What would you really do and how would you feel if you are lost?

Now, let's be honest with ourselves, no need for too much of trying macho, just let's be plain honest.

How would you feel, what would you feel and what would the first thing that you do if you really get lost , alone in the forest?
Are you really equipped and trained? Did you really practice what you have learnt? Is your survival kit really gonna be of help?

I did face this situation about 3 years ago. I found that the training does help and sometimes, the survival kit you have is considered too much and when you are really tired, the kit seems to be too heavy that you just wanna throw out everything.

Actually, you will soon find that you do not need too many things.

Extra food is always welcomed but the kits can be lighter.

So let's discuss.

First thing In would do is get pizzed off....how could I do something so stupid......Uff-da (run in circles scream and shout)

Then sit down and assess the situation....drink a coffee or make me some, if I have it.....or even just water.

Where am I, how did I get here, what am I gonna do now.....remember maps and directions.

Decide if I gonna sit it out?...or try to self rescue.

How am I dressed?....am I in need of medical attention?

Besides knife, fire, water....I like a compass and flashlight.
Poncho would be nice.

never been lost but camp got misplaced for a couple days once.

Okay, what would be the thoughts taht will be racing in your mind...like, " gosh....how far am I from civilization, would a bear get me, what's behind those trees...would you be scared if you have to spend the night in the forest and after hearing all the local stories about the area you are in..

If its Rick, would a sasquatch or Bigfoot get me?

If its me... I would panic...but I just couldn't show it..first thing that would happen to me would be dumbstruck...and I would have to get myself out of it...then, I would do like Hunter did, sit down, assess, calm myself..I would roll a cigarette and smoke it. I wuld then go through my survival kit, to remind what I have in hand. Then get out of the situation. This is what I would do.
My priorities is to determine whether I can get out the same day. One way is to think how long it takes for you to get to where you are now. If its more than 3/4 of a day, I would just dig in. First thing is to determine where I am and is it dangerous for me. If it is, look for a better place. If its not, stay and make a shelter. Then fire. If I have enough water...stay put. If not find water when you have the opportunity.
Building fire is a must and i like mine smokey.....

Randyt....what I meant in this topic is " what if"?

Yeah, well I wasn't counting the time my truck got moved on me.....LOL....used to carry a "gun sock" made from an old long john leg....to wrap up my rifle on the ride back to my truck.......LOL.

Deer can go for a long ways when wounded......and have to say the lost-est I have been, I was driving my truck in a state forest in 12" of snow....and snowing hard...almost empty gas tank.

I knew that but I was being silly. If I was lost I would sit down and think. Think about the weather, shelter, water etc.

We have many stories about certain entities in the Jungle...you can google up " Hantu Raya, Penunggu, Jin Hutan, Langsuirs, Puntianak and Bunians"....of course these are myths and beliefs, but many in Malaysia are superstitious. The Malays, Indians and Chinese have their own ethnic ghosts...hahahahahahaha...and whenever I did solo camping, peopla would ask me have I met any ting of such....these questions also came up during my survival classes....some people would hysterically.....so...some of us might have this in mind...that is why I am asking all of us here to be honest..throw aay the feeling of being macho...just speak out...hehe

So are you asking what we are afraid of?.....
Got a friend that is deathly afraid of coyotes......have seen plenty, heard even more, and never got any of them close unless I shot them.

Yep..other than what we have trained for, would there be anything else that would make us sleepless....?

You could always just cut down some power lines if you're lost.....

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskat...ntion-1.890115

Provided the power lines don't cut you....

Well here you go, this just happened. Guy was an idiot. Ill prepared for the trip. Yea, he's lucky to be alive.

http://www.adn.com/article/20141013/...ach-state-park

PS, there was a misprint in this story. It said he stopped at a bar where a private party was going on but it was a GARAGE where a private party was going on.

What would your main concerns be, what would you be afraid of, what would be at the back of your mind? I am sure no one is comfortable when one is lost.

Tokwan - there is a huge difference between us being lost and you being lost. I don't care where I am in the Continental US with the exception of a few areas you can walk in any direction and hit a road in a few miles. The Everglades, desert regions or the Pacific Northwest would certainly be exceptions to that. Your jungle is a whole other animal. Not being able to see very far in any direction and not being able to judge sunlight because of overhead canopy are real hindrances and almost conspire to get you lost.

That aside, I really don't mind being lost. It's just not a big deal to me. I've never been lost with an injury so it's usually on my terms. I don't mind bush whacking at all. Just head out through the forest. Some of my most pleasant surprises have been because I've been off trail. I often get turned around because I do that. I just check my compass, check the sun/time, try to figure out where I am on my map and where the closest trail or road is and head that way. It's always worked out. I've sometimes taken the very long way back to my vehicle but I'm there to spend the time in the woods so that's no big deal either.

