google-site-verification=XY-Um0EYRKhzwpG1_6R7V1pLWhcq4sIeWYoQnlhGhrM

You must take an emergency preparedness kit with you on a camping trip. But these kits are different from home survival kits as they don’t require the same gear.

Over 5 million dollars a year is spent by the US government conducting around 2500 search-and-rescue missions in our various national parks. The need to be prepared before you go on a camping trip should never be underestimated. I never leave home either to go hiking or camping without at least a basic emergency preparedness kit in my backpack.

The vast majority of people interviewed after their rescue, explaining they simply overestimated their abilities and ended up finding themselves unavoidable situations. Before you go camping, you need to understand the limits and skills of everyone in the group. I have never undertaken an activity that the whole group is not comfortable with, as this is a recipe for disaster.

One of the essential things is the ability for everyone in your group to read a map correctly and that they practice carrying a heavy pack over long distances. Remember that’s walking one mile near your home is probably only equivalent to walking less than half a mile in the wild.

For some links, we may receive a commission if a purchase is made.

emergency-preparedness-kit-camping
emergency-preparedness-kit-camping

What should you put in your emergency preparedness kit

As you mentioned before, they’re very different from the home emergency preparedness kits that have been designed to rackle economic problems, earthquakes, or tornadoes. While in the wilderness, if you encounter a survival situation, you won’t need the majority of the gear that these kits are designed to offer.

An emergency preparedness kit is designed to help you when you encounter a life-or-death situation and to help get you back to safety as quickly as possible.

An emergency preparedness kit list will include the following.

  • Water
  • Food
  • First Aid
  • Shelter
  • Light
  • Basic Tools
  • Communication
  • Warmth
emergency-preparedness-kit-camping
emergency-preparedness-kit-camping

Water

This is first on the list for many apparent reasons. But doesn’t get me wrong I’m not telling you you need to lug bottled water with you, while I can I camping. It is simply too heavy and too cumbersome to carry. In the wilderness in the vast majority of hiking or camping situations, water will be freely available. The danger will not be lack of water, but impure water, so you should purchase a light and small water purification device.

Food

The next thing on the list is also apparent to most people. But remember that you won’t need a lot of food, just something with high-calorie content. Something to provide you with sufficient energy to stay active and alert. You should simply pack some basic foodstuffs that will give you energy for 1 to 5 days in your survival. This could be very merely some high-calorie energy bars. These can last up to five years and weigh only 3oz and provide you with up to 400 calories from every bar.

emergency-preparedness-kit-camping
emergency-preparedness-kit-camping

Warmth & Shelter

You must never underestimate the importance of warmth and shelter. Far too many people have been influenced by survival TV, which is led them to either ignore or completely misinterpret their own needs.

In the event of an emergency, the last thing you want to do is expend energy searching for or cutting down parts of trees to build yourself a shelter. It’s completely ridiculous, pack a survival blanket and an emergency survival shelter, these weighed less than 5 ounces each.

They are all you need to shelter in the event of an emergency. The ability to provide yourself and others with shelter helps keep people calm, relax nerves during a highly stressful situation, and, most importantly, prevent hypothermia.

Your ability to stay warm at safe will be closely linked to your ability to light a fire. Fire doesn’t just provide you a heat and also includes light, peace of mind, and safety. There is an abundance of simple fire starting kits available make sure you put one in your emergency preparedness kit.

emergency-preparedness-kit-camping
emergency-preparedness-kit-camping
emergency-preparedness-kit-camping

Light & Communication

Every emergency preparedness kit needs a high-quality waterproof flashlight, one that comes with long battery life. Having this source of light will allow you to explore your surroundings in the evening, signal others for help, and also set up your shelter.

There are a wide variety of methods that you can use to communicate. But a walkie-talkie might be helpful as long as there’s always someone on the other end who knows where you are going and is available to take you communication.

