Realistically many people lost in the wilds are (found( quickly, after only a few hours or a couple days, long before they suffer any real adverse effects beyond a little discomfort. However there is a very high chance a person will not be (found( for many days. This book is for those people. If you are found quickly, great, no big deal, you survived. If you are not found for many days, even weeks, still great, no big deal. You studied this book and knew how to survive.
You can get turned around in the blink of an eye and become lost. The view going back to your car is different to the view going away. Returning you recognize nothing, get turned around mentally because nothing looks right and now you(re lost. It is not at all uncommon for people to get confused in an attempt to return to their car after a short walk in the woods because the return view looks so different to the entry view.
Should this happen to you, stop where you are and look around. You may be able to spot some type of landmark that will be your clue to survival, only now it looks a little different from a new angle. You will not be the first or the last person to get lost strolling in what you thought to be known woods and suddenly find yourself in a survival situation.
In the event you get lost, this book or your kit left at home or in the car will do you little good. It's always better to be a little bit safe than a whole lot sorry. Read this book very carefully, test the ideas out. Eliminate fear and panic before they cloud your path.
By far the greatest danger you will face in the wilds are your own fears and panic. Such fear is not real. It may seem real, but it is truly more fantasy than fact. Once you learn the facts about almost anything, fear disappears.
Many of the hairy tales you see or hear about someone's worst adventure in the wilds and their resulting fear of the woods are as much, or more due to being unprepared as anything. Their safe return home, with their fear still intact, is just pure dumb luck. I insist, and you must believe, nothing in the woods will hurt you if you just pay attention. Take the time to think out what you are doing before you do it, plan ahead a little, and don't panic.
Resist the urge to run. Running will get you no where. Stop where you are, build a fire if you can, summer or winter. In the wilds fire has a very comforting effect for man. Try to mentally retrace your route and look for landmarks. Often you may see land features you will know. However, now you see them from a different angle and they just don(t look right. Take the time to calm down, there is no point or reason to rush. Your life is at stake.
Any time you are anywhere without known landmarks, on terrain you don't know and under dangerous conditions you aren't quite familiar with, you can be lost, even in a big city.
In cities getting lost is not too bad. There are maps, phones, road signs, and other people you can use to help you find your way. You view being lost as only a slight discomfort or mild interruption in your routine. No real problem, unless you're in a high crime area and need to extract yourself quickly. You become complacent toward getting lost. It's just a minor setback with a little inconvenience. You feel this is really nothing to get upset about.
There are always telephones or people nearby to help you out. Then one day you're on a hunting trip with some friends and suddenly there ahead is the biggest buck known to man. You bring your trusty weapon to bear, take aim, fire, get a hit . . . but, only severely wound the critter. So together, you, your friends and the deer, go charging off through the woods. Finally after hours and hours of chasing and another extended period of looking, you find the deer, dress it out and head for home. "Hey, anybody know which way is home?"
Nope.
No one paid much attention to that. You were all too caught up in the chase. Now it gets serious. There are only a few more hours of daylight left. You're so deep in the woods by now there are no traffic sounds, no street signs, no phones . . . but lots of panic. One friend says, "Let's go this way, I know where we must be." But you're not sure. You think, (No, home and the car are back this other way.( Someone else says, "Can't be.( Another person says, ( You(re all wrong, home is over through here." More panic, more wrong answers, more indecision.
Now is the time to stop right where you are and take stock of your situation. To go charging off in the wrong direction again and again will only get you more and more lost.
There are 360 degrees on a compass, a full circle. What would you guess to be your chance of picking from thin air the single right degree from this circle to get you back exactly where you started?
Sit down, relax. So, it's getting dark. So, you may have to stay in the woods overnight. So, it might get cold or rain or whatever. So, the family will worry. So what! None of these things are life threatening, yet, and if you don't panic they will not get that way. Get your panic under control.
Think it out.
Can you recall the basic general direction you were traveling to get to this spot? Was the sun ahead of you or behind you, to your left or your right? About how long have you been traveling? If it has been hours, you could be deep in the woods but, if only half an hour or so, you're not that far from some features you should know.
Did you cross and re-cross a stream, road, forest trail, power line route, or other man made features to get here? About how far have you gone after the last time you crossed the stream or whatever?
If you found a stream, were you generally walking with the stream flow or against it? Were there places where the flow suddenly seemed to have more or less volume? This would indicate a new water source joining the stream at a fork in the stream. The point of the (V( where the waters meet will always lead you toward a larger water source. The larger flow may lead to a river or lake or other place you may find other people.
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