Camping Safety Tips
&
Hiking Safety Tips

You need to know these camping safety tips and hiking safety tips before you venture into a wilderness. It's beautiful but it's also where predators hunt for prey.

Park rangers are now often armed. But will one always be nearby to protect you?

Per capita, what happens in the cities also happens in the forests – which are also ideal for thrill-seeking predators, hideouts for fugitives, and gang’s illegal drug labs. And the forests give them a huge advantage: no witnesses nearby to see or hear – or come to your rescue. Learn from crime victims about staying safe.

A few past incidents on the Appalachian Trail:

• A fugitive met a hiking couple in Georgia and killed the man in May 1974.
• A woman hiking alone in Tennessee met a man who cooked her breakfast, then killed her with an ax in April 1975.
• Randall Lee Smith killed campers Robert Mountford Jr. and Susan Ramsay in Virginia in May 1981.
• Stephen Roy Carr killed Rebecca Wight and wounded Claudia Brenner in Pennsylvania in May 1988.

Some people now pack guns. Some hike with dogs or pepper spray. The Appalachian Trail Conference has a handbook: “Trail Safe: Averting Threatening Human Behavior In The Outdoors.” Along with the old advice of ‘Don't hike alone,’” the ATC now adds ‘Never let your guard down.’

My experience in “Not All Threats Are Quite So Obvious” on Victims Options - Posturing shows your vulnerability in the wilderness even if you’re carrying guns.

Camping Safety Vanishes:
Where You Least Expect It

In August 1982, David Ennis (a.k.a. David Shearing) met three generations of a family camping in Wells Gray Park in British Columbia: grandparents George and Edith Bentley, parents Bob and Jackie Johnson, and grandchildren Janet, 13, and Karen, 11.

Ennis killed the adults then raped the children for six days before killing them.

Natural Wonders & Monsters

Charles and Shirley Chick were camping in Oklahoma's Ouachita National forest when Edward Leon Fields, camouflaged head to toe, crept up on them. After shooting Charles Chick, Fields chased down Shirley Chick and shot her twice in the head.

While the beauty of the wilderness can blind you to the dangers, the above stories open your eyes to true outdoor safety. Ask a park ranger to suggest a campsite. Plan carefully – very carefully.

Camping Safety & Hiking Safety
Be Prepared

The bodies of the mother and daughter were found alongside the trail in Washington’s Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest – each shot in the head. Now some hiking groups have new tactics: they hike in two groups – fast and slow – and carry two-way radios.

• Get Bear Pepper Spray. It works on humans too.
• Keep your child near you with a GPS Child Locator. You'll also find other models for hiking safety to avoid getting lost.
• Security Products - Personal Devices & Weapons
• Travel Security - Camping
• Survival Options - SOS Distress Signals

There is more safety in numbers – you'll have more resources.

Almost half of all Search and Rescue missions are for solo hikers out for a short hike – and many of those end up with the hiker injured or dead. Be truly prepared for even the shortest of jaunts. For expert camping safety tips, see www.Ultimate-Ultralight-Backpacking.com.

More pages related to Camping Safety Tips:
Travel Security - Camping | Survival Options - SOS | Victims Options - Posturing | Best Pepper Spray | Personal Security Alarm | GPS Child Locator | Security Products - Personal Devices

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