I'm 40 and I've been hunting all my life, one thing that I've noticed is that when you realize that you aren't where you thought you were, a sense of un-needed urgency kicks in. You walk faster, you panic to some extent whether you realize it or not. I think your advice to sit down and take a few minutes to compose yourself is definitely sound advice, thinking clearly is step one.

I’ll just take a bottle of Jack with me,my wife always seems to find me when I’m drinking.

Always look backward as you hike, especially where one geographical feature meets another.(You should be doing this anyways. It’s how I caught a mountain lion stalking me, and it probably saved my life). A WW2 Paratrooper taught me this trick. People think they’ll recognize terrain on their way back, but it’s a completely different view. It’s like looking at multiple faces just one time, and expecting to recognize them the next time you see the backs of their heads. Try to take mental snapshots every time you turn around and look at where you’ve been. I’ve been 20 miles off trail, into the Sierras, and never been lost or questioned myself. It worked when I was 16 and it still works at 45. And never panic.

My dad was a bit of a freak IMO. He could go out hunting (never use an actual “trail”) in the middle of the night. It would be pitch black with only a flashlight and after you had been in the woods for several hours you could ask him where the truck was and he could not only tell you the direction but also how many miles away it was. And to top it off he could also tell you if you were near a National park etc. He never carried and map or a compass. It was amazing. RIP dad.

My wife’s Grandpa spent many years as a surveyor in northern Canada. He always said the most important thing you could carry was a deck of cards. If you were ever lost you should sit down and deal a hand of solitaire, After a few minutes someone will pop over your shoulder and tell you the red 6 can go on the black 7. And when they do you pack up your cards and follow them out.

My son, who was 5 years old at the time, got himself lost while we were visiting friends at their cabin. The adults were inside chatting and the 6 children were outside playing together. My son started following a butterfly. Because of trees and high grass and shrubs he could see the cabin anymore. He did exactly what you said. We went in one direction then went back to where he was then took another direct. So he kept going back and forth always going back to where he started from. When he went in one of the directions he saw a church steeple. He remembered seeing this church on our way to my friends so he now know which direction to go and he found the cabin. If he would have kept walking in the wrong direction he could have gotten himself lost in a huge forest. I was very proud of him for keeping a level head and figured out what was the best way for him to find his way back. It broke my heart when he said he kept calling out for me but nobody heard him.

I will never go camping without 2 different colors of yarn- like orange and yellow. They would make great markers for going into a forest, and it would alert searchers you had been on a particular path. As well as a reminder to me where I had traveled. Yarn is bright, biodegradable, and birds will use it later to line their nests. It’s also very light weight and super easy to pack. I got lost in a small forest I own, but when I saw the yarn I knew I was headed back in the same direction. I’d definitely do this if I stepped off a trail to use the bathroom. Might seem silly, but I know first hand it works.

I was lost for 3 days in the woods of Oregon. As a former Marine I knew the basics of survival and the hardest thing was admitting I was lost. I used my shoe laces and belt to build a lean-to, found some dry wood as it was raining, as a smoker I was able to build a fire with my lighter and was good for the night. I was deep in the canyon by some water and nobody could hear me screaming. The next morning I heard chainsaws and started hiking to the sound of the saws. I finally found a logging road in the process. 4 hours later from hiking I realized I was hearing the echo of the chain saws and they were the other direction. I headed back the other direction but was still hearing an echo and found a place to hang out for the night. The next morning I tried again and finally found the loggers 5 hours later. His truck was open and I was so hungry I ate his lunch and drank almost all of his water. I found them on the hill and they gave me a ride to a camp that was being set up my a sheriff search party. It was a Monday and asked the Sheriff if I could call work to let them know I wouldn't be coming in to work. My employer didn't believe I was lost in the woods until the Sheriff took the phone and explained I was. My new nickname at work was Euell Gibbons...............that natural hippy dude from the 70s that ate bark and grape nuts or something. I still use it to this day.

The moss always grows on the OUTSIDE of the tree. Ergo, if you see moss, you are not IN a tree.

I went off the trail with my family a few summers ago. They used the “Get pissed and start screaming at each other” method. Rule of thumb: If it doesn’t work at family holidays, it probably isn’t a good idea in the woods. On the bright side, politics didn’t come up.. I hike with friends now.

