Lost proofing - continued

"Lost"

「迷失」

Its something everyone fears and if you have ever spent enough time in nature, most likely you have felt that wave of panic that can roll over you.  Panic, unchecked can lead to shock, which can lead to death.  Having some good outdoor skills is critical to prevent a disaster from ever being a possible scenario.

你若曾在大自然中度過相當一段時間，就都會有這樣的恐懼，你所感受到的很可能一股充斥著全身的恐慌感。恐慌若是沒有加以控制，會導致驚嚇，最後導致死亡。擁有良好的野外活動技能，是使恐慌不會變成災難的關鍵。

Survival skills give you an added confidence and insurance in a worst case situation from ever happening.

而求生技能則能使你更有信心、更能確保最壞的狀況不會發生。

What do you do if you ever find yourself lost?

在察覺到自己迷失時，該怎麼辦呢？

Sit down and evaluate your situation.  Teach your children to do the same.  Roll play it out.

先坐下來，評估眼前的情勢。也教導你的孩子這樣做，在平日就開始角色扮演的練習。

Think yourself through your landmarks, do this with your kids as well.  Look in all directions, try to find those familiar landmarks.  You most likely will be able to backtrack your trail and in case not, the next steps can be calmly planed.

回想你曾經經過的地標，帶著孩子們一起做。放眼四面八方，試著尋找那些熟悉的地標。你很可能可以回溯自己行經的道路，若是沒辦法，則冷靜的規劃下一步。

Teach your kids and yourself to become familiar with your own track.  Size, shoe print (design of tread), stride length, will allow you to backtrack your trail to safety as well.

教導自己和孩子們熟悉自己的足跡，包括尺寸、鞋印、步伐長度等，這些也能幫助你回溯自己的行跡，帶你重返安全之處。

Equip your children with a whistle as well.  Kids like whistles, sound travels pretty well and sound can be a good mechanism to catch peoples attention.

讓孩子帶著哨子，小朋友喜歡哨子，聲音的傳播力很強，是吸引他人注意的好工具。

If night is coming on, it is time to get into survival mode.  ( Learning how to live and make a camp outdoors with what you have available to you ,as well as, and using your natural surrounding to your advantage).

假使天要黑了，就該進入求生狀態。（學習如何在野外，以身邊僅有的東西並運用周遭的天然材料，搭建營地，活下來。）

What do you do if your Child is lost?

孩子若是走失了怎麼辦？

Try not to panic, again it is a level head that will have the greatest chance of overcoming the immediate situation.  Secondly, call the authorities!  Describe your child, what they are wearing, age, where were they last seen, and any other details you can.

先別恐慌，因為只有冷靜的腦袋才有機會克服眼前的危機。接下來是報警。描述孩子的模樣、穿著、年紀、最後看見的位置，及其他相關細節。

If you are confident enough in your abilities, start a search with others.  ONLY IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCED!  Becoming lost yourself will not help.

你若對自己的能力有信心，可以開始與他人展開救援工作。但只在你有救援經驗的前提才可參與，否則你若也走失了，對誰都沒幫助。

I truly recommend learning some basic survival skills to ensure a safe and joyous time in Nature.  How to make a quick, emergency shelter, fire by natural friction type methods using wood only, how to find water and more.  It will increase your confidence and lesson your worry tremendously.  Not to mention, children have so much fun learning these skills as well!

誠摯建議你學習一些基本的求生技能，這樣能確保你在大自然中有段安全愉快的時光。這些技能包括如何搭建快速的緊急避難所、以天然木材摩擦生火、如何找到水源等等。這會增加你的信心，大大減低你的憂慮。更不用說的是孩子們在學習這些技能時能玩得多開心。

If you live on or near Taiwan you can look up our school by going to: www.7generationsoutdoor.omei.net

你若是居住在台灣地區或附近，可前往七世代自然生活學校 www.7generationsoutdoor.omei.net，了解更多訊息。

Lost proofing yourself and children/ Chinese and English

With the infinite outdoors skills one can learn, far and away the most important skill is learning how not to get lost.
在數不盡的戶外生活技能中，一項重要程度遠勝於所有其他技能的技術是學習如何不迷失。

