Gear for day hikes

well, it is almost impossible to do in dense forest, but if you climb a hill, and you have a topo map, you might (and I should stress might) even be able to figure out which hill you're on, and which way is north, even without a compass. Look for rivers, roads and hilltops. it's hard to do if you're panicking about being lost, but pretty easy if have your wits about you.
 
MelancholyMutt said:
well, it is almost impossible to do in dense forest, but if you climb a hill, and you have a topo map, you might (and I should stress might) even be able to figure out which hill you're on, and which way is north, even without a compass. Look for rivers, roads and hilltops. it's hard to do if you're panicking about being lost, but pretty easy if have your wits about you.
Click to expand...

Agreed, YOu and I have this skill but most peoples eyes glaze over when they look at a map :) haha

Skam
 
"Tom Brown relates tracking a hunter to the point of death in the Pine Barrens of NJ. Guy kept going in circles. Probably a lack of knowledge of the technique several have mentioned here."

Thomas L,

He was tracking a hunter from New Jersey. That is all we need to know to figure out why the guy was cluelessly wandering around in the Pine Barrens. Mac
 
If someone was tracking me, I'd walk in a circle once and then break off covering my escape trail as well as I could... Very smart guy.
 
Butcher, Thanks for the link to that 3-days-lost hunter story.

Given that she had firemaking gear and good enough firemaking skills to make a fire later when her facilities were even more deteriorated, I wonder why she wasn't drinking water from the creeks she was crossing & recrossing. Maybe she didn't have a pot to boil water in. The story didn't say, so that's my best guess. For whatever reason, her failure to hydrate was a big part of her ordeal.

While I agree with their list of stuff to take with you when you are out & about (which I've pasted below for those who didn't follow the link ;) ), I find it interesting that they skip what is IMHO the most important item of all, as do most such lists. And that is the knowledge/training/practice needed to use efficiently the gear you've brought along in your kit. As others have noted, having the gear alone without knowing how to use it is status quo for most of the people around us. That lack of knowledge reduces the gear to simply being an anchor that slows the lost person down, which may help the SAR folks searching for them since they won't cover so much ground. ;)

List of gear from article to pack with you.
The following items will help you survive in the wild:
• Sturdy, sharp knife; consider multitools for their additional helper items
• Strike-anywhere wooden matches in a waterproof container
• Butane or windproof lighter wrapped in plastic
• Fire-starting materials
• Canteen or heavyweight resealing plastic bag for water storage
• Iodine tablets, metal cup for boiling or approved filter for obtaining water
• High-energy food
• Space blanket, poncho or light-weight tarp
• Flashlight with extra batteries, bulb
• Lightweight cord or rope
• Signal mirror
• Whistle (for signaling)
• First-aid kit (personal medications, moleskin, tweezers, antibiotic ointment, bandages, gauze pads, roll of tape, a large triangular bandage)
 
This summer in PA I was able to locate myself by orienting the map to magnetic north and figuring the only place on the map where the trail could angle the way it did. I was on a long curving trail that made a horse-shoe type bend. From that point I was able to strike off trail and hit my mark to take a shortcut back to camp. As it turned out I was only 50 meters off the mark. I didn't tell my 13 year-old daughter that I was trying something new. She was impressed that I got us back to camp so quick.

Good maps give you tons of clues if you reason them out. Mac
 
Another hint is to check the date of the map. Once in Army ROTC, the cadre purposely gave us an outdated map that had missed out on a lot of changes. Only one kid who had been an Eagle Scout previously caught it by checking the date. Look for landmarks that aren't changed over time.
 
Thanks again to everyone who posted on this thread. I never expected such a wealth of feedback. :cool:
 
The 3 day ordeal was a good read -- lessons to be learned from other's mistakes. In addition to a Brunton compass, I keep a non-mapping GPS unit in my EDC backpack all the time. Garmin's Geko 301 is small and light; while it doesn't have landmarks and roads on it, you can add any waypoints you desire -- it does have a backtrack feature. While many might not have basic orienteering skills (same folks who don't have a map and compass), handheld GPS units works really well at pinpointing your location. If you have your camp or other landmarks already in the GPS staying found should not be an issue. Still, basic orienteering isn't a tough skill to learn.

Another set of items that is light and easy to pack is a Pocket Survival Pak that you can get as a 5 pack, or as part of a Mini-RSK and Surv Pak Combo. The RSK and pocket survival pack combo is a good package that makes basic equipment and a good knife available. I have the mini-RSK and a pocket survival pack with a good length of 550 para-cord in my EDC backpack. Also available online, at REI and a number of other outdoor shops.
 
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