One thing that has helped me so much while traveling through the woods on trails or not, is always turn around and look behind you. It's easy to recognize a trail going one way. But they always look completely different walking the opposite direction. I always just turn and view the trail or path I'm taking from both directions so when I see it again it will look familiar.

Not a hunter myself but have done a fair amount of hiking and backpacking. And with all due respect, there's a much simpler way. I read about this somewhere, I've used it and it works. You use a SPIRAL pattern. Start from where you're standing, choose whether you want to go clockwise or counterclockwise, whichever you're more comfortable with and you simply walk in ever-widening circles from where you're standing.. An ever-widening spiral in other words. That way you're covering all the compass points at once and you will hit the trail eventually. Much more efficient and less time-consuming than walking in straight lines and then having to retrace if you choose the wrong direction which is an inherent flaw in the ray technique which otherwise has some logic to it. But the spiral method is much faster. And if if darkness and/or dropping temps are closing in on you really don't want to be messing around. But thanks for the video.

You’re so right in your first piece of advice. Gather your composure. I grew up in the country and got lost in the woods behind our house when I was a kid. Still remember it 40 years later. I started to feel that panic but calmed myself down and gathered my wits. Sat there for 10 minutes listening intently and heard a car on a distant road. Headed in that direction and made it out of the woods before dark. I was pretty proud of myself.

“I've never been lost, but I was mighty turned around for three days once.” - Daniel Boone Great video! Thanks for sharing this method. I’ll have to try it next time I get “mighty turned around.” 😀

The most disturbing thing about getting lost is the “180” your head takes. It’s a tough transition to go from internal thoughts of ‘fun, thank god im not at work, this is beautiful’ to suddenly ‘where am i, how much water do i have….’

I grew up in the woods of northern PA. The best advice I was ever given in regards to getting lost in the woods came from my father. He always told me to find a creek or a stream and follow it. You'll eventually find people/ civilization.

I was on a hunting trip about 20 years ago and I used a GPS to mark my camp location. I took off looking for a herd of caribou that had passed through the night before and about 3 hours later I decided to return to camp. I checked my GPS to get a bearing on the return route and much to my horror I discovered it was dead. The below-freezing temperature had killed the alkaline batteries in the GPS. I knew I was 3 hours from camp but that's a long way to take a chance walking with no markers or clear trail. So, I ended up warming up the batteries in my pocket, reinstalled them, and the GPS became functional again. I now use lithium batteries in the GPS. This is just another tip from someone who screwed up and learned the hard way.

As I'm traveling in strange areas I have a habit of looking behind me to see where I've been. This has helped me numerous times to get back to where I've started out as I have "memorized" the images of what it looks like to go back the other way. This works when walking around big cities too.

Very useful technique. Two thoughts: 1. It helps to mark your path with a direction (arrow, etc.). I've encountered my own marks and not known whether to go right or left. 2. The biggest problem can be a trail that doesn't look much different from the surrounding terrain. I've crossed the trail without realizing it. Especially true with trails that fork along the way.

Another good trick to remember: look at the shape of a tree. Slowly walk around it. Usually the branches facing South, grow a little longer than the rest, since they get more sunlight throughout the growing season. This way you can determine your compass if you didnt carry one with you. Or shove a stick in the ground and see how the shadow is cast: The direction the shadow grows and becomes longer should be East

"You aren't lost. You are misoriented." US Army survival training instructor.

My ex and I went on a hike on a longish trail that basically circumnavigated a large chunk of parkland. We weren't paying enough attention to the time of day so we set off on a 2nd circuit when we should've just stayed put or gone for dinner. It was getting pretty dark and we both had that "oh crap, we're lost" moment when what we saw on the map I was carrying made us believe we should've already been back at the parking lot. It occurred to me that during our first time 'round, two of the small valleys we passed through looked almost identical so I figured we were actually still in the 1st valley and had mistaken it for the 2nd in the twilight (there were 2 or 3 landmarks we needed to tell which valley we'd entered, but in the rapidly failing light couldn't see them because they were a few miles off). We decided to agree that we were actually in the 1st valley -- I was 90% sure, she was 95% not believing me -- and began to alternately jog/walk quickly according to the map. We got back to the parking lot just about the time it became too dark to see more than a few inches ahead. It pays to pay attention to the time of day as much as it does to pay attention to things like landmarks AND the similarities/differences of parts of a trail.

