How To Not Get Lost

[mn90403]

Bada Bing,

Don't you get lost over there WITH your car?

Mitchel

[Bada Bing]

1 minute ago, mn90403 said:

Bada Bing,

Don't you get lost over there WITH your car?

Mitchel

Never Mitchel...... I know where I'm going and have uptodate mapping of the area (tengraph, oziexplorer, the happy propsector app) and someone always knows my approx area and my ETR. I detect alone but mostly with two mates. We have two vehicles and are both decked out to stay out for a month.

It's when you are out of the car and walking for km's from camp that you can come unstuck. Hell you can walk 50m from your car and be lost out there, no landmarks, just thick dense scrub .....

Cheers

BB

[goldwright]

Just like anything prevention is better than cure.  Always being prepared never hurt or got anyone lost in the past.  I have a day and a half extra food supply stashed in my boat as a precaution and periodically change it out.  Same as my pack when prospecting compass, gps, spare batteries and when wandering always look up from time to time and take in all the landmarks you can.

[gambler]

I would suggest joining a local orienteering club. learning to use a compass and map will serve you well./

[whitebutler]

I learned to use the stars and the sun. My father was a sailor and insisted I learned how to get home. I encourage others to learn also. 

The first sailors used star charts and those haven't changed is thousands of years. Know the stars and change yours.

Cheers

John

[geof_junk]

As you may see from my profile that bushwalking and kayak are some of my hobbies and have been for many years. The main thing is not to PANIC this is easy achieve by looking/studying the map of the area. I remember a mate (Tom) got lost. He put his GPS down while digging, and then walked off with out it. He searched for it for hours getting more lost as time passed. Finally he got on the CB/Radio and let us know his was geographically embarrassed. After finding that he had not crossed any 4WD tracks I was able to get him to put his shadow at 10 0'clock so that he would hit a hand rail (track). He let us know when he hit the track and was rescued. Handrails have not been mention here but are a major feature of a map.

.......LINK 1.......

.......LINK 2 .......    click on.... page 127 >>

The other tip don't depend on others for navigating keep your eyes open. I still carry a GPS, PLB, Light. Lighter, batteries. and first aid and water.

 

[LipCa]

Although I've never had to use it in a "lost situation", I use Avenza maps ( https://www.avenzamaps.com/maps/how-it-works.html ) on my cell phone. Just download (free) USGS topo maps and keep track of where you are.

Mark and describe finds or interesting areas just like a handheld GPS... Hey, it IS a handheld GPS on your phone!

[Andyy]

How to Not Get Lost:  I find remnants of a tobacco can or old food cans and fill them with water acquired from a solar still.  Next, I grab a few small leaves from a local mesquite tree, float that on top of the water, and place a boot tack on top of the leaves to point the way to north.  (Makeshift compass)

Or I just use my GPS.

Seriously, though, you should always carry a compass.  GPS compass is not always accurate and batteries go dead.

[LipCa]

I find many people carry a compass but don't know how to use it.

They don't know the declination for their area or even what declination is

You must know if the direction you are walking is related to True north or magnetic north.... BIG difference on the West coast for sure.

For example, if you have a declination of 20 degrees and walk 5 miles, you could be 1.8 miles from where you thought you were going..... You could still be lost!!

[Jin]

Great tips everyone. Thanks also to geof_junk for those links.  

I'm one of those people that have a compass in the backpack and don't know how to use it. Going to make an effort to learn after reading this thread.

I carry a GPS with spare batteries (charged) as well as a PLB, light, whistle, compass, lighter and snake bite kit in my backback. Once I got lost and it was only about 300m from the car. I'd walked up a hill to take a look only to lose my bearings on the way back down. The bush was pretty thick and everything started to look the same.

After back tracking a couple of times I knew I was lost, and sunset wasn't far off so I started to panic. I then noticed that I had the GPS in my hand, after marking the spot at the car for a look on google earth when I got home. I'd actually never used the GPS to find my way back as it was only new. Fortunately, I worked it out and within 3 or 4 minutes found the car.