The Rough Guide

Can tech help you survive in the uncompromising wilderness, with no idea where you are or where you’re going?

- Michelle Mclaren P

THE MISSION

Being lost can feel overwhelming even for the most seasoned adventurers. If you’re lost on a hike or walk you’ll need a calm head and some navigational nous to prevail. But could tech help you find your way back faster and safer? Michelle McLaren is T3’s art editor and acceptor of intense physical challenges. In the name of tech journalism we dropped her in the remote countryside with zero information and a handful of outdoor gadgets. Can tech help her find her way safely through our challenging route to back again?

It’s unbelievably early on a Friday morning and I’m being bundled into a car, given a blindfold to put on and driven… Somewhere. After hours in the car, during which no-one gave away any information, we arrive... Somewhere. The sun is coming up and the first details of my challenge are revealed: can I survive and navigate alone in the wilderness, and return to my starting point safely, with only tech to help me?

Well, I won’t actually be alone. I’ve got a buddy photographing this entire expedition, documenting everything using the new Fujifilm X-E3, and who I’ll yell at for help if I end up in a 127 Hours-type situation. But he’s been told not to help me with this task. 

The team hands me a pair of Salomon X Ultra Trek GTX hiking boots (miraculously in my size), an Arc’Teryx Beta AR Jacket and an Icebreaker Cool-Lite Mira Pullover Hoody. I assume I’m at risk of getting wet, because they then give me a Patagonia Stormfront backpack... And there’s more tech goodies inside.