The single most important and first thing you should do when lost is estimate how long you've been walking since the last time you were sure you were on the right path. That will tell you how far you have to go in the correct direction (whatever that might be) in order to get back on track. Your entire strategy should be based on this estimate.

What's not to love about Dan? The guy makes learning these handy little toolbox videos enjoyable! He has a way in front of the camera and in making you continue to wanna listen & learn what it is he's teaching? Thanks Dan!! It's much appreciated and totally informative!!

Awesome Dan! I learned the “Ray” or “Bearings” method in woodland survival school USMC - early 90s. Never gets old hearing it again. Good job man!

I learned Survival Techniques in Boy Scouts, then again in the Army. I used to PRAY to somehow get lost in some HUGE woods where I could use these techniques. The closest I ever came was having to spend 3 days alone in the woods with NO (brought-in) shelter...(no sleepoing bag, no tent, etc) and only one small bag of dried/prepared food. We had to start and maintain a fire, and demonstrate a food-catching trap/snare/fish-cone etc. (This was for the "Order of the Arrow" in the Boy Scouts. ) That sash with the Red Arrow meant a lot more to me than any of the merit badges I'd earned...

A nice side effect of this strategy is that searchers will be able to follow your blazes back to your base camp from many different directions.

This is great advice and I know this works. Many years ago my wife and I were hiking in the Scottish highlands. In a matter of minutes, the weather changed to les than 10ft visibility. It was early June but still had a foot of snow on the ground. First thing we did was stop and assess the situation. We couldn’t get a baring off any landmarks or reference for the map, so had to try and find our route out. We used a version of this technique to find the route back down the mountain. It didn’t take long but that’s just because we got lucky in finding a set of foot prints in the snow in one of our first few strikes out from centre point. Thanks for sharing.

In the 1960s I spent 2 weeks at the Ten Mile River Boy Scout Camp in New Jersey. I completely screwed up a map reading exercise and got lost. I didn't know about the ray method but I did exactly what the Boy Scout Handbook said to do. Once I decided I was lost I stayed put, started building a lean-to type shelter out of dead branches and was starting to work on a fire pit (about 2 hours after deciding to stay put) when I started to hear my name being called and my scout troop found me. Such a great organization. Such a crime that it was ripped apart by vultures.

