survive. A GPS is a cheap, relatively reliable, and relatively easy to use piece of equipment that can save your butt when you are in an unfamiliar area. Get acquainted with your GPS, plan for it to run out of batteries, and mark the point you need to return to (camp, truck, boat, etc). Have a backup (compass) and know how to use that too.

Being in shape, and being out a lot (experience) help keep you out of trouble too. Getting lost a few times and getting yourself out will make you more confident in your equipment and less likely to panic. Trust your instruments - if you disagree with the compass, it's you that is wrong, not the compass.

Outside of that, a small survival kit that equips you for the weather/terrain you are hunting in is a good idea. Using the items from your kit in non-critical times makes you familiar with how they work and makes everything work better when you need it.

Oh, and when you buy a compass, buy a couple. Keep one in the kit, and one on you so you can check it all the time. And if you make a survival kit, make one for everyone in your family/party, just in case you get separated.

If you go prepared, and to me mental preperation is 10 times more important than the gear you carry, you should do ok. If you keep your wits about you, a knife and a means of starting a fire will allow you to survive a suprising amount of time in most locals.

I also remember the rule of 2's, as a ballpark you can survive:
2 weeks w/o food
2 days w/o water
2 hours w/o heat
2 minutes w/o air
2 seconds w/o your brain being engaged.

Hence, don't be stupid, it'll get you killed much more quickly than anything else. Know your limitations.

carry enough gear to survive a night or two in wet and cold conditions.

let someone know where you plan to go and when you will return.

Stay dry first, stay warm second, stay hydrated third. Don't worry about food unless you're really stuck out there for a day or two. Nothing wrong with thinking about food or scratching around for something but expending a bunch of energy initially or moving too far from where you are is not a good idea.

My biggest mistakes have come from overconfidence. A few years back I stalked an Elk trying to make sure he was a legal shooter (spike only area). After several hours I ran out of daylight. My focus had been on the Elk I failed to pay much attention to my surroundings. It was a beautiful night and I was almost giddy with how much fun I had even though I didn't close the deal. I assumed camp was just over the ridge, due east of me. When I reached the ridge I didn't see camp but I did see another familiar looking ridge on the skyline. I hiked to it. It was there I realized I had no idea where I was.

I was well prepared which gave me confidence and allowed me to make good choices. We hunt solo from a base camp so no one was worried about my whereabouts. I knew I was on my own. I stopped, had a bite to eat and considered my options. I made the choice weighing the potential danger of walking cross country in unfamiliar territory in the dark and wanting to have enough energy left to build a shelter. My gear gave me confidence and so I was never in a desperate situation. I was able to find my way back in camp after some map study and a couple of good guesses. I restocked the food and water and went hunting again.

Having the ability to make a good shelter is my highest priority. I carry a poncho, garbage bags, cordage, and a folding saw at least. I also carry at least one extra layer of clothes not counting rain gear. I have had it all on at once and it can still be a little chilly if you aren't moving.

A fire is very comforting. I have a number of means to make it in my pack.

Having some food and water helps keep the spirits up. Some sort of water purification is needed.

A few methods of signaling is important too.

FWIW:

This class was AWESOME!

http://www.oregonfirearmsacademy.com/courses/Wilderness%201.htm

BMT

Exactly. Preparation, planning, and getting the right equipment/knowing how to use it are all key. If you have all those, you won't panic and do something you shouldn't, which is how most people get into trouble. Have a plan on what you'll do if you have to spend a night or two out, and a big part of the plan is what's in your pack and how you'll use it. Practice your navigation skills and become proficient. Same with fire-starting and rigging a shelter.

In our hunter safety class we go over the basics. I always ask the youngsters if they watch "Man vs. Wild." They all raise their hands. Then we tell them that if they ever get into a survival situation, getting out of it the right way would be too dull and boring to put on TV. In other words, you wouldn't jump in that river and float down over the falls, you wouldn't try to catch that "wild" horse and ride him out bareback, you wouldn't waste time building snares or catching/finding the most disgusting raw snake meat or big old grub worms to eat, and and you wouldn't solo up that rock face with no rope--you'd find or build some shelter, make a fire, and stay put.

Close,

Stay warm first, then hydrated, You can be wet and stay warm, being wet definitley makes it harder to stay warm, but sometimes it is unavoidable to stay dry.

Try this,
On a nice day go out (not to far from cabin or truck) and make shelter and fire and spend the night with no food or water. If you make it through the night(without having to go back), how comfortable were you? how good was your shelter and wind block and fire? do it a few times till you get were you feel pretty confident, Then Try it in harder and harder conditions.

