Playing It Safe: Hiking and Camping Safety

Observing simple hiking and camping safety tips will help to ensure that the best camping and hiking trip is experienced by all. Camping and hiking trips require careful advance planning in order to have all of the clothing, food and supplies needed for the duration of the trip regardless of the weather encountered. When camping in places where there is an abundance of wildlife, especially wolves and bears, there are additional hiking and camping safety precautions to take to help ensure that there will not be run-ins with these creatures, or if there are, the camper is prepared.

Tips

One hiking and camping safety tip is to always have a medical supply kit packed with the gear. This kit should have bandages, tape, scissors, gauze, anti-biotic ointment, and other first aid supplies so that if an injury occurs, first aid can be immediately applied while waiting to get the individual to safety. Many of these kits will also come with instructions on how to deal with injuries in addition to wounds, such as splinting a broken bone or making a sling for a dislocated shoulder.

Another hiking and camping safety tip is to always bring along a food storage bag that can be hung from a tree. These food storage bags are specially made so that animals cannot detect the smells of the food contained within and will not be as attracted to the bag to try and get the food. Even so, these food bags should be hung outside of the camping area so that if an animal, such as a bear, decides to try and get to the food, they are not near to the campers themselves. A camper should never keep any type of food inside of the tent with them, even snacks or dog food, since bears and other animals will be attracted to it, ruining the tent and possibly harming the camper.

Not only should food be hung in these special sacks, but any other food storage or trash should also be hung in a separate bag, apart from the camp, for hiking and camping safety. It is also a good idea to have a whistle or a bell so that if an animal comes into the camp, they can be easily startled by the loud noise and frightened away before any damage is done.

A simpler hiking and camping safety tip is to make sure the backpack chosen before the trip is properly fitted to the person's body, ensuring that the weight of the pack is distributed on the hips rather than the back so that no back injuries occur. In addition, the fuel for the stove should also be stored properly so that it does not leak on other supplies or have a chance to get near to a heat source that could cause an explosion or fire.