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Safety and Situational Awareness
Safety and situational awareness are one two of the most importantelements of any outdoor activity. I’m sure we've all heard the horror storiesof what can happen if they aren’t given enough consideration. Yet despitethose warnings uneducated people still keep falling into the same situations.Even now, after the popular "Survival Guy's" and "Safety Expert"documentaries have appeared on countless travel and educational channels,we still go out unprepared. Now I don’t at all claim to be any kind of expert inhow to keep yourself safe... I’ve had my share of injuries... However I canshare with you some clear common sense items:
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Map out your camp site before you arrive, identify roads, landmarks andRanger Stations and be aware of fire danger levels if you are in heavilyforested areas. In winter time, if you are snowshoeing, be aware of avalanche areas.
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Cooking and campfire: Keep your cooking and campfire away from yourtent.
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Children: Be certain to teach children to respect fire, sharp instruments,wildlife and to stay nearby.
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Let friends and family know where you will be camping and when youexpect to return.
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Never sleep with portable heaters running over night in your tent. Carbonmonoxide poisoning can be lethal, or at the very least, seriouslyuncomfortable. Plus, plastic melts!
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Wildlife: Respect their habitat – you are in their home -- and always keepyour food out of reach, especially in bear country.
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Water: Never drink directly from rivers or mountain streams, trust me thiscan have baaaad consequences. Use a well-rated water purifier/pump.
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Sleeping Bags: This is where I hear the "That’s a plug", well give me a littlecredit, at least there’s good info here ;-) Make sure your sleeping bag is ratedfor a sufficient temperature. i.e. don’t go out winter camping with a +50degree ratedsleeping bag.
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Poison Ivy Relief: If exposed wash the exposed area immediately with soapand cool water. Bring ointments that can help relieve any discomfort. Somepeople think vodka helps, but Mythbusters shot that down like five episodesago.
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Snake Bite Kits: If you are camping in an area, or during a time of year, inwhich you could encounter poisonous snakes, be certain to have a snake bitekit, and then don’t leave it in your tent when you go out for a hike...doh!
 
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Bee and Wasp Sting Kits: Not everyone is allergic to bee or wasp stings butsome people are highly allergic. Be aware if anyone in your group is. Also,don’t quote me on this, but I heard somewhere that jumping into a lake helpsyou escape, however, you could very well be facing a whole new set of issues if you do that so....
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Bear Repellant: If you will be in bear country, bring bear repellant. Knowwhat to do ahead of time upon encounter with a bear. I know for a fact,without a shadow of a doubt, kicking the bear if the repellant doesn’t work.
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 Ticks: Be aware if you are in an area where Lyme disease is possible andknow the proper way to remove ticks – with tweezers as near to your body aspossible and never squeeze the tick as you remove it. See American LymeDisease Foundation:How to Prevent Lyme Disease--How to Remove a Tick
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Bugs and Insects in general:1. Avoid wet and grassy areas.2. Avoid scented products, such as perfume or cologne.3. Wear colored and long sleeved pants and shirts when possible. The light colored cloth allows you to see any little critters.4. In areas with heavy populations of mosquitoes or flies, a headnet can be a welcome relief while hiking. It also can be a greatfashion idea when you stumble across a random mountaintown.
Entertainment
Now if you aren’t running for the nearest Hyatt, let’s move on to the funstuff. In the outdoors, there should never be a time where there isn’tsomething to do, whether it be hiking, swimming, climbing a tree, orwell...climbing a tree higher! However, if you do find yourself withoutanything to do, and relaxing and reading a book isn’t appealing, here are acouple other ideas.
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Story-telling: Since the dawn of human kind, campfires and night and story-telling have gone hand-in-hand. With children, let them talk about what theywant – the stories will follow. What did they see in nature during the day thatmost excited or pleased them? If there aren’t any children, you can stillalways make something up and pretend it really happened...lol, but bewarned, I think that leaves open the possibility of you being dubbed a liar!
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Musical Instruments and songs: Like good story-telling, songs and campfireshave always gone hand-in-hand. If you or your children play instruments,bring them if you can. Bring along some songs, as well. Even if you don’tknow how to play, again, you can always pick one up and make somethingup; at the very least you’ll get some laughs.
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Cards: For many, cards are a must to any campsite.
 
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Look up!: For many, the stars overhead are pure wonderment. You mightwant to bring a star map. I like to give random stars a name, then try to findthem the next night. So far, I’m 0-100.
Cooking
For those who love to cook, cooking over a campfire is a great challenge,harking back to where the art of cooking began. The web offers many freerecipes for campfire cooking. One thing to keep in mind: Don’t go grabbingrandom plants and throwing them in your stew... now you'd think that wouldbe just flat out logic, but apparently, based on some statistic I recentlyread... it’s not.
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Calculate the number of meals you will prepare, measure out theingredients you’ll need and pack them, neatly labeled, in Ziplock bags. Theseare the times where, as a writer, you wish Ziplock paid for productplacement.
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For quick “on the go meals,” prepare chili, stews and soups before your trip,freeze them, keep them in a cooler to reheat.
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Bring heavy duty aluminum foil and your favorite plastic wrap. This couldalso be categorized under the entertainment section ; )
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Bring liquid biodegradable dishwashing soap.
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Freeze foods, such as meats and cans of juice, before putting them in yourcooler. They will keep longer and serve to cool other foods. Crafty! In thewoods, you need to be crafty; otherwise you’re just...well, normal!
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Cover pots and pans when cooking. Food cooks faster and you use lessfuel. Pack everything in a cooler in watertight plastic bags. Wait! I might berepeating myself, well, it’s good advice anyhow.
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Store food high and out of reach to discourage animals, including bears.Consider hanging it high from a tree branch, this is where the climbing atree practice we talked about earlier comes in handy... 2 for 1 entertainmentand no bears! (You’ll need to remember to bring rope.)
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While you’re eating, place a pan of water over your fire, to help clean upwhen you’ve finished eating, or for a warm liquid to wash the taste out of your mouth
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Fuel source: Will you be using charcoal or propane to cook? Be sure youbring plenty of what you will need. Surprisingly enough the whole "rubbingtwo sticks together" is harder than it looks.
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