The guys at CampingGearTV did a video entitled “What to Pack in Your Camping Chest”. It’s a bit long at 8 minutes 43 seconds and you might not like going through the video and finding out that there’s a part 2 to it so here’s a list of what’s inside their camping chest:

1. Sunscreen
2. Propane Canister
3. Propane Stove
4. Portable Spotlight
5. Big Plastic Water Jug
6. First Aid Kit
7. Paper Plate Holders
8. Disposable Utensils
9. Spatula
10. Beer Bong
11. Plastic Cups
12. Beer Cozy with Neck Strap

If you’re looking for something more than your standard first aid kit then Ragnar Benson might just have something for you. The “expert survivalist”, author of “Survivalist’s Medicine Chest” and “Do-It-Yourself Medicine”, thorough as he may be in coming up with possible emergency situations, is disappointingly lacking in details when explaining his prescription to certain ailments.

Benson is not a trained medical expert and his approach to medicine may controversial. In one of his books he mentions that many pharmaceuticals for animals are the same as those formulated for humans. He write, “The dose for a medium hog is usually correct for an adult person.”

The books by Benson is definitely not something you would want to depend your life on. A waste of time in my opinion.

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

I wrote an article about The Basic Guide to Survival in the Outdoors but didn’t say much about the survival kit. Lucky for me, the guys are examiner.com saved me the trouble by publishing their list of survival items which can fit into a freezer bag. Below are the items listed in their survival kit:

1. Knife
2. First-aid kit
3. Duct tape
4. Firestarters
5. Tinder
6. Survival blanket
7. Water purifier
8. Water container
9. Whistle
10. Signal mirror
11. 1’x1’ foil square
12. Compass
13. Candy bar

It’s a good thing they emphasized that it’s not meant to replace the ten essentials because the author, Alex Dundas, left out a couple of things from it. But still, first aid is part of the ten essentials and so are knife, duct tape, firestarters, tinder, water purifier or just about all of them.

What going on? Well the ten essentials are what’s inside your pack. This one is meant to be in your pocket so that if you lose your backpack, you still have something to survive on. These are more like spare ten essentials.

The five part series on survival kit is a good read so why don’t you go check it out.

When a panel of veteran campers and backpackers were asked about the essential equipment for camping and backpacking they made quite a good list. But they don’t cover all of the ten essentials below:

1. Navigation
2. Sun protection
3. Insulation (extra clothing)
4. Illumination
5. First-aid supplies
6. Fire
7. Repair kit and tools
8. Nutrition (extra food)
9. Hydration (extra water)
10. Emergency shelter

Here’s what the veterans came up with:

Camping

Food and water:

• Ice chest.
• Camp stove with two burners.
• Containers, including cooking pots, utensils and a container to carry water to the campsite.
• Water filter.

Tents:

• A large tent is ideal if you have to wait for weather to clear, but purchase a design that fits the size of your family.

Sleep gear:

• High-quality sleeping bag rated 10 degrees colder than the weather in which you plan to camp.
• An air mattress or a cot for softness and to protect from ground chill.
• Folding cot, under which items can be stored.

Camp comfort:

• Lantern or flashlights strong enough for reading.
• One Frisbee per person and brightly colored trail-marking tape to place around tree trunks for Frisbee golf games.
• Hammocks made of lightweight nylon string.
• Folding card table.

Safety:

• First-aid kit that contains antiseptic, adhesive bandages, tape, ibuprofen, scissors, tweezers, a sling and gauze pads.
• Map and compass.

Backpacking

• Internal frame backpack
• Collapsible canteen. Nalgene makes a 32-ounce wide-mouth collapsible plastic canteen.
• Collapsible cup, spork and knife.
• Compass and maps of all areas you will be visiting.
• Cotton bandanas. They’re all-purpose and dry quickly.
• Firestarters, including waterproof matches and a lighter. Coughlin firestarters can be broken into 1/2-inch sections with a pair of pliers.
• Headlamp. The Petzel Tikka Plus headlamp has three levels of light intensity and is reported to work even when the batteries are down to a 10 percent charge.
• Knife sharpener. The GATCO sharpener weighs1 ounce and sharpens both straight and serrated edges.
• Leatherman crunch tool, with vise-grip pliers.
• Stove. Esbit makes stoves that use fuel tablets instead of gasoline.
• Safety kit with antiseptic, adhesive bandages, tape, ibuprofen, scissors, tweezers, a sling and gauze pads.
• Survival kit with a signal mirror, knife, space blanket, parachute cord, toilet paper, zip-lock bags, cell phone and a loud whistle on a lanyard.
• Shower curtain hangers. Outfit one with 15 medium-sized safety pins, and one with 12 wire clips for hanging wet clothes on a braided nylon cord in camp.
• Tarp. Go with a lightweight tarp such as the 8-ounce Mountain Laurel Designs Grace Duo Cuban fiber 8-by-10-foot tarp.
• Trail food high in carbs and protein, such as dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Meals are available to which you just add water.
• Trekking poles.
• Water filter.

So what’s missing?

Sun protection and extra clothing are left out in the combined list. Sun protection includes sunscreen and sunglasses. The extra clothing will help you keep warm at night or as a spare in case your clothes got wet.