[pct-l] gps search technology

[wandering_bob@msn.com (wandering_bob@msn.com)]

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CMountainDave wrote:
"Read a story in the paper that gps devices that will easily locate you AND,
in case you need rescue, send for help, is becoming widely available to
outdoor enthusiasts. "No more search in search and rescue" said the headline.
May soon be required to carry such devices ($200) to save government the cost
used to locate you if need rescue in an out of the way place. System has
already saved many lives, such as snowmobilers in Alaska when their vehicles
broke down and they faced a 3 day walk at -35
  Becoming lost may soon be an impossibility and a compass obsolete. Will
take some of the fun out of cross country travel knowing  orientation skills
are becoming trumped by technology about to be widely used, if not required."



I humbly submit the following:

Backwoods theory:  " NEVER TRUST YOUR LIFE TO SOMETHING THAT RUNS ON BATTERIES."

Backwoods corollary:  "NEVER TRUST YOUR LIFE TO BACK-UP BATTERIES EITHER"

Backwoods logic:      "MAPS AND COMPASSES ARE NEVER OBSOLETE. NATURE RARELY MAKES MAJOR TOPOGRAPHICAL CHANGES" (Mt St Helens not withstanding)

Backwoods common sense:  "ANY NAVIGATIONAL DEVICE, ELECTRONIC OR OTHERWISE, IS WORTHLESS IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT PROPERLY.


As someone once intoned while lost at sea, "Dear Lord, the sea is so big and my boat is so small." Ditto for the wilderness.

Wandering Bob