The Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day starts off the peak season for camping. With its the arrival of camping season, it is important for parents to be aware of potential dangers to avoid becoming a camping statistic.

Studies show that a little over 10,000 people each year are injured while camping. Camp fires are the cause of nearly 74% of children’s camping injuries; nearly 50% that have burns are under 4 years old. It is important to note that it takes 24 hours for fire coals of a fire to cool. Fire coals that are eight hours old have the potential to cause first degree burns. In fact, 70% of burn incidents occur this way.
More on Camping Safety Tips and Stats

Here’s what one hut-to-hut hiker has in his fanny pack:

• Duct tape
• Aleve
• Bandages
• Insect repellent
• Sunscreen
• Extra water bottle
• Antibiotics
• Batteries
• Windbreaker/Poncho
• Plastic bags
• Medical kit

So what’s missing? Notice there are no camp stoves and pots, sleeping bags, camping mat, tent, and anything beyond energy bars for sustenance. But one has to be prepared in case of emergencies. In the wild, anything can happen.

I’ve done some hut-to-hut camping in Scotland a few years back and find that we don’t always reach our destination on time. There may be diversions, you may have the taken the wrong turn, etc. Two of the 4 days hike we had to camp and we were glad we had the tarp with us.

If you haven’t tried hut-to-hut camping before, go for it. It’s good fun. Check out this article on hut-to-hut hiking on USA today.

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