I live in the Bush in Alaska and when I first moved here and I would be out on the snowmobile cutting wood when everything is all white I learn to put up sticks in the ground every so often so I could find my way back back home and one day I had a gentleman call me and thank me because he got lost in the woods and he found my sticks in the ground and followed them and found his way out of the woods so I’m very proud to say that only did it help me but it helped others😍
I once did that in West Virginia. I’d spent the night in my tent in a state forest, and a wild storm arose in the night. I discovered I couldn’t leave. The road in had the bridge wiped out by a flash flood. I hadn’t bothered signing in because it was almost dark and the storm was coming. I left notes on my car and tent, packed an overnight bag, and set out for a town about 15 miles away. This was well before cell phones, gps, etc. I used logging roads, poorly marked trails, a stream, marking my progress. The stream turned out to be the gem! I came out on a state highway about a mile from the town. A quick stop in police station got me a ride back to my camp, via logging roads. Someone had found my campsite and reported it at another police station. The state brought in a temporary bridge and next day I was back in business!
Just to add one more bit of information to the blazes - make the 'from' blaze higher than the 'to' blaze. That way, when you find your way back to the marked tree, you can tell which way you were going. Finding the tree does you no good if you end up going the wrong direction from it. With flagging tape, always put the knot on the 'from' side.
With charcoal, you might consider an arrow on the face of the tree showing your direction of travel and an X on the opposite side of the tree for back side reference. This would aid in finding you from SAR.
As a former land surveyor I can attest that the glo-pink flagging is the best flagging for marking positions in the woods. It shows up any time of the year better than any other color. I've used the glo-orange and yellow flagging too. Both would work in a pinch but the glo-pink is by far the best and it doesn't take much of it to spot it from afar. You can also write on it with a permanent marker, if needed, to convey a message.
I used as well (yellow flag tape) elk hunting in unfamiliar rugged timber in the Pacific Northwest, .... Got bull elk in canyon, over hills, gulleys, thick woods, helped me get out with flag tape on trees. Bad storm wind and rain at night 👍🏻🇺🇲
We use the green tape at work (trucker here) to mark empty trailers. Idk whose idea it was but it sure saves a lot of time when youre looking for an empty. So basically theres just a long piece of tape tied to the inside of the permit box on the front of the trailer and when you drop an empty you just hang it out the side and close the box.
I got lost one time following a discontinued trail. At one point I came to realize that I couldn’t find my way back, as the trail head disappeared and the undergrowth had swallowed the trail up. After a while I finally gave up and decided to find another route back. The things I remembered as a photographer, was where the sun was when I came down the trail and where the mountain slopes were. So I followed the sun and mountain slopes back the best I could and still was 3/4 of a mile off when I finally got back to the main road. If I did it again, I would carry a small compass and know how to use it.
I've had a similar experience and I definitely think knowing a vague mental map of the area (especially in terms of the compass) and the location of the sun with reference to the time of day are so helpful. I don't do that kind of hiking enough to warrant owning a compass but maybe 1 day
Susie...I would never go on a hike in the woods without a compass and at least a basic map of the park or forest in which I was traveling. I just bought 4 small basic Suunto base plate compasses for $5.50 each from eBay. This type of compass is all you need to orientate your map to north and do basic azimuth work either to or from your map. If Gerry Largay, the hiker who was lost and died off of the Appalachian Trail, had a simple basic compass the day she left the trail she would be alive today. Please get yourself a compass and learn the basics of its use. It's not difficult and it could save your life or at least some embarrassment.
And to make sure that someone actually comes to help you; never go out on your own without telling someone you're heading out, where you'll be and when you expect to be back. You can know all these navigation tips, but if nobody knows the general vicinity of where you are, nobody is going to actively be looking for you until it might be too late.
Yeah where I come from we have 3 hiking rules: 1.Make sure someone knows where you're going 2.Leave with plenty of time to get back (Have a realistic idea of how long it'll take YOU to complete the hike) 3.NEVER leave the trail
Hell if I know ,but like a caver, I would consider walking out 30 yd or whatever line of paracord. One end tied to a tree , make it central I have no real time in the woods so I thank all you guys for information.
How about this, something my grandfather taught me at 12. NEVER leave without letting him know my direction and intention. NEVER leave without my small overnight pack which had a compass and a detailed map of the area. NEVER leave the area covered by the map.
@Rick Christopher Thank you Rick! Yeah, we lived in the mountains with a large valley and the plant growth in some areas was almost impenetrable. All of us boys were taught survival from the age of four. We were given a small pack to carry even if it only had a sandwich in it and a pocket knife for our pocket that we were not allowed to open (couldn't open it anyway). I would say at the age of 8 we knew how to use our pocket knife, our hatchet, started learning how to shoot a .22 rifle and began in earnest to learn how to read a topo map and use our compass. As a result we were quite adept in the outdoors by the age of 12.
Reflective trail marker tacks are in all of my bags for this reason. I've been going in the woods since I could walk, had a job for a few years as a lumberjack where we stayed out for a week at a time but man I've been lost more times then I can remember. This is solid advice, especially setting up a camp and marking for perimeter. I've always used my initials and an arrow pointing towards where I am at or direction I'm taking. Excellent video.
