Introduction
Types of Camping
Equipment
Scouting
Survival Skills
First Aid
Opportunities
Introduction
Are you looking to get away from the crowds and
back into nature? Camping is the way to go.
This hobby covers a range of skills and dates
back to the very lifeblood connection of humans
to the wild, where gathering food, collecting
water, and improving means of shelter was not an
option. Fortunately, most of the today’s
society has access to everyday comforts and
knows the luxury of choosing how intimately it
would like to be connected again with nature.
In general, camping is the act of leaving the
entrapments of social life and spending time
outdoors in more primitive circumstances.
Whether this means leaving town and staying at
an recreational vehicle (RV) park, kayaking
several miles along a river to set up a tent and
fish for your dinner, or taking a several-day
sabbatical on a secluded mountain shelf, there
are probably enough outdoor opportunities (and
equipment merchants) to cover your every need to
make your escape a reality.
Camping describes a range of activities.
Survivalist campers set off with little more
than their boots, whereas recreational vehicle
travelers arrive equipped with their own
electricity, heat, and patio furniture. Camping
is often enjoyed in conjunction with activities,
such as: hiking, whitewater kayaking, hill
walking, climbing, canoeing, mountain biking,
motorcycling, swimming, and fishing. Camping may
be combined with hiking either as backpacking or
as a series of day hikes from a central
location. It does not, however, apply to
cultures whose technology does not include
sophisticated dwellings.
Types of Camping
Campers span a broad range of age, ability and
ruggedness, and campsites are designed in many
ways as well. Many campgrounds have sites with
facilities such as fire rings, barbecue grills,
utilities, shared bathrooms and laundry, as well
as close access to recreational facilities, but
not all campsites have similar levels of
development. Campsites can range from a patch of
dirt, to a level, paved pad with sewer and
electricity.
Today’s campers have a range of comforts
available to them, whether their shelter is a
tent or an RV. Today, backcountry campers can
pack-in comfortable mattresses, compact chairs,
and solar powered satellite phones. Those
choosing to camp closer to their car ("car
camping") with a tent have access to portable
hot water, tent interior lighting, and
technological changes to camping gear. For those
camping in RVs, options include air
conditioning, bathrooms, kitchens, showers, and
home theatre systems.
Other vehicles used for camping include
motorcycles, touring bicycles, boats, canoes,
using pack animals, and even bush planes;
although backpacking is a popular alternative.
Tent camping sites often cost less than
campsites with full amenities, and most allow
direct access by car. Some "walk-in" sites are
only a short walk away from the nearest road but
do not require full backpacking equipment. Those
who seek a rugged experience in the outdoors
prefer to camp with only tents, or with no
shelter at all ("under the stars").
Equipment
The equipment used in camping
varies with the particular type of camping. For
instance, in survival camping, the equipment
consists in small items which have the purpose
of helping out the camper in providing food,
heat and safety. The equipment used in this type
of camping must be lightweight and it is
restricted at only the mandatory items. Other
types of camping, such as winter camping,
involve having specially designed equipment in
terms of tents or clothing that are strong
enough to protect the camper's body from the
wind and cold.
Survival camping involves certain items that
campers are recommended to have with them in
case something goes wrong and they need to be
rescued. A survival kit includes mandatory items
but which are small and must fit in one's pocket
or could be carried on one's person. This kit is
useless in these circumstances if it is kept in
the backpack. Such a kit should include a small
metal container which can be used to heat water
over a campfire, a small length of duct tape
which is small and which can prove useful in
many situations and an emergency space blanket.
These blankets are specially designed to occupy
least space and are perfect for making emergency
shelters, keeping the camper warm. Also because
of the aluminum-like color this blanket is also
reflective which means it can be easily seen
from an aircraft. Candle stubs are good in
starting a fire as well as in warming an
enclosed space. One or two band-aids are
mandatory in this type of camping. Any camper,
and not only the survival ones need waterproof
matches and a large safety pin or fish hook
which can be used in fishing. Baking soda is
good in rehydrating a dehydrated camper and at
the same time, if it is mixed into a paste it
helps hastening the cure of mosquito bites.
Rubber gloves, antiseptic wipes, tinfoil,
jackknife, or halazone tablets (which purify the
water) are also to be included into a survival
kit. Although these seem too many items to be
carried on one person, they are in fact small,
lightweight and definitely useful.
Winter camping can be dangerous if you ignore
some basic rules. First, cold is addressed by
using three types of clothing in layers--a liner
against the camper's skin (long johns), an
insulation layer (fleece), and a water- and
wind-proof outer shell. Although cotton is one
of the best quality fabrics, it is not
recommended for winter camping; if it gets wet
it will dry out too slowly, possibly causing
hypothermia. Rather than cotton, winter campers
should wear wool or synthetic materials. Boots
must be waterproof. In addition, wearing a hat
is crucial since the more than half of the
body’s heat can be lost through the head.
