Hows that for excellent advice,Im going to get that info out when talking with friends and hand out some whistles if anyone shows interest.

Great advice and simpler than GPS and maps while good for expert hikers.....the rest of us/MOST people,the great majority,need the above.

Thank you Hikermor,one of the smartest pieces of advice Ive seen here (not that others havent mentioned in other contexts) this was well stated in this instance.

Sit down,blow whistle,how brilliant is that??!!

Edit-Thank you rescuers for sharing stories and prevention and decreasing risks,Ive really learned a lot.

Thats why the old advise is still good value. That is, when you get lost, sit down and brew a cup of tea and think for awhile. Instead of running in panic.

"when you get lost, sit down and brew a cup of tea and think for awhile"

True.
It does help to have tea, some water, a small stove, matches, and a chocolate chip cookie.
But definitely - PANIC is not an option :-)

Pete2

That is what the youngest Cub Scouts are taught

Taught the wife that last night,LOL!

S.T.O.P (even when using a GPS)

Stop, Think, Observe, Plan



http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/woman-drives-900-miles-gps-error-181605523.html

That belgian woman had surely some form of dementia.

I mean if you embark on a journey that might take a couple of hours and only on the second day figure out someting is wrong...

Then you can´t blame the navigator.

" If you start seeing road signs in (multiple) foreign languages (Flemish, French, German, Croatian), pull over. You're probably going the wrong way."

that was funny !! :-)

you guys have hit upon another cause of getting lost. It's long term exposure to the elements. A slow but steady drop in body energy, accompanied by heat or cold exposure and dehyrdration. Personally I can attest to the mental screw-ups that come from dehydration and exhaustion.

You can get to the point where you are hallucinating. Somewhere before you start seeing things ... your sense of direction takes a major hit. People tend to enter a death spiral where they are going around in circles, hardly even realizing that they are doing it. So they are expending energy and "pushing on" but really getting nowhere.

Pete2

Another Scout lesson. This is first step in the Boy Scout wilderness survival merit badge lesson. The way the Cubs are taught is to hug a tree. Once they realize they are separated they should stop and sit by a tree. signal, drink water, and pull out your poncho or jacket and put it on. It works for anyone in an emergency situation, once out of immediate danger. A similar process is taught in military survival training, but it focuses on being somewhere behind enemy lines so signalling is a bit different.

This is exactly what I teach the local Girl Scout troops when I'm brought in to speak.