Wilderness survival self-rescue: Don’t move around if you get lost while exploring at night!
In recent years,mountain climbingand outdoor activities have led to an increasing number of safety incidents, which require serious attention.Outdoor Adventure Editorreminds outdoor enthusiasts that it’s best to go climbing in the morning or early afternoon, and descend and return to your base camp by the afternoon. When in unfamiliar environments, do not venture recklessly into unknown areas—try to keep your mobile phone accessible; after dark, avoid walking through valleys or unfamiliar routes; if you get lost, retrace your steps or find a sheltered spot and wait for rescue.
Outdoor explorationIf you get lost during the day, just follow the mountain gully downhill—it usually leads to the valley. It’s also easier to determine directions in the mountains: the side with lush foliage facing the sun is the south, while the shaded side, with less dense leaves, is the north.
During outdoor adventures, if you get lost at night, stay put. Without visibility and full awareness of your surroundings, moving around in the mountains can be very dangerous.
If you get lost or stranded at night during an outdoor adventure, using a flashlight to continuously send out distress signals in the direction of help is correct—but you should also conserve battery power. Additionally, in the dark, fire is the most effective signaling method. Build three fires arranged in a triangle (an internationally recognized distress signal), or in a straight line. As long as time and conditions allow, light the fires as soon as possible and carefully tend to them to keep them from going out.
Also, ifoutdoor explorationgets you lost during the day, you can use a mirror to reflect intermittent light signals toward likely residential areas or potential rescue planes in the sky with the help of sunlight. You can also lay clothes on the ground or place them on tree tops to form large geometric patterns for signaling.
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