Although it may seem to be a good idea, you
should not wear too many pairs of socks because
they might restrict the blood flow to your feet,
resulting in frostbite. Gaiters should be worn
to prevent snow and rain from soaking the boots.
Also, you should take along foods with extra
carbohydrates to keep your body warm and provide
energy. As with summer camping, hydration is
crucial. Last, but not least, your tent must be
wind-resistant.
For the more common types of camping, consider
taking some of these with you:
• First aid kit
• Tent or lean-to for shelter
• Hammer for driving tent stakes
• Sleeping bag and/or blankets for
warmth
• Sleeping pad or air mattress to
cushion from stones and twigs (as well as for
insulation)
• Lantern or flashlight
• Hatchet, axe, or saw for cutting
firewood
• Fire starter or other ignition
device
• Folding chairs to place around
campfire
• Ropes for stringing clothes line
and for securing the shelter
• Tarp for adding additional layer
of storm protection to a tent and to shelter
dining area
• Raincoat or poncho
• Hiking boots
• Fishing pole
• Chuck box to hold camp kitchen
items (for food preparation, consumption and
cleanup)
• Trash bags, particularly ones
with handles that can be tied to a tree limb or
clothesline off the ground
• Insect repellent, particularly
one that has DEET
• Sunscreen
• Personal care products and towel
• Cooler to store perishables and
beverages
• Beverages or portable water
filter for areas that have access to rivers or
lakes
• Campers at modern campgrounds
will normally bring perishable foods in coolers
while backcountry campers will bring
non-perishable foods such as dried fruits, nuts,
and jerky
• A tripod-chained grill, Dutch
oven, or La Cotta clay pot can be used for
cooking on a campfire. A portable stove can be
used where campfires are forbidden or
impractical. If using a campground with
electricity, an electric frying pan or slow
cooker can be used.
Much of the remaining needed camping equipment
is commonly available in the home, including
dishes, pots and pans. Many people opt not to
use their home items but instead utilize
equipment better tailored for camping. These
amenities include heavy plastic tableware and
salt and pepper shakers with tops that close in
order to shelter the shakers from rain.
Backpackers use lightweight and portable
equipment.
Scouting
Other than the original scouts and fur traders
who carved their way into the wild unknown of
the early frontier, scouting today pretty much
refers to the Boy Scouts. Originally founded in
1907 by Robert Baden-Powell in England, the
organization for boys (and later Girl Scouts
also), his work was loosely based on his past
experiences in the British Army as Lieutenant
General. Today’s worldwide movement employs
what is known as the “Scout Method,” emphasizing
important life skills such as camping,
woodcraft, hiking, backpacking, and sports.
The Scout Law and Promise embody the joint
values of the Scouting movement worldwide, and
bind all Scouting associations together. The
emphasis on "learning by doing" provides
experiences and hands-on orientation as a
practical method of learning and building
self-confidence. Small groups build unity,
camaraderie, and a close-knit fraternal
atmosphere. These experiences, along with an
emphasis on trustworthiness and personal honor,
help to develop responsibility, character,
self-reliance, self-confidence, reliability, and
readiness; which eventually lead to
collaboration and leadership. A program with a
variety of progressive and attractive activities
expands a Scout's horizon and bonds the Scout
even more to the group. Activities and games
provide an enjoyable way to develop skills such
as dexterity. In an outdoor setting, they also
provide contact with the natural environment.
The sense of confidence and competence that
results from the scouting experience, especially
as it relates to outdoor and camping skills is
unique and valuable. Other than the one-on-one
training that can pass from parent to son or
daughter, joining with a pack or troop allows
first-time campers to learn with ease and
benefit from a group experience that might not
be found anywhere else. Scouts learn how to
safely build and start campfires and tie various
types of knots. They learn about wildlife and
about what to do when confronted with a wild
animal. They learn how to prepare food
outdoors, pitch tents, canoe and kayak, do rock
climbing, fish, go caving, and shoot with bows
and arrows. Many have their first experience
with rifles while in the scouts (this is a real
advantage, since they’re learning that safety
principles are for everyone at all times). A
large number of the available merit badges are
for one sort of survival skill or another.
Survival Skills
Survival skills are techniques a person may use
to help other people or a person in a dangerous
situation such as natural disasters. Generally
speaking, these techniques are meant to provide
the basic necessities for human life: water,
food, shelter, habitat, and the need to think
straight, to signal for help, to navigate
safely, to avoid unpleasant interactions with
animals and plants, and for first aid. In
addition, survival skills are often basic ideas
and abilities that ancient humans had to use for
thousands of years, so these skills are
partially a reenactment of history. Many of
these skills are the ways to enjoy extended
periods of time in remote places, or a way to
thrive in nature. Some people use these skills
to better appreciate nature and for recreation,
not just survival.
