Has anyone ever been lost?

[ElevenBravo]

Me personally, not yet... but its like playing with snakes... do it long enough and you will eventually get bit (lost).

In the grunt, Ive followed a few point men that were lost... :-) Actually the navigator is behind the point man... the point man is steered by the navigator so he can focus on.... navigation.

In a squad movement, you would have 3 people doing different task.... The point man travels with dead reckoning, the pace man keeps track of distance traveled and the navigator has the map & compass (Usually the LT or Plt Sgt).

Andrew

[Woodmaster750]

Never lost. Just miss placed.

[WolfVanZandt]

What keeps me from being "lost" is that I like the planet and wherever I am here, I enjoy myself. If I don't know where I am, I'm not lost, I'm on an adventure. This place where I am is my home and I may not be familiar with parts of it but I'm willing to enjoy the process of becoming familiar with it. The only thing that has ever really bothered me is some of the pests that co-inhabit it with me. Most of them look distressingly like me.

"Survival", for me, is the process of learning parts of my home range that I'm not already with and not dying in the process.

I'm a Christian and an ex-gospel musician and the number of songs that emphasize that "this world is not my home; I'm only passing through," disturb me. I align more with "This is my Father's world." True enough, my final home is still out there, but this is most certainly my home range and I love it. I love every rock I fall off and tree I trip over. Even when I am close to dying from exhaustion, a beautiful sunset doesn't lose it's power to refresh and inspire me and that, in itself, is enough to save me sometimes.

[RangerXanatos]

True enough, my final home is still out there, but this is most certainly my home range and I love it. I love every rock I fall off and tree I trip over. Even when I am close to dying from exhaustion, a beautiful sunset doesn't lose it's power to refresh and inspire me and that, in itself, is enough to save me sometimes.

Very inspirational. That should be your signature.

[Old Professor]

I have never been so lost as to have to spend the night in the woods BUT i have been turned around more than once! Even in your own backyard, a heavy snowfall or dense fog can so reduce visibility that you become totally disoriented! It becomes very important that you carry at least two compasses, because if they both agree then I am wrong and I follow their orientation. In Theory, a GPS or the Bushnell Trackback GPS would be an ideal solution in snow or fog. Thankfully I havn't had to rely on those pieces of technology --YET.

[deafdave3]

I'm really proud of myself!!! This thread turned out much better than I thought it would!

[Sarge47]

When I was a child, I was taught that if that ever happened, be completely still and do not splash.

Yeah, right.

That's what happened! I was splashing around and they ate me! I ddied!

[FVR]

Lost, never lost. Turned around a bit down in the jungles of Panama once. Once.

[Walking Bear]

I have never been lost; I did lose the car once while out checking deer stands! I only had to walk about three mile more than I planned to find it!

[Desert Rat!]

That's what happened! I was splashing around and they ate me! I ddied!

I knowed that was gonna happen, that happens to me all the time.!!

[rebel]

I get lost all the time. With about 50 cities and constant hotel changes, I go for a jog or walk and wham-o, I'm in a bad neighborhood. When people look at you like what are you doing here and you get the hate look, that's not a good thing. I'll take being lost in the woods over the wrong hood any day. I'm pretty sure I'm not the cause of anyone's problems.

[WolfVanZandt]

Heh. That sounds familiar. I had a long layover on a bus in Houston while I was working offshore and I decided to walk into town for a burger and a movie. I honestly don't recall the movie but I most certainly remember the burger. I walked into a cafe and ordered a burger and fries and looked around - I was the only white guy in the rather crowded joint. The burger was quite good. I didn't die.

[SurvivorMama]

Getting lost can be frightening at least, deadly at worst. It is bad enough in urban/suburban life, or for those like my daughter, in an unfamiliar Mall. There is something entirely different and primal about losing one's bearings in the mountains or desert (having done both in my lifetime, I prefer the mountain experience just for resources). My Dad (rest his soul) taught his only daughter that one could never truly get lost, but might need to reorient to find familiar surroundings. He was big on stress reduction management.

I have become disoriented several times in my life. Asa teenager I got turned around in the Vermont mountains (near Rutland). It was a 36 hour adventure in late October. That time I remained in place, left signals, and built a debris hut to hunker down for the night. My father found me the next day. He was not happy with me, but did seem relieved that I had actually listened to his teaching and advice throughout the years. In New Mexico, I went on a hike and failed to remain aware of my landmarks. Safe sheltering was the key there, as it was late in the day. Having everything I needed, it was not a big deal. I slept well, was comfortable, hydrated and ate a warm dinner, then found my way back when the sun came up.

If you can imagine a watch face you can determine time and direction (even without your iPhone). Use your hand widths to determine time until sunset (you should already know the approximate time of sunset...and hopefully you know where the sun is setting), then convert that time to an analog watch mockup. That is then used to formulate a crude compass heading. Use point to point navigation once you figure where you need to go. Scary only if you leave a physically safer area unprepared for the weather. Getting lost in my car would be survivor heaven. On foot, even without my backpack, I carry basics from a carabiner survival kit (including 6 capsules) on a paracord lanyard, and my Sig. One previously unknown asset is that the iPhone (with solar charger) will ping to those hopefully looking its carrier.

[finallyME]

There has definitely been times when I wasn't where I thought I was. One time I was legitimately lost, I was eleven and backpacking with my scout troop in Yosemite. My scout master found me and the other scout I was with after a couple hours. He was not happy. I have been lucky enough to get my scouts places where we didn't know where we were, and then I could show them how to remedy it. In Iraq, we got lost on pretty much every convoy for the first 6 months, until we knew our way around real good and didn't need maps.

[Power Giant]

When I was about ten, my 2 cousins and I got lost in Manhattan NYC. We were at a class trip to the police academy and got seperated from the rest of the group. We just kept walking around and around the block until an adult found us. They were really ticked off at us.

[postman]

Got lost while hunting in 2010 up in Northern Ontario. Foolishly wandered off grouse hunting completely unprepared. Fortunately I told the other members of my party the general direction I was going, and when I didn't return they went looking for me. Didn't quite spend a whole night out there, but I did spend part of it. Luckily I had a knife and firesteel attached to my quiver. Now I don't go anywhere without the proper clothing and a PSK. I posted the complete story as a senerio last year.

[ryaninmichigan]

I hat never been lost but I have had a couple sudden camping trips in the woods of the UP when I was yonger. Never thought much of it. Just settled in and built a fire. Walked out in the morning.

[Wildthang]

My dad always told me, " lost is not a place ". He absolutely hated to get lost, and would get mad as a hornet if he even got lost in an unfamiliar town while traveling in the car.