In 1972 I was following a trail around part of a mountain in northern California, when I realized there was no more trail. It had diminished to a game trail then down to nothing detectable. When I realized this the trail was already GONE. I had NOTHING on me, not even a pocket knife. The sun was going down. I started to feel panic, ran "back" down to he non-existent trail, the back and forth. THEN I calmed myself down, assessed my situation. I was on a heavily wooded and fairly steep mountain slope. To conserve my strength, I proceeded back the general direction from which I had come WHILE CLIMBING HIGHER at a 15° angle or so. If I cut the trail, great, but if I didn't, it would be much easier to alter my angle downward than climb upward after I was already tiring out. I proceeded about 300 to 500 yards that way, then changed to a 15° downward slope in the same general direction. I finally cut the trail. It was an uneventful trek back on the now well defined trail, even in the gathering dusk. My fallback position was to simply spend a cold night there, truck down to the base of the mountain where I knew there was a river, then follow the river to the town where the friends I was visiting lived. In the process TWO very important things happened: 1) I realized I needed at a bare minimum a way to make fire and cutting tool (these have been in my pocket ever since, except during basic military training), and 2) I started studying primitive survival skills, a "lite" version of which is called "bushcraft" these days. I say "lite", because outdoor survival enthusiasts in the 1970s had a different view, not to mention various benchmark tasks, the ultimate of which being the "naked into the wilderness" challenge. They meant that quite literally. It was sort of your doctoral dissertation on survival skills. I don't know too many that actually accomplished that one, but the one I do know of wrote an article with photos. He was dropped off on a mountain, in winter, with a couple of feet to much more of snow, and literally naked - no clothing or shoes/boots... Naked. The car that brought him left, and it would not return for two weeks. This was before wireless phones or GPS, so he was truly ALONE to survive or die in the next two weeks. Just him and his camera. Not many were confident enough to attempt this. I read the article and saw his photos, so I know he survived. The truly interesting part was his choices he made, and his account of challenges and solutions. Standing there in snow well over his ankles (his first photo), watching his ride leave, the first order of business was to get something between his bare feet and the snow. Pine tree bark was harvested as a sole and natural cordage (cambion layer? vine? don't recall) used to lash it to his foot & ankle to create expedient sandals. (His second photo.) Next was shelter, as night was approaching: clothing could wait if a shelter could be fashioned to get him out of the wind. Then a fire. And so it went. Two weeks later he was in pretty good shape when he was picked up. He was fully clothed in animal skins, winter moccasins on his feet, and several necessary tools carried or hung on him. That man had bragging rights! I'm sorry I cannot provide a citation, but it has been too long. Someone see if you find it online. I have the skills just not the time to research it. Read Calvin Rutstrum's _Paradise Below Zero_ for a good old school account of living in cold winter climates. It changed my views on winter hiking and camping. There is also _Bushcraft_ by Richard Graves, (c1972, 2013), which was the first time (mid- to late 1970s) that I encountered the term "Bushcraft", and in a book by an Australian. My "old school" favorites are Bradford Angier's _How to Stay Alive in the Woods_, _How to Eat in the Woods_, _On Your Own in the Wilderness_ (with Townsend Whelen), and/or _Livimg Off the Country: How to Stay Alive in the Woods_. As a reviewer pointed out, after those books, it would be difficult to starve in the wilderness. I agree. My challenges, though not nearly as extreme, were desert trekking and survival. Mountains and forests were not difficult, but I am basically nocturnal, and I have been since childhood. I can tolerate much colder temps than the average person, too. Conversely, heat and strong sunlight are incredibly uncomfortable, even painful to me. So I decided to master desert trekking in my early 20s, and I did. Once away from the "tourist areas", as we used to call prepared campgrounds and maintained hiking trails, the clothes came off and into the backpack. Many of us hiked naked or just in a pair of cutoff blue jean shorts. Hiking boots with good wool socks, of course, as well as a belt with a sheath knife, canteen, and utility pouch (the Vietnam era dual magazine pouch was my preference). I knew one girl, cute blond from the Caribbean, that hiked the Colorado mountains barefoot (feet were tough as leather), topless, and no sleeping bag, just a sort of sarape carried over her shoulder and a large woven purse like a haversack. I'm sure there are still minimalist backwoods trekkers out there, but nothing like those on YT showing off their 75 pounds INCH bags. Being able to resupply almost at will these days has made people soft and inconsiderate of their equipment. If there ever is a lasting wide scale disaster like an EMP attack, deleting electricity for years if not generations, I believe the analysts that project 90% fatality rate in the US. We, myself included these days, are simply not accustom to the rigors of sustained outdoor life. I have the skills, I have the health, but I do not have the legs or the stamina I once had, being 70 and battling Lyme disease for well over a decade. That is thanks to my times trekking and dealing with mosquitoes, chiggers, TICKS, and the occasional reptile. It was bacteria from a tick that changed my life. However, in an ultimate societal meltdown, I would still head for the desert with a pack far lighter than most would believe could sustain a person. Why the desert, when I said it was my least favorite environment? Because the vast majority of people are terrified of heading out into a waterless wasteland, or so they perceive it to be. When I first trekked the Southwest deserts andm badlands, I was surprised at the amount of game sign. There were tracks of birds, deer, coyote, and snakes everywhere. If you follow the concentrations of those trails, and if you are very lucky, it will lead you to water. Just do not randomly cut open a cactus, as some "survival" manuals or experts have suggested. Many are a bit poisonous to humans, since our systems are not designed to deal with them, and even the ones we can tolerate are so much work for so little liquid, that it is a zero sum game. No benefit, except in the a true emergency. Learn to make a solar still and carry the less than 8 ounces of materials to make one. Learn the many other skills needed to survive there, as well. There are a number of books specifically on desert survival. The books I site above will handle the remaining areas of the US. I've studied primitive survival and bushcraft off and on for well over 40 years. It is never too early to start... or too late.

Great system! I’d probably add to it an extra step of marking differently the blaze at which you turn back so that if you have to revisit a ray it’s easy to tell when you’ve reached the farthest point from the last attempt.

