4 ms·
I agree with both of your points. The gaps in knowledge become a real problem if the user has lost their sense of location, which happens surprisingly easily. I
by ryanisnan 4y ago
I agree with both of your points. The gaps in knowledge become a real problem if the user has lost their sense of location, which happens surprisingly easily. If your egress route is straight-forward (e.g. head west, no hazards on route), it's easier to recover. But there are lots of skills that need practice or instruction - triangulation, aiming-off, taking a bearing, back-bearing, declination setting, heck even reading your altitude.
Add panic because you're lost and losing daylight, and you're in a pickle.
- ghaff 4y agoYeah. My assumption was that you’d probably be hiking on trails. Bushwhacking or off trail travel generally require more skills. Though if you’ve just gotten turned around pulling out a compass can help a lot.
- ryanisnan 4y agoIn the SAR world, it's very rare we search for people who are intentionally going off trail (e.g. scrambling/mountaineering/bush-whacking). It's almost exclusively folks who were hiking on trail, lost the trail, and then became disoriented. It's hard to know for certain, but my gut says some large % of those folks would not have been aided by having a map/compass.
- ghaff 4y agoCertainly it’s about a lot more than knowing what a map and compass is—including when to just turn back. Though I’d argue those 2 things are at least a minimal backup if electronics fail or aren’t properly setup. And I suspect a lot of people don’t carry because they figure they have a phone.