I always keep a spare flip phone in a ziplock bag at the bottom of the pack. This is always charged this every time I come home. These flip phones have incredibly long-lasting batteries, especially if you want to turn it on to make a call. All these phones will allow you to call 911 without a plan.

emergency-preparedness-kit-camping
emergency-preparedness-kit-camping

First Aid

An emergency preparedness kit will need more than just an element of first aid, a few band-aids, and antibiotic ointment merely is not going to cut it. I started making my first aid kit until I realized that it was going to cost me much more than one I can purchase over-the-counter.

My advice is to do some research and save some time by just buying your emergency preparedness first aid kit. These generally weigh around 1 lb. Most of these come with raincoats, light sticks, cold compresses, wraps, bandages, cleansers, whistles, a CPR mask, as much more. Some of the more expensive kits will even include some essential medication and also items you need to treat sprains and fractures. They will be a little heavier but are well worth it in my mind.

emergency-preparedness-kit-camping
emergency-preparedness-kit-camping

Tools

A fire-starting tool is an absolute necessity, as it offers you peace of mind as well as warm. The most basic it’s something simple like a magnesium fire starting stick, which simply creates a large amount of spark and provides resistance to all weathers. They are also long-lasting as they can be struck up to 15,000 times.

You can also choose to include some storm-proof matches. These water-resistant matches come in waterproof cases and possibly the easiest way to light a fire when you find yourself in a difficult situation.

It’s also essential to bring some form of the blade. Give those gimmicky survival tools you find online a skip and just go purchases of a high-quality knife. I carry a folding tactical survival knife that weighs about 6 ounces.

A fully completed emergency preparedness kit should weight somewhere between 5 to 10 pounds. This is all dependant on the size of your group and what you choose to include in the pack. Sometimes you will need to switch up your pack to meet different situations.

emergency-preparedness-kit-camping

Sometimes it is necessary to customize your emergency preparedness kit

From time to time, it will be necessary to assess your emergency preparedness kit list. You should examine your specific needs and the needs of others who are accompanying you.

Asking yourself the following questions will help

How many people might be using the kit?

Far too many people have been caught in situations with kits that weren’t designed for the number of people in the group. The main issue is a shortage of food and the provision of shelter.

emergency-preparedness-kit-camping

Are there any specific dangers you might face?

Depending on where you’re camping and hiking, you would encounter different conditions. You may be undertaking different activities, and for example, it’s unlikely that you’ll sprain an ankle while kayaking at sea. Still, one of your party could easily get a jellyfish sting, having some pain relieving gel is very helpful in this situation.

Where will the kit be used?

If you are the more adventurous type, you’ll find yourself in different locations. You could encounter different climatic challenges. This is very important when deciding what to include in your kit.

How experienced are the group?

This is not gospel, but in general, the more experienced you are, the less likely you are to need an emergency preparedness kit. if you are taking a group of unskilled campers into the wild for the first time you may want to choose some extra items.

emergency-preparedness-kit-camping

How far from help might you find yourself?

If you find yourself camping in the Yukon with your family or a group of friends, you might find yourself in a situation where you have to wait a few weeks for help to arrive. On the other hand, if you’re heading to your local state park, rescuers will most likely reach you in a matter of hours.

Any medical conditions to consider?

If anyone in the party takes regular medication for specific conditions, always make sure that you have an extra set in your kit. This might have to be discussed with your physician in advance if you require specific prescription medications.

emergency-preparedness-kit-camping

Do I bring cash or card?

While it’s highly unlikely that you get lost in the wilderness and find yourself wandering into a local town that someone will not offer you help for free, just in case always have the cash handy.

Can you defend yourself?

This is rare, but on occasion, people and families have found themselves in situations where they met people dangerous animals are nefarious people. Having the ability to defend yourself could be the difference between life and death.

We hope that our tips for packing an emergency preparedness kit were helpful, I hope you will never need to use most of them. Sage camping…

emergency-preparedness-kit-camping