I got really lost in the woods for the first time in my life back in May. It was absolutely petrifying. What was supposed to be just a 1/5 mile hike turned into 5+ hours, ultimately I hurt my knees in the process for I wasn't prepared for that much of a strenuous work out and I had already done a long hike the day before. Even now 7 months later my knees are still not good. I just didn't realize when I started trekking in, that the posts for the route for the hike was going to be pretty much non-existent. There were so many paths and tracks that linked together making it impossible to know which way was the right way. In the end I called 911, it was getting dark w/some rain, I was exhausted and my phone was just about to die. The operator from the 911 call was such a blessing and she totally helped me keep my shit together. Once my knees heal and I can get back to hiking, I will be marking my path as I go, I will never go through that horror again!....

I carry a roll of blaze orange surveyors tape in my survival day pack just for this kind of thing (marking trails, waypoints, turns, etc.) 🍺

I've been in the bush and decided to backtrack over easier terrain than that encountered on the way in. Confident I knew where the trail should be I've set out with no concern, only to find the trail was elusive. Ultimately, by adjusting my heading toward my known prior path, I've ended up near to my hoped for destination. This is on short excursions too. It's taught me that dead reckoning is easily off by 20 to 30 degrees from what you think. Over a long distance this is very significant. Always look back behind you when hiking and find a reference point from that perspective for your return trip. Doesn't work in level terrain, but great in the hills and mountains.

I'm in the woods everyday. This is one of those tidbits of knowledge that will stay with me forever. Thanks.

Hi Dan, as always thank you for all the tips !!! Also while in the middle of no where watch where the sun is, make mental pictures in your head of your area you're walking in. IF you DO decide to go off a trail, place markers every so often as your hikeing, then that will help you find your way back to the main trail. I spent 17 yrs in the Pine Barrens, in New Jersy, esp. in the National Forests. It's best to STAY ON THE TRAILS or one can get lost very quickly and all you have mostly is sand and Pine trees. IF you go off trail, pay close attention to where your going, do the above and always look behind you from time to time as you want to make sure nothing is following you, esp. hungry animals ! IF CAN let a trusted someone know where your going, what route you'll take and when you'll be back. Call that person (s) when you return safe. That way IF something happens, you don't come back, help will have a good general direction on starting to look for you. USE your rations wisely ! You never know how long your food/water may have to last. Carry a 1st Aide Kit too. Better to have 'it' and not need it then to NEED IT and not have it.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but this “guy” loves your humor!

Been hunting and hiking all my life. Only been truly lost once for a few hours. Worst feeling ever until I got lucky and happened onto a road by total random accident. This technique is definitely going to increase your chances of getting "un-lost". Thank you for sharing!

That is a brilliant yet simple concept that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. This is life saving advice so Thankyou for making the video!

Great idea and very useful, I've been lost for a few hours in a forest in Scotland but know that panic is the last thing, finally after retracing my steps several times I made back to my camp, but without knowing about this technique, thank you.

I feel like this can be applied in a lot of situations of being lost. Even a child lost in a store could use this. Very good succinct video with good examples.

I work in construction, so I take survey stakes with me. When I realize I'm lost I pound a couple in the ground and wait. Sooner, rather than later an operator will be along to knock them over. 🤩

That's excellent. I really enjoy hepful things like this! I'm in the woods quite often and I feel more secure now. Thank you!

Love it. Solid, practical, using good common sense. Thank you!

Good Tip 👍 .. thanks for sharing. Reminders and Repetition on a Theme are good. Many years back, I read something penned by an experienced Bush Crafter .. "You're never Lost .. you know exactly where you are. Maybe though, not where you should or would like to be." An aside .. here in Switzerland, it is very difficult to get truly Lost. We have plenty forests .. each little town has one. It's just that the forests are not very big .. just pick a bearing, stick to it and you will come out somewhere .. or run into a Swiss Granny walking her dog .. they're Everywhere! 😁. Take care ..

This a great technique. As a former Scout leader, I used to tell my Scouts that when they were lost and had no idea where they were to just sit down and wait because we would be coming for them. But I also taught them the "triangulation" technique for finding where they were and how to get back to the trail. This required them to have a detailed map of the area as well as a compass, which they all did because I required them to have those items. They simply had to locate two, or preferably three, landmarks on their map and then take the compass readings to those landmarks, plot it on their map, and where the plots intersected, that's where they were. Then they would know the direction that they should go.

