Thinking about Hiking?

Hiking in Whatever Season

Whether you hike in the Summer, Spring, Fall or Winter you need to have the right gear.  What if you sprained your ankle?  Or got an animal bite?  Being prepared is absolutely essential.

Boy setting up tent

Photo from Kepler Kramer

Hiking in the Summertime you have to think of the heat, insects, fires, lack of water, and animals.  In the Springtime you have to be concerned about mud, animals coming out of hibernation, too much water, slipping, leftover snow and cold.  In the Fall you have dry areas with the potential of fires, wind, chill, and animals going into hibernation.  Wintertime has ice, snow, freezing temperatures, lack of animals for food, slipping, and keeping warm.  Different seasons create a need for different kits and survival techniques.

Why do we Hike?

Hiking is a great way to get out and see nature.  It is a great exercise.  Plus, it may be the only way to see the beauty of the Earth because a lot of it, no vehicle can reach.  There are those simple hikes that won’t require as much needed gear.  Longer and more strenuous hikes have more needs and essentials.   Having survival kits though will be essential no matter how long the hike.

What emergencies do you need to have on your mind?  Do you know how to bind a leg if it gets hurt?  Here are some examples of what to do in hiking emergencies.  There was a story about a snowmobiler that was stranded because he didn’t pack the right emergency gear.  He had run out of gas and wasn’t prepared.  Luckily they found him in time, but being prepared will prevent the higher risk of life and death situations.

Cold Weather Hiking

picture of a man showshoeing in the snow

Photo from Kepler Kramer

Let’s talk about the situation of being cold.  If you go out on a moonlit snowshoe hike, what do you need?  Well, the first thing is thinking about staying warm.  Did you know you can still get dehydrated if you eat frozen snow?  Well, you can melt the snow for hydration.  You need to have something to help it to melt.  There are emergency blankets that can keep the heat in.  Knowing beforehand how to prevent hypothermia is very important.  Having the equipment to start a fire is also essential.  Know before you go.

Hot Weather Hiking

women in a desert running down a sand dune

Source: StockSnap via Pixabay

Being in hot weather, you need different essentials.  Knowing the signs of heat stroke, sunburns,  and dangerous bites.  If you are in the desert, you will have to worry about being too hot in the day and too cold in the evening.  You will have to know the kind of environment you will be in also.

This is a great site to help you plan out your hikes so that you will be better prepared.  hikesafe.com

The main essentials for any hike, no matter how hard or no matter the climate, are found anywhere.  For some great ideas on kits, look to motemlife.com.

We wanted to give a shout out to our friends over at Campsmartly who have an excellent article on The 30+1 Things You Must Have On Your Backpacking Checklist.  Read and enjoy!

Resource: http://hikesafe.com/index.php?page=what-to-do-if-losthttps://montemlife.com/how-to-make-a-survival-kit/

Image Resource: Featured Image Source Kepler Kramer, https://pixabay.com/en/people-women-desert-highland-2595598/

 

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