Whether it’s your first backpacking trip or your 100th, backpacking safety should be a priority on every trip. Each trek can bring forward a new obstacle or safety threat. Let’s all call on our inner boy/girl scout and be prepared for anything that comes our way on the trail.

Alright, we aren’t experts so please take this advice with a grain of salt, but this is what we’ve learned on the trail so far. Per our usual backpacking advice, we recommend research and then some more research before hitting the trail.

Call the Ranger

If there is one thing we can’t tell you enough, it’s to call the ranger!! Do it! They will be able to tell you the trail conditions, bear sightings, water source details, all the good things you need to know. It’s their job to be a wealth of information. If you are worried about calling or don’t know what to ask, we go into some serious detail and have a “mock conversation” with a ranger on all questions that you should be asking in our “Selecting the Trail” article.

Water Purity

Players Choice! There are a lot of effective water purification options out there whether it be iodine drops, a sawyer squeeze, UV rays, or our personal favorite, a classic water filter pump (here’s our filter!). All of these will be effective in their own way and will keep the water you find along the trail sustainable to drink. We had one friend who chose to forgo her “water purification” and found herself commode hugging the next day as one would with a bad hangover.

One tip we were given when using a water purifier is to always make sure our water came from a running spring - no stagnant or still water. This means staying away from any puddles or random pools of water. The source doesn't have to be a flowing river, but make sure there's a pulse before you start drinking.

Getting Lost

Ah man, we are the best at getting lost. It’s true! We have yet to do a hike without making a wrong turn or questioning which way to go next. When you get lost (and yes, it will happen one day), it’s important to STAY CALM. Have you ever had the sensation of losing your phone, keys or wallet? As soon as you start panicking, all your rational thinking goes out the door and it becomes harder to remember the last place you saw it. Same thing when you get lost on the trail, your thought process begins to ramp up and fear starts creeping in. Take time to breathe and slow down to start thinking rationally again.

In the words of our Founding Fathers...GIFs rule!

Once you have slowed down the anxiety creeping in, start backtracking to your last known landmark. There’s a good chance that by walking back to your last known landmark, you’ll see the sign that you missed or see the part of the directions that you should have taken.

We haven't had this happen yet, but if it’s dark out and you are lost, stay where you are. Chances are you're not that far off the trail and could end up hurt or further away from the path if you keep wandering in the dark. Wait until daylight to try to retrace your steps.

Weather, Friend not Foe

We’ve had to make many game time decisions the night before a planned trek based on the weather forecast. It’s a definite bummer to cancel a trip due to weather, but it’s always important to play it safe if the forecast is calling for lightning and thunderstorms.

If you are ready to brace the weather or a pop up shower comes your way, it’s always smart to pack the needed layers to keep you and your stuff dry. This means always carry a rain jacket and rainfly for you pack and tent.

A Backpacking Beginners Tip: We always carry large garbage bags with us. In the case of an unexpected rainstorm, we use our rainfly and a garage bag as an extra waterproof protection.

First Aid Safety

Thanks to Kate’s days as a camp counselor, we know some pretty basic first aid techniques if something were to happen on the trail. We recommend taking a read through “The 10 Most Common Hiking Injuries and Illnesses and How to Treat Them” to help you get some quick and dirty first aid knowledge in your noggin.

Our First Aid Safety Kit includes: Bandages, antiseptic, Advil, gauze, and tweezers.

Most YMCAs or other local organizations provide basic first aid classes for free or at a small cost. Don’t feel the need to take one in order to go backpacking for your first time, but if you turn backpacking into a passion it might be smart to take a basic course.

Paying Attention

Whether it’s because you're in some deep trail talk conversations or deep in thought, make sure to pay attention to signage on the trails. Many of our “getting lost” mistakes made above could have been prevented if we took the time to read signs on the trail better (for example, doing a whole trek backwards, whoops!). Backpacking signage is subtle and won’t always be “in your face” so be sure to stay alert.

This also includes paying attention to where your backpacking buddy is. We tend to separate for an hour or so at a time on the trail but stop at any major turns or landmarks to make sure we’re staying in sync on the trail.

Stranger Danger

Being honest, this is definitely what freaks Kate out the most on the trail. The backpacking community, in our opinion, are some of the most awesome and trustworthy folks you’ll ever meet. With that being said, not everyone you encounter on the trail will be as trustworthy. We’ve come across a few folks that made us just uncomfortable enough to think twice…

A few ways we tackle stranger danger (assuming someone seems suspicious) are:

Always keeping pepper spray on us and easily accessible.
Not disclosing key information like where we are camping that night or where the car is.
Casually dropping to the suspicious stranger in conversation that we informed the ranger of names and the trail we are on.
We also read the Gift of Fear and took a self defense class! You can never be toooo safe 🙃

Turning Back

Alright beginners, time to have the talk. If you get out on the trail and anything goes awry, it is OKAY to turn back. Our first solo backpacking trip, we joked that we would turn back and head up to the casino down the road if in the middle of the hike we decided backpacking wasn't for us. As always, be smart in your decision making and trust your gut. We promise you, you got this!

BEAR Safety

In bear country it’s important to follow a few simple tips:

Stay Together:

Don’t wander too far away from your hiking buddy, if a bear appears, you are better in numbers.

Make Noise on the Trail

A bear is less likely to approach you if they hear you coming from far away. Hold conversations with your hiking partner or listen to some jams on your iphone speaker.

Hide ALL the Smells

Everything should go into a bear canister or at a minimum a smell proof bag. This list includes things like toothpaste, NyQuil, trash, ANYTHING that has a scent.

Hang it High

Most National Parks or State Parks will have bear cables to hoist your packs up at night far from a bear’s reach. If one isn't available, walk your the food and other contents in your pack with a scent a few hundred feet from your campsite and hoist it up over a tree branch using some rope. We have packed our things into a sleeping bag stuff sack and thrown it over a branch before.

Don’t Sleep Where you Eat

via GIPHY

Bears have good noses! As much as you think you cleaned up your dining area and washed all your dishes, it’s still good to camp a few hundred feet away from where you ate to keep you far away from any leftover dinner odors.

A Backpacking Beginners Tip: One reference we were given was to think of a triangle when it comes to where to camp, store food, and cook. Keep each point of the triangle a couple hundred feet apart.

Bear Encounters

We haven’t encountered a bear (knock on wood!) so best leave this one to the experts. Check out this link for if you encounter a bear on the trail: Staying Safe Around Bears by the National Park Service

If you are in an area where bears are more prevalent then we suggest getting some bear spray; we haven't come across the need to buy bear spray yet but we know it’s in our future

Need some safety extra advice?

Our Lessons Learned are here to help you not make the same mistakes we did.

Lessons Learned

HAVE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ABOUT GETTING STARTED BACKPACKING?

Drop us a note in the comments below!

Basic Backpacking Safety Tips