The basics that bring people home
Read this before your next hike with the family. Then come practice it with us outdoors.
Remember STOP
The first minutes decide most outcomes. We drill this until it is automatic.
Stop
Stay where you are. Sit down, breathe, and pray. Moving while panicked is how small problems become big ones.
Think
What do you have with you? Who knows where you are? When will they notice you are missing?
Observe
Look and listen: trail signs, water, roads, voices, weather moving in, how much daylight is left.
Plan
Stay put and make yourself easy to find: shelter, warmth, and a signal. Three of anything (whistle blasts, fires) means help.
The Ten Essentials
Every person, every hike, even a short one. Most rescues start with "we were only going for an hour."
My Ten Essentials
Tap to check off. Saved on this device.
- Navigation: map, compass (and phone or GPS)
- Headlamp with extra batteries
- Sun protection: sunglasses, sunscreen, hat
- First aid kit
- Knife or multi-tool
- Fire: matches or lighter, and tinder
- Emergency shelter: bivvy or space blanket
- Extra food
- Extra water, and a way to treat it
- Extra clothes for the worst weather you could see
The rule of threes
A rough rule of thumb for what to fix first. It is not a medical limit; cold, heat and injuries shorten every number.
3 minutes
without air. Breathing and severe bleeding come first.
3 hours
without shelter in harsh weather. Get dry, out of the wind, and off the cold ground.
3 days
without water. Less in heat or with hard work.
3 weeks
without food. Food matters least in a short emergency.
Never drink it untreated
Clear, cold mountain water can still make you very sick. Treat all of it.
- Boil: a rolling boil for 1 minute (3 minutes above 6,500 ft). The most reliable method.
- Chemical tablets: follow the label exactly, including the wait time.
- Filter: use one made for backcountry water; most do not remove viruses, so combine with a tablet when in doubt.
Source: CDC: Making water safe in an emergency
Signaling for help
- Three of anything means help: three whistle blasts, three fires, three flashes
- A signal mirror can be seen for miles on a sunny day
- Bright colors and movement in an open area
- Ground signals for aircraft: a large V means you need help; an X means you need medical help
- Stay put once you signal. Searchers look where you were last seen.
Three ways to find direction
These are approximate. Carry a map and compass and learn them properly: that is Session 1 of the honor class.
Book a family or church basics session
A half-day outdoors: STOP drills, building a kit, safe water and signaling. Ages 14 and up.