How to save yourself after being lost outdoors?

If you find yourself in an unfamiliar territory and find it difficult to find a way to return to your camp, don’t say that you’ve lost your way. At least for now, it’s not that you may be confused for a few minutes.

If you suspect that you have lost your way, you should immediately stop and estimate the situation. If you blindly move on, your situation will be worse. Don't panic, please sit back and relax. Take a deep breath, smoke a cigarette, chew a chewing gum, and carefully recall the passing house, stream, or other geographical features to follow the route you have traveled. Quietly sit for a few minutes.

When Wilder had just discovered that he was difficult to determine his position, he would not normally go far and would not find the road. What is bothersome is that most strays continue to blindly advance and drift in the forest, making their situation even worse. Some strays even completely out of the search area.

If there are maps, check the legends first to see what each symbol represents and find out which area on the map you are based on. See if there are any geographical features that match the geography. Find the location on the map before you lost your way, and then recall the houses, streams or other geographical features that you have passed in order to follow the routes you once walked.

Check the contours on the map to see the surrounding terrain. The fact that the contours are far apart from each other indicates that the mountains are gentle, that there are no contours representing plains or broad ridges, and that the contour lines are fingerprinted and are mostly mountain mouths or valleys. According to the scale on the map, for example, the scale is 1:50000, which means that 1cm on the map represents the actual length of 50,000cm (0.5km), and use a small rule to calculate the distance between you and the target. If you do not have a pen and paper, you can use a finger to roughly measure the distance. Generally, the index finger of an adult is about 2.5 cm long from the tip of the finger to the first joint.

Turn the map so that the landmarks on the map are in the same direction as the geographic features it represents, and then select a direction to follow the map to the main road or where there is a smoke.

From the map, it is clear that there are no obstacles to the route ahead, such as cliffs, wide rivers, etc. If yes, you should take another route to bypass. Use maps and the same geographical features in the field as a guide. Take note of the scenery along the way. See how far the map is estimated to have gone.

Lost in the storm to save themselves

If you have a life-saving bag (a waterproof plastic bag that can hold the entire person) or other life-supporting equipment, you can stay in the same place and wait for rain to pass through the sky. If you don't have equipment for your life bag, you must not leave it in place and you should leave quickly.

Take a map to see if there is a danger zone. For example, dense contours represent steep cliffs that should be detoured.

The streams flow down the route showing the downhills, but do not go close to the stream, because the water flowing through the mountains is very strong and the banks are very steep. Therefore, we should follow the sound of the water and go down the mountain.

When you go downhill, look for farmhouses or other places that are sheltered from the storm. There are usually hideouts near the trails.

Don't come close to a depression with a light green, bushy grass. It is probably a swamp.

Lost in the fog to save themselves

Take out the map and go to the same direction as the compass, and then decide in which direction to go.

Follow the compass and look in the direction you want to go and choose an easily recognizable target such as rocks, trees, fern leaves, etc. Walk toward the goal and follow the compass to find another goal ahead.

Use this method continuously until you leave the fog lock.

If there is no map or compass, you should stay in place and wait for the haze to dissipate.

Night lost himself

If there is moonlight, you can see the surrounding environment and you should try to go to the road or farmhouse.

If you are in a dark mountain and cannot see the surroundings, do not continue to walk. You should find a hiding place, such as a wall or a lee side of a rock.

If you have a survival bag, you should get into it. Several people huddled together to keep warm. In this way, cold nights can be avoided even without a health bag. The middle position is the warmest, so you should transpose with each other from time to time.

Lost in the snow to save themselves

When the white light reflected by the snow is the same as the color of the sky, the terrain becomes blurred; the horizon, height, depth, and shadow completely disappear. Mountain climbers and explorers call this phenomenon "white sky."

At this point, it is best to stop and wait for the milky sky to disappear. If there is a storm coming when you wait, you should hollow out the snow pile to make a pit, or enlarge the snow pit in the root part of the tree, and then hide in it.

If there are pockets, leave the grass with leaves on the back to separate the cold ground and then hide.

Wear as many layers of clothing as possible. If the outermost layer of clothing has buttons or zips, fasten it first, pull it up, and then put it on your upper body.

Cross your arms in your clothes and keep your palms under your arms to keep warm.

If you must move on, use maps and compasses to find directions. While throwing snowballs while walking, notice where the snowball falls and how it rolls to detect the slope of the slope. If snowballs go without a trace, the front may be a cliff.