How would you proceed if you somehow found yourself stranded alone in an isolated area?

To make things even easier, you have a sharp pocket knife, a fire starting kit, and a rudimentary first aide kit. So would you just trek off into the wilderness straight away, or build a temporary shelter, start a fire, try to find some berries or something to eat, and take a day or two to make a plan, and try to assess the situation? And we’ll say its a temperate area, so cold temps are not a concern. How to proceed?

Find clean water. Make shelter. Celebrate my freedom.

Figure the direction out – compass, stars, sunrise etc.
Create shelter- high ground and dry
Find food
Find water
Keep your head make a plan and stick to it

How did I end up there?
Makes a bit of a difference,vehicle break down? plane crash? lost while out hiking?

Lets say you are a risk taker, you were hang gliding, and went down with no injury. What now?

Depends on time of day, if early get my bearings and figure out ow far to the nearest town, if late get a fire going make a shelter and try if possible to locate water.

Study terrain and weather, look for fresh water, assess own health, clothing and other resources and risks. Consider circumstances that led to me being there.

I’d attempt all of the above, until I realize I don’t have coffee. Then it’s to the closest cliff, and good bye, cruel world!

I don’t have the skills to survive on my own. I’d need to find water (and a way to carry water and/or access water semi-regularly), and then I’d need to figure out how to most quickly find other humans… So I would likely be picking a direction, walking during the day, and finding places to sleep safely at night. I probably wouldn’t spend much time looking for food. I doubt I could consume more energy than I’d expend trying to gather it, and that’s assuming I’d know what is edible, which I probably wouldn’t.

If it’s a temperate area, then I would guess I have a better chance of finding other humans (more likely that more human populations have settled/developed in the area).

Try finding food, water, fire fuel, and a shelter while waiting for a rescue party to find me. But until then, try to survive and thrive.

I too would want to know more. I mean have I arrived blindfolded to suddenly wake up in desert, forest, mountains, swamp? Water first. Assess the terrain for consideration of suitable habitat for any animal capable of overpowering then dining on you. If stranded in daylight find a place suitable for night free of approaches from which you might be ambushed. Shelter necessity would vary with the weather. Head if possible for the highest ground possible affording the best view of your surroundings, at all time being aware of any sources for potable water. You want to be able to locate a place well before nightfall that affords you particularly open views of both earth and sky, to again be aware of anything approaching you, as well as suitable perspective of the stars and constellations. But all of this is pointless. I mean if you have any clues about for instance what continent you are on, you might well be able to determine more than you would suppose concerning where you are. For instance, you can make some fairly good guesses spotting the right bird fish or other wildlife, Say for instance you spy an elk or kangaroo in the distance or spot a seagull sailing overhead.

It vastly depends on where I’m stranded.

If it was on Highway 395, 30 miles south of Lee Vining, CA during Spring, and I had my wallet and a bottle of mountain stream water, I’d have an exhilarating southbound walk.
When I got to Bishop, I’d rent a car, and drive home.

If I was stranded on the surface of Venus, I’d be fryin’ dyin’ Brian! ;-0

First I will try to write the word help in big letters on the beach with an arrow pointing to where I am. I would use a bunch of fallen branches so it’s not something that can be blown away easily.
Of course I will forage for food. Berries and such. And look for fresh water. The fresh water would actually be my first concern.
Then find a branch or a coconut shell to help dig for mud. Built a hut out of branches and look for any loose long grass or something I could use as a rope. Put some big leaves around it an then pack mud all around and try to smooth it out and let it dry.
Make a fire pit also out of mud for me to put branches to burn to cook anything I may catch. Lastly, I will find a coconut to talk to. And probably die of starvation because I suck at fishing and I’m too weak to open a coconut. Though it can poke holes in it to at least drink the juice. I won’t be able to get it open though. But I will starve before the mud tent is built.

@Pandora You’re to pessimistic. Where there is a will, there’s a way! You sound like that guy who said he’d jump off of a cliff, just because he’s stranded with out coffee.

Post a question in Meta…maybe!

Depends on terrain and location but @TJFKAJ wrote my answer.
Generally you survive until you find a body of water and follow it to civilization.

There are two schools of thought though, to stay in place or travel, both would depend on terrain and physical condition, but me sitting and waiting to be rescued is highly unlikely.

@Brian1946 If I were 30 miles south of Lee Vining on US 395, I would stroll over to Mammoth Lakes. It’s close enough that I wouldn’t get my 10,000 steps in for the day.

My response to the question really depends on what kind of ” isolated area” I find myself in, and the time of year. Drop me into much of the High Sierra between May 15 and October 15, I can get by pretty well. In the winter, things get dicey trying to stay warm and dry.

And I was in Joshua Tree a few weeks ago: No water anywhere, a much bigger problem.

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I’ll take a guess on which direction I should walk towards to find people. That’s what I’ll do first.

First I’d proceed to cry…hard.

Go ahead and cry^^ I prefer to just plain panic.

@Nomore_lockout I’m 60 and only 5 feet tall, with a bad back and high blood pressure. I may have the will but I know even adrenaline eventually wears away. With no heat pad or power I’m pretty sure I’m doomed. Plus I’m scared of noises in the dark in the woods and I freeze easy. I went camping one time and it was enough for me to say no way. Every noise spooked me and I couldn’t get warm even though the temperature was still in the 80’s at night but at least I had my hubby. But alone in the dark sleeping on the cold ground and no blanket? I will be awake all night shivering and probably be sick by morning. I’m not being pessimistic, I’m a realist.

@SQUEEKY2 No coffee is nothing to cry about. Yes it is, who am I kiddin’.

@Pandora No worries, it’s only a hypothetical question anyway : )