What to do When Lost In The Woods, 1946©

 

 

An excerpt from “What to do When Lost In The Woods”, United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1946.

It has been 75 years since 1946, when “What to do When Lost In The Woods” was published by the Forest Service, but survival principals are timeless and never change!  And that is because human nature and human needs never change.

 

An excerpt from “What to do When Lost In The Woods”, United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1946.

Today, just as in 1946, the worst thing that you can do in an emergency, is to panic.  The only thing panic ever does is make things worse, sometimes much, much worse.  So, just as the Forest Service recommended in 1946, when they wrote “Stop, sit down and try to figure out where you are.  Use your head, not your legs” and the Boy Scouts of America do today, if you ever find yourself “misplaced”, S.T.O.P.! 

 

BSA Risk Ready hanger, picture by the Author.

The acronym S.T.O.P., which stands for Stop, or stay put, sit down, stay calm; Think and evaluate; Observe; Plan and then put the plan into action, is an acronym that most people who follow the outdoors and survival topics have heard of.

 

The Forest Service also recommended that “If caught by night, fog, or a storm, stop at once and make camp in a sheltered spot.  Build a fire in a safe place.  Gather plenty of dry fuel.”

 

An illustration from “But If You Do Get Lost”, Outdoors USA: 1967, by Kenneth M. Cole, page 91, show the “misplaced” person sitting between the fire and the backwall of the shelter.

Remember, never, never, ever panic!  And as the Forest Service wrote in 1946, “Don’t yell, don’t run, don’t worry, and above all don’t quit.”

 

For your convenience both sides of “What to do When Lost In The Woods” are reproduced below, you can also find it in a PDF format, HERE.

 

The front of “What to do When Lost In The Woods”, United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1946.

 

The back of “What to do When Lost In The Woods”, United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1946.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “The Book of Knowledge, Camping and Camp Lore, 1957 ©”, where we will talk about children’s encyclopedias, camping and camp lore in the days before the internet!

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Sources

 

United States Department of Agriculture, “What to Do When Lost in the Woods”, 1946, United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5435268.pdf, accessed January 25, 2021