Making and using charcoal as a marker is a great idea. Taking the time to build a suitable fire will give you the head space to relax and reorient.. while doing that, take the time to relieve yourself.. if there another person within 5 miles they will show up right after you drop trou. Test this theory anytime. Be Well and Good Journey Richie
Simple, works with notching and breaking limbs too. That's if you want to leave a trail, like cigarette butts, or building a fire when you want to be found. I was taught to leave no trace, which teaches both skills. If you know how to leave no trace, you first learn the traces. I'd like to see a "Leave No Trace" video from coalcracker. Forward Observers LDW.
Still waiting for the video to load up but I saw your comment. I was hoping he was gonna mention that one. Thats an old Native Navigation trick, I am going to include it in my lost in the woods video because I'm not a fan of blazes and most state parks dont allow it
@@TheModernNativeTribe have you seen many trail marker trees? Also referred to as talking trees or Indian talking trees? They are usually white oak, bent (when a sapling) to create a pointer, VERY distinctive shape they take as adult tree. They are made to provide a living sign and direction to campsite, water source, buried treasure. I inherited one on an upstate SC mountain top I now own (from before the Trail of Tears, Cherokee). There is another near it, which is a DOUBLE talking tree.
@@chrislnflorida5192 not more than a tattoo or dermal cut damages skin. Creates a scar, but very few blazes damage the life of a tree. (Does more damage to repeatedly tap trees for sugar sap).
I absolutely love your channel, laid back, informative and excellent content with great teaching. I gotta say I really hate the bugs too. Here’s my fix, maybe it will work for you too. This is no joke and really works unless it’s really very windy. Get a dried cow pie, break off a piece and light it. It burns but only smokes and no flames. All bugs hate it and bonus it doesn’t really smell a lot.
many people get lost snd each year here in california. if they only watched your vids this was good i have 2 compasses batteries and transfer my etrex 30x to each pack (2 packs) go prepared to go home have a good day boss
I wouldn't remotely describe myself as a woodsman but I did get lost in the woods once (differing maps - the 1 I was given vs the 1 at the trail head - and poorly marked trails) and I wouldn't have said I have a great sense of direction but I knew that the lodge where I was staying was west of the area I was hiking and that the sun was starting to set (had been wandering for a while by that point trying to find the trail) so I just headed towards the sun and after about an hour I found the trail leading back to my lodge. Whew. And I still remember the incident with fondness and still love the woods and wouldn't hesitate to go again (altho I'd try to do a bit more research cos I didn't get to see what I set out to see which is really the point even tho I enjoyed the tromp thru snowy woods - pretty)
The charcoal is a good idea, have used it it has also screwed a bit because of rain, just to remember that if it rains then charcoal will wash off. Appreciate your videos. I look forward to more great videos
Yeah I was thinking same as I watched this but if you don't have tape or a blade you gotta use what you have. Mud would work just as well but you can't afford to waste your water making it (unless you had a dry bag and a stream)
We were hunting in the Atchafalaya Basin, and marked our trail with surveyor’s flagging. When the sun came up, we were surrounded by flagging left by crawfishermen, when the water was high. It was a bit distressing.
When I first started squirrel hunting as a kid . I would pinch small branches so an short tree tops between my thumb an finger an break over the ends of branches or the tops of short trees. When I was ready to go home I would backtrack following the broke over branches an tree tops .
Good video - thanks for the excellent advice. Here's an idea that occurred to me while watching. If you're using the charcoal method of marking, you could put an "up" arrow visible on the side of the tree you're seeing as you walk your path and put an 'x" on the back side of the tree. That way, if someone is looking for you and comes across your blazes, they can tell which direction you were traveling along that path. Otherwise, they'll have to guess which way to go and there's a 50/50 chance they'll pick the wrong direction and actually move further away from you in their search.
For people with my type of luck (I've been convicted by Murphy's law more than once) I would recommend when you make a mark, do so in a consistent fashion so you can tell which side of the tree takes you back to point 1/misplaced base camp/what ever you wish to call it. I would do this because, I could take a tumble on a steep grade, loose my orientation (avoiding mountain lion/bear/boar) any number of things can happen. For that reason, it you are tying a flag, place the knot on the side of you 'base camp", if you are taking off bark, place the higher mark on the camp side of tree (reasons, starting out you will alway have a higher lvl of energy, than your trip back, so a line of sight mark about shoulder lvl instead of head high, will help). Just my opinion from personal experience 🙄🤕
My getting lost story: was picking fir cones for sale. I hit a patch where the vine maples had been pushed down by the snow in winter. It was like a fish trap. You could only go one way. I was able to get up to a logging road pretty quickly. I started trying to walk out. When I came to a fork, I marked the one I took with stacked stones. Most of the roads were a dead end and I'd have to try the other side of the fork. I happened to find a parked logging truck by the time it was getting dark. Decided to stay there, which turned out to be a good idea. There was a blanket and a thermos of coffee there. I wrapped up and went to sleep, until the headlights woke me up. It was the local sheriff, looking for me. Turned out I was headed in the right direction but I was happy to be rescued.
