I've been reading this thread about some lost hunters and the after action report about the search for the Kim family. In both instances it seems like a map could have really saved the day.

Of course, a good map (that showed just how mountainous Bear Camp road really was) might have kept the Kims from getting lost in the first place. But even if they'd chosen to try to drive the road, a good map could have saved James Kim's life. According to Kati Kim, "James left us with the belief that there was a town called Galice only about four miles from our camp." Galice was actually 13 miles away. Had he known the true distance, he might have chosen to stay with his family and been rescued with them two days later.

The tale of the lost hunters in Idaho has a similar situation. Jenifer Burkey died after a failed attempt to walk to a town that a road sign indicated could be nearby. A much shorter walk in the opposite direction would have taken them to a state highway where they could have flagged down a passing motorist. In both these cases a map could literally have saved people's lives.

Despite this, I rarely see maps included in listings of survival gear on this site. Of course, this could be because, unlike other items in a survival kit, maps have to be customized to a particular locale, rather than being widely useful in a variety of locations. Or it could be that maps are simply such an obvious item that nobody feels the need to list them. I certainly wouldn't go on any sort of hike, backback, or other backcountry activity without a good topo map (USGS quadrangle or equivalent). However, I've never really taken the same precautions whn on a car trip. A state highway map or Rand McNally road atlas has always been good enough for me. The Kim family had an Oregon state highway map, but it wasn't detailed enough to either get across the dangers of their proposed route, or allow them to figure out how far it was to Galice. Carrying quad maps for everywhere I might go on a long trip by car would probably be prohibitive in terms of space (and cost). I have regularly carried a DeLorme state topo atlas (1:250,000 topo maps of the entire state) for my home states (Utah and Arizona). I got them more for trip planning purposes than survival, but after reading these stories I think they would be very useful in a survival situation as well. Not as good as quads, but a lot more practical for covering a lot of area. I'll have to think about getting some more for other states where I'll be travelling by car (according to their website, they've got them for the entire U.S.). After reading about these people's experiences, a state highway map just doesn't seem sufficient at this point.