Our ancestors were in reality survivalists
because they were self sufficient. They were
responsible for one’s own self and family,
protection, health, and sustenance as well as
shelter. This is what our ancestors knew and
lived every day. They were prepared for what
life brings through planning, learning, and
preparing for any possible future. Through
education we can teach people how to survive
more than one day at a time. We can teach them
how to feed themselves and their families for
life, be prepared for future unknown and the
basic art of human survival to be pasted on for
generations to come. Such skills are presented
as useful in situations such as storms or
earthquakes or in dangerous locations such as
desert, mountains, and jungle. Every different
situation or location is said to present a
different range of dangers. Though different
sources assign varying numbers of most important
elements for survival, most will agree on the
following: the order of priority of survival
needs shifts according to the immediate
situation faced.
One widely circulated concept to help set
priorities is called the "Rule of Three."
Employed a mnemonic device, the Rule of Three
states:
1. Humans cannot survive more than
three hours exposed to extremely high or low
temperatures.
2. Humans cannot survive more than 6
days without water.
3. Humans cannot survive more than
nine days without food.
The Rule of Three is often otherwise formulated
and is viewed by commentators as a rough guide.
An aircrew reportedly lasted 8 days without
water in a life raft. People have survived
without food for over twenty-one days. In 1998,
Alaskan fireman Robert Bogucki survived for 12
days without water and 36 days with nearly no
food in the Great Sandy Desert, Western
Australia. The Boy Scouts, in addition to
listing seven priorities, use a mnemonic device,
"STOP," to address the mental aspects of
survival. "STOP" stands for "Stop, Think,
Observe, Plan." Following are some of the very
basic wilderness survival terms and how they
might be accommodated.
Shelter is anything that protects a person from
his/her environment, including dangerous cold
and heat, allowing for restful sleep (a human
need). A shelter can range from a "natural
shelter," such as a cave or a fallen-down
(cracked but not split) thickly-foliaged tree,
to an intermediate form of man-made shelter such
as a debris shelter, a ditch dug next to a tree
log and covered with foliage, or a snow cave, to
completely man-made structures such as a tarp,
tent, or house.
The ability to start a controlled fire is
recognized as significant in increasing the
ability to survive physically and mentally. The
skills required to light a fire without a
lighter or matches, such as by using natural
flint and steel with tinder, is a frequent
subject of both books on survival and in
survival courses. There is an emphasis placed on
practicing fire-making skills before venturing
into the wilderness. Fire is presented as a
tool meeting many survival needs. The heat
provided by a fire allows the body to be warmed,
wet clothes to be dried, water to be
disinfected, and food to be cooked. Not to be
overlooked is the psychological boost and the
sense of safety and protection it gives. Fire
may deter wild animals from interfering with the
survivor, or wild animals may be attracted to
the light and heat of a fire. The light and
smoke emitted by a fire can also be used to work
at night and can signal rescue units.
A human being can survive an average of three to
five days without the intake of water, assuming
sea-level altitude, room temperature and
favorable relative humidity. In colder or
warmer temperatures, the need for water is
greater. Need for water also increases with
exercise. A typical person will lose 2-3 liters
of water per day under ordinary conditions, and
more in hot, dry, or cold weather. Four to six
liters of water or other liquids are generally
required each day in the wilderness to avoid
dehydration and to keep the body functioning
properly. The U.S. Army survival manual
recommends that you drink water whenever
thirsty. Other groups recommend rationing water
through "water discipline." A lack of water
causes dehydration, which may result in
lethargy, headaches, dizziness, confusion, and
eventually death. Even mild dehydration reduces
endurance and impairs concentration, which is
dangerous in a survival situation where clear
thinking is essential. Dark yellow or brown
urine is a diagnostic indicator of dehydration.
To avoid dehydration, a high priority is
typically assigned to locating a supply of
drinking water and making provision to render
that water as safe as possible. Many sources in
survival literature, as well as forums and
online references, list the ways in which water
may be gathered and rendered safer for
consumption in a survival situation, such as
boiling, filtering, chemicals, solar radiation +
heat/SODIS, and distillation. Such sources also
often list the dangers, such as pollutants,
microorganisms, or pathogens which affect the
safety of back country water. Recent thinking
is that boiling or commercial filters are
significantly safer than use of chemicals, with
the exception of chlorine dioxide. The issues
presented by the need for water dictate that
unnecessary water loss by perspiration be
avoided in survival situations. To thus avoid
these problems, culinary root tubers, fruit,
edible mushrooms, edible nuts, edible beans,
edible cereals or edible leaves, edible moss,
edible cacti and algae can be searched and if
needed, prepared (mostly by boiling). With the
exception of leaves, these foods are relatively
high in calories, providing some energy to the
body. Plants are some of the easiest food
sources to find in the jungle, forest or desert
because they're stationary and can thus be had
without exerting much effort. Also, many
commentators discuss the knowledge, skills, and
equipment (such as bows, snares and nets)
necessary to gather animal food in the wild
through animal trapping, hunting, and fishing.
