Camping is one of the best outdoor activities to spend time with friends and family, but this activity can be dangerous. We will go over some best 15 safety tips for first-time campers. With this guide we will go over fire safety, animal safety, water safety and much more.
Picking The Right Site And Shelter
When camping you should try to reserve the right site for you and everyone else in your group. It will depend on couple things like age, medical needs and physical limitations of you and your group.
There are different types and level of camping like tent, cabin, and RV camping. So, everyone can enjoy the outdoors while being comfortable and safe. Some campsite will have amenities like picnic tables, firepit, nearby restrooms and showers so plan accordingly to what gears to bring.
Fire Safety
Fire is a big part of camping, that is why knowing about fire safety is a must because you do not want to start a wildfire.
- Do not build fire under low trees
- Never leave fire unattended
- Put fire out completely before bed
- Do not throw anything flammable into the fire
- If there is a fire pit available at a campsite use it and build a fire inside it. Don’t build a fire outside of the pit.
- Keep a water supply nearby in case the fire is out of control and need to be put out.
Bug Spray
Wear bug spray all the time while camping even when you sleep. The bug spray that you need is for mosquitos. There are tons of mosquitos in the wild and they may carry diseases. You should use a mosquito net while you sleep too.
Animal Safety
While camping out in the wild there is a good chance that you will run into wild animals. Remember that you are the one that’s visiting their home so be respectful and keep a good distance from the animals.
- Never approach a wild animal
- Never feed the animals
- Should only hike during the day to avoid animals coming at you during the night
- Always secure your food supply when you sleep by using ropes or
- If in bear territory always hang your food supply up in a tree so that the bears can’t get to it.
- Learn what type of animals are around the campsite before camping
Keep Campsite Clean
Clean all dirty dishes and tools before going to sleep at night. Throw away trash in proper bins when available and secure all food supply. If dirty dishes, trash and unsecure food is left out during the night animals will come. If the animals come, they may end up scratching up your tent and get in searching for more food while you are asleep. That is why you need to keep your campsite clean.
Stay Hydrated And Energized
There is always a bunch of outdoor activities to do while camping. When doing these activities like hiking you should always stay hydrated and energized because you do not what to be fainting in the middle of your hike especially if you are hiking in a harsh terrain. Get at least 8oz each day.
Water Safety
If you are camping near a big body of water where you can swim be sure to know about the water safety.
- Know how to swim
- Where a life jacket at all times while doing any water sport
- Someone in the group knows how to give CPR
- Read all signs around and in the water
- Do not drink alcohol while dealing with anything water related like swimming and boating
- Check out the weather first before doing any water activities
Be Cautious Of Poisonous Plants
When hiking through nature its really easy to be brushing up against poisonous plants like the poison ivy and poison oak. So, keep your eyes open and try to stay on the trail as much as possible. Bring ointments for poison ivy/oak so if you do touch poison ivy or oak you can use it to reduce the affects of the poison. You should not eat any plants found in nature that you do not know about. There are poisonous mushrooms too that can end a persons life, good rule is to never eat anything found in the wild.
Have A Map
Most times your phone will not have signal while camping out so it’s a good thing to have a map just incase you get lost. Its also a good idea to have a compass too. You should always have a map and compass while hiking just in case because you do not want to be stuck out there and end up having to spend the night without proper camping supplies.
Propane Stove Safety
While camping it’s a good idea to use a propane stove to cook while camping because cooking with the fire will be longer and less efficient. If you are going to cook with propane stove always remember to close all propane when done and cook away from the firepit. Only turn on the propane when you are ready to light the burner and turn the ignition dial to the lowest setting when lighting the stove.
Have A First Aid Kit On Hand
You should have a first aid kit for every camping trip because you can end up with a cut during everything you do outside from cooking to hiking. So it’s a good idea to have a first aid kit to clean and bandage the cut to avoid infection.
Firepit Safety
When you first set up your fire in the pit, you first need to make sure that the firepit is clear of all debris like grass and garbage that maybe left over by the other campers. Some firepit may have a metal ring inside the pit to keep the fire tame in the pit. If the firepit does not have the metal ring you should find some rocks near by and circle the pit with the rocks to keep the fire tame inside the pit. Keep flammable items away from the pit. If you need more help and questions with the firepit and fire you should contact the campground ranger and call them over.
Keep Up With The Weather
Be sure that you are checking the weather before you book your campsite and trip. You should also be checking the weather during your camping trip because it can change within the hour. Once you know what kind of weather you are going to deal with on the camping trip, pack the essential gears and have an extra pair of clothing just incase you need to change. Some campers would plan and look at the weather forecast one month in advance.
Protect Your Skin
When you are camping it’s a good idea to wear sunblock so that you do not end up with skin cancer since you will be outdoors for long period of time. You should wear sunblock even if its cloudy because UV rays can hit your skin the same as any sunny day. Midday is when the sun’s rays hit you the hardest. So, wear sunblock, hat and sunglasses because sun rays can affect your eyes too.
Food Safety
When camping you need to plan on what kind of food you want to eat and how to pack it since you don’t want your food to go bad. In order to keep the food in good condition, you will need to pack the food in waterproof containers and store it in an insulated cooler.
For meat and poultry, you will need to separate them, so you do not get cross-contamination and end up sick from salmonella on the camping trip. Keep raw food and cooked food separate too. When you start to pack your food, put a layer of ice in the cooler first then put in the heavy meats in then put a layer of ice on top of the meat.
Then, put the next heavy food in and add a layer of ice on top of it and finally you can add the light food like condiments on top and add in the rest of the ice in. If you are traveling far to camp you may need to refill the cooler with ice on the way.