Survivor Kid: A Practical Guide to Wilderness Survival
ANYONE CAN GET LOST and What to Do If It Happens to You Anyone can get lost or have an emergency while hunting hiking or playing in the wilderness It happens to kids and adults even experienced hunters and hikers and occurs most often during simple day hikes or quick outings That means that this chapter is the most important one in the book Maybe you skipped it at first so you could read about the fun stuff building different kinds of shelters identifying animal tracks or creating a solar still I probably would have done the same thing All that other stuff is important but none of it is as crucial as what you'll learn in this chapter You need to read this section carefully and you may want to talk to a parent about what you have learned The most important things you can do to stay safe are actually very easy First tell someone where you are going whom you're going with and what time you'll be back Adults forget to do this as often as kids do But how are you going to be found if no one knows where you went Rescuers could spend hours or even days look ing for you in all the wrong places So remember the best way to make sure that you are found is to make sure that somebody knows where you might be lost Another great thing you can do is to take friends along with you Having one or more buddies along makes good sense for lots of reasons For starters it s much easier to find a group of people than it is to find just one Also friends can help you build a shel ter collect water and make noise so that people can find you And being lost is less scary when you are not alone Your buddy doesn't even have to be a person you can bring a dog friend with you to keep you company and keep you warm If you are with another person or a group of people stay together Last always carry water food and a survival kit Your kit can be as
simple as a water bottle and purification tablets a lighter a candy bar a flashlight toilet paper some garbage bags a first aid kit and a whistle You can read more about more advanced sur vival kits in chapter 12 p 191 Just by doing these three things letting someone know where you're going taking a buddy along and having a survival kit with you you'll know that you ve done the most important things you can to make sure that you ll be found alive and well But what is better than being found alive and well Not getting lost in the first place of course So how can you help to make sure you don't get lost Let's look at some of the most common reasons that people adults as well as kids find themselves lost in the wilderness It gets too dark to see where you're going It's easy to mis judge distances or lose track of time when you are exploring and enjoying the outdoors and activities such as day hikes and rafting trips frequently last longer than expected Out in the wilderness especially in the mountains it can get dark quickly all of a sudden the sun disappears behind a hill and you realize you have a long way to walk in the dark to return to your camp or car Always carry a flashlight or headlamp as well as extra batteries with you when you head out into the wilderness Someone gets hurt It's easy to twist an ankle or stumble and fall when hiking and you can get sick out in the woods just as easily as you can at home If you or someone you re with is hurt or ill even if that someone is your dog you may not be able to make it back to civilization before nightfall Be sure to bring along basic first aid and signaling tools whenever you go on hikes or other wilderness excursions That way you l be prepared for emergencies and you'll be easier to find if you have to be rescued The weather changes suddenly I live in the mountains where it snows at unexpected times even in the middle of summer In both mountains and deserts fierce rainstorms can occur with very little warning and make rocks and trails slip pery In many areas of the country it can become foggy mak ing it difficult to see or stay on trails Oftentimes it is more dangerous to try to walk through bad weather than it is to sit tight and wait it out If you have your survival pack with you you can make a raincoat out of a garbage bag and build a fire to keep you warm as you wait for the weather to clear You take a shortcut that turns out to be a
When you are tired and on a switchback trail one that zigzags up a steep hill it may seem like you can save time by going straight up the hill instead But once you leave a trail it can be surprisingly hard to find your way back to it Hike only on marked trails and avoid shortcuts that lead you off them You follow a false trail Well worn animal paths often look like trails made by and for humans It's easy to veer off onto an animal trail by mistake and be unable to find your way back to the people path How can you make sure that you stay on track One way is to mark your trail as you hike into the wilderness so you can follow your markings when you hike back out To show where you've been you can put a small rock on top of a big rock or place two sticks together on the trail so that they point like an arrow to show your direc tion You can also tie brightly colored flagging tape which can be bought at most hardware and outdoor equipment stores to branches or rocks to mark your path The test is to look back and make sure that you can always spot the last marking as you go along that way you'll know that you will be able to spot them when you return along the trail If you use flagging tape be sure to remove it as you walk back No one wants a messy forest The trail is rocky and there aren't any footprints to help you stay on the path How can you tell that you haven't veered off the trail if you have to travel over rocks Some trails are marked with ducks which are little piles of rocks that show you where the trail is One rock on top of another means go straight ahead a small rock to the right of a big rock means turn right and a little rock to the left of a big rock means turn left If a rocky trail isn't marked you can make your own ducks tie some flagging tape to a rock or mark your way with branch arrows You go exploring and end up in a place that is totally unfa miliar to you As you go along try to pick out landmarks that you can look for when you head back Of course if you bring a GPS Global Positioning System with you you'll always be able to tell where you are See chapter 10 p 172 for infor
mation on navigating via GPS You have to leave the trail in order to get around some thing that s in the way In the spring streams of rainwater or melted snow may block sections of a trail Big trees and boulders may fall across the path If you have to leave the trail to get around an obstacle such as these you could wind up off track Pay attention to what your trail looks like and when you get back to it on the other side of the obstacle make sure it looks the same You don't want to end up on an animal track or a different trail by mistake You leave the trail to go swimming fishing or exploring Everyone has left a trail to watch wildlife go fishing or inves tigate something interesting If you do keep track of the path you take and be sure to return to the trail the same way you left it You become dehydrated When you are exercising and you don't drink enough fluids you can quickly become dehydrated which means your body has lost too much water to stay healthy This happens most frequently in hot or even warm weather but it can happen at any time Dehydration can make you too weak and sick to get back home on your own To pre vent this bring extra water and don't forget to drink it You deliberately go off on your own Kids sometimes get mad at their parents a brother or sister or a friend and just take off without paying attention to where they're going The secret to being a smart adventurer is to be prepared for any of these possibilities and to know how to take care of your self if something unexpected happens WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET LOST Realizing you are lost is a really scary feeling and most people make it worse by becoming angry frightened sad or ashamed instead of taking control of the situation Your biggest survival tool is your brain So stop blaming yourself or others and don't waste valuable time Stay calm You will be found probably soon You are going to survive and you need to get to work to make your situation better Remember your main job now is to stay healthy and protected until you are located If you find your self panicking or running in circles just take a deep breath and say to yourself
