First aid preparations should be a top priority for any camper. Most camping excursions take participants away from modern amenities like drug stores and hospitals. As such, it is important to prepare for any situations that could arise in which a drug store or hospital would otherwise be called upon. Moreover, since camping presents additional danger elements as compared to a night at home (ie: snake bites, hiking accidents, etc), all precautions must be taken.

Here are some basic camping first aid tips that any wise camper follows:

Carrying a well-stocked first aid kit

Some must-bring items for a camping first aid kit include:

• Various sizes of bandages and gauze
• Antiseptic creams (like neosporin)
• Stomach medicines (Pepto, Ex-Lax, Tums)
• Tweezers, scissors
• Pain medicines
• Aloe and lotions
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Chapstick
• Burn cream
• Snakebite kit
• Eye drops
• Thermometer
• Smelling salts

Keep yourself prepared for any potential problems with the above-listed items. Stomach medicines are good in case anyone faces intestinal issues on the trip. Tweezers are good for removing thorns while scissors and a knife come in handy for cutting gauze and bandages. Hydrogen peroxide is effective for cleaning out wounds prior to bandaging. Antiseptic creams like neosporin help prevent infection in a wound after it is bandaged. An aloe-vera lotion is effective for relieving pain caused by burns. A snakebite kit may be appropriate depending on what region you are camping in. Eye drops are useful in the event that someone’s contacts begin to dry out. A thermometer is handy for checking someone’s temperature. Smelling salts may be useful if someone in your camping party loses consciousness after a fall. And of course, it is always good to have some asprin or ibuprofen on hand to treat pesky headaches and soreness from sleeping on the ground.

Don’t Overstock

A good first aid kit is usually pretty basic. You don’t need to complicate your trip by bringing too many first aid products. This will only make it more difficult to find the things you actually need in the event of a minor emergency.

Keep Your Kit Updated

A first aid kit that you’ve had sitting in storage for ten years may be as good as worthless. A good rule of thumb is to restock your first aid kit prior to the first camp of every season. Spend ten minutes going through and figuring out what needs to be replaced and what can remain in the kit.

Camping can be a wonderfully rewarding, enjoyable, character-building activity for kids. It can also be one heck of a challenge! Taking children out into the woods away from their PlayStation and Wii while insisting they leave their handheld PSP behind already puts you in quite the hole in terms of helping them have a good time and keeping them entertained. Thankfully, as you and I both know, once they get out there and brighten up their attitude, they’ll see that camping can actually be quite fun!

Here are some ways to help make camping rewarding and enjoyable for your kids and their friends.

1. Build enthusiasm about the trip by including them as part of the planning. Take them to the grocery store so they can choose what snacks to bring and what games to play.

2. Make them have some modicum of responsibility during your camping excursion. Even if it’s something as simple as helping set up the tent or collect firewood. Give them some type of task that will help them feel like they’re a contributing hand in making the camping a success. Reassure them that there will be plenty of time for fun and games but that before you can do that, a little work must be done. This work-reward pattern is something many kids in this generation miss out on which is a shame because it’s very character building. You can make the camp chores fun by having awards for most sticks collected, fastest clean-up, etc.

3. Have an array of activities ready that your kids will enjoy. When I was a kid, my Dad brought out a bb-gun and had us shoot at empty cola cans from 30 feet away. I was only about 7 at the time and still remember how awesome it was to shoot a “real gun”! There are so many possible camping activities for kids and many of them are things they never get the chance to do in the city. Consider some of the following:

• Scavenger hunt (first kid to find all items on list wins)
• Rubbing souvenirs (place a leaf vien-side-up under a piece of paper, rub a crayon over the leaf)
• Frisbee, baseball, or football to toss around
• Camping races (one-legged race, sack race, backwards race with teams and partners)
• Alphabet nature hunt (have to find something that starts with each letter)
• Constellation and satellite search at night
• UNO, checkers or other picnic-table games
• Camping Olympics (organize a series of games with points awarded based on finish)
• Hide and seek (nature makes a great place to play hide and seek, just be sure to establish boundaries)

With any competitive event, be mindful of everyone and keep it fun for all. Winners should not be praised too much nor losers chastized. After all, it’s just camping!

4. Use your time out in nature to instill valuable skills with your kids. Teach them about fire safetey. Show them poisonous leaves so they know what to avoid.

5. When in doubt, have fun! I think you could agree that some of the best memories you form as a child take place while camping, so have a blast!

Camping is no easy chore. For beginners, you can save a lot of headaches by learning from the camping mistakes of others. Consider avoiding the following common camping mistakes on your next trip to the woods for a better time!

1. Arriving at your campsite exhausted and near dusk. Setting up camp in the dark can be a complete nightmare. Be sure to arrive with a sufficient amount of daylight left so you can get everything situated.

2. Leaving the mattress pad at home. If there’s nothing but the bottom of the tent between your sleeping bag and the ground, be ready for a restless night!

3. Leaving food or trash out overnight. Do this and you can almost certainly expect to wake up and find that an animal of some sorts has ravaged through everything.

4. Thinking a tent for four people will comfortably fit four people. Unless you like sleeping on top of your friends and family, always buy a bigger tent than you think you’ll need. Believe me, you’ll be glad you did.

5. Bringing too much stuff. People, you’re camping! You don’t need to bring your kitchen sink with you. Unless it’s an essential item, leave it at home and rough it up a bit!

6. Letting the dog off leash. Even the most obedient dogs will find it hard to contain themselves in an area full of new smells. Unless you want to be walking through the woods calling out “Sparky!? Sparky?!” all night, consider keeping your best friend curbed.

7. Setting up camp near a cliff. Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night should not be a life or death matter.

8. Bringing insufficient drinking water. If there’s one thing you don’t want to skimp on, it’s drinking water. Think about how much you think you’ll need and bring double.

9. Not bringing enough blankets. Do you know how cold it gets at night when you’re sleeping outdoors? Oh, double up on the socks too!

10. Leaving the flashlight at home. Bring several flashlights and spare batteries for each of them.

11. Forgetting bug repellent and/or sunscreen. Both of these items are crucial to enjoyable camping.

12. Not cleaning up. Camp responsibly. Clean up after yourself before you leave. The only evidence of you having been there should be your fond memories.

13. Building a fire or using a stove inside a tent. This is incredibly stupid. A torrential downpour is still no reason to start a fire in a tent. Never start a fire in a tent.

14. Setting up a beach campsite below the high water mark. Usually high tide is around midnight. If you set up camp close to the water line during the day, you’re likely to wake up to a wet campsite. You should be able to detect evidence in the sand of the high tide point from the night before. Set up camp considerably behind that mark.

15. Cooking elaborate meals. Even if you have a stove or grill, cooking at a campsite is nowhere near as nice as cooking in your kitchen. Keep the meals simple and easy!