You can also prioritize a direction, if you can still tell which direction is which. If you were heading west in the trail and you strayed northbound from it, then you can prioritize a south and east search. You can try to figure it out by looking at the sun or moon and their shadows. If you can't tell which direction the sun/moon is moving, you can always use a sort of azimuth technique to check. Place yourself in some place where you can see the sun with a reference next to it (e.g. a tree branch). Wait a little while and then check again. That'll give you a sense of its direction of movement. If you can see any planets in the sky you can use them too. Planets are shiny stars that don't flicker. Sun, moon, planets, they all rise in the East and set in the West.

Thank you. Such a simple effective concept, would have not thought of this strategy. Very helpful!

This is proper navigation. Nice little technique. Thought, what I have done in the past on one of the hikes is to remember which side of your face the sunlight was hitting when you started the trail. Say around 10:30 in the morning you start and the sun was lighting up the right side of your face. (its easy to recall starting time, since your sense are picking up almost everything and you're thinking about the hike rather than other things). Say, by 5:30-6:00 evening you are lost. camp the night and next day, similar time, walk against the sun (sun to the back and chances are... you will find the trail quicker. This might or might not work in rainy conditions. Also, It would be wise to click a snapshot of the trail when you start with your mobile phone. IT will kind of give you the general direction of which side the sun was looking at the shadows of trees and maybe even yourself. You might not have cell service, so you can put the phone on flight-mode to save battery. But you can still click pictures here and there.

something that's good to have is a watch in this scenario, check it when you leave the trail, and when you notice you're lost you can check how much time it will take roughly to get back to the trail. mark the place where you lost yourself with a specific mark and then mark your trail as you try to find your way back, you can keep checking the watch on how far you'll have to go to get back, if you're not back by the rough time estimate, go back to base and repeat the process in another direction, depending how far you've walked will determine for how long you can be possibly lost, if you calculate in how many directions you need to walk from base you can rough out how long you might end up being lost and you can start to prepare yourself for that. but the best alternative would obviously be to try be preventative so you don't get lost in the first place, the usual way would be to take a mental note of landmarks or look at the position of the sun and knowing how the sun travels across the sky and basing your directions off that. there's a couple more ways but i can't remember them, there's a really good one about moss allways growing on the north side of trees i think that can help you atleast giving you some direction.

Great idea. Thanks for the tip. Methodical and clever.

I'm not embarrassed to say I have been lost hopelessly lost and more than once . The practice of looking back to gain a perspective of where I have been is the best advice any one can give to prevent disorienting. As I have stated l have no "natural " sense of direction, far to many hits to my head. So for me not getting LOST is a sport in itself. Did I mention I used to literally live in the Woods for years . How I survived baffles me.

Great advice! I would only add another mark to number each ray, and the direction from my starting point, so I don't get them all mixed up. I think I would also draw a little map, to record remarkable features I find along each ray. Thanks!

I am never lost while out in the field, I have been “geographically misoriented”. Or while doing military long range land nav, I have been “geographically embarrassed”. Your technique example is a simple but great way to regain your “geographical alignment”. Lol. RLTW/DOL 🇺🇸

A great method. Honestly, one of the fastest ways to find your way back. Thank you for sharing!!

This is a very valuable tool to help find my way home - let alone save my life. Thanks.

Good to know, thanks! Would have been handy to know as a kid lol. My parents used to let my little sister and I, ages 9 and 5, roam the woods in National Parks and we got "lost" a few times😂 In Yosemite we ended up in a marshy forest, almost dark, but I knew where the main road was so we picked our way through since we would have truly been lost had I tried to navigate us around it. Got lost in yellowstone, in the dark, in the campground, ran into a black bear and ended up treed on top of a metal sliding board at a playground until it wandered off😆 But that was good since the playground was one of my landmarks. Got "lost" at Gunnison but found the reservoir way down below the cliff we were on so again, landmark. I think you pay better attention to your surroundings when you know nobody is gonna come looking for you and you're on your own. It's a wonder we are both still alive cuz I was no Jim Bridger 😄 Fun times!

Growing up and hunting in PA. The one thing my dad taught me was if you get “turned around”. Find a stream and follow it down stream. Eventually it will cross a road. Sit your a - - down and eventually a carv will come by.

