I second the picture thing - we allowed our then-teenagers and their 2 friends to go for a walk in the woods on a vacation and they got lost between A and B. The only current pictures of the friends that we had were the ones I had on my camera that I had taken during our earlier picnic. They were so lost we had to call in the Park Police (they were found after they turned around and got on a path, but nowhere near where they were supposed to be).
I was under the impression that triangulating a cell signal is not as easy as one might think. It's not like a phone call from the house line. I would teach them to use it, but also understand that it's not like on TV. There are other factors involved, and in the meantime, they could still be hurt or abducted and need to know what else to do. For example, my stepdaughter was once followed on her way home. She did not go straight home (and lead the car to an empty house). She put a few turns between herself and the car and went toward a friend's house where the parents were likely home. When she lost the car, she booked it through a path to our house and told me about it - I was home early (dr's apt. for the little one). I then called the cops and they talked to her. One thing she could have done was turn around and walk back the other way - it's easier for a person to turn than a car. But otherwise I'm very proud of her thinking. That's something you talk about and role play so that if they ever need it, they're not trying to come up with it on their own.