If you ever wander off a marked or unmarked trail, woods road, animal trail, "herd path", etc. and can't find your way back there's a very easy method to find it again. I probably should have done a UA-cam video on this myself. I'm surprised I don't really see this anywhere. I only read about it somewhere once and I've used it and it works. You don't need a compass, you don't need anything but your feet. . It's the spiral pattern method. If you can't find the trail you just start walking in an ever widening clockwise or counterclockwise (take your pick) SPIRAL from where you're standing. . Just go clockwise or counterclockwise in an ever-widening circle or spiral from where you are and eventually you will hit the trail again. Pretty foolproof. Doesn't matter if you're north, south, east, west or any points in between from the trail. You WILL hit it either sooner or later depending on how far you wandered away from it. Draw this as a diagram on a piece of paper and you can see that it works. And next time you're on the trail try it. It's pretty much foolproof. I know there was an older woman in Maine some of us have read about who was hiking the Appalachian trail and she went off the trail to take a bathroom break and couldn't find her way back. She wasn't a very experienced hiker apparently and even though she had a compass, she didn't know how to use it too well and just couldn't find her way back. She just kept wandering aimlessly and couldn't find her way back to the trail.. She finally set up camp to hunker down and wait for rescue, but she did it underneath tree cover instead of in a clearing so that the rescue aircraft couldn't see her tent. She just didn't do the right things and ended up dying after about 28 days I think it was. If she had just used this spiral walking pattern she would have found the trail again. I think I read that when they found her skeletal remains she was only about 30 minutes away from the trail. So remember...an ever widening spiral pattern: good. Wandering aimlessly or in a straight line: bad. Unless you're really lucky and just happen to go in the right direction. But we all know that usually doesn't happen....
These are fantastic tips! I like the charcoal one. Whenever I go out I always figure out my “safety bearing” ahead of time when I’m studying the map. For example I got turned around in the bush chasing a rabbit. I knew that to my east was a 300km hydro cut running North/South so I pulled out my compass and realized that what I thought was North was west and I was all mixed up. All I had to do was walk approximately eastward until I hit the hydro cut. Once I got to it I knew I needed to go North to a river to find the trail. Another place I go I know the highway is to my west and it’s all uphill to the highway. Study your maps and have a safely bearing in mind before you go out.
🤠 The most important thing you said is When realization of being LOST sinks in Hunker down if it is near DARK make camp if not do a fire and have java or food PANIC is to me what harms the most.
I taught this to a group of kids today at our local homeschool co-op survival course. I like the ribbon or charcoal method the best. Thanks for the video!
I carry hot pink or orange jute twine, multi purpose i.e, tinder, construction, marking trail etc. A couple of wraps around the tree at eye level with the knot in the direction that i came from i.e. base camp.
Idea. With the charcoal you could mark your direction of travel with an UP arrow. On the other side you could mark it with a DOWN arrow. That way, if you come across the tree again then you know in which direction you were walking when you marked it.
Uhm yeah... I'm from NW Europe. If I get lost in a forest I just walk 5 minutes in any direction and then I'll be out of the forest. That's about how little nature we have left over here.
Navigation requires three steps. You have to know: 1. Where am I now? 2. Where do I want to be? 3. How do I get to there from here? Then you repeat those steps over and over again. Dan’s visible markers can help when you’re lost, to get you back to the last location where you were still found. It reanswers question# 1. Dan knows what he’s talking about. Courtesy of Half Vast Flying
I quite enjoy the info you give out.....I went in a bit at 300 degrees and now that i moved around and hit that reverse azmuith of120 degrees and i get to the road per say.........do i go left or right to the car, one way will take you to the car another way and you will end up in Pittsburg.
I like the blaze. But wouldn't it be helpful to add a carved "V", right side up or upside down. There is a blaze on each side of the tree. If you are really confused, then you don't know which way is which. I think a V upward would mean that is how I got there, the way in. The V points downward and says that is the way back, if you are just going to retrace your step. What do you think?
Ok having done land navigation training and having taught it in the Army, marking a tree is not the answer,. The U.S. Army land navigation training uses red signs on trees as mark points that have to be found. But you can walk right by these whithout seeing it even if your looking, if your going to blaze uses a rag and tie it around the tree white bright not a little string a wide bright pice of cloths on all four sides
THE 1ST THING YOU DO IS DON'T FREAK OUT!!!! STOP & SIT DOWN CALM DOWN !!!! SET UP A BASE CAMP LITE UP A FIRE HAVE SOME COFFEE OR TEA. BECAUSE IF YOU DONT CALM DOWN URE GOING 2 MAKE URE SISUATION ALOT WORSE. HOW I KNOW THIS. IVE BEEN THEIR LOSS MY SELF. GREAT JOB DAN.