Good video and plenty of sound information. As a hiker who regularly ventures into the pre-Pyrenees mountains in northern Catalonia, I have always used the acronym STOP: Sit, Think, Observe and Plan. It is easy to remember and it helps to avoid that sense of instinctual panic. Thankfully, I have never gotten truly lost. However, remaining calm can often make the difference between a quick resolution and a very serious situation.

This is absolutely priceless information, a great technique.

Very helpful. Makes the bulk/weight of carrying a roll of trail marking tape totally justifiable.

Dan'l Boone was once asked if he'd ever been lost. He answered no, but he was once a might bewildered for three days.

So glad I found this channel and thanks for sharing this important information. We live in such a bubble society today, people don't know basic survival skills anymore. This definitely brings us back down to earth. I'm subscribed now.

This was phenomenal information!! It makes total sense and seems easy now but I wouldn’t have thought about it; just panicked and run around and made it worse. Thank you!

Great video on an important topic. I've heard that younger kids that get lost in wild places are easier to find than the older kids because the younger ones tend to stay put in one place while the older ones tend to wander further and further from their last known position in the hopes of finding their way home. In reality most of the time the ones that wander just get even more lost and increase the search area needed to find them. Attempting to hike your way out when lost, especially if you are injured, poorly rested, and/or low on food and water, etc., increases the chances that you might accidentally cause a serious injury to your self (turning a bad situation into a truly life threatening one), so it is not something to be attempted lightly, or when in a panicked or agitated state of mind. The ray method described in this video is an excellent way to methodically work toward a self rescue, but I would add that it is very important to clearly mark your base location, and also to mark the particular blaze trail you are exploring when away from your base by placing an arrow of rocks or sticks, and/or a note indicating which direction you are traveling to help those who might be searching for you if they happen to find your base camp while you are away. As time goes on, each trip away from your base location increases the risk of you encountering additional difficulties or suffering a possible injury, so leaving clear clues of where you have gone for those seeking to rescue you is vitally important.

My husband and I went with a friend to a social event. We very quickly realized the ickyness of the majority of other attendees and decided to leave. But we were deep into a huge multiple neighborhood housing tract..like a maze. It took a couple of hours but we followed the shadows made by the sun to determine direction and made it to a main street and caught a bus home. Whew! That was a close one!

Good tips, that can save lives. Thank you for documenting this important information.

Another excellent post, thank you for sharing.

As you walk 'out' you need to keep looking back and orienting yourself, making sure you recognise the 'look of the land' and seeing your blazes from the perspective of the return trip. Of course, a mapping GPS is pretty handy too! ;)

Today we’re gonna be drawing smiley faces lol. I lost it had me in tears from laughing so hard. Was not expecting that at all. Love the videos and great advice as all your videos are. Thank you for all you do

I like how you approach your videos and share the little things. Ty

Excellent! This will save lives sooner or later!

"I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks." - Daniel Boone

First time I got misplaced was as a teenager, I was with a mate. We stopped pulled out the map realized we must have taken a fork, went back found the main track had become over grown at the fork and we had missed it. The lessons, always have a map and when it looks wrong it probably is - go back, sort it out.

Brilliant! Simple yet so brilliant!

Brilliant! This could save time and lives.

i like to verify I'm paid up on the iridium before heading out. This video brings me back to being deep in the Sierras for a bear hunt. Was tracking a black bear down a revine, paid more attention to him, and not the distance i had covered. It's big country. Took 48 hours to find/get back to base camp again. But had running streams, rations, and a 30-06. Saved the taxpayers search and rescue expenses. Semper Fi

Always have a "panic azimuth" planned. Figure out where a road, river or other long terrain feature is and what magnetic heading you need to take to find it. If you end up lost just follow that magnetic heading until you find your feature.

saved this in the vault.. thx brother!

this reminds me of a favorite phrase, work smarter not harder. thank you for this advice. I hope to never use it but very helpful through simple methods

When I hike, I never fail to get completely turned around and lost. I dont even consider it a hike if I dont get totally lost. If I know where I am in the woods, I am obviously not in the real woods yet. I have used something similar to this 100 times. It's never failed.

Good Point!!! Always study a map or bring your compass.

For folks who are not really direction intuitive this is good and helpful strategy and technique. And because it's technique specific it's helping crystallize my intuition.

