GPS and Stupid

It all comes down to situational awareness. A quality many people unfortunately lack.

Situation awareness involves being aware of what is happening around you to understand how information, events, and your own actions will impact your goals and objectives, both now and in the near future
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People rely on GPS all the time. It's accurate 99.9999% of the time, but with millions of people using it--that means hundreds of people get bad advice from it each day.

These threads often spin out into "GPS sucks" or "GPS is great" arguments, when it isn't the technology: it's usually something else. If you don't know the area, and the GPS navigation appears to be giving you good advice, it may be a long time before you realize it. At least they had trail mix, had enough sense to realize no one was going to find their van, and tried self-rescue. I think the bias in the writing is evident here, and we are not getting the full story.

They clearly didn't know the area. What would you have done?

GPS and Stupid applies to people who drive their cars into lakes or guardrails because the GPS system told them to.

I'm not sure why a GPS system would route them so far off a main road though.
 
GPS is a very cool tool. But just like any other tool you can do stupid stuff with it. All of my GPS's have a map on them, and sometimes that map shows roads where none exist. Most likely because the map data it was pulled from shown a proposed road or one that used to be there.
I have found roads on paper maps that do not exist too, doesn't mean i would follow them.
People do stupid stuff and sometimes they die, there are always more of them being bred.
 
Watchful said:
I'm not sure why a GPS system would route them so far off a main road though.
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There are settings on most GPS devices where you can choose to only use 'sealed roads' and take the 'quickest route' vs the 'shortest route'. Knowing how to use the GPS properly and set it to use major roads and not 'goat tracks' is a valuable skill, in fact a potentially life saving skill.
 
Ive been guilty of following my GPS blindly, especially in foreign countries/cities...but i still take the time to look out the side-windows! If it dosent feel right, then it probably isnt right.
 
PropThePolecat said:
Ive been guilty of following my GPS blindly, especially in foreign countries/cities...but i still take the time to look out the side-windows! If it dosent feel right, then it probably isnt right.
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I quickly realised that with a GPS you are free to ignore it and turn down a different road - gadgets don't care, the GPS will recalculate the route for you. So ignoring a gravel road and continuing on a sealed road is unlikely to make smoke pour out of your GPS. If the GPS directions seem as good as any obvious alternative then I'll follow them, but I never fear trying a different route if my GPS is telling me to turn down a road that I don't like the look of.
 
Having hunted, trapped, and worked in Idaho right where they turned off the highway, I have to say that as soon as they hit dirt all of their survival alarms should have went off. This is country that doesn't suffer fools, and heading into it with a two wheel drive (even 4x4 for that matter) van that time of year without even basic survival gear, and food, is foolish.
In this case, like many, it is not one bad decision that costs a life, but a string of them. Start at the result and work back, and see that at several points the result could have been avoided.
Now it is a search for clothing and bones wich the coyotes by now have scattered pretty far.
Sad
 
Gadgetaholic said:
There are settings on most GPS devices where you can choose to only use 'sealed roads' and take the 'quickest route' vs the 'shortest route'. Knowing how to use the GPS properly and set it to use major roads and not 'goat tracks' is a valuable skill, in fact a potentially life saving skill.
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Yeah, that's true--It didn't occur to me that they might have simply selected a specific route.
 
it helps to bear in mind, that we folks here, have a different world view, and a different skill set than the folks the article was about. Things are simple and easy to understand, only when you have a valid frame of reference to start with.
 
Ive said it a few dozen times that nobody should rely solely on a GPS. But that was regarding the handheld GPS out in the field that should be accompanied by a map and compass (and you should know how to use them).

But in a car I rarely see anybody with a (paper) map anymore. Everybody seems to rely solely on a GPS. Would it hurt much to pack a road atlas?
 
the route should be pre-planned and researched, not done on the fly
talk to people at gas stations, eateries, etc., get their input on your planned route
a map should be used in conjunction with GPS, using 2 sources reduces the chance of error by a factor of 4, crosscheck

these people weren't stupid, they made a mistake (a series of them) and over estimated their preparation and ability
they relied too much on one single resource/technology
they may not have been skilled in navigation, but that doesn't make them stupid
 
In unfamiliar terrain, it is very easy for a GPS to lead you astray.

Last October a trio of backpackers started at Roads End in Kings Canyon to do a loop trip. As they came close to the end of the loop (in Sugarloaf Valley) they were faced with a choice - follow the established trail 15 miles over Avalanche Pass to get back to Roads End, or simply follow the route proposed by their GPS, which showed that it was only four miles to their car. Without checking a topo map, they chose the latter and headed down the Roaring River drainage.