That's alright if you are hunting private land and don't have anyone sneaking onto it. But I've already made the 45 minute hike in the dark to where I had left my climber at the base of the tree so all I would have to do was climb in and up the tree and wait for the sun to rise,only to find that an out of state hunter beat me there and was sitting in my tree stand! Then the guy wanted to argue with me he had permission and was told to use that stand by the land owner who was my uncle and didn't let anyone but family and 3 or 4 friends who we all knew. Thing is we had 2 stands and 5 or 6 trail cams stolen over a 5 year stretch leading up to me running into this 💩🦃. And end of the summer year earlier found weed growing on the the property rite where 2 trail cams were stolen previous fall! I wanted to make a marked trail that led to a tiger/punji pit and see who we find in it but my uncle won't let me. My cousin sat out in a gilly suit and waited for em to sneak in and shot one of em with a paintball gun.🤡
@@roscoep.coltraine6344I hunt state ground and the only problem I ever had was a bear ripped the cushion of my climber. I have a state lease and have a lot of people hunting that area around the cabin. I guess I am fortunate that I have left stands in till April because I didn't have vehicle enough to make it through the snow and ice. Still going to be using trail eyes and ribbon 🎀
@@timothyrothrock4173 That's great hopefully these type of 💩🦃's continue to remain nonexistent in your neck of the woods my friend. They have no regard for anyone or anything,they're dangerous and only provide ammo to the anti's cause!
Yeah I am having a hard time believing that it happens. But I guess nothing can shock me anymore. Wish I had all the easy answers for you, I don't of course. Good luck my friend
The problem with self rescue,,, is if someone IS looking for you. And you wonder into an area that has already been searched,,, YOU ARE FASTENED WITH A HELICAL PLANE?
I'm no survivalist but after seeing this I'd carry a can of spray paint and use it to mark numbers on trees in ascending order starting with 0 for 'The Starting Point'
Along with Dan's suggestion, add an additional stripe/x/whatever every new marker you put down, that way you can do multiple directions, and they all lead back to your starting point.
Maybe mark an upward pointing arrow on the way out, and on the other side of the tree a downward pointing arrow, indicating a return path? Courtesy of Half Vast Flying
Thanks for all you do Dan. Have you ever thought about making and selling your own bushcraft survival notebook. Maybe like on a monthly subscription type thing with 5 to 10 loose leaf pages to add to a binder or something similar to the RitR book cover? $5 a month. About $0.50 per page. Just a thought revenue stream for you.
About half your survival stories have a situation where someone is lost or they used navigation to save the day like in mawson or Shackleton's case. Think about that. Imagine how many of those stories wouldn't exist if everyone knew how to navigate. Next to using your common sense navigation is the number one survival skill if you are backpacking. But navigation as a whole field of study is a more academic undertaking which takes alot of PRACTICE as well as the theory involved. There is a psychology of navigation just like i would think survival. When your ass depends on it you will doubt simple logic. Simple tasks become difficult. You must practice under duress with safeguards and force yourself to think under pressure
I live in the Bush in Alaska and when I first moved here and I would be out on the snowmobile cutting wood when everything is all white I learn to put up sticks in the ground every so often so I could find my way back back home and one day I had a gentleman call me and thank me because he got lost in the woods and he found my sticks in the ground and followed them and found his way out of the woods so I’m very proud to say that only did it help me but it helped others😍
I once did that in West Virginia. I’d spent the night in my tent in a state forest, and a wild storm arose in the night. I discovered I couldn’t leave. The road in had the bridge wiped out by a flash flood. I hadn’t bothered signing in because it was almost dark and the storm was coming. I left notes on my car and tent, packed an overnight bag, and set out for a town about 15 miles away. This was well before cell phones, gps, etc. I used logging roads, poorly marked trails, a stream, marking my progress. The stream turned out to be the gem! I came out on a state highway about a mile from the town. A quick stop in police station got me a ride back to my camp, via logging roads. Someone had found my campsite and reported it at another police station. The state brought in a temporary bridge and next day I was back in business!
Well that's just refined badassery !!! Well done !!
Just to add one more bit of information to the blazes - make the 'from' blaze higher than the 'to' blaze. That way, when you find your way back to the marked tree, you can tell which way you were going. Finding the tree does you no good if you end up going the wrong direction from it. With flagging tape, always put the knot on the 'from' side.
I like the tip about the knot
Excellent. Thank you!
Great tip! Thanks!
A single blaze Away from camp ~ two blazes TOward camp
@@jmorrow6913 Another good method. As long as you remember what your own method means, you're good.
I was taught every so many feet to turn around and look behind you.
With charcoal, you might consider an arrow on the face of the tree showing your direction of travel and an X on the opposite side of the tree for back side reference. This would aid in finding you from SAR.
Sorry - I just posted this same comment before noticing yours. I agree this is an excellent idea! ;-)
As a former land surveyor I can attest that the glo-pink flagging is the best flagging for marking positions in the woods. It shows up any time of the year better than any other color. I've used the glo-orange and yellow flagging too. Both would work in a pinch but the glo-pink is by far the best and it doesn't take much of it to spot it from afar. You can also write on it with a permanent marker, if needed, to convey a message.
🤚🏻Also a land surveyor,
Pink is the color I see best/my preference. Orange can appear white in low light.
I used as well (yellow flag tape) elk hunting in unfamiliar rugged timber in the Pacific Northwest, .... Got bull elk in canyon, over hills, gulleys, thick woods, helped me get out with flag tape on trees. Bad storm wind and rain at night 👍🏻🇺🇲
We use the green tape at work (trucker here) to mark empty trailers. Idk whose idea it was but it sure saves a lot of time when youre looking for an empty. So basically theres just a long piece of tape tied to the inside of the permit box on the front of the trailer and when you drop an empty you just hang it out the side and close the box.