Some survival books promote the "Universal
Edibility Test." Allegedly, one can distinguish
edible foods from toxic ones by a series of
progressive exposures to skin and mouth prior to
ingestion, with waiting periods and checks for
symptoms. However, many other experts, including
Ray Mears and John Kallas, reject this method,
stating that even a small amount of some
"potential foods" can cause physical discomfort,
illness, or death. An additional step called the
scratch test is sometimes included to evaluate
the edibility of a potential food. Focusing on
survival until rescued by presumed searchers,
The Boy Scouts of America especially discourages
foraging for wild foods on the grounds that the
knowledge and skills needed are unlikely to be
possessed by those finding themselves in a
wilderness survival situation, making the risks
(including use of energy) outweigh the benefits.
First Aid
First aid (wilderness first aid in particular)
can help a person survive and function with
injuries and illnesses that would otherwise kill
or incapacitate him/her. Common and dangerous
injuries include:
• Lacerations, which may become
infected
• Bites or stings from venomous
animals, such as: snakes, scorpions, spiders,
bees, stingrays, jellyfish, catfish, etc.
• Bites leading to
disease/septicemia, such as: mosquitoes, fleas,
ticks, animals infected with rabies, sand flies,
komodo dragons, crocodilians, etc.
• Infection through food, animal
contact, or drinking non-potable water
• Bone fractures
• Sprains, particularly of the
ankle
• Burns
• Poisoning from consumption of, or
contact with, poisonous plants or poisonous
fungi
• Hypothermia (too cold) and
hyperthermia (too hot)
• Heart attack
• Hemorrhage
The survivor may need to use contents from a
first aid kit or, if possessing the required
knowledge, naturally-occurring medicinal plants,
immobilize injured limbs, or even transport
incapacitated comrades.
Opportunities
Opportunities for camping are only as limited as
your imagination. You can choose your back yard
or even your living room, if your tent is small
enough. This is a good, controlled environment
for testing your tent setup skills. You can
experiment by sleeping outside to see what items
you find yourself missing by the time your head
hits the pillow (if you’ve remembered to bring
your pillow). If you’ve chosen RV camping, do a
bit of homework after you’ve chosen your
destination but before you depart. Use the
internet to research RV-friendly camp sites
along your route, including price comparisons,
amenities, and even what sort of scenery you can
expect to see from your pull outs once you’ve
hooked up. Consider making your first camping
experiences short ones, preferably for just an
overnight or two. If you have a GPS and maps,
bring them along to help you navigate; compasses
are great, but they are only as good as their
users. Bring others with you the first few
times, especially if they are seasoned
campers—observation is a very effective mode of
education.
Next, start branching out. Find an event—it can
be anything, such as a music or arts festival,
fishing derby, motorcycle rally, or dog show a
few hundred miles from your home. See how well
you do on your own. Or, if you are anxious to
try your wings at solitary camping, study state
park maps and customize your trip. Once you are
comfortable, you can work toward more skilled
camping, such as hiking or climbing several
miles to get to your ideal camping spot. At
this point, though, you should be willing to
carry in water, food, and some of the crucial
first aid items.
Some of the best-planned trips go awry when bad
weather hits. These are the days of pouring
rain, impasses of mud, fog, and cold that chills
to the bone. To help alleviate the
disappointment of such times, try to bring along
a few “creature comforts,” if at all possible.
This might be a paperback book or a deck of
cards to use in your car or tent. Perhaps you
might have travel brochures you picked up from
the visitor’s center nearest the area you’re
in. You can always be working on your “B Plan”
for use when the weather clears up. If you’re
doing social camping, this is the time to bond
better with your fellow travelers and learn more
about interests you have in common.
Whatever destination you choose as your next
adventure, allow extra time for good things to
come to you. If you’re alone, take time before
you zip up the tent at night to look up at the
stars you’ve perhaps not seen in as many numbers
before. Listen to the sounds of life continuing
in movement as you fall asleep. In the morning,
peek out to watch for wildlife that might be
lingering in the area to graze. Without doing
these things, you’re only going through the
motions of camping rather than experiencing it.
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