As it turns out, there is a very good reason why there is no trail from Sugarloaf to Roads End - a 2000' cliff. As they continued down the ever-steepening drainage, one of the three lost his pack while crossing Roaring River. They ended up stranded on top of a cliff, unable to go up or down, when the first winter storm rolled in and dumped three feet of snow on them. Fortunately for them, they were spotted by someone in a helicopter shortly after that and they survived with no more damage than hurt pride. It could have ended much worse.

Too many people think that modern gadgets like GPS are infallible, but that is far from the truth. Situational awareness and the use of a second source (such as a map) go a long way toward making GPS a truly useful tool.
 
lambertiana said:
Last October a trio of backpackers started at Roads End in Kings Canyon to do a loop trip. As they came close to the end of the loop (in Sugarloaf Valley) they were faced with a choice - follow the established trail 15 miles over Avalanche Pass to get back to Roads End, or simply follow the route proposed by their GPS, which showed that it was only four miles to their car.
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Imagine if one had said: "Hey, wait a minute - if it is 15 miles along this trail and only 4 miles if we go that way then why isn't there a trail going those 4 miles, that just doesn't make sense. There must be some reason why there is no trail that way!"
 
lambertiana said:
Too many people think that modern gadgets like GPS are infallible, but that is far from the truth. Situational awareness and the use of a second source (such as a map) go a long way toward making GPS a truly useful tool.
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This goes back to what I always say about GPS. If you are taking a GPS you better also be taking a map and compass and know how to use it. I still don't take a GPS in the field, its a lot easier for GPS to go bad than a map and compass.

I've been looking at finally getting a GPS, but it will NOT be one with the built in maps. I just want the UTM coordinates, this way I will HAVE to use the maps.
 
I've seen this case in other thread which I cannot remember.
First of all, it was really a great thing that the mom was OK for seven weeks.

Maybe the GPS was okay but looks like the route guidance had something wrong.
Finding a good route is sometimes very hard for trained human being, not to mention for automated systems.
Consequently automatically recommended route is always nothing more than an approximation, even in terms of the automated system's own criteria.
To be added, the system has no idea who is using it (is it Bear Grills :D or an average person with no outdoor skills).
 
I have been through the area they got stranded in. Obviously a GPS can be helpful, but once you leave the main paved road and start down a muddy 4-wheel trail, common sense should take over. Even if the car got stuck, the man should have been able to walk back along the trail, find the main road, and get help. It is sad that this happened, but somewhere along the way they completely stopped using their brains.
 
jameshuston said:
It is sad that this happened, but somewhere along the way they completely stopped using their brains.
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Engage high tech gizmo, disengage brain, lets go - road trip!

We can all learn from this - leave your brain engaged, keep your eyes open, pay attention to your surroundings, maintain good situational awareness and most of all don't blindly follow an electronic gizmo.

Making sensible decisions is key - not only when finding yourself in a survival situation, but also when the opportunity arises to do something to avoid getting yourself into a survival situation.
This is where life is like playing poker - making sensible decisions is the most important thing you can do.
 
It’s a sad story for sure. I grew up with the map and compass and joined the Army back when that’s all we had. A lot of skepticism arose when we first fielded the military GPS’s and several guys were already using civilian versions. I’ve been in a few situations where we had to rely on them…however, they are like all other tools and gadgets; handy, efficient, most of the time reliable…but they should be used to validate what you already know or provide redundancy to you current skills.

Sure, I love a vehicular GPS when I have to travel to cities I haven’t been to before. Finding a good restaurant and navigating back to the hotel at night is much easier…I absolutely love it! I still use a compass though…just to give me good situational awareness and validate my sense of direction. My father in law loves his GPS to locate his favorite fishing holes in a vast area of rivers and lakes down in FL, however he knows his way around where my butt would get lost without a good map/compass and a GPS to validate.

I use to work Fire Direction back in my Infantry days. When we first received our “ballistic” computers and GPS systems, we would double and triple check before launching rounds. Two computers would plug in the received data and quickly check each other and then we would resend the info back for the final check. I do like electronics and the efficiencies they can provide, but unless you’re packing a few for redundancy and more accurate validation, I would never freely put my life on the line with just a single source. I will never discount electronics and I’ve used them in some pretty extreme conditions including combat zones. However, without learning and practicing the fundamentals and knowing how to use the basic set of redundancy tools (i.e. map and compass), you really can put yourself in a bind with sole dependence and a single electronic device.

It is a sad story, but hopefully it will be a grim reminder that situational awareness combined with common sense can’t be replaced by electronics alone…Mother Nature and Mr. Murphy can wreak havoc on electronics or any other “tool” (and usually at the worst time)…your best defense and protection will always be your noodle first.

ROCK6
 
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