Is there a better way to do this in the event you don’t want to be tracked by somebody?
I got lost one time following a discontinued trail. At one point I came to realize that I couldn’t find my way back, as the trail head disappeared and the undergrowth had swallowed the trail up.
After a while I finally gave up and decided to find another route back. The things I remembered as a photographer, was where the sun was when I came down the trail and where the mountain slopes were. So I followed the sun and mountain slopes back the best I could and still was 3/4 of a mile off when I finally got back to the main road.
If I did it again, I would carry a small compass and know how to use it.
I've had a similar experience and I definitely think knowing a vague mental map of the area (especially in terms of the compass) and the location of the sun with reference to the time of day are so helpful.
I don't do that kind of hiking enough to warrant owning a compass but maybe 1 day
Susie...I would never go on a hike in the woods without a compass and at least a basic map of the park or forest in which I was traveling. I just bought 4 small basic Suunto base plate compasses for $5.50 each from eBay. This type of compass is all you need to orientate your map to north and do basic azimuth work either to or from your map. If Gerry Largay, the hiker who was lost and died off of the Appalachian Trail, had a simple basic compass the day she left the trail she would be alive today. Please get yourself a compass and learn the basics of its use. It's not difficult and it could save your life or at least some embarrassment.
And to make sure that someone actually comes to help you; never go out on your own without telling someone you're heading out, where you'll be and when you expect to be back.
You can know all these navigation tips, but if nobody knows the general vicinity of where you are, nobody is going to actively be looking for you until it might be too late.
Yeah where I come from we have 3 hiking rules:
1.Make sure someone knows where you're going
2.Leave with plenty of time to get back (Have a realistic idea of how long it'll take YOU to complete the hike)
3.NEVER leave the trail
or leave a note at camp
Those really big street marker kids chalks are good and eco friendly. Different colors for different directions. Use when hunting new territory.
Yes those chalk markers kids have come in day glo pink and it might be a good plan to to drop a couple in your survival bag wrapped in bubble wrap.
I like these Coalcracker tips episodes. I have them bookmarked.
At one time somebody asked Davy Crockett if you'd ever got lost, he said NEVER, but I was a bit confused for a couple of weeks
I like to think of it as " momentarily misplaced"!
lol
Lol. That's awesome
Epic reply.
Your the man Dan helped me out so much an get out of my dark spot an get me back in the woods
Hell if I know ,but like a caver, I would consider walking out 30 yd or whatever line of paracord.
One end tied to a tree , make it central I have no real time in the woods so I thank all you guys for information.
How about this, something my grandfather taught me at 12.
NEVER leave without letting him know my direction and intention.
NEVER leave without my small overnight pack which had a compass and a detailed map of the area.
NEVER leave the area covered by the map.
@Rick Christopher Thank you Rick! Yeah, we lived in the mountains with a large valley and the plant growth in some areas was almost impenetrable. All of us boys were taught survival from the age of four. We were given a small pack to carry even if it only had a sandwich in it and a pocket knife for our pocket that we were not allowed to open (couldn't open it anyway). I would say at the age of 8 we knew how to use our pocket knife, our hatchet, started learning how to shoot a .22 rifle and began in earnest to learn how to read a topo map and use our compass. As a result we were quite adept in the outdoors by the age of 12.
In my story above, the maps we were given were out of date.
Reflective trail marker tacks are in all of my bags for this reason. I've been going in the woods since I could walk, had a job for a few years as a lumberjack where we stayed out for a week at a time but man I've been lost more times then I can remember. This is solid advice, especially setting up a camp and marking for perimeter. I've always used my initials and an arrow pointing towards where I am at or direction I'm taking. Excellent video.
Making and using charcoal as a marker is a great idea. Taking the time to build a suitable fire will give you the head space to relax and reorient.. while doing that, take the time to relieve yourself.. if there another person within 5 miles they will show up right after you drop trou. Test this theory anytime. Be Well and Good Journey Richie
I’ve heard that if you tie a ribbon etc around a tree, the knot should be oriented on the tree in the direction of your travel.
Simple, works with notching and breaking limbs too. That's if you want to leave a trail, like cigarette butts, or building a fire when you want to be found. I was taught to leave no trace, which teaches both skills. If you know how to leave no trace, you first learn the traces. I'd like to see a "Leave No Trace" video from coalcracker. Forward Observers LDW.
Good morning Dan!
Another good tip
Thanks
Support from indonesia 🇮🇩 friends
Another way to 'blaze' a trail is by snapping the green ends of branches (and leave them hanging) as you walk along. I do this on horseback.
Still waiting for the video to load up but I saw your comment. I was hoping he was gonna mention that one.