What contributes to being lost ?
怎樣才算迷失了呢？

The first factor is time, we usually have only a limited amount of time to hike, walk, camp. The second factor is having a particular place to go, and the third is, not having the adequate survival skills to live and exist in the natural surroundings you find yourself in at that particular time.
第一個元素是時間，因為我們通常只有有限的時間可以健行、行進、搭營。第二個元素是有特定的目的地要抵達。第三個元素是在你所在之處的當下，不具備足以活下來的生存技能。

Even the most skilled outdoors man can and has gotten lost, even if for a short period of time. There is no such thing as having " a sense of direction". Those that say they have such a sense or nothing more than aware of their surroundings, sun position, weather and a few other factors. So to the untrained these people appear to have almost super human powers.
即使是求生技術高超的野外活動人士也會而且曾經迷失過，就算迷失的時間短暫也一樣。所謂的「方向感」其實並不存在。那些聲稱自己具有方向感的人，其實是對周遭環境、太陽位置、天候和其他因素保持覺察狀態。因此對不曾受過訓練的人來說，這些人似乎擁有超人般的能力。

Here is a test you can do with your friends or family. Find a flat level ground area like a ball field. One that is at least 50 meters long, even better if it is closer to 100 meters long. Have each family member pick out a marker that is directly across the field from them. Now blindfolded, have them walk a straight line to that marker (tree, post...). What you will find is that no one will be able to do it. Why? We are all dominant with one foot or the other. So as we stride and step, we will begin to veer off line as we walk.
你可以和朋友或家人做這個簡單的測試。找一塊平坦空曠的空間，至少有50到100公尺長的場地，例如球場。讓家人或朋友從場邊選定一個跨越場地在對面的目標物（如某棵樹或柱子），然後將其眼睛矇起來，在請他們朝著目標物直直的走過去。你會發現沒人能夠走到目標物前。為什麼？因為我們都有一隻腳是優勢腳，因此當我們邁步前進時，會自然的偏離直線。

So why is this important? In the wilderness, if we were lost and began walking, we can potentially walk in a circle without even knowing.
這有什麼重要性嗎？我們在野外迷失時，很可能會因此繞著圓圈走而不自覺。

So, first off, to remove the possibility of getting lost, you must acquaint yourself with the area you will be traveling in. Maps are a good start. Study them with your children present. Highlight major man made features. ( towns, roads, railways ) as well as, general landscape features. ( rivers, streams , ocean, mountains, trails).
因此，要一開始就把迷失的可能性移除，你必須先熟知即將行經的地區。研究地圖是個好的開始，和孩子們一起研究地圖，把主要的人造物（城鎮、道路、鐵路等）及整個地景特徵（河川、溪流、海岸、山脈、山徑等）標畫出來。

Second, teach yourself and children to not rely on sight alone. In heavy fog, rain or dense jungle sight is very limited. Learn to use your sense of smell, how ocean smells, rivers smell. They are quite different. Sounds is so important as well. What does a stream sound like? A road? The ocean?
其次，教導自己和孩子不要完全倚靠視覺。在大霧、大雨和密林中，視野會受到限制。學習使用嗅覺，聞出海洋和溪流的味道，它們的氣味很不一樣。聲音也很重要。溪流聽起來是怎樣的聲音？馬路、海洋的聲音呢？

Third, tell someone where you are going! Simple but rarely done.
第三點，告知他人你要往哪裡去！這是個簡單卻很少人做到的動作。

Make sure very young children never wander off.
千萬不要讓幼兒自己走開了。

Teach yourself and children to keep in mind always the prominent features they can see on the horizon. The ones that do not move! Mountain peaks, ridges, ocean. NOT CLOUDS! These move. The sun is good to know, but will move across the sky. Mountain ridges will not. Understanding landmarks is also important. Trees, rocks, flowers, trees... Things that will reinforce our orientation.
教導自己和孩子們記得能從地平面看見的重要標的，不會動的標的，例如山峰、山脊、海洋等。別選擇雲朵！雲會飄動。認識太陽也很重要，但太陽會橫跨天空，山脊則不會。這些地標有所了解也很重要，樹木、岩石、花草…能夠強化我們的方向感的事物。

- to be continued.
- 待續