I spent close to 15 years in the Big Horn mountains area around Sheridan and Gillette Wyoming. Hunting fishing and Camping, I was also a member of search and rescue. It never falled at least once a hunting season we would have to go up and find an out of stater that didn't prepare or take maps to get them back out of camp. One thing that I was always taught about the Big Horn always follow you streams they head down the mountain to the foothills where the ranches are visiable. Never been lost up there but always made sure of maps, compass to be in my kit. Also, we had three children that got lost up there one year. We searched every square inch, then out of no where here come one of the ranchers with a truck and packed in the truck were the three kids, they had walked down the mountain and into the ranchers back door. I think they may have been more calm than some of the adults looking for them. Just use you head and have the attitude, I got myself into this, I can get my self out. Peace.

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Originally Posted by Tokwan

Yep..other than what we have trained for, would there be anything else that would make us sleepless....?

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Lots of stuff keeps you sleepless.....bugs, cold, heat, rain, snow, bugs....hard ground, fear and all other thing that go bump in the night.
Usually by the second night you are so tired you don't care and sleep...
.
That's the way it is....when you body is tired enough it will sleep.

Here is an interesting Article on

How does your brain impact your survival chances in the wilderness?

http://science.howstuffworks.com/lif...psychology.htm

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Originally Posted by gryffynklm

Here is an interesting Article on

How does your brain impact your survival chances in the wilderness?

How does your brain impact your survival chances in the wilderness?

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When I was 11, I was backpacking in Yosemite with my scout troop. The troop had kids ranging from 11 (me :) ) to 17. Myself and another 11 year old were hiking together but we were separated from the group. We were basically in the middle. The fast kids had an adult with them, and another adult was with the slow kids. The two of us were neither. We were told to turn right after the bridge. We turned right at the first trail junction. Eventually we realized we must have turned wrong. So, we sat down and waited. About 30 minutes later, up comes the scoutmaster. He wasn't happy, but was relieved to see us.

When I take scouts now, I tell them that they have to stop at every junction, and on top of hills. I would rather we all get lost together.

Other than that one time, I have never really been lost. A few times I had a hard time getting to where I was planning to go. Couldn't find the place. But, I knew how to get back to the car. A couple times I just sat down and stared at the map and my surroundings until I figured it out.

Where I live is very open. If you pay attention to where you are, it is pretty hard to get lost. The only way I could get lost is if someone blindfolded me, and then dropped me off somewhere I had never been.
I think the first thing I would do is sit down and think for a bit, then probably climb to a high point and try and see as far as possible. Then I would plan how to walk out.

Not too many years ago I flipped my ultralight aircraft end over end and ended up hanging upside down from my safety harness with my head in the snow. This was on a solo cross-country flight in the local mountains here in South Central Alaska. I wasn't lost but was potentially in deep doo doo. My front ski looked like an accordian. Otherwise the plane looked okay. I knew where there was two different empty cabins within a mile of me that had wood stoves for heat. I had my snowshoes with me as well. I spent quite a while trying to figure out what was the best course of action. Do I walk out 7 -12 miles? Do I head for one of the cabins and wait for someone to miss and start hunting for me? I finally decided that if the bent front ski would allow me to taxi on the ground until I got to a packed snowmachine trail, I might be able to take off and fly myself back home. That is what I attempted and was successful. The interesting thing was that even though I was pretty shook up mentally I was still able to keep my Wits about me and was able to logically assess my situation. It was an interesting learning experience for me in several different ways.

Tough plane.....congrats on a self rescue.
I recognize your thought process..........like having a car spinning out in front of you, .....trying to figure out what make and model, where the motor is...which end to hit as hitting the motor end will spin it away from you, where a hit on the empty end will spin in back into you.

This is in place of the "OMG I'm crashing"....and close eyes.

Whenever I'm out in the woods, I'm constantly looking for and assessing the availability of resources (i.e. tinder fungus, water, soft wood for bow drill & fire board, etc). I'm always "planning" in my head and running through "what if" scenarios. Luckily, I haven't needed to carry out those "what if" scenarios, but the mental exercise is in and of itself good practice. I'm sure if I needed to spend the night, or nights, in the back country, I would not have the best night's sleep. I may end up miserable, cold, wet & hungry, but I'd damn well live to tell some awesome stories about it 'round a campfire. A PMA (positive mental attitude) is crucial.

Great discussion. This was the reason for the post. To get a discussion going. I see good response and good argument coming from most of you and the argument on we are at different places is really good.
If you leave in an very open country, you can get out of the jam quite easily...so let's continue with the discussion, argue if we must. It helps to keep the forum more alive and lose that boring feeling....hehe...keep 'em coming guys.

ya know what scares me the most when lost? I'm afraid the wife might find me LOL.