Thats an old Native Navigation trick, I am going to include it in my lost in the woods video because I'm not a fan of blazes and most state parks dont allow it
Your Right Modern, Blazing damages the tree
@@TheModernNativeTribe have you seen many trail marker trees? Also referred to as talking trees or Indian talking trees? They are usually white oak, bent (when a sapling) to create a pointer, VERY distinctive shape they take as adult tree. They are made to provide a living sign and direction to campsite, water source, buried treasure. I inherited one on an upstate SC mountain top I now own (from before the Trail of Tears, Cherokee). There is another near it, which is a DOUBLE talking tree.
@@chrislnflorida5192 not more than a tattoo or dermal cut damages skin. Creates a scar, but very few blazes damage the life of a tree. (Does more damage to repeatedly tap trees for sugar sap).
I've done this a bunch and I'll usually snap the branch in the direction I came from.
Great tips thank you.
I'm a flagging tape man. It's my go to. Always have some in my pack when hiking or hunting
I absolutely love your channel, laid back, informative and excellent content with great teaching.
I gotta say I really hate the bugs too. Here’s my fix, maybe it will work for you too. This is no joke and really works unless it’s really very windy. Get a dried cow pie, break off a piece and light it. It burns but only smokes and no flames. All bugs hate it and bonus it doesn’t really smell a lot.
"Hunker Down" the great Steve Wallis never gets lost
...and he brings amenities
@@thankmelater1254 Step 2
Love that guy!
many people get lost snd each year here in california. if they only watched your vids this was good i have 2 compasses batteries and transfer my etrex 30x to each pack (2 packs) go prepared to go home have a good day boss
Great information. Thanks
I wouldn't remotely describe myself as a woodsman but I did get lost in the woods once (differing maps - the 1 I was given vs the 1 at the trail head - and poorly marked trails) and I wouldn't have said I have a great sense of direction but I knew that the lodge where I was staying was west of the area I was hiking and that the sun was starting to set (had been wandering for a while by that point trying to find the trail) so I just headed towards the sun and after about an hour I found the trail leading back to my lodge. Whew.
And I still remember the incident with fondness and still love the woods and wouldn't hesitate to go again (altho I'd try to do a bit more research cos I didn't get to see what I set out to see which is really the point even tho I enjoyed the tromp thru snowy woods - pretty)
The charcoal is a good idea, have used it it has also screwed a bit because of rain, just to remember that if it rains then charcoal will wash off.
Appreciate your videos. I look forward to more great videos
Yeah I was thinking same as I watched this but if you don't have tape or a blade you gotta use what you have. Mud would work just as well but you can't afford to waste your water making it (unless you had a dry bag and a stream)
We were hunting in the Atchafalaya Basin, and marked our trail with surveyor’s flagging. When the sun came up, we were surrounded by flagging left by crawfishermen, when the water was high. It was a bit distressing.
When I first started squirrel hunting as a kid . I would pinch small branches so an short tree tops between my thumb an finger an break over the ends of branches or the tops of short trees. When I was ready to go home I would backtrack following the broke over branches an tree tops .
Really great ideas thanks for the reminders
Don’t go in the bush without a cutting tools and a fire kit. Great video. Alan R.
You always have great info and a way about telling us about it. Thank you.
That’s good advise Dan. Thanks and take care.
“Lost? Powerful confused for a month or two, but I ain’t never been lost!”
- Henry Frapp (cir. 1840)
That's a good idea I've done that before so i could find my way out of the woods and it worked for me
Good video - thanks for the excellent advice. Here's an idea that occurred to me while watching. If you're using the charcoal method of marking, you could put an "up" arrow visible on the side of the tree you're seeing as you walk your path and put an 'x" on the back side of the tree. That way, if someone is looking for you and comes across your blazes, they can tell which direction you were traveling along that path. Otherwise, they'll have to guess which way to go and there's a 50/50 chance they'll pick the wrong direction and actually move further away from you in their search.
Easy and simple. I like this.
Even if just hiking, always carry a Victorinox Huntsman, have put small crosses on trees before the help trace my way back through woods.
Also light a fire. I've often been out in the woods and smelt a campfire or even someone smoking from some distance away.
For people with my type of luck (I've been convicted by Murphy's law more than once) I would recommend when you make a mark, do so in a consistent fashion so you can tell which side of the tree takes you back to point 1/misplaced base camp/what ever you wish to call it. I would do this because, I could take a tumble on a steep grade, loose my orientation (avoiding mountain lion/bear/boar) any number of things can happen. For that reason, it you are tying a flag, place the knot on the side of you 'base camp", if you are taking off bark, place the higher mark on the camp side of tree (reasons, starting out you will alway have a higher lvl of energy, than your trip back, so a line of sight mark about shoulder lvl instead of head high, will help). Just my opinion from personal experience 🙄🤕
Recommendation for say a desert setting, where there is not trees to make a visible mark. Rock terrain so you can't follow an obvious traveled trail.
My getting lost story: was picking fir cones for sale. I hit a patch where the vine maples had been pushed down by the snow in winter. It was like a fish trap. You could only go one way. I was able to get up to a logging road pretty quickly. I started trying to walk out. When I came to a fork, I marked the one I took with stacked stones. Most of the roads were a dead end and I'd have to try the other side of the fork. I happened to find a parked logging truck by the time it was getting dark. Decided to stay there, which turned out to be a good idea. There was a blanket and a thermos of coffee there. I wrapped up and went to sleep, until the headlights woke me up. It was the local sheriff, looking for me. Turned out I was headed in the right direction but I was happy to be rescued.
