For many many years it has seemed to me that a large number of rescue efforts are caused by people simply becoming lost (as opposed to injuries or other reasons). Does anyone here know stats on causes of rescue efforts?

I've said that folks should get a good GPS and get into the habit of creating a "get home" waypoint before heading wherever. Sadly, a good GPS is still surprisingly expensive. By the way, it seems pretty clear that a GPS won't help much with the immobilizing injury type rescue scenario. For that a personal locator beacon would be needed (assuming better.

The good news is that today LOTS of folks are carrying a very nice GPS capability in their smartphones. I downloaded the BackCountry Navigator app on my Android phone, but I find it so full of content that it is tough for me to use. I find my Garmin GPSMAP 60csx easier to remember how to use. Its Man Overboard feature provides a very easy to use lost prevention tool.

That lead me to wonder if anyone makes a VERY simple to use "lost prevention" application. I couldn't find anything on Google Play.

I picture this being an app that I'd open, press a big "Remember Location" button (which would put the current locations' waypoint coordinates into memory).

Then, if needed, I could open the app and click on a "Find Location" button that displays a direction arrow that points to the remembered location, a distance to location (in selectable units), and it might be nice to display a bearing to the remembered location (with the option to select a bearing adjusted for magnetic declination or not, though most people may not know what that is).

I suppose it should also display the location coordinates - in a format usable by rescue crews - assuming the user could make a phone call. I tend to use either ddd.ddd or UTM formats, depending upon use, but I'm not sure what format rescue folks prefer.

If you wanted to get fancier, the app could allow remembered locations to be named, and called back from a drop-down list. The name could default to a date/time name - rather than a number, which is what my Garmin does.

By the way, it seems that the app should shut off the GPS when the phone is powered down, to save battery. It would restart the GPS when the app is in use.

Just thinking out loud.