A while back when I was in the Marine Corps, we got in the habit when on patrol to turn back and check behind you. There’s more then one reason why, but to my point, it helps with recognizing the terrain in which you came from. It also really helps with your sense of direction, as long as you know what compass bearing you’re walking in the first place. Now I’ve used this method many of times when hunting in new areas, and well i haven’t gotten lost yet, because I always knew where I came from.

I have always said , I never get Lost , I just walk to far - my Granddaddy Thanks for the video Dan, good advice.

Oliver Monta in Vermont always said: "I may have been 'turned around' a few times; but, I've NEVER been lost!"

as someone who gets lost all the time, in the city, in a car, (only reason I got a smart phone originally) keep calm and pause and think is great advice. I usually pull over at the first safe spot and get my bearings. Heading out so far one way, then turning back works wonderfully.

Great advice, simple, sound, and effective in my opinion

When I went solo hiking last summer in Alpine National Park in Victoria, Australia, just south of Mt Buller, I went in knowing that if I lost the trail (which did end up happening) and all else fails, I had two ways I could go to bugout: Up the hill to where I could get to a vantage point and reorient myself (I could quite easily see the Mt Buller Ski Area for most of my trek, so I had a prominent landmark) or stumble across a road/trail on the way there, or down towards the creek/river, which I knew there was a trail running alongside it so I'd be able to get back to base-camp easily enough. If for whatever reason a fire came through (a very real possibility here in Australia), those were also my two options, depending on exactly where I was, and where the fire was. Failing all of that, I did have a Personal Rescue Beacon within easy reach in case I got really disoriented or injured myself. Fortunately, even though I lost the trail, I didn't need either of these plans. I had my phone on me with GPS, so I was able to zigzag my way along where I knew the trail should be until I got spat out at the road I would have ended up at any way if I had successfully followed the trail. I also knew that the particular area where did I end up losing the trail was badly overgrown, and also on a steep descent, making it difficult to backtrack if I needed to. So I decided to push on, and it turned out fine. If I didn't have my phone on me, I would have gotten out a compass and roughly followed it until I hit the road I was aiming for. It was also just around midday, so I wasn't in a rush either and had plenty of water on me.

When entering any area, develop a decent working knowledge of the ley of the land first, I.e., where important landmarks/locations/destinations are in relation to each other, with specific attention paid as to which direction one key area is in general relation to another. So if lost and having no map, as well as using the method presented in this video, you could use the suns east-west direction to better help you navigate. Great tips in this video and in the comments for all levels of survivalism, beginner to master class.

Thanks for this! I've been watching Missing 411 and lots of people getting lost on the trail.

Dude this is pure gold!

The one time I got lost in the woods, I got to high ground. Was able to shoot azimuths to landmarks and triangulate my position on my map. One tip for finding direction: moss is typically heaviest on the North side of trees.

Careful how you make blazes, bark will often close up if it is only partially cut. Removing a spot, so it's Bald is insurance 🍀

I have always gotten lost easily, so I don't trust myself in the bush. I love this method. I think I will feel much more comfortable venturing into the woods. Thanks!

This was an awesome technique. Thank you

When you said "ray navigation" I immediately thought you meant making a small smokey fire in a forest where you cant see the sun directly, and using the slanted sun rays to get your compass bearings, as the rays of light will always slant towards the sun. Thus giving you at least some indication where the sun is in the sky to help with directions. In the morning it will point you east and in the evening it would point west but at mid-day when the sun is almost directly above, it would give you your south direction as the sun always (in the northern hemisphere) hangs in the south side of the sky and the rays would be slanted that direction even if slightly. My mistake. Although the version I came up with just now is also a brand new technique like yours is, and could be used in conjunction with yours to maybe fine tune the process of getting out :)

I think you might want to add that you should mark both sides of the tree so you can find you way back to base camp easier.

Thank you so much! This is brilliant.

3.20 and I'm already clicking 'like'. Controlled radial exploration until you find the way. Exceed your estimation by 1/3 and repeat until trail found. Easy as hell and totally beyond most folks reasoning skills, myself very much included. I'm pretty clued in for the majority, but I seriously doubt ever considering this elimination process. Brilliant and extremely helpful for all but the most seasoned woods folk. Thank you, highly valuable technique.