Camping Safety

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For those who care so much about lightweight backpacking, the bivy is a good choice for shelter because it’s lightweight, quick and easy to set up and you get to look at the stars while you try to fall asleep.

It may not be a good idea in bear country though because those who sleep in the open (like you would in a bivy sack) are more likely to be attacked by bear than those who sleep in a tent. Of course a tent is no guarantee that you’ll be safe from bear attacks but it’s a serious psychological barrier for a bear looking for food.

More at Backpacker

It was announced on September 10 that 38 counties in Pennsylvania had been declared primary or contiguous disaster areas including Johnstown, Bedford and Somerset because of the extreme dry conditions last summer. This means that it is important to be extremely careful with fires. Follow these tips to prevent a major disaster from happening:

1. Only build fires when necessary in designated areas
2. Have water nearby in case the fire goes out of hand
3. Do not burn trash or leaves in the fire (risk of air-borne embers)
4. Extinguish fire completely – should be cold to the touch
5. Be careful with cigarette butts
6. Consider using a camp stove instead of a campfire

via Examiner

It depends. If it’s a polar bear like the above, breaking a stick probably won’t scare it away. It not likely to scare a grizzly bear too but a black bear has a reputation of being easily startled so breaking a stick might work if it makes a loud enough noise. You’re better off shouting or singing badly though.

via Backpacker

Wasp sprays usually have better accuracy and range to hit bears at the sensitive areas but they’re not better at keeping away bears when the attack. Why?

1. Bear sprays fire in a wide fog so that you don’t need accuracy to nail an angry, charging bear.
2. Even if you hit a bear in the eye, it’s not likely to irritate it more than a pepper spray does.
3. Making a bear inhale wasp spray doesn’t stop it from attacking

Unless you plan on using the wasp spray as a flamethrower (using a lighter), stick with a bear spray.

Taken from Backpacker.com

3 parks with the most bear attack fatalities:

1. Glacier National Park – 10 fatalities
2. Yellowstone – 7 fatalities
3. Katmai – 2 fatalities

Glacier has the densest population of bears. Even though Yellowstone has more bears, they have much more room to roam in and therefore there’s less chance of encounters with human.

Read more at Backpacker.com

A bear kills a hunter, leaving his friends to ponder his fate.

You might want to rethink about playing dead when you encounter a bear because it doesn’t work all the time. It might work if the bear is acting in self-defense but when the intention is predatory, playing dead is dangerous. Maybe the video below can give you some insight on the behavior of bears. No-one plays dead better than a car, don’t you think? Looks like one punk bear to me.

If you’re somewhere so cold that your chances of survival are really slim and you have a partner, the best way to keep warm is by first insulating yourself from the ground as much as you can by using a camping mattress, piling bedding and leaves (if available) underneath. Then strip naked and cuddle up underneath a blanket or inside a sleeping bag.

The common misconception is to pile more bedding on top of you than below but the fact is, you lose heat faster to the ground than to the surrounding air because the ground is a better conductor.

Another misconception is that you’ll feel warmer if you cuddle up with your partner with clothes on. The fact is, clothes only keep the heat in for the individual. It prevents you from contributing heat to your partner and your partner to you.

A healthy human body radiates over 98 degrees of heat. Your partner is a source of lifesaving heat as you are to your partner.

If you’re a man, it pays that your partner is a woman (preferably good looking) unless you’re gay of course. If not, just do it in the name of survival. What happens in the woods, stays in the woods or you better hope that it does.

[media:http://www.youtube.com/v/QzoIRgyuIws]

Smokey Bear teaches kids about preventing wildfires and fire safety in the woods. According to Smokey Bear, the five safety rules are:

1. Only you can prevent wildfires
2. Always be careful with fire
3. Never play with matches or lighters
4. Always watch your campfire
5. Make sure your campfire is completely out before you leave

For more of Smokey go to SmokeyBear.com