Technorati tags: winter camping, frost bite, camping safety Winter Camping anyone? Not me, but I will go hiking or walking in the cold. Places and views I know take on a totally different character in the winter. Today’s post is about keeping frostbite at bay while you enjoy the outdoors.
What causes Frostbite?
When the body begins to feel the impact of the cold, the brain tells it to shut down the blood flow to the extremities to preserve core temperature (a survival strategy to avoid hypothermia). But cutting off the blood flow leaves the extremities without the very thing needed for protection against frostbite. Unable to stay warm, these parts of the body gradually chill and lose sensation.
This causes the fluid in the cells to freeze, and that causes the damage.
How to treat frostbite:
Move the victim out of the cold and into a warm, protected place.
Avoid exposing the affected area to sharp objects or dry heat (fire, hot pads, etc.) because the flesh is numb and might get burned or otherwise injured unknowingly.
Do not thaw frostbite unless you can guarantee that the flesh will not be refrozen.
To thaw the affected flesh, either immerse the part of the body in warm (not hot) water or soak a cloth in warm (not hot) water and gently lay it on the affected area. If there are any blisters, leave them alone. Do not rub or massage the frozen flesh.
The thawing process may be painful for serious frostbite. Continue with treatment in spite of anguished protest. After thawing, carefully wrap the affected area with clean bandaging material. Keep fingers and toes separated.
Get medical attention if necessary.
The biggest cause of frostbite is exposed skin and cold wind is the culprit more often than just frigid temperature. When camping in winter, dress in layers that trap air inside. Wear clothing that is waterproof and breathable (to allow perspiration to escape). Keep your head, neck and wrists covered to preserve you core temperature. Mittens are often better than gloves, because fingers can keep each other warm. Make sure mittens, socks and boots are not so tight they restrict blood flow to fingers and toes. Wear gators to keep snow out of boots. In extreme cold, wear a Neoprene Face Mask, Black.
Technorati tags: camp safety, bear attack, camping safety If you are camping in bear country - which includes many of our beautiful National Parks - you need to take some extra precautions. Bears have a tremendous sense of smell, and they are so strong they can rip out a car window or tear off a car door a lot easier than you might think. Continue reading…
Want to avoid a bee-sting? Easy, don’t try to be a flower. What does that mean?
Avoid fragrances. That includes hair spray, scented soaps or lotions.
Don’t wear brightly colored clothing, especially floral patterns or you’ll look like a flower patch.
Are you too sweet for your own good? Opened soda cans, kids juice boxes, something as small as a forgotten raspberry jam stain on a sweater can make you attractive to bees.
The peace and serenity I gained from a day touring Yosemite National Park was shattered when the ranger at the evening presentation said bears had been sighted at the park. I asked my husband, "Bear, as in, big, live, brown bears, as in Grizzly bears?" Duh, did I think the ranger was talking about Care Bears???!!
According to the national park ranger, here's what you can do.
How to Avoid or React to a Bear Attack
1. Be aware of your surroundings. Ask the ranger if Continue reading…
One of our camping tradition is to play Monopoly in our tent on one of the camping evenings. We need a good strong camp lantern like a family-size Coleman lantern to make sure I don’t get cheated out of my proper rent for Park Place or Trafalgar Square.
We also own two smaller GE battery-operated camping lanternsContinue reading…
Gotta have wheels. Exploring the campground, biking to the camp store for last-minute supplies, racing hard against the wind, bicycling along the sweet-smelling creek, those are part of many happy camping memories.
That well-trained dog can definitely come camping with me, if nothing else, just so I can show him off.
Are you planning to take your dog on your next camping trip? I have a dog who mind-reads. She knows long before the camping bags come out. She paces and worries and gets all anxious about being left behind. And the guilt that stabs me as I push my dog’s struggling body back into the house before pulling the door shut can only be matched by Continue reading…
I like Simon Eller's approach to figuring out what first-aid items to bring for camping safety. He simply asks himself, what are the most common camping mishaps that can happen, let me prepare for that.
By the way, when Simon Eller says 'plaster', that's band-aid. And if you've never heard of steri-strips, they are made by 3M (yes, the folks that make our sticky post-it notes) and they are similar to butterfly-strips.
Simon also stressed that camping safety is not just about getting the biggest, most complete first-aid kit out there. More importantly, Continue reading…
While sunscreen may not be the most exciting of camping-related topics, it is among the most important! Here are 10 common misconceptions about sunscreen.
Misconception #10. SPF 60 has four times the sun protection of SPF 15.
Fact: SPF protection does not actually increase proportionately with a designated SPF number. Look at the Percentage of Protection from damaging UV rays:
SPF 15 = 92%
SPF 30 = 97%
SPF 40 = 97.5%
As you can see, the difference in UV ray protection in SPF numbers becomes minimal as the number increases past about 30 or 40.
Misconception #9. Many people think that SPF values can be added.
Fact: Actually, SPF values cannot be added – if you apply a sunscreen of 8 and then one of 12, you will not have the protection of an SPF 20. You will only be getting the protection of an SPF 12.
I post this in the Category: Camping Safety because it’s about sunscreen and you know how important that is when you go camping.
On June 1, 1997, a young journalist, Mary Schmich, wrote a column in the Chicago Tribune titled “Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young”. She introduced the column as the commencement address she would give if she were asked to give one.
Her essay became famous world-wide when Baz Luhrmann – director of “Romeo & Juliet”) turned it into a #1 music single as “Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen”. You may even have heard the song and laughed at its litany of humorous but practical advice. Excerpt below:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’97
Wear Sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proven by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.
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Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
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Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
… Continue reading…
If you are camping in bear country - which includes many of our beautiful 