Lost in Cold - no problem (fire keeps you warm)
Lost in snow - no problem (snow makes great shelters)
Lost in wind - a little bit of a pain (blows body heat away and makes fire harder)
lost in rain - Now that just makes everything harder
combine them all and you got some fun

Tell me if you are lost, what good does a compass do you? it will tell you what direction you are going but if you don't know exactly where you are that doesn't do much good.

Lets say you went in the woods west of a trail head, but then got lost and ended up passing the trail head to the north, Now you look at your compass and go east becuase you went in west now you are just getting further and further north east of the trail head.

And a Map? if you don't know where you are on the map what good does it do you. I mean a lot of terrain looks the same, you can look at the contours on the map and say oh yeah I am in this draw, but there are three other draws witht the same contours.

Your Mind is your best tool when lost - SO DONT LOOSE YOUR MIND - LOL

It really isn't that hard, using a proper map and compass and getting to a high point where you can see the lay of the land, to figure out pretty much exactly where you are. This is an orienteering skill that they teach (or at least they used to teach) to kids in the Boy Scouts. The compass allows you to triangulate and verify your position based on the landmarks you can identify.

This is especially easy if you are in an area where you have some basic familiarity of the overall terrain but, it is not terribly difficult even if you have never been in the area before.

This is where knowledge, skill, and practice comes in. The map and the compass are only as useful as the person using them. The individual contours may look similar for a given set of draws when looking just at the map but, their position relative to other prominent landmarks, verifiable with the compass, will not be.

Exactly you are getting to a high point and seeing where you are not using a map and compass.

What if you cant get to a high point the you are in deep dark timber or swamp??



Again getting to a high point.

I am with you but I throw away the compass and map (waste of my time) and just go for the high point.

There may be some places where you can see a distinct land mark that will show up on a map, but there will be many more without, where one rolling hill looks like another , or one draw looks like another , and a lot of times they repeat them selves oriented in the same direction so that does you no good. And where you cant find a high point to refrence yourself from.

So recommending the average person take a map and a compass doesn't do much good, even trained and practiced, a compass and a map can be worthless if you cant identify one definite landmark to start with.

If you go in the woods with the general lay of the land/ nearest main road, trails(if any) you can use stars,sun,moss,vision and find your way out.

I will consede that in the proper hands and with identifiable landmarks they can be useful. But as you can see I despise them -lol- just stubborn (thats what mamma always tells me)

The average person in the woods is dangerous. And generally has no business in them. I even saw a writer for Petersons hunting come walking out of wilderness one evening, he'd came in from one side and back out at a meeting place. All I saw on him were a rifle and a canteen...... geez...

Maps, with any type of instruction and some sense, are the only foolproof way to go, except when you can't see... but I won't go anywhere without some type of map and compass. You see I"m not worried so much in survival situation about intersecting a trailhead, I'm looking at the big picture, get a general location and direction and head to the closest large target road that you can get to.

I don't go without 2 compass, 1 map, and 1 GPS and a SPOT these days. I rarely use GPS to do more than mark spots and verify, I land navigate with the map and dead reckoning and its all been good so far.

My initial screw up many years ago was leaving to chase horses at dark, and not taking anything with... and then not believing a compass ... which stubbornly led to an almost all night hike around a mountain top and then stayed out the last few hours.....after that I don't leave home without some shelter,fire, water and clothing, along with nav gear. Plus always some oatmeal or the like.....It weighs but I haven't been uncomfortable except one time when I learned a space blanket might save your life but isn't keeping you comfortable. And even then we could have been fine but didn't want to light a fire as bowhunters were after elk there and didn't want to spook the game for them.

Jeff

I guess that is what you would be saying if you saw me, I may have my daypack or fanny pack to put my warm gear in when I am to hot and to carry my lunch (MRE usually).

Don't you know the general lay of the land when you walk in? (direction, road, which way the mountain range is, where the creeks and rivers flow etc)?

And I am lighting the fire my survival and warmth comes before the scant possibility I might scare an animal away from a fellow hunter. Who knows it might scare one to them.

It may have all started when I was a kid and bought a compass and went hunting with the old man. I pulled out the compass and he looked at me and said "what the hell is that? you don't need that if you cant find your way in and out of the woods you don't belong there."

Come on guys, You know you don't "NEED" all that sh%$*%#. If you dropped your pack off a cliff or it washed away down the river, you would make do and get out. We are Outdoorsmen Right?

Yes, you're (sort of) right. We don't probably "need" some of the stuff we carry.

Personally though, I don't have a "Bear Grylls" mentality. Nor am I trying to figure out just how much I can endure and still survive.

I like having the skills, knowledge, and basic gear necessary to COMFORTABLY spend an unexpected night out.

I do agree with you however that, I am lighting my "survival" fire. Bowhunters be hanged.

Great post. One of my "favorite" episodes was with him running down a icy/snowy chute without any idea what was around the corner. Another was with him climbing up a cliff face using some type of vines.

Ridiculous