>>2796246The point is for people to see the signal even if they're not looking for you yet. Firewatch / mountainwatch / coastguard, for example, or another hiking party in the mountains.
Though the number of possible signals is way to high, and not everybody is going to recognize every signal. SOS (...---...) is only standard in radio comms, and by extension, on water and in the air, where radios are the standard. On land, the standard emergency signal is 6 signals 10 seconds apart, a pause, and the same again. If somebody hears / sees, they'll answer with 3 signals 20 seconds apart.
Except for burgerland, where they use 3/20 as the emergency signal for some reason. I guess they're more interested in being special than in actually getting saved in an emergency?
The big benefit to the land signals is that you can do them with a gun, flare gun or flash light, which can't differentiate between long and short signals.
