Neat story about how GPS can dumb us down like calculators/spellcheck:

Funny GPS rambling over at Carpundit

I have experienced this at night while driving and when walking around in a large park or in N.GA mtns.
Add your comments if this is true for you....

Kenneth

Interesting

But for me even with a GPS, I try to pay attention to where I am, this is on the road and in the woods. I don't want to get caught like the guy last year, who hiking off trail in the Cades Cove area of the the Smokies had his batteries die and had to spend a couple of nights in the woods. He only got out when he put his batteries back in and they had "rested" enough to power up the GPS long enough for him to find out where he was. So I go by the rule I learned long before GPS', if you can get back to where you started you are not lost.

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So I go by the rule I learned long before GPS', if you can get back to where you started you are not lost.

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After Having done the Lacy Lake Russell Decision Cache I would have to agree. If I hadn't remembered what the bearing was before falling into the river I would have been out there alot longer than I was.

I have to say that is one of the lessons I took away from the experience. Another, Stay on the trail.

I find myself being somewhat guilty of this at times, moreso when driving to (multiple) geocaches in an area I'm not familiar with. At times I have NO idea where I'm at vs. where I want to be and I suspect the GPS is lying. That's why I also carry the big Metro-atlanta atlas in my car. You know, the $45 job by ADC you can get in QuickTrip and other places. A quick consult of that and I've got my bearings back in order.

Different story in the woods - I'm almost always aware of two key points; the rough direction/bearing where I started/where the car is and the direction/heading I'm roughly on. If not, a quick check of the compass straightens me out.

I tend to look for visual landmarks when driving and in the woods whenever possible... that seems to help.

If looking for visual landmarks in the woods, remember to turn around and look sometimes. The trail can look different in the other direction.

As for going off trail, I often do this, but most of the time, I have studied the topo map and have an idea of what I am getting into. Of course a lot of stuff can hide between the contour lines.

I always try to keep track of where I am and how to get back, even if the GPS failed. I spent my childhood exploring areas of Texas and South Georgia where the land is mostly flat, and I find it relatively easy to use terrain to find my way around here, e.g., if the major slope was uphill on your right all the way in, it will be uphill on your left all the way out. A compass can help too. But a few times I have been turned around while following the arrow on the GPS in deep woods, and realized that if the GPS failed I was in deep doo-doo ... no clue to the way out ... not a comfortable feeling.

I always carry some surveyor's tape with me. That's the flourescent green or orange stuff that land surveyors use. One can get it at Lowes or Home Depot for a couple of bucks a roll.

When in totally unfamiliar surroundings, in addition to the GPS, I periodically tie a little piece of the tape to a bush or twig on the way to the cache (or whatever). On the way back out, I collect the little pieces - LNT, right?

That habit saved my bacon once when I was in the middle of a huge tree farm (trees planted in even parallel rows) and murdered my GPS. I'd probably still be wandering if it weren't for the sun and the tape.

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Originally posted by Rebel:
I always carry some surveyor's tape with me. That's the flourescent green or orange stuff that land surveyors use. One can get it at Lowes or Home Depot for a couple of bucks a roll.

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A grading contractor once told me that if you ever get lost in the woods, you can wrap the surveyor tape around a wooden stake, write an elevation on it, and stick it in the ground. Pretty soon, someone will come by with a piece of construction equipment, and back over it. Then you can just follow them out.

I've tried and tried but no matter what I try, I can't really figure out where I am in this world at any given moment. I like Rebel's breadcrumb idea with the surveyor's tape. This time last year was when I ended up 6 miles from the car and lost in the dark, far from home. My exhusband always knew which direction he was going and where he was. I, on the other hand, have the sense of direction of those on the mortuary slab. I'm probably a danger to myself at time, but I have at least learned to waypoint the car and don't go out too close to dusk.

This is a prime example of dumbing down:

French motorway crash after GPS orders U-turn

Kenneth

"Hello"
"Are you the surveyor in charge?"
"yes"
"Then your surveyors have gotten way way off the line on my property and the next time I see one of the @#$%& out here I am goin to shoot and ask questions later".
I'm sorry sir, who is this?"
"Mr. Grundy, you SOB and don't try to lie out of this , cause I seen one of yer trucks out here the other day with the phone number on it!"
"Yes, we were in your area but we would have no reason to be on your property. Why do you think we were on your property?"
"As you &^*$# well know, my property backs up to the park and you idiots have hung red flagging about 2 feet over my line, you SOB."
"I am sorry Mr. Grundy, but we use pink flagging for marking lines, and red flagging for construction staking. It could be someone else, maybe not even surveyors, or maybe deer hunters."
"Well, I don't give a #%^*&^%$ who it is, but I am down here with my 30-06 and I am shooting the next %&^%#I see coming down that line."


Use camo tape!

George White GA R.L.S. 1929

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Originally posted by kennethpruett:
This is a prime example of dumbing down:

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Reads like dumb already. But I guess something like this is the reason my GPS V says "make a U turn as soon as possible", instead of "make a U turn".

This made me laugh too.