Traveling in strange surroundings can be a real challenge to your survival skills. All too often the prospect of becoming lost looms like a dark cloud over your head. Most people who spend a lot of time outdoors are familiar with the use of landmarks to navigate their way through the wilderness. What many people may fail to realize is that landmarks can be equally important in an urban environment as well.
Landmarks can be vital in determining where you are if you become lost or wind up stranded in unfamiliar surroundings. There are any number of reasons this can happen. Your vehicle might break down or you could’ve lost your map or that GPS unit you were relying on might fail. You may even have had bad or incorrect directions that are the cause of your problem. In any case, utilizing landmarks will help guide you to your destination or help others to find you.
The main quality of landmarks is that they are usually very distinctive and are often visible from a distance. This quality sets them apart from other structures in the area and makes determining your location a lot easier. They can also be used to establish a meeting point should you become separated from other family members during a crisis.
Got landmarks for survival?
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4 comments:
RW - great post. and now here's a question: i have found that women use landmarks in their daily commutes more so than men. i am saying this because most times if you ask a woman for directions, they will normally answer in landmarks, such as "turn left after the big church", whereas men will tend towards "turn left after the 3rd red light onto johnson street" - know what i mean?
anyway, learning the landmarks in your area is really good advice!
your friend,
kymber
I can see this as being a big problem where there is mass destruction such as with a large tornado or hurricane. I would expect that most "normal" things we use to get our bearings (street signs, familiar buildings, etc) are not available so we'll need other landmarks to navigate by. Good thinking.
To: kymber
My wife when she visits her sister can't remeber the highway number but knows to turn by the big tanks. Seems to work well for her most of the time.
I have a tendency to look for unusal natural landmarks or very unusual man-made objects.
Of course if you have an unerring sense of direction...lol
Thanks kymber.
RW
To: milleniumfly
Even in the case of a flood, most normal landmarks will be gone or under water. It may be hard to find your way around without some other definite landmark (or landmarks) to get your bearings.
I've seen some totally devastated areas that were impossible to recognize after a disaster and if it hadn't been for some distinctive landmarks, you would swear you were in the wrong place.
Thanks.
RW
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