Camping Safety and Preparation

Camping can be a lot of fun. Camping trips are great opportunities to bond and they can help children develop some incredible survival techniques along with a strong sense of independence.
Every once and a while it’s good to just take a break from the ordinary and retreat into the wilds. However, it’s important that you make sure you are prepared and you know a thing or two about camping safety. After all, the whole point is to take a break from the civilized world.
Out in the wild, there may not be any readily available cops or firefighters. So make sure you’re prepared.

Preparation Starts on the Home Front

Depending on just how deep you intend to go into the wilds, it’s always prudent to take care of all the shopping before you hit the road. Put together an extensive list of all the things you think you will need and then put that against some expert advice. You can consult the park ranger or check out the rest of this site for some packing tips.
You should also make sure that the home is safe and sound so you actually have something to come back to. If you are going to be gone for a couple days, you might want to let the postal carrier know so they can hang onto your mail. That, or arrange to have your neighbors take care of it. A pile of stacked newspapers is a neon sign telling people you aren’t home.
If you’re concerned about the safety of your home, it might be time to look into a home security system. There are lots of different kinds on the market and sites like securitychoice.com/ are great places to start shopping. You don’t necessarily NEED a security system, but you do NEED to focus on the task at hand when you’re in the wild – that means not having to worry about the house.
It might also be prudent to do a quick walk around the home and unplug any unnecessary electronics. Accidents have been known to happen and you don’t want to come home to the smoky remains of your house.
Once you’ve secured the home and gotten all your food and gear, you can hit the road.

Camp and Fire Safety

If you’re really roughing it, it’s important to make sure you can find your way back to civilization and get a feel for your surroundings. For example, before you pitch a tent, you should take care to avoid setting up on an incline. Why? Well, what if it rains? Water doesn’t roll uphill.
After pitching your tent, you can secure the position by anchoring the tops of the stakes you used with some heavy stones. You are also going to need stones for another very important camping feature: the fire.
Fires are integral. They keep you warm and they can help ward off any animals. However, you must be very careful when it comes to fire in the wild – especially during the drier seasons. The first thing you should do before assembling the wood is put together a stone circle to help contain the blaze.
You are also going to want to clear a small ring around the stone circle of any dried leaves and twigs. Once this has been done, you can build the fire.

Properly Putting Out a Fire

When you are finished with the fire, you must thoroughly put it out. You can do this by first pouring some water on it and stirring the ashes around with a small shovel. You can also use dirt and sand, but you must make sure the fire is completely out.
And if you used a match to light the fire, don’t just toss it on the ground or stomp on it. If you can, find some water to pour on it, too.
You can’t leave anything up to chance out in the wild – especially when thousands of wildfires in this country are caused by careless camping.

Edited By: CampTrip.com