What To Do If You Get Lost

Getting lost is a moment, not a disaster. What you do in the next ten minutes decides which one it becomes.

Most lost-hiker stories end with a tired person walking out or being found within hours. The ones that don't usually share one feature: the person kept moving. This guide is about not being that story.

What's inside

1. How People Actually Get Lost — the small, reasonable steps, and the habit that prevents most of them
2. The Moment You Realise — the first ten minutes, and the two instincts that mislead
3. Retrace or Stay — the one real decision, with a clean test for making it
4. Being Findable — visible, audible, warm, trackable
5. If Night Comes First — an unplanned night out, survivably
6. The Pocket Card — the whole method on one page, to print and fold

Built around one page

The pocket card at the back carries the entire method in seven numbered steps — print it, fold it, and keep it with your map. The chapters explain the why; the card is what you'll actually use.

What you get

US Letter — print-ready
A4 — for outside the US
Mobile — single column, sized for a phone

Instant download. No account needed.

General information for recreational hikers. Not a substitute for navigation training or emergency services.