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PSA: If you're seriously lost in the woods

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I've become quite disoriented in the woods on a few occasions; miles from the nearest road. There's nothing worse than standing there thinking that the way back is the way you're facing, but the sun says the way back is in the opposite direction. I've never been "lost" - just that uncomfortable feeling as I stand there pondering how I got spun around.

lmao! It's not that easy to start a forest fire in regions of the country where forests are covered in snow. I'd bet that if I gave 90% of you a case of matches and stuck you in the forest near me, after 6 hours, you'd be sitting there shivering, with no forest fire in sight. The ease of building a fire depends a lot on the type of wood available. If you're able to get some bark from a few certain types of trees, even in a torrential downpour, you're good to go (as long as you can start the fire under some sort of cover.)
 
Originally posted by: chambersc
1) Snow doesn't burn, duh, but trees do.

2) I said situations like the Kim's...obviously not where there is a blizzard are you to start burning wood in vain.

3) What, cars don't have lighters anymore?

4) Be prepared for a trip...carry the essentials

5) If you stay in one place in a fire, you will die. If you follow my advice and start a fire, keep moving.

6) Slash and burn, folks!
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I feel (even) more sorry for the law profession.

1) Trees burn but not trees that are wet with snow!

3) Plenty of cars don't come with lighters. Mine for example, a 2005 TSX. They come with plenty of power ports.

5) What if your are so successful in your forest fire that you can't contain it. Even firefighters get overwhelmed by the flames and they are professionals.

 
Just head west. You will hit the coast eventually.

If you are lost at the north pole. Don't ask any questions, run south for your life. No second guessing.
 
Originally posted by: Aftermath
Originally posted by: davestar
"If you find yourself lost in the woods, fvck it, build a house. 'Well, I was lost, but now I live here. I have severely improved my predicament!'"
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Mitch Hedberg ftw!

Good thread. Some decent laughs in here.
:thumbsup:
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haha first line I thought of when I read the thread title 😀
 
Read my OP, again.

If it's not/wasn't clear before let me rephrase:

If it's either life or death, one should choose life. Following this premise, if one is in a remote part of the wilderness and the only way for one to be seen/saved is to catch the attention of a pilot via smoke, wouldn't it follow that the larger the smoke (fire is the sole producer of said smoke) the better your chances of being seen are (ignoring all of the impractical aspect like fires in wet snow, etc)?
 
If you want to burn some wood, look for pine. Pine cones are great fire starters, and pine sap burns pretty well. Once you get a fire started, light some pine needles on fire for a lot of smoke. I miss camping out, though I realize we're talking more about the forced camping variety. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: jimmyjam
Originally posted by: chambersc
1) Snow doesn't burn, duh, but trees do.

2) I said situations like the Kim's...obviously not where there is a blizzard are you to start burning wood in vain.

3) What, cars don't have lighters anymore?

4) Be prepared for a trip...carry the essentials

5) If you stay in one place in a fire, you will die. If you follow my advice and start a fire, keep moving.

6) Slash and burn, folks!
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1) In a forest fire, only the trees that are dead and dry burn and they burn because all of the brush and dry needles/twigs/etc on the ground burn first and create enough heat and flames to burn the dead trees. This doesn't happen in the winter because the dry brush is covered in snow.

2) Who is the Kim

3) Most don't.

4) Carry a dry, snow-free forest with you?

5) Wouldn't it be easier to figure out which way the wind is going and just stay upwind of the fire rather than trying to outrun it?

6) Good luck, I'm sure your common sense will carry you through any situation.
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Everything burns in a forest fire.
Edit: unless it's just a ground fire
 
You guys should watch I Shouldn't Be Alive.

I personally would stay with the vehicle and/or the road, landmark, or any other objects that are easily recognizable via rescue personnel on a helicopter.
 
Originally posted by: blahblah99
You guys should watch I Shouldn't Be Alive.

I personally would stay with the vehicle and/or the road, landmark, or any other objects that are easily recognizable via rescue personnel on a helicopter.
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Once again, read the OP or the clarrification. You're in the woods and aren't privy to the location of a road (you lose your hearing, if you must conceptualize), stream, etc. My advice isn't for the mundane "stay in an open area/follow the stream(which could be wrong since you could be going the EXACT opposite way)/follow the road/etc" situations.
 
Originally posted by: AndrewR
If you want to burn some wood, look for pine. Pine cones are great fire starters, and pine sap burns pretty well. Once you get a fire started, light some pine needles on fire for a lot of smoke. I miss camping out, though I realize we're talking more about the forced camping variety. 🙂
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When the ground is wet and most wood you find will be hard to start on fire. If you look at the lower branches of an evergreen they are usually dead and stay dry due to the shelter of the rest of the tree, and the fact that they are not laying on the ground.
Break off the lower branches and use them for firewood.
 
okay, if you start a 500 square mile forest fire, how's that going to help you again? You are still going to be lost.
 
I'm trying to think of how you'd start a forrest fire after a snowstorm. Maybe walk around looking for a dead tree that is relatively close to other trees, shovel the snow around it, dig a pit at it's base (assuming the ground isn't frozen), find wood you get off the ground and dry it (in your car if it still works.. or like.. I don't know sleep on it), start your fire pit with the dried would and start scavenging for more wood, as much as you can find, take this frozen wood and put it in a circle around your pit so it can dry off as fast as possible, as the wood dries off throw it into your pit so you can slowly build it into a bon fire at the base of the dead tree and hope it takes.

Uh, is that the plan?
 
Originally posted by: chambersc
Burn them down. Torch the place. Don't worry about little signal fires ... set everything you see on fire and keep moving.

I've seen too many stories about couples/father and son/families getting stuck/lost in the woods in blizzards/hiking gone bad/river rafting in the middle of no where for me to not come to this conclusion. My advice to any of you who experience a situation similar to the Kim family or close to it is to start setting fires to get attention and keep out of its way. Life......potential repercussions for setting fires.....no brainer, to me.
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How the hell do you burn down a forest when there is snow everywhere?
 
1. Shelter
2. Water
3. Food

In that order.

Note: it is not unintentional that "keep moving" is not on the list.
 
I would say bring a chain saw... use the gasoline from the broken/stuck down car and start cutting down trees.
 
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Best advice if you're lost in the woods:
Follow a river/stream/etc.

Streams lead to rivers.
Rivers lead to lakes.
Roads often cross rivers (at which point you can flag down a car)
Lakes often attract people and have a good chance of a road being nearby.
If a lake doesn't have a road, follow it's outlet.
If you get to an ocean, follow the beach one direction, eventually you're gonna hit something.
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James Kim tried following that advice of following a river to civilization, and ended up getting soaked when he seemingly got chased by a bear and had to cross the river to flee. He then got severe hypothermia and died. 🙁

This is why they recommend staying put now, since the "follow the river" theory seems to get unexperienced hikers killed.
 
Originally posted by: Mwilding

Note: it is not unintentional that "keep moving" is not on the list.
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Not that I don't not understand what you weren't saying, but holy triple negatives...
 
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