Lost in the Rainforest Article on Backpacker
Original post
David Tamowski, 58, was alone in the New Zealand bush for 10 days in April 2015.
https://www.backpacker.com/survival/lost-in-the-rainforest-new-zealand-david-tamowski
1
Day 8 & he was recording messages on his cell phone ?. He hadn't download a map onto a navigation app ?!.
Google Map & NZ Topo Map will let you do that while you have wi-fi.
tramping in NZ, how hard can it be? :P
it mentioned he expected to see a track he could follow, but 5 passes is a route only... its not an official DOC track....
he underestimated the need to navigate plus he made a classic mistake of leaving his map could be pulled out of an open sleeve pocket and he let his compass fall, and that was the end of any ability to navigate
" let his compass fall, and that was the end of any ability to navigate"
Really.... maybe for him.... but seriously, you do not need a compass to navigate.
Even during a rogaine, i often use the sun, my watch and a few other means to determine direction.
There are many skills people simply overlook in their preparations for the outdoors. It's their ignorance of such skills that makes people think these days that anyone can do go outdoors. Whereas in fact most are simply throwing things to chance.
There's heaps of ways to navigate without a compass.
One I always use is that a mamaku covered face will be on the south side.it grows well without sunlight. And then sunlight is another goody ofcourse. Predominate wind flow. Like a nor wester is a give away.
At night the southern cross or the moon are good to help.
My main one though is memorising maps. If you know your route you can pick up things along the way to help guide you. Knowing how long it takes you to climb different grades of contour. Vegetation heights. Creeks, streams, peaks.
I'm over survivalist stories.
open country you can easily orient a map to landmarks and figure out where you are. Often quicker than with a compass
"Lost in the rainforest," maaaayte.
Seriously, if this guy had taken an Esky and Doona with him, none of this would have happened.
Search the forums
| Forum | The campfire |
|---|---|
| Started by | Lempo |
| On | 31 July 2018 |
| Replies | 8 |
| Permanent link | |
Participation in the forums signifies acceptance of forum rules.
In order to manage spam, new members are limited to 1 post every 10 minutes.
Formatting your posts
The forums support MarkDown syntax. Following is a quick reference.
| Type this... | To get this... | |
|---|---|---|
| Italic | *Italic text* | *Italic text* |
| Bold | **Bold text** | **Bold text** |
| Quoted text | > Quoted text | > Quoted text |
| Emojis | :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: | :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: |
| Lists |
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3 |
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3 |
| Links | https://tramper.nz | https://tramper.nz |
| Images |  URL/of/image |
 |
| Mentions | @username | @username |