Panic is harder to deal with. The first thing to do is sit down. When you're on your feet, you're going to move. Have a drink of water. That way you move from being fat, dumb, and happy to a crisis situation to a coping situation, where you get a grip on yourself and on what needs to be done.
Panic is a great contributor to the number of deaths that occur in the outdoors.
If we can control our panic and we are sufficiently hydrated to make rational decisions, Kummerfeldt believes, we are two-thirds of the way home. The last obstacle is surviving that dreaded night in the woods. Keeping warm and dry is the foundation to surviving, and clothing is key. People dress to arrive, not to survive. We need to take that extra layer of clothing with us to see us through the night.