Always be able to give directions to your camp

[nature lover]

It looks like a good app and does what it’s supposed to do but still if you have an emergency and have no signal you have no Safetynet but you’ll know where you’re at. And of course you’re not paying the money that I am for the other one.

 

[highdesertranger]

vgibert gave really good advice about being able to give an accurate description of where your at.

I would also like to point this out,

Please to not rely on high tech gizmos to get you out of a bad situation that you got yourself into. Every year I hear at least a dozen search and rescue operations on local radio and read about them in local papers.

What do you think their number one excuse is?

The battery in my phone died.

Geez it makes me so made mad that all that money and all those people risking their lives to find a greenhorn that had no business being where they where. This is costing rural counties a fortune and they really don't have the money. Let alone the SAR people that get killed searching for these people. We have had 2 die in So Cal in the last year.

Cell phones have notoriously bad location if out of range of towers. DON"T RELY ON THEM.
Be proficient at knowing what you are doing have a good map and KNOW how to read it. Note Google maps and most internet based maps are not good maps.
If you are traveling the backcountry in a vehicle have at least 2 vehicles.
If you are hiking in unfamiliar terrain Know what you are doing, don't go solo and don't rely on electronic doo dads.

Rant over, carry on.

Highdesertranger

 

[WanderingRose]

Which is why I don’t go way out into the boonies by myself.

I like to know where I am, also to be where I would be found reasonably quickly and my dependent dog would not die from lack of care.

 

[nature lover]

I understand your point HDR. But if I didn’t take some chances getting out I’d still be stuck in that darn nursing home. I carry satellite communicator not to cover for my intentional stupidity but to rescue me in case I did unintentionally do something stupid. At least I’m not on top of a glacier somewhere looking for search and rescue people to come from miles away. If the emergency center gave a call to our forestry department here in South Central Pennsylvania most of them would know my name. Of course whoever calls that gets billed for it to. I really shouldn’t be out on my own so I try not to go too far out but like I say I was sitting in a rocking chair in a nursing home. I think if I stayed there they had to call the emergency people to keep me from pulling out every air I add or from going postal.

I really hope and pray I never have to use the thing for emergency response. But I have use the need help now message button for family and friends once. I don’t know what to say, I’m not healthy enough to be out here doing this but I’m out here doing this to keep my sanity. Having a satellite communicator it’s a security blanket that not only gives me security but also my 87-year-old mother and others who think I shouldn’t be out here. Of Course right now I’m not in the forest I’m at my friend James,s farm where there’s hundreds of people within shouting distance.

 

[vgilbert]

Wow! Many good ideas

I like the car alarm but first responders would have to get close enough to hear it. Ties in well with being able to lead them to your location.

Spot light, same as above. Flare gun is a bad idea for this purpose in the Western US right now as the fire danger is just to high. Not a good plan to start a forest fire as a way to lead First Responders to you... However... In the Eastern US where the weather is so much different its really not a bad idea. This just depends on the fire danger at any specific location. Overall Id say do not use a flare gun, These are made primarily for boaters who are on open water.

GPS Location devises. YES! My Iphone will give me my GPS location and I think that most or all smart phones will. These are not always pin point accurate but with other physical directions (road numbers/names, etc) they should be close enough to assist in narrowing your location. If you say "I am on xyz road, 1/2 mile from intersection HYT/GTR" and give the GPS info they will know your general location. First Responders know their coverage area very well and will know right away if the GPS comes up something crazy.

Just remember this: It isnt good enough to tell a 911 dispatcher "I am off a gravel road outside crazy town on BLM land" Know the road names, write down the marker numbers (all forest roads have markers), etc

As always, good conversation and insight!

 

[vgilbert]

Forest Road location marker
As I look at this marker I am on Road #2050 at the intersection of Road 2053 in __________ National Forest

If I were to give these numbers to a 911 dispatcher this info can be relayed to Forest Rangers who would be able to pinpoint my location.
When in a National Forest or BLM land look for these markers and note the numbers on them just in case.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

IMHO you should never rely on a single source for your directions.  They all can be wrong.

You may not be where the computer tells you you are; if you cannot verify, how do you know?  When I taught navigation to teens, as a test/teaching moment I would take them to one of two places in Northern Minnesota where their phone GPS would be way off, sometimes by almost a mile (in one it would have us standing out in a lake).

When traveling I always know where I am on a paper map; usually Delorme or Benchmark, sometimes USGS topo maps or NF MVUMs.

On my phone/laptop I usually use Gaia because that has the biggest variety of maps available.  The basic maps are free, additional maps require a subscription.
I also use Avenza as that is the one the National Forest Service recommends and posts to.  You will get closures, warnings, and restrictions there first.  I use it mostly for Motor Vehicle Use Maps.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I thought my comment about using a flare gun was obvious to the readers that it was a ruse....but maybe it was not so obvious to some.

Don't use a flare gun in a forest or anywhere on land (well, unless you are dying and its the only hope of rescue) and obviously don't fire it into a fog of propane gas....c'mon, everyone had to know that was a joke....

In other words, as pointed out in the OP....don't do stupid stuff.

 

[bullfrog]

Forest Service Road markers are helpful if verified on a map but I have come to a three way intersection only to be looking at the same numbered road I was on facing two identical numbered roads before me. In fact when reporting an abandoned vehicle this last week I ended up sending pictures of nearby camps (as in about 5 miles west of) in order for the rangers to find it and begin to resolve the situation.

 

[wayne49]

Looking for Gaia? It's Gaia GPS @ gaiggps.com

 

[wayne49]

A quirk in the Inyo NF is only putting some FR sign posts up. Sometimes a side road will be labeled without the main road being identified. Such as 3S07, a main road, won't be posted, but 3S07H, a short side road, would be.

The MVUM will have most of the labels, and by using dead reckoning from a the prior labeled intersection, you can figure out where you are. I'll take snapshots of the FR signposts that I come across. Breadcrumbs.

In lieu of Avenza, I download the NF's particular MVUM pdf to my laptop, then screenshot a specific area of interest for a given adventure, then download the screenshot to my phone for an offline map.

Currently, I do not have a strong enough cell signal (2 bars) to download Avenza, it went from three minutes, then to 15 minutes, when I canceled the install.

 

[desert_sailing]

[quote pid='539197'
Don't use a flare gun in a forest or anywhere on land (well, unless you are dying and its the only hope of rescue) 
[/quote]


That movie castaway had great cinematography and just a beautiful film.

Annoyed me to no end that he didn't just set the whole island afire.

If Im ever in such dire need.... ya.. it's all going up.

 

[RVTravel]

Desert Sailing, a guy (legally blind, experienced, but solo) hiking on the appalachian trail some years ago got lost and did just that, started a forest fire to get found. It worked.