Camping 101: The Dangers of Exposure to the Elements

So there you are, 30 miles from the nearest human out-post. It started out to be a nice little weekend camping trip, but your vehicle has broken down, your compass didn't make the camping trip, you have a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt on with tennis shoes, and, in short, you are completely unprepared to be in the very position you are in. This little camping trip has turned into a matter of survival.

Sound far fetched? There are literally hundreds of instances each year where camping excursions turn into brutal struggles for survival involving people who range in experience from first timers to expert extreme adventurers. Oddly enough, it seems that the more experienced camping parties often suffer the greatest losses with an unfortunate handful suffering fatalities amongst the members of their camping parties.

In 90% of the camping tragedies, severe physical injuries and losses of life are primarily attributable to exposure, and the lack of preparation people take the time to execute prior to setting out on what they believe is going to be a carefree weekend with predictable weather. Of course, one thing that every happy camper should keep paramount in his camping plans is that the only thing certain about the weather is the fact that it is not predictable. As a matter of fact, a good rule of thumb might be that the predictability of the weather on any given camping trip is inversely proportionate to how prepared the members of a given camping party are, times the distance that party travels into the middle of nowhere.

All kidding aside, exposure can and will cut your chances of getting through a camping ordeal more than cougars, bears, starvation, and physical injury combined.

One thing that can minimize and even negate the effects of exposure and cold temperatures for extended periods of time is fire. The difference between life and death; the difference between comfort and pain; the difference between a perfect "s'more" and just having a piece of a Hershey bar on a graham cracker is the thing that man has quested for since the dawn of time - Fire. In the next article in this series you will learn how to create fire quickly and easily using nothing more than a shoelace.