Staying Found

 

 

 

Search  Inquiry Net

[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]

If Lost
Staying Found
When Lost

Scout Books

Site Contents

The best thing to do, of course, is not to get lost.  When hiking away from camp in a more or less fixed direction, take frequent "shots" to check up on your compass; it may save you from "a night out."  Most important of all, make a mental note of the distance you are bearing to the left or right because of swamps, hills, and other "detours," as well as landmarks such as odd-shaped rocks, trees or trail marks.  This same distance must be taken into account when returning, even though you do so with the aid of a compass.

 Keeping a Course

Landmarks are a sufficient guide when traveling in an area where there are plenty of outlooks, the weather is clear, and the sun is visible.   When you do use a compass on the march, and the country is not too difficult, it will be enough to hold the instrument in one hand, and, without waiting for the needle to stop swinging, note the point midway of the limits of its motion and take that for north, unless the magnetic declination is considerable.  

In level, heavily timbered country, you must take greater care if you want to reach a definite point.  Lay the compass on the ground, or on any higher object that will hold it level.  Where you cannot see out to take bearings in this way, consult the compass every two or three minutes; for it is the easiest thing in the world to get off a true course at such times, and a few degrees' swerve, if not soon detected, will carry you far astray. (see also: What to do if Lost) 

 

 

   

 

 


Additional Information:

Peer- Level Topic Links:
 [ If Lost ] [ Staying Found ] [ When Lost ]

Parent- Level Topic Links:
[ Navigation ] [ Cross Country Skis ] [ Snowshoes ] [ Winter Driving Tips ]

The Inquiry Net Main Topic Links:
 [Outdoor Skills]  [Patrol Method]  [Old-School]  [Adults]  [Advancement]  [Ideals]  [Leadership]  [Uniforms]

Search This Site:

Search Amazon.Com:

When you place an order with Amazon.Com using the search box below, a small referral fee is returned to The Inquiry Net to help defer the expense of keeping us online.  Thank you for your consideration!

Search:

Keywords:

Amazon Logo

 

 

Scout Books Trading Post

Dead Bugs, Blow Guns, Sharp Knives, & Snakes:
What More Could A Boy Want?

Old School Scouting:
What to Do, and How to Do It!

To Email me, replace "(at)" below with "@"
Rick(at)Kudu.Net

If you have questions about one of my 2,000 pages here, you must send me the "URL" of the page!
 This "URL" is sometimes called the "Address" and it is usually found in a little box near the top of your screen.  Most URLs start with the letters "http://"

The Kudu Net is a backup "mirror" of The Inquiry Net.  

©2003, 2011 The Inquiry Net, http://inquiry.net  In addition to any Copyright still held by the original authors, the Scans, Optical Character Recognition, extensive Editing,  and HTML Coding on this Website are the property of the Webmaster.   My work may be used by individuals for non-commercial, non-web-based activities, such as Scouting, research, teaching, and personal use so long as this copyright statement and a URL to my material is included in the text. 
The purpose of this Website is to provide access  to hard to find, out-of-print documents.  Much of the content has been edited to be of practical use in today's world and is not intended as historical preservation.   I will be happy to provide scans of specific short passages in the original documents for people involved in academic research.  

 

Last modified: October 15, 2016.