At first glance, camping seems like a peaceful, idyllic hobby – you head out to the campground, pitch your tent and enjoy the beauty of the natural world.  However, as unfortunate as it may sound, you do need to take some basic safety precautions when camping – even at the busiest of campgrounds.  Read on for more advice on keeping your camping vacation safe and enjoyable.

Leave the valuables at home

Obviously, a camping trip isn’t the best place to bring your jewelry or expensive furs.  However, when you’re doing your packing, ask yourself if it’s really necessary to bring along the nice watch you always wear, your laptop computer or the iPod that’s permanently attached to your ears.  Whether or not you believe that camping should be about leaving modern society behind, it’s pretty difficult to secure these items in a tent or camper.  If you absolutely must bring them along, remember to lock them up in the trunk of your car whenever you aren’t using them.

But do bring along your cell phone

Of course, the one exception to the “leave your valuables at home” rule is your cell phone and charger.  Although most campgrounds have pay phones available for use, they’re frequently out of order and you may not be able to get to them in the event of an emergency.  Keep the cell phone with you at all times – whether you’re spending the day on the beach with your children or sleeping at night in your tent.  If you have an injury or drowning scare, or if you feel threatened at your campsite, call for help immediately.  And since most traditional campsites offer electrical outlets, remember to keep your phone charged so that it’s available in the event of an emergency.

Keep an eye on small children

In a perfect world, children would have a free run of the campground, darting from the beach to the playground and back to the campsite at will.  However, in today’s world, you have to accept the fact that not everyone has your children’s best interests at heart.  In the daytime, make sure you know where your children are going to be and encourage them to go out in pairs or small groups.  Also, make sure they know what to do if a stranger approaches them or if they feel threatened in any way.  At night, require your children to wake you up if they need to visit the restroom, instead of having them walk through the dark campground alone.

Brush up on basic first aid

Bumps and bruises are a normal part of any camping trip – whether from setting up your “oh-so-easy” pop-up tent or from children running around playing capture the flag.  Therefore, when you’re packing your camping gear, be sure to toss in a package of band-aids and some anti-bacterial cream.  Make sure that any scrapes or cuts are washed out in the bathroom, treated with the cream and covered with a band-aid to prevent any debris from entering the wound.  If a cut looks deep and won’t stop bleeding, ask a staff member at the campground office to refer you to the nearest urgent care center.  Of course, in the event of a true emergency, use the cell phone you have on hand to call 911 to seek immediate treatment.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 12:52 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.