Brings immediately to mind a Gary Larson cartoon whose caption reads more or less "Nope, it says HELF - guess they are OK."

As almost always in accounts of this nature, there are intriguing and pertinent omissions. A two day trip and he was already "overdue"... Who or what triggered the SAR process? Why no shoes?

It seems like a full blown SAR operation erupted overnight. They are certainly prompt to respond down under.

No faster than anywhere else !
He must have been camping with other people and perhaps he just "went for a quick walk". That would explain why the alarm was raised, and perhaps why no shoes etc

(For some reason quite a lot of people like to go bare foot ... In some places it is quite wet with lots of water to cross, plus it can be hot and humid although no so much this time of year)

As for the swimming, the Jardine River is prime croc country !

The reason I commented was because an $800,000 cost seems pretty steep for a 48 hour operation. Of course, helos ain't cheap and if you truly figured all the actual costs, maybe not so surprising....

$100,000 for the search and $700,000 for the beer ?

I wrote all below before discovering that he has blogged -- in great detail -- about his mishap and the SAR. So in his own words, with much more detail and photos than articles contain, here's his blog:

http://motopangaea.com




Fortunate fellow. According to the article, he's in the midst of an epic around-the-world journey, by motorcycle.

"...The 63-year-old is currently on a around-the-world motorbike journey, and has already made his way across Europe, Russia, China, Japan and New Zealand."



Coincidentally, just before seeing this thread I was checking the battery level on my Garmin 401 -- which would prevented this guy's drama. Rudimentary GPS (no maps), tremendous battery life (15 hours on two AAA batteries) and that's why I like it. Mark your starting point and the 401 leaves breadcrumbs, as well as all the other data you need to navigate. Seems like a smart tool to always have on hand when on the journey he is.

That guy was in an extremely remote area to be traipsing off into the woods without shoes and end up 12 km from his starting point. Other than not having food or shoes the article did not go into detail about what, if anything, he did have which could have aided survival.

Just saw this in another article: He had gone swimming and then decided to cut across the forest (bush) as a shortcut. Hence, no shoes.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/08/23/the-writing-in-the-sand-that-saved-british-guys-life-5356378/

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/i-could-have-died-but-42168/

"The retired AA mechanic ran into trouble after he went swimming to visit a waterfall and realised he could not find his way back to his camp.

"...he was camping with two families while exploring the Old Telegraph Track - a popular tourist spot.






.

I have the Garmin Foretrex 301 which is ideal as a back-up GPS. No compass or barometer/altimeter as in the 401, just basic GPS with Garmin's high sensitivity receiver. Both of the Foretrex models are available online at Garmin's Outlet store Garmin Foretrex
No affiliation.

Thanks, Dagny - great find - an very candid and refreshing account of how this stuff happens. Maps are crucial and for me at least, wet suit booties or something similar when dabbling in the water.

I am more basic in my Gamin receivers - I have carried a Garmin 101 for years. It is perfectly adequate, especially with a decent paper map...

Like Hikermor, I started out with the 101. Got the 401 a couple years ago because it is a bit smaller.

Love the price point, battery life and simple interface on all three models. I wonder if Garmin will do another model at some point, been awhile.

One disappointment: I can't get my 401 to upload to my online Garmin Connect account, like it is supposed to.



.

If by 101 you mean Garmin's Geko 101, I bought the 301 version of that one which has the electronic compass and baro altimeter. Mostly it's a basic GPS, but it has the sensor upgrades like Dagny's Foretrex 401. They're all good. Really I got the Geko 301 because it was gray rather than the lime green or yellow of the other two

I tend to use the small, simple GPS receivers more than the larger mapping receivers. All I really want is a hint as to which direction the car is parked. It's rare I get that turned around.

Another point regarding why a discussion of the Garmin Foretrex GPS is relevant to the tourist or casual camper who walks off and gets lost... The Garmin Foretrex is worn like a watch and in one mode depending n how you set it up, it is just a watch. If you go to "SETUP" and select "SYSTEM", it takes you to a page showing "GPS MODE"; put the mode in "OFF" and you turn off the GPS receiver so the unit is just a watch and the battery lasts longer.

So you are going on a hike and using the GPS as a GPS, you mark your parked car as a waypoint, or while camping you get to camp and you mark the camp as a waypoint -- then you page through the functions and turn off the GPS, page over and down the page, and all you see is the TIME being displayed. There are options to change the fields displayed and that's how mine is set; time shows in 24 hour mode. In any case, it's just a watch until I need it to be a GPS again.

Nope, my 101 is a Foretrex 101 -plain vanilla GPS. I believe it preceded the Geko series.....

But nice and light and keeps splendid time. I especially like it when bike riding and touring...

Actually is he was going around the world, a GPS/GLONASS version would be more helpful as GLONASS's orbit makes it especially suited for usage in high latitudes (north or south), where getting a GPS signal can be problematic. Using a receiver with solar rechargeable batteries would be ideal for the days when civilization is distant.

Not sure why you think getting a GPS signal is problematic at high latitudes? If I'm not mistaken, the GPS satellite orbits are inclined at about 55 degrees, which should give good coverage worldwide, including at the poles. People routinely use GPS everywhere in Alaska, with good success.

From GPS.gov : "The satellites in the GPS constellation are arranged into six equally-spaced orbital planes surrounding the Earth. Each plane contains four "slots" occupied by baseline satellites. This 24-slot arrangement ensures users can view at least four satellites from virtually any point on the planet."

You may be confusing GPS satellites with one of the communication satellite systems. Globalstar, in particular, has its satellites arranged in a more equatorial configuration. Getting voice or data links through Globalstar satellites has sometimes been a problem at high latitudes. This has been an issue for SPOT devices. While SPOT uses GPS satellites to get a location, SPOT transmits that location via the Globalstar satellite data link. Without a data link, SPOT can't transmit the GPS location, so sometimes SPOT doesn't work well at high latitudes.

Iridium sat phones has generally been better for high latitude areas. However, both Globalstar and Iridium are totally different systems from GPS.