Middle of nowhere...

[jdlenton]

if you were out last night did you try using the sky ?

James

 

[mark a.]

I was just out in the evening, rather than overnight. Being the summer solstice, it was still pretty light when I got back (around 10:30), so no. But I could have done later - it wasn't very cloudy.

 

[jdlenton]

d'oh engage brain before typing of course it was the solstice

James

 

[mark a.]

Although having thought of it I could have checked where the sun was setting, which would have been somewhere northwest-ish.

Didn't see and druids or anything, but we did almost bump into a deer, which was nice.

 

[Moff8]

I don't think that being lost would bother me that much, I actually quite like the adventure. I do however have trouble with relaxing enough to sleep outdoors when I am on my own.

 

[BOD]

I do however have trouble with relaxing enough to sleep outdoors when I am on my own.

Why?

My difficulty sleeping is the first night in a hammock. After adjusting to it I sleep well

 

[Abbe Osram]

I don't think that being lost would bother me that much, I actually quite like the adventure. I do however have trouble with relaxing enough to sleep outdoors when I am on my own.

I believe thats the problem of getting used to and to start trusting your enviornement.
A person who sleeps outside a great deal might feel claustrophobic being in a house. Likewise you are feeling a bit wirred in the beginning to sleep outside.
I have the same problem, there is such a racket in the forest, specially here where we have light 24 hours a day. The mossies are around your head (net) and make a noise like a chopper would be landing, the birds never stop singing. Sometimes I thought to scream shut up everybody, go to sleep. But then,,,,well....I adjust.

cheers
Abbe

 

[Moff8]

I think my problem is being a city boy. I am always wondering if somone will come along while I am asleep.

Also as Abbe says there is a lot of noise in the forest at night. I don't hear them behind my double glazing.

 

[ilan]

Think being "lost" is a state of mind so perhaps its posible for someone to get hoplesly lost say in london yet for someone who lives there the signs are everywhere . Whats different today is that within a few hours traveling time you can be in a place in which you have no experience .

 

[BobFromHolland]

I think my problem is being a city boy. I am always wondering if somone will come along while I am asleep.

I share the same thoughts. It justs takes time before you get 'at ease' in the forrest. I even have it in daytime. But it disappears after a couple of days.

Bob

 

[Tadpole]

I'm reading through the Kephart book (Camping and Woodcraft), and one thing that really struck me is that he and his ilk would happily head off into the wilds of nowhere, with not a soul or dwelling for hundreds of miles around, and not get (a) freaked out and (b) completely lost.

Now, my navigation skills are pretty pathetic (my wife is miles better than me) so for me a detailed OS map (and compass of course) is essential. I get a bit concerned if we're not exactly sure where we are (and probably only a mile out at the very most). And I live in Surrey, where it's probably fairly impossible to actually get properly lost. These guys will just make their own sketch maps, and use rickety old compasses, and somehow survive!

How do people cope? Presumably people like Abbe, plus our US and Canadian friends, do this all the time - is this normal business, or are you constantly on your guard to make sure you don't get lost? Are us British people doomed to evolve into complete reliance on sat-nav?

Though new to bushcraft I wild walk quite a bit, and always take map and compass, the main reason is to make sure I don’t wander on to land where the owner/ farmer will get upset. Other than that I concentrate on where I am, where I have been, and I make mental notes of what the place I am currently heading looks like, I also tend to stop and turn round every now and then so imprint in my head what the path looks like on the way back (even if I don’t plan to return that way, as you never know what the day will bring).

Being lost is more about “time” than really being LOST. Time binds us, as much as we try and avoid it we all think we have to be someplace for a certain time and we tend to build in the pressure of knowing exactly where we are, as people think
“If I get to that clearing for [insert time] then I can strike camp at dawn and make [insert next camp] by [insert some ridiculous time frame]” time pressure to be somewhere else X current location=LOST

I’ve trained myself to recognise differences, things like tree bark colour, shape, fence patterns, and skyline shapes. I memorise them then as I walk, it’s not like they change quickly. Looking around you all the time; is a good way to train my brain to remember. I think getting lost is a good habit to get into, it has taught me how to think on my feet. If Like me you are left handed, when you are lost with no markers to aim for you tend to walk in a big left handed circle, First of I got myself lost by accident, a few hours of walking in a huge circle I was found again, so the next time I was out I set off to try it see just how big a circle I’d make naturally without taking too many risk , I added a bit of right handed heading into my walk and see how checked far out I was, if you overshoot or undershoot you learn to add more righting or less.

Practice getting lost, choose a place where a few hours walking in any direction will bring you to a feature you can recognise, a road, a stream or a Pub soon you will learn to know how you walk, not only how fast but are you left or right footed. All the things that help you to remember the path you took. Did you rest your pack on a rock, if so look for scuff marks, or was the track muddy? Up hill, down hill? All these thing hint as to where you are in relation to where you should be (want to be)