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| Found on page 288 of the PDF |
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| Found on page 289 of the PDF |
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| Found on page 290 of the PDF |
If you have spent any time in the woods,
then you have at one time or the other thought that you were
lost. In most cases, after sitting for a
moment and thinking, you realized that you were simply disoriented and that you
knew where you were, and you went on your way.
The article “Getting Lost…Comfortably”
by Neal Plantz is an article from 1979, however the steps it suggest you take
when you realize that you are not disoriented, but are indeed lost, or as I
prefer “misplaced”, in the woods are timeless and are still taught by survival
experts today.
Mr. Plantz wrote that an experienced
outdoorsman, upon finding himself disoriented, would sit down, have a cup of
coffee, think, relax and consider his situation and attempt to orient
himself. Today we use the acronym,
S.T.O.P. to describe what Mr. Plantz suggests an experienced outdoorsman should
do.
The acronym S.T.O.P. stands for
Stop/Sit, Think, Organize and Plan.
Stop/Sit, the first and most important
thing an outdoorsman needs to do, is to stay calm, to close his eyes and take a
few deep breathes, and NOT PANIC! If you
panic in the wilderness then you will become a statistic, unless you are very
lucky. You need a clear head and panicking
never accomplishes anything, it just makes everything worse. A simple rule to remember is. IF YOU PANIC, YOU DIE!
Think, what is the situation? What is my location and how did I get here?
Observe, what do I have on me that I can
use? What is around me in the
environment that I can use? How late in
the day is it now? What is the weather
like now and what is it going to be like in the next few hours?
Plan, what should I do first? Create a plan and priorities to deal with the
emergency and then act upon the plan.
The author recommended creating and
carrying a pocket survival kit containing two garbage bags to be used an
emergency shelter, matches and a candle, so that you can get a fire going. He also recommended that you carry a light
plastic tarp, nylon line, a compass, a canteen, extra food and a knife. These are all on the 10 Essentials List, and
are things that you should always carry when you are in the wilderness.
This is an excellent article on how to
turn a scary “lost” situation into a comfortable “misplaced” event and should
be required reading for all people new to the outdoors.
This article is available at the web
address below:
Neal Plantz, “Getting Lost…Comfortably”,
Missouri Conservationist, September 1979, Volume 40, Number 9, (Harmony
Printing Co.: Sugar Creek, MO, [1979]) 28-29, reprinted in
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