Thanks buddy..well done..Good tips.😃👍
If you ever wander off a marked or unmarked trail, woods road, animal trail, "herd path", etc. and can't find your way back there's a very easy method to find it again. I probably should have done a UA-cam video on this myself. I'm surprised I don't really see this anywhere. I only read about it somewhere once and I've used it and it works. You don't need a compass, you don't need anything but your feet. . It's the spiral pattern method. If you can't find the trail you just start walking in an ever widening clockwise or counterclockwise (take your pick) SPIRAL from where you're standing. . Just go clockwise or counterclockwise in an ever-widening circle or spiral from where you are and eventually you will hit the trail again. Pretty foolproof.
Doesn't matter if you're north, south, east, west or any points in between from the trail. You WILL hit it either sooner or later depending on how far you wandered away from it. Draw this as a diagram on a piece of paper and you can see that it works. And next time you're on the trail try it. It's pretty much foolproof. I know there was an older woman in Maine some of us have read about who was hiking the Appalachian trail and she went off the trail to take a bathroom break and couldn't find her way back. She wasn't a very experienced hiker apparently and even though she had a compass, she didn't know how to use it too well and just couldn't find her way back. She just kept wandering aimlessly and couldn't find her way back to the trail.. She finally set up camp to hunker down and wait for rescue, but she did it underneath tree cover instead of in a clearing so that the rescue aircraft couldn't see her tent. She just didn't do the right things and ended up dying after about 28 days I think it was. If she had just used this spiral walking pattern she would have found the trail again. I think I read that when they found her skeletal remains she was only about 30 minutes away from the trail. So remember...an ever widening spiral pattern: good. Wandering aimlessly or in a straight line: bad. Unless you're really lucky and just happen to go in the right direction. But we all know that usually doesn't happen....
These are fantastic tips! I like the charcoal one.
Whenever I go out I always figure out my “safety bearing” ahead of time when I’m studying the map.
For example I got turned around in the bush chasing a rabbit. I knew that to my east was a 300km hydro cut running North/South so I pulled out my compass and realized that what I thought was North was west and I was all mixed up.
All I had to do was walk approximately eastward until I hit the hydro cut. Once I got to it I knew I needed to go North to a river to find the trail.
Another place I go I know the highway is to my west and it’s all uphill to the highway.
Study your maps and have a safely bearing in mind before you go out.
no one would carry charcoal silly suggestion is all
🤠
The most important thing you said is
When realization of being LOST sinks in
Hunker down if it is near DARK make camp if not do a fire and have java or food
PANIC is to me what harms the most.
Nice video and very helpful and very much worth remembering....many thanks 👍🙂
Simple and effective. Thank you.
Thanks now we have makes on trees everywhere
Great video
Thank you for the information.
Stay in the woods!
I taught this to a group of kids today at our local homeschool co-op survival course. I like the ribbon or charcoal method the best. Thanks for the video!
Thanks!
Bag recommendations would make a great video
I carry hot pink or orange jute twine, multi purpose i.e, tinder, construction, marking trail etc.
A couple of wraps around the tree at eye level with the knot in the direction that i came from i.e. base camp.
Great idea, Dan. Thank you for sharing it with us. Stay safe and stay cool
Gave my 2 grandsons florescent engineer tape to put in there packs , but they always tell someone there heading out , plus their rifle or shotgun.
Great tips
Great tips, Dan! Thanks!
Thank you very much♡
Great and important information Dan !! Take care and stay safe my friend!!
Good info. Hopefully the city slickers watch and learn. LOL
Dan your videos are so awesome! I just purchased a few things off the website and will put them to good use in northern Idaho!
Excellent video! Thank you for the info👍
Great ideas thanks for all the hard work you put in to.
Nice
Awsome
Thx Dan!
Helpful info
TY
Thank u
When you go into the woods take a screenshot of your compass and when you want to get out look at it again and look at it
smart
Your knowledge is great for people that want to learn. Nice work bud
Leaving a trail of bread crumbs through the woods could be dangerous the big bad wolf my catch you LOL
Idea.
With the charcoal you could mark your direction of travel with an UP arrow.
On the other side you could mark it with a DOWN arrow.
That way, if you come across the tree again then you know in which direction you were walking when you marked it.
no body would carry charcoal silly suggestion
rain, duh!
Uhm yeah... I'm from NW Europe. If I get lost in a forest I just walk 5 minutes in any direction and then I'll be out of the forest. That's about how little nature we have left over here.
Let's go !!
Ikr
Navigation requires three steps. You have to know:
1. Where am I now?
2. Where do I want to be?
3. How do I get to there from here?
Then you repeat those steps over and over again.
Dan’s visible markers can help when you’re lost, to get you back to the last location where you were still found. It reanswers question# 1.
Dan knows what he’s talking about.
Courtesy of Half Vast Flying
2:11 nice.
I quite enjoy the info you give out.....I went in a bit at 300 degrees and now that i moved around and hit that reverse azmuith of120 degrees and i get to the road per say.........do i go left or right to the car, one way will take you to the car another way and you will end up in Pittsburg.
