First Response

What action do you take first, when you find you are lost in the woods or first figure out you are in a survival situation?

I will tell you mine answer after a few of you post yours. My answer will suprise some of you!

Don

First thing, make a fire and make some tea, eat some jerky, have a pipe of tobacco..enjoy the moment.
Think, assess, plan.

It would depend on the situation. Getting lost can be very gradual and so may the responses as you find your self in less familiar surroundings. My first responses may be as subtle as looking to see how much daylight I have left. I’d try to calm myself then look at my situation and observe my surroundings, what do I have with me, did I leave tracks that I can follow back, is there high ground or a tree I can climb to get a better view of the land, is there a river or creek near by. This is what I have don in the past when I was lost.

The first thing that I do is make sure that it is Earth that I am on..:D After that I am with Carcajou garuo I sit drown and look at the stars :) .But the last time that I got lost it was in the FOG .I was hunting the fog rolled in and I had no compass. That makes it chicken soup time :rolleyes:,I don't like hot tea ... Hay as long as I know I on Earth I'm know I can get home with time . It may be a month or two be just look a it as a camp out :rolleyes:

set down relax, make a plan depending on the moments priorities

I got lost once when I was just a young kid, about 9 or 10 and I started to freak out. I realized that I was making things worse for myself, running around, and just stopped and took a few deep breaths and then scanned around for higher ground. I realized that I was pretty much ok for time and I knew I had enough food for the day etc, so I found a small hill and climbed a big tree and found my trail again. Never been lost since, this kind of works well with the thread about using natural signs doesn't it? I usually don't have to worry because my sense of direction is accurate. The only place I know where I can lose my sense of direction is in elevators in really big buildings (except up and down) but out in the bush I'm ok.

Well it depends on a number of variables. Let's assume it's summer/fall and not quite dusk yet, but it is getting late. In my area, if I'm lost, I know I can walk 5 miles in any direction and hit either a road or Lake Superior (kinda sad that the UP, considered to be "backcountry," is so populated with roads). So of course I'll just pick a direction and start walking. Yes this is bad form in most survival situation, but again... 5 miles. If I hit a shore, I just walk along it until I hit a town or road. If I hit a road, I hitch hike or follow to a town. Fairly simple and *sniffle* really sad that I'll never truly be lost up here. *fetal position*

emergency response team, will race down to the UP, grab Mitch, fly him over northern Manitoba and parachute him out of the plane...there ya go, buddy! Truly lost!

Just trying to help!:)

I'm with mitch execpt for the hitch hiking thing, but then again I'm in the States, home of sicko's and whack jobs who would rather dick ya over than help.
Although I've never really been lost, wish I could get lost and test my skills, but then if I failed I'd be dead and that would suck azz, hmmm, think i'd survive though.
Here's a question... what if you were stranded in mid september with nothing but the clothes on your back, in a forested-mountain area like montana. What then smarty pants :D Answer that.

Actually it was late November and why....I froze to death of course...

But seriously, hopefully I'd have enough functioning brain cells to be dressed appropriately for the climate, layers of light wool and some kind of wind breaker. Nowhere near a road or signs of civilization right? I wouldn't rush myself at any of this, take my time and expend energy as carefully as possible. Check the weather and the time of day, get my directions sorted out so if I decide to leave I'll have a pretty clear route in my head. I'd find tinder, fire starter, hopefully something to make an edged tool with (pretty sure there's rocks in Montana) get a fire going, use the edged tool to start building a lean to (or build it out of dead falls if no tool) Look for a water source (and suspect as it may be, I'd rather take my chances with parasites than with dying of thirst, moving water tends to clean itself pretty well) Keep the fire going, move slowly gathering wood etcetera then start fashioning tools for trapping and fishing. Keep building that fire up...airplanes are looking for me, I hope. If I can come up with an edged tool its going to make coming up with all the other things I'll need a lot easier, snares, water carrier, water boiler, etc. I've seen so many sets of directions for these situations where someone will say "it is absolutely essential to get your fire going first! or build your shelter first, or make a knife first etc etc. The reality in my life has been that I'm pretty good at multi-tasking those things and it all sort of comes together quite nicely.

Number one: Do NOT Panic!! That's the thing that will kill you fastest, you cant assess a situation, you can't function properly, you can't help yourself if your overwrought with fear.

I mentioned in a previous thread where we talked about situations like this that it wouldn't happen to me because if I'm dressed I've got a lighter and a pocket knife. Some people felt like I was cheating, but it's true, I don't leave home without them, usually a small flashlight in my jacket too. I can do a lot with a sharp knife and a lighter (take over the world muhahahaha, whoops did I say that out loud? DOH!) So you really think I'm a smartypants huh? Well thanks, coming from you Beo, that is a true compliment! :D

Damn I'm getting long winded, takes me longer to type what I'd do than it does to do most of it, LOL

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew! Took you so long I got tired VW... i mean Trax :D
lol.... lol.... lol.... huhhhh.

More of a Chev s10 kinda guy than Volkswagon....:D Oh, that VW...never mind..

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