Universal Emergency Signals
This came out of "The Backpacker's Field Manual", by Rick Curtis. The guy is the Director of Princton University Outdoor Action.
The following signals are for strip signals, recommended to be built from rocks or tree branches or dug in the ground and are designed to be seen from the air. Make your signal big ( 20 feet long or 6 meters) so that it can be seen from a distance, and select a highly visible location. the universal signals follow:
NOTE: I didn't feel like drawing these in a graphics program, so the ones that didn't correspond to a key on the keyboard I simply described it. If you don't know what a square or a triangle looks like, well, you got bigger problems than being lost in the woods.
| - require doctor Serious injury
|| - require medical supplies
F - require food and water
K - Indicate direction to proceed
X - Unable to proceed
LL - All is well
N - No, Negative
Y - Yes, Affirmative
directional arrow - Am proceeding this direction
a square - require map and compass
triangle - probably safe to land here
JL - This is actually not a J, but a backwards L, fowards L. Means "Do Not
Understand"
Now, my question is, who is going to be creating 20 foot signals for things like "Do Not Understand" out in the wilderness? Who are you talking to? What don't you understand, why you got lost? And, if you do put out a signal like "require map and compass", WHY DIDN'T YOU STAY PUT?!?!