Err Randyt...i would like to forward this forum to your wife..lol..hahahahahahahahahahahaha

I've been lost before. For 8 days we couldn't find a mountain range that had comms. We saw many farms and small villages but it being Afghanistan we didn't risk it. Finally one night we heard a couple Blackhawks and threw out our strobes and we were located. We all had everything we needed for survival as far as gear and training. But training can only be so much life like. You truly don't know what it's like till it happens. I'll admit that even though I had my buddies I was scared and so were they. It was deathly cold and will Talie around it was a slow quite process. Luckily we were never engaged.

That must have been one hell on an experience Josh. Yep..you got that right. we can only prepare in terms of tools, mindset and knowledge. Practice often. In Malaysia, there will be no phone coverage even in some rural areas...let alone the jungle...

It was something I will tell my grandchildren. It was rough. I imagine if I was back home I wouldn't have been as afraid because I know my way, the land, plants and animals. But even the water over there will make you question if boiling it is even enough and I didn't know any of the plants. If is wasn't for MREs we would've been hard up

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Originally Posted by randyt

ya know what scares me the most when lost? I'm afraid the wife might find me LOL.

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I always though a cell phone was kinda like "belling the cat"..........LOL

My father told me from an early age to carry a small kit, (which I do). I have shelter, a space blanket, compass, knife, matches, metal cup, water bottle and food. Oh yah mosquito head net. It all fit in/on a possible type bag. That is just for a walk, I try to look up a topo of the area before hand as a reference. I never feel lost, just am in a different home for the night(s) I will make it home in a bit.

Tsitenha..yep right mentality, be prepared.....!

So right Tokwan, unless injured even so just a matter of keeping calm, relaxed, bush fever not a good thing. For me I rely on my teachings, experience and culture, even with all the kit in the world, it will become useless if I panic. We can do a lot with a positive attitude.

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Originally Posted by phreshayr

Not too many years ago I flipped my ultralight aircraft end over end and ended up hanging upside down from my safety harness with my head in the snow. This was on a solo cross-country flight in the local mountains here in South Central Alaska. I wasn't lost but was potentially in deep doo doo. My front ski looked like an accordian. Otherwise the plane looked okay. I knew where there was two different empty cabins within a mile of me that had wood stoves for heat. I had my snowshoes with me as well. I spent quite a while trying to figure out what was the best course of action. Do I walk out 7 -12 miles? Do I head for one of the cabins and wait for someone to miss and start hunting for me? I finally decided that if the bent front ski would allow me to taxi on the ground until I got to a packed snowmachine trail, I might be able to take off and fly myself back home. That is what I attempted and was successful. The interesting thing was that even though I was pretty shook up mentally I was still able to keep my Wits about me and was able to logically assess my situation. It was an interesting learning experience for me in several different ways.

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Hahha yep, that's so Alaska.

In all honesty even though I have an edc kit, I feel that I would probably be a little underprepared. I don't have a ton of experience with that type of situation even though I spend a lot of my time in the outdoors. I think I would be physically prepared but not emotionally/mentally prepared if I happened to get lost for a long period of time.

Having the right mental attitude and keeping calm is the key to survival, IMHO! Back in 96, I fell from a tree stand and (found out later) broke my back. I was alone at camp and my buddy wasn't coming up to camp until the next day. I knew that I had a serious injury and it was raining. I did not want to lie out in the rain all night, so I had to get my self out of the wood and eventually to the hospital. I knew that if nothing else, I could crawl out to a hard road about two or three hundred yards away and attract some passing drivers attention. Thankfully I had my ATV along and crawled to it and up on it, ( love electric start!) and very slowly drove my self out to the cabin. After a pain pill dulled the pain to a tolerable level, I was able to drive myself to the ER.

I haven't been totally lost in years, but I remember most of the times I got lost when I was a kid, I got mad at myself, and would finally realize that I need to just sit down and calm down. Then I would look for any familiar land marks and try to remember my treck in relative to any visable land marks, then try to work my way back to my starting point.
The I got smart and bought a cheap compass and started taking headings before I took off into the woods. That way at least I knew the basic direction I came from.
I have never been big on a huge backpack, just the basics and a tarp for a quick shelter. I have never used a backpack that weighed over 30 lbs. Honestly I could get that much lighter if I tried but I like my comfort items.
I have never been much of a winter hiker, but extrememly cold weather is a total game changer. That is when the old backpack gets heavy. I keep a cold weather BOB and it probably weighs 60 pounds, and I hope I never need it!

Me, if I were lost?

Id panic like a school girl for an hour or two... Once I grew tired of that, Id start thinking a little level headed and try to sort things out, then set a plan, then work the plan.

EB

I have never been lost in an

OK. I hit the wrong button so I am starting over. Usin