Backcountry Basecamp
Camping tips section!
Camping safety, tips and tricks.
This section is devoted to how to survive and have fun while camping in the great outdoors!
Staying Safe And Having Fun While Camping Part 2!
(part one is on the home page)
Here at outdoorplaces we have a section of this website devoted to camping safety and helpfull camping tips. And you have found it!
The following youtube and commentary provided by Ken Kramm. Thanks Ken!
How NOT to get lost in the woods!
Enjoy the outdoors, without fear of getting lost. This video shares basic information that I learned "the hard way," along with recommendations from wilderness survival experts. -- Ken Kramm
The STOP Acronym works well to control panic:
S: Stop what you're doing. Sit down (to keep your self from walking or running). Have a drink of water. Water washes the taste of fear out of your mouth. Sit for 30 minutes to reduce the adrenaline that is flooding your system. Use this time to
T: Think. Use your brain to evaluate the threat that is facing you. Is it getting dark? Or is is cold? What will you need to do?
O: Observe your surroundings. How are they similar and different from where you were before you became lost? Is the river on which side of you? What about the mountains or other landmarks, etc? Then finally, develop a plan.
P: Plan. Ask yourself, "What am I going to do?" Decide if you are really lost OR if you are only slightly disoriented. If you are really lost, YOU SHOULD STAY WHERE YOU ARE....and wait to be found. If you are slightly disoriented, you should search for the trail.
Find a good source of water. In a survival situation, you can last up to three days without water, but by the end of the second day you're not going to be in very good shape. Springs or streams provide good sources of water. If you find a water source and are not sure if it is contaminated, boil it, or use chemical tablets. Contray to popular belief, you don't need to boil water very long to make it safe from biological contamination. Just bring it to a boil. If there aren't springs or stream in your area, you can use jacket sleeves tied to your ankles in the morning, when wading through the grass to get dew on the jacket, then suck the moisture out of the fabric. Warning: don't drink the dew from toxic or allergic plants.
You can survive a few weeks without food, so hunting, fishing and gathering wild edibles isn't usually an urgent priority. However, the wilderness provides many food sources. See: Merriwether's Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Texas and the Southwest: http://www.foragingtexas.com/,
Important Camping Information
Meal Planning
One of the common questions campers face is what to take with them to eat. Your requirements and needs on an overnight trip are going to be very different from someone going on a ten-day trek. The most important factors to consider are weight and bulk, taste, preparation time and requirements, trash generated, and nutritional value...
Youth Group Safety
Every year millions of children across the United States visit the outdoors with youth groups. It might be the Boy or Girl Scouts, a church, the YMCA, Adventure Quest, Civil Air Patrol, Boys and Girls Club, a school or college, or any other number of groups across America.
Sadly every year thousands of children are injured and dozens are killed. Some of the injuries and deaths are tragic accidents, a bee sting that turns into anaphylactic shock, a boulder shifting unexpectedly pinning a teen, or an unexpected lightning strike. However many of these injuries and deaths could be avoided...
Trash Bag Uses
There is a long list of items that people will tell you that you must have when you go into the outdoors. Whether you are camping, hiking, snow shoeing, climbing or mountaineering, there are some common pieces of gear that everyone should carry. Water, food, waterproof matches and a small flashlight are all important, but there is one piece of vital equipment that most people take for granted. This critical item is the humble plastic trash bag..
Don't Get Beaver Fever
Over the last 25 years a trend has grown through the backcountry of the United States. Giardia lamblia, an amoeba like protozoa has been spreading into streams, rivers and lakes. Found in two forms, both as an active trophozoite and as a dormant cyst, Giardia is responsible for making tens of thousands of people sick each year in the United States. Although infection by drinking untreated water is one of the most common causes of Giardiasis, Giardia is a growing health hazard in our treated water supplies and is reaching an epidemic level in day care centers...
Fuzzy Outdoorsmanship
If there is one thing that the outdoors is full of, it is advice. For centuries wisdom on how to navigate, find water, safe food, deal with emergencies, and survive the elements has been passed down from generation to generation. Some of these morsels are very sage advice; other helpful tips are just fuzzy outdoorsmanship. Although tricks like following the North Star or how to estimate how much daylight is left by using your hands really are true, there are others tidbits of distilled wisdom that will just get you in trouble. We submit for your entertainment, ten items of bad advice.
Your Children's First Camping Trip
The first step to success begins with a good plan that is flexible and won't require a lot of effort from your children. The lowest impact experience is camping in the backyard. Although it may not seem like camping to you at all, to your child they might as well be in the wildest corner of Yellowstone or the Olympic Mountains. All the comforts of home are close by, and if things get too cold or scary, their bedroom isn't that far away.
Leave No Trace
Leave no trace, walk softly, low impact, tread lightly, leave nothing but footprints and taken nothing but pictures, what even you want to call it, leave no trace ethics are a critical part of protecting our precious outdoor resources. LNT, Inc. or Leave No Trace, Inc. is an organization that works in close cooperation with the Federal Government including the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, the USDA National Forest Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to create these ethics for protecting the outdoors.
Cramps
Most people who enjoy the outdoors have experienced cramps at one time or another, and they can figuratively and literally bring you to your knees. Medical science is not 100% sure what causes cramps, but do know what you can do to help prevent them and deal with them when you get one.
Dealing With Bites And Stings
Bites and stings can be divided into five distinct groups. Insect bites and stings, like those from ticks, chiggers, flies, ants, bees, wasps, hornets and mosquitoes. Spider and scorpion bites and stings. Like those from a variety of spiders, the more famous being the black widow and the brown recluse, and a variety of scorpions. The next is marine life stings. This can be from jellyfish, Portuguese Man of War, or stingrays. Snakebites can be from any number of snakes, both venomous and non-venomous. And finally animal bites from little critters like bats, rats, squirrels and chipmunks..
Lost In The Wilderness Survival Guide
One of our worst traits as humans is our ability to deny to ourselves that we are lost. We wander around, we convince ourselves that it will be up ahead on the next turn, or if I go that way. The unfamiliar becomes familiar until we have lead ourselves down a path so far that we have to do the unthinkable, ask for directions...
What To Do In Case Of A WildFire
Although forest fires haven't gotten worse in the last one hundred years (nothing has compared to the fire season of 1910) it has caught the minds and attention of the media and the nation. Despite the risk of getting caught in a wildfire is very slim, knowing what to do can make the difference between life, and death...
Featured Sections and Stories Backcountry
Leave No Trace Ethics, Meal Planning, More...
Hiking
Ice Safety, Snowshoe Basics, Wearing Layers, More..
Mountaineering
Altitude Sickness, Avalanche Safety, More...
Paddling
Canoe Buying Guide, River Rafting Dangers, More...
Floyd B. Wilson - Humor about the outdoors
Rules of Camping, Fire Building, Floyd on Heroes, More...
Frostbite Guide
Learn how to prevent and treat frostbite! Read more NOW!
Hypothermia Guide
The temperatures are going down and the risk for hypothermia, the biggest outdoor killer is on the rise. Do you know the danger signs and treatment? Read more NOW!