Three men were airlifted to safety by the Honolulu Fire Department's Rescue One helicopter early this morning after spending the night lost on the trails behind Manoa Falls.

The men, all in their 20s, called for help at about 3:30 a.m. after being doused by heavy rains, said HFD battalion chief Kenison Tejada.

They were brought to safety at about 5:30 a.m.

"They had just planned a day hike and left at about 10 a.m. yesterday morning," Tejada said. "They kept going to more falls behind the first one and got disoriented. By the time they found the trail back it was too dark to keep walking so they planned on hiking out in the morning, but then the rain hit them hard."

Two of the men are in the military and the third had a local address, Tejada said. They were wearing tank tops and had some water, but no flashlights. The fire department was able to locate them because of a GPS system on a cell phone belonging to one of the hikers.

"It was easy to find them because of the cell phone," Tejada said. "We couldn't get there until first light so we told them to hold tight.

"Whenever you hike you should have at least one cell phone. One of their other cells lost power. It's like having just one flashlight. You need a backup."

Tejada stressed that hikers, regardless of if you're just planning a day hike, should always be prepared by bringing water, a cell phone, food, matches, a noise device and something bright that can be easily spotted from a distance. The latter two can help rescuers find distressed hikers more quickly.

"The cell-phone GPS on some cells just puts you in a general vicinity. If you have something bright that you can put out it'll make it easier to spot you from the helicopter. A whistle can also help us locate you in heavy brush."