While seeking a safe haven from the pitfalls of "civilization", the camper must also bear in mind that the great outdoors is fraught with its own set of dangers. Let's consider a few and how you can counter the risks.
In part 1 of this two-part series, we'll look at food safety, ensuring you have clean water to drink, and avoiding ticks.
FOOD SAFETY
Bacteria can invade many types of food, especially those high in protein and moisture, such as milk, milk products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, cream pies, custards and potato salad. After preparation, these foods must be kept either hot (above 140 degrees Fahrenheit) or cold (below 45 degrees Fahrenheit). Between the two temperature ranges lurks the danger.
A camper who does not have the means of sustaining food that can easily spoil outside of those thermometer readings should not bring them on the trip at all. It would be much safer to bring canned food and garden goodies.
Exposed food should be prepared prior to the trip and protected in plastic prior to icing them since ice can trap harmful bacteria. For example, though ice pulled from a frozen stream in winter can help to keep food cold, it should never be permitted to touch the food itself.
And whether eating meals from a picnic table or sitting on the ground, always cover the eating area with something clean, like a plastic table fabric.
Any food that you suspect may be spoiled should be disposed of rather than eaten. The risk is definitely just too high.
CLEAN DRINKING WATER
When you are thirsty, there is nothing like a chilly, clear glass of water to satisfy. At home, our faucet water is normally normally relatively safe, though many persons opt to filter it through one means or another to improve the odds of safe drinking.
Aside from water that is purified for us, however, it has been estimated that the vast majority of surface water in the US fails to meet up with authorities requirements for intake security.
When you are camping without your own water (or an adequate supply) and are not at a camp floor that has purified working water available, you will need to take additional measures to protect yourself from water contaminated by bacteria and viruses.
There are fundamentally four options for accomplishing this. The 1st you can do at the camp site. The additional three require preparation prior to proceeding out to the camp site.
* Steam the water - Warmth suspect water to a steam, and let it continue to do so for several moments. After chilling off, it should become consumable.
* Iodine liquid or tablets - Instructions that come with the iodine will clarify how many drops to use for a specific amount of water, and for what time period.
* Filtering - Most organisms can become strained out depending after the materials used in the filter and the filtering design of the unit. When purchased, make sure the instructions clearly state what will and will not become strained out.
* Purification - Purifying will remove or destroy all dangerous water-born bacteria. Using this method, the water should become run through the purifier at least a couple of instances to guarantee drinking security.
AVOIDING TICKS
Ticks look innocuous on the surface. But tiny as they are, they still have the strength to make a person very ill with Lyme Disease. They can get their way into a person's pores and skin very very easily without notice when he rests up against a shrub or strolls in brush. Once on the pores and skin, ticks will burrow their way in and are not very easily eliminated.
Before you head into the hardwoods, you will need to minimize opportunities that these blood suckers have to find their way to your skin through an opening in your clothing. Tuck in whatever clothing you can: clothing into trousers, pant legs into socks, clothing sleeve over top of hand protection (if the weather is normally awesome plenty of for hand protection).
Additionally, spray about your clothing a good insect repellent that offers a high percentage of. The repellent can become located at any sports products store and most general retail shops.
Upon return to your camp site or turning into your tent for the night time, check your body visually and with your hands looking for any small bumps that may be indicative of a tick that has landed on or embedded itself into your pores and skin. Possess someone else look cautiously through your hair (operating their fingers through it) and check out anywhere else that you cannot very easily observe, such as your back.
If you get that a tick has dug itself into your pores and skin, immediately (but very carefully) remove it with tweezers. Grab it as close to its legs as possible, making sure to draw out its entire body. If you are unable to do so, it would become better to leave the camp site for a time to check out a doctor than to risk illness.
CAMP FIRES
When starting, enjoying, and later on putting out a fire, use common sense.
For example, if you are camping when the weather has been dry for a lengthy period of time, it would be safer to miss the camp open fire altogether. This issue itself may actually influence your decision on selecting a time to camp.
Additionally, only build fires in camp ground provided areas, such mainly because fire rings. Normally, obvious out a small area in your camping site, and place rocks around a circle to arranged the guidelines for your open fire. Within the circle, get a gap several ins deep for the real wood you will burn.
If you have not brought your own real wood on the trip, gather real wood that is already dead and lying nearby. Make sure that any leaves close to the open fire pit are raked several yards aside and that there are no paper products laying on the floor. Throw those in the trash.
Once the open fire is started, let it build slowly with smaller twigs and lifeless twigs, only placing larger pieces of wood on the stack as the flame develops. Make sure small children remain several ft aside from the flame, as the warmth can become intense while it develops. And they certainly should not become close plenty of that they could slip or trip and fall in.
And finally, never leave a camp open fire unattended. When leaving the area (say for a walk) or going to sleep for the night time, extinguish the fire flames. Use a lot of water to douse the fire flames, saving your clean drinking water when at all possible. Stir the ashes and use more water until the remains are awesome enough to the fingers.
WILD ANIMALS
Most persons do not come across wild animals when camping in the forest, certainly not up close and personal. But that does not mean they are not living in the environment and posing a silent danger to humans. It can definitely be entertaining to spot them from a distance, not to mention providing up great snapshot opportunities with a raccoon, deer, or even a bear. However, in such a situation, distance between you and the animal can be one of your best friends.
By no means (ever) attempt to feed an animal you encounter. It is usually not your pet doggie or cat and may attack! That is usually an instinctive response. Even if you make no gestures that seem intimidating, the animal may interpret it that way.
If a wild animal approaches you, back away slowly and do nothing to invite its approach.
Minimize your risk of an animal runs into in the first place by wrapping all food securely and putting it away when you have finished eating. Then throw away food-related trash in camp provided trash receptacles.
PERILOUS ACTIVITIES
There is nothing actually quite like a long, quiet walk in the woods. Remain on paths that have been designed for strolls. Use common sense.
* Refrain from hanging on woods twigs. Old, declining, or thin solid wood can easily take off.
* Avoid going for walks close to or leaning over steep cliffs, whether they are primarily rock or brush. It would be easy to slip or drop your balance. A subsequent fall could be disastrous.
* Do not attempt to conquer gravity in the opposite direction either. That is usually, refrain from rising steeply angled rocks. You are on a camping trip, not a mountain rising expedition.
* In the winter, by no means walk on frozen water. Regardless of surface appearance, there is usually no method to assess how thin and weight-bearing capable the ice may be.
As you can see, the camping experience is not a danger-free zone. The great outdoors certainly provides persuasive motivation to seek silent time with nature. But this activity cannot be carried out with reckless give up. In fact, making security in the forest a habit actually assists with maximizing the many positives of the camping experience.
