One of the joys of camping is a roaring fire, so learning ax and knife safety is important to a successful camping experience.
Knife Safety
- Keep your blades sharp. A dull knife is difficult to push through wood, requiring additional force. When the wood finally gives, the blade keeps going.
- Always push the blade away from you, and constantly be aware ofwhere the blade will go next.
- Keep your fingers, toes, arms, etc clear of the blade at all times.
- When splitting wood with a knife, do not hammer on the back of the blade. This weakens the attachment to the handle and deforms the blade.
- Close a pocket knife when it’s not in use or when you are carrying it.
- Keep all blades away from heat. Heat will remove the temper, softening the blade. A soft blade will not hold an edge, making it nearly impossible to keep it sharp.
Axe Safety
- Before chopping any wood, take a gentle practice swing to check that the axe will not catch on anything nearby (such as an overhead branch).
- Consider what will happen if you miss the wood or tree. What might you accidentally hit? a finger? A foot? A bystander? Leave plenty of margin for error.
- Make sure the axe head is firmly attached to the axe handle. If it is loose, you may tighten it by wetting the handle, by driving a hardwood wedge into the handle through the eye of the blade, or by rapping the axe handle vertically on a hard surface. Axe heads do come loose sometimes.
- Keep bystanders away by one arms length plus two axe-lengths.
- Hand away an axe by holding the blade and presenting the handle to the other person.
- Walk with the blade facing away from you, low and to the side, and not close to anyone else. You don’t want to trip and fall on the axe.
- Sheathe the axe when it is not in use or when carrying it very far. This is both for safety and to protect the axe from rusting.
- Always maintain firm footing when using or carrying an axe.
- Stop when you are tired and rest. Tired people are more prone to accidents and mistakes.
Plants to Avoid
Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac all cause a rash when oils from the plant come into contact with the skin. The contact does not have to be direct, the oils can be transferred from the plant to another item, and then to the skin. So keep your tools, pets, and clothing away from these plants.
The best defense against this rash is to be able to recognize these plants, stay alert, and avoid contact. If you do come into contact with any of them, the first thing you should do is immediately wash the affected area with soap and water. This will often prevent the rash from developing. If contact went undetected and a rash does develop, apply Calamine lotion or a cortizone cream to the affected area. If the rash develops on the face or genitals, seek medical attention.
Fire safety
Wildfires started by careless campers devastate our forests every year in BC. Prevent wildfires and personal injuries by:
- Always locating you fire in a safe place. It should be clear for 10 feet (3 meters) all around.
- Do not light a fire beneath overhanging branches, tents, shelters etc.
- Do not use accelerates, such as lighter fluid, gasoline, kerosene because they can easily get out of control. Learn to light a fire without accelerates.
- Put the fire out completely before leaving it. If it’s too hot to put your hands in the ashes, it’s not sufficiently out. Douse it down with water, turn the coals with a shovel, and be sure to extinguish every coal and ember.
- Do not build a fire on top of flammable material such as grass or leaves.
- Cut away the sod (keep it moist so it stays alive, and replace it before your leave), and clear away the duff and litter.
- Keep fire extinguishing supplies handy and near the fire. A bucket of water or sand, or a fire extinguisher are recommended.
- Do not remove burning sticks from a fire.
- Watch for embers that escape the fire pit and extinguish them immediately.
- Wear proper footwear around a fire.
- Be aware that paper, cardboard, and leaves create floating embers that rise out of the fire pit and may land dozens of yards away.
- Do not light a fire when conditions are adverse (high winds, or drought conditions).
- Never light a fire during a burning restriction (these are common during summer in BC)
You can check if there are general burning restrictions for British Columbia or Washington State by following the links.
Sanitation and Protecting Water Sources
If camping at location that has toilets (or in an RV), use them. If camping in the wilderness without provided facilities, you will have to either build a latrine or use cat holes. Do “your business” at least 60 meters away from any source of water (such as a spring, river, or lake), and at least 30 meters away from your camp or anyone else’s campsite. Dig a shallow hole 7-10cm deep for going in. Then bury everything including any toilet paper. At this depth, there is a lot of bacteria in the soil to quickly compost your waste. Digging deeper will make things take longer to decompose.
When camping remember to continue personal hygiene habits. Wash your hands before you eat and after using the toliet. Brush your teeth before you go to bed and after breakfast. Wash your face and clean your fingernails. Shower or swim and wash your hair and body with soap. There is no reason to live like a pig outdoors. Your gear and your fellow campers will both be happier when you stay clean.
Keep your kitchen area clean too. Wash all dishes as soon as you finish eating. Use hot, soapy, potable (boiled, disinfected or filtered) water. Add a few drops of bleach to your rinse water. It is better to heat some dish washing water while preparing meals so that it is ready to use as soon as there are dirty dishes to wash (you could even assign someone to start washing cooking tools while the food is being put out. Just be sure the water is not too hot that it might burn your hands. You can always dilute with cold water to get a comfortable dish washing temperature.
Dispose of dishwater and left over food away from the camp to discourage animals and bugs from coming into the camp.
Food Storage and Safety
Keeping bears, raccoon and bugs out of your food supplies is pretty important. Depending on what means you have available to you, here are some guidelines.
- Store food in a vehicle. However, bears can rip into a vehicle so try to seal the food up as well to reduce the smell that will attract bears.
- Do not store food in your sleeping tent – animals will go through the tent to get it and you do not want to become part of the bear’s snack.
- Suspend the food from a tree by a rope, at least 10 ft off the ground but not reachable by an animal climbing the tree.
- Submerge food into a cold creek or lake to keep it cold. It also reduces the smell and helps keep animals away.
- An alternative refrigeration method it to suspend the food but cover it with a wet sack or shirt. The wet material acts as a fridge, but you must rewet the cloth every few hours.
- Bury food in a container under a heavy rock. This will stop raccoons and other small animals from accessing it.
- Wash your pots, pans, utensils and dishes right away and dispose of the water away from your camp. This will discourage bugs and critters.
- Seal food in containers to reduce odors and keep bugs out.
- Use foods that are freeze dried or otherwise dried to reduce weight and spoilage.
- Keep foods that need to be refridgerated below 4 degrees C to prevent food posioning. Left over hot food should be brought down to below 4 degrees C as well and eaten at the next meal (don’t store cooked food for very long).
Rules of Conduct for Youth Camping Trip
- Treat everyone with respect.
- Let your adult supervisor know where you are going, who you will be with, and when you will be back. Never leave without permission.
- Do not go off alone.
- Always go in threes.
- Do not light fire unless an adult is present.
- Practice fire safety.
- Practice, axe, hatchet, and knife safety.
- Wear a PFD (Personal Flotation Device) when using a boat of any type.
- Always leave an area cleaner than you found it. This will help ensure you are welcome back.
- Remember that medical assistance is more difficult to get and takes longer to arrive in wilderness areas (what’s the address of some point on a trail?) Because of this, ratchet up the caution level. Don’t take chances.
- Keep down the noise level so you do not disturb others.
- Make sure you are welcome to return.
- Do not take, destroy, or damage facilities, plants, or animals.
- Report accidents as soon as possible.
- Do not trespass. Stay in the park or campground and off private property.