For the charcoal, put different marks on the front and back of the tree to remember directions.
I like the blaze. But wouldn't it be helpful to add a carved "V", right side up or upside down. There is a blaze on each side of the tree. If you are really confused, then you don't know which way is which. I think a V upward would mean that is how I got there, the way in. The V points downward and says that is the way back, if you are just going to retrace your step. What do you think?
Ok having done land navigation training and having taught it in the Army, marking a tree is not the answer,. The U.S. Army land navigation training uses red signs on trees as mark points that have to be found. But you can walk right by these whithout seeing it even if your looking, if your going to blaze uses a rag and tie it around the tree white bright not a little string a wide bright pice of cloths on all four sides
White flagging tape sounds like a good idea too. Much easier to see in the dark.
Yea engineering tape (US ARMY WHITE ENGINEER TAPE PLAIN WEAVE FLAT POLYESTER 8315-01-463-5853 NEW)
Wouldn't it be better with the Charcoal to put an arrow pointing up in your direction of travel, and an x on the back of the tree?
THE 1ST THING YOU DO IS
DON'T FREAK OUT!!!! STOP & SIT DOWN CALM DOWN !!!! SET UP A BASE CAMP LITE UP A FIRE HAVE SOME COFFEE OR TEA.
BECAUSE IF YOU DONT CALM DOWN URE GOING 2 MAKE URE SISUATION ALOT WORSE. HOW I KNOW THIS. IVE BEEN THEIR LOSS MY SELF.
GREAT JOB DAN.
Hey Dan, I've been looking for a way to distill water that doesnt include 20ft of copper coil. Could I request a video for some way to do that?
I've used survey ribbon for years to make trails in areas I want to hunt. The method works like trail eyes
That's alright if you are hunting private land and don't have anyone sneaking onto it. But I've already made the 45 minute hike in the dark to where I had left my climber at the base of the tree so all I would have to do was climb in and up the tree and wait for the sun to rise,only to find that an out of state hunter beat me there and was sitting in my tree stand! Then the guy wanted to argue with me he had permission and was told to use that stand by the land owner who was my uncle and didn't let anyone but family and 3 or 4 friends who we all knew. Thing is we had 2 stands and 5 or 6 trail cams stolen over a 5 year stretch leading up to me running into this 💩🦃. And end of the summer year earlier found weed growing on the the property rite where 2 trail cams were stolen previous fall! I wanted to make a marked trail that led to a tiger/punji pit and see who we find in it but my uncle won't let me. My cousin sat out in a gilly suit and waited for em to sneak in and shot one of em with a paintball gun.🤡
@@roscoep.coltraine6344I hunt state ground and the only problem I ever had was a bear ripped the cushion of my climber. I have a state lease and have a lot of people hunting that area around the cabin. I guess I am fortunate that I have left stands in till April because I didn't have vehicle enough to make it through the snow and ice. Still going to be using trail eyes and ribbon 🎀
@@timothyrothrock4173 That's great hopefully these type of 💩🦃's continue to remain nonexistent in your neck of the woods my friend. They have no regard for anyone or anything,they're dangerous and only provide ammo to the anti's cause!
Yeah I am having a hard time believing that it happens. But I guess nothing can shock me anymore. Wish I had all the easy answers for you, I don't of course. Good luck my friend
Do you have a video about ticks?
The problem with self rescue,,, is if someone IS looking for you. And you wonder into an area that has already been searched,,, YOU ARE FASTENED WITH A HELICAL PLANE?
I'm no survivalist but after seeing this I'd carry a can of spray paint and use it to mark numbers on trees in ascending order starting with 0 for 'The Starting Point'
Along with Dan's suggestion, add an additional stripe/x/whatever every new marker you put down, that way you can do multiple directions, and they all lead back to your starting point.
This idea had came in my mind too.I am nt expert like u
awesome tip, except for when the situation asks for you to go stealth mode and avoid being tracked
unless it rains !
if you get lost follow a river down current eventfully you will find people. people tend to live by water.
Maybe mark an upward pointing arrow on the way out, and on the other side of the tree a downward pointing arrow, indicating a return path?
Courtesy of Half Vast Flying
If you are lost in the woods and need to poop do NOT use a bear cub to wipe with .
Thanks for all you do Dan. Have you ever thought about making and selling your own bushcraft survival notebook. Maybe like on a monthly subscription type thing with 5 to 10 loose leaf pages to add to a binder or something similar to the RitR book cover? $5 a month. About $0.50 per page. Just a thought revenue stream for you.
So youre talking about getting ,,,, loster ???
About half your survival stories have a situation where someone is lost or they used navigation to save the day like in mawson or Shackleton's case. Think about that. Imagine how many of those stories wouldn't exist if everyone knew how to navigate. Next to using your common sense navigation is the number one survival skill if you are backpacking. But navigation as a whole field of study is a more academic undertaking which takes alot of PRACTICE as well as the theory involved. There is a psychology of navigation just like i would think survival. When your ass depends on it you will doubt simple logic. Simple tasks become difficult. You must practice under duress with safeguards and force yourself to think under pressure
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