California Fisherman Fights for his life

Over the weekend I heard an interview on "All Things Considered" of a lone-fisherman who became
lost for five-days -- and was ultimately rescued.

Here is the transcript (and audio) of the interview...

http://www.npr.org/2014/08/23/342529591/...=storiesfromnpr

Lots of food for thought.

My impression is that he violated many of the basic rules we tend to preach; e.g., know where you are and keep track of how to get back (old boy scout trail marking) and the importance of a PSK in you pocket at all times in "the woods." Even what most of us EDC would have helped.

It seems he lost track of even if he headed off east, west, north or south from where he landed his kayak, and could not simply reverse course.

No indication he started, or could start a fire.

Finally, he made a good decision. Stay in one place and make a signal.

But my real question is: Was the bait (crickets) really that important that you would wander that far away from the kayak the lake and the beach?

A simple thing as a wrist compass would have saved his day. Apparently he had no compass.
Any time I go any further than the city center of my hometown the wrist compass gets on.

I carry a button compass as part of my EDC. One never knows when a compass will be needed, especially in a city or urban area.

Two suggestions.

Never leave your camp without the ten essentials.

When hiking, periodically look behind you. This so you will recognize the way back--it looks quite a bit different than the way out.

Carry a decent map of the area - he had one, but it did not extend far enough beyond the lake.

Practice terrain awareness. Be alert to your surroundings and note local landmarks.

Sounds like he's the unluckiest lucky guy or maybe the luckiest unlucky guy. At least it was summer so he didn't die of hypothermia. It was unwise to venture from camp without any gear, but it's easy to understand the motivation. I'll just be fifty feet away, camp will still be visible, you think. But it's very easy to get turned around. Hike a short ways in the wrong direction in unfamiliar territory and getting truly lost is suddenly a frightening possibility.

If survival is graded pass/fail then he passed! But it's a shame to take something that could have been very routine and turn it into a harrowing ordeal.

Dissecting the issue, he did some good things. He recognized the importance of water and finally elected to stay near it. That alone maybe kept this from being the story of a body recovery. Being without food and supplies is morale-crushing but you can go a long time without food.

The obvious thing is that you need to have a good map, a compass and the ability to use them. And this completely validates the rationale of something like the Ritter AMK PSP! With minimal gear carried on body you will at least some stuff to help if you get lost.