The Camping Outfitter

No matter what stories your grandfather told you about how he courageously camped out in the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on his back and a can of beans, you should always make sure you have the necessary supplies to camp safely. A tint is always a necessity when camping no matter what your friends and family has convinced you. You should have sleeping bags inside the tint to keep you warm as well as food and a gas powered grill or safely prepared fire pit to cook it on.     There once was a foolish man who thought he could do the be courageous like the grandfather. He decided to camp with only food and a sleeping bag. “I’m a real man, I don’t need a tent!” the man proclaimed to his wife and friends. His wife tried to convince him it would be much too cold to do such a thing, but the man’s pride and ego had clouded his brain and the wife realized his mind was made up. So she allowed him to continue his irrational decision. It had grown late into the night and everyone was asleep, the wife and friends in their warm tints and the man near the fire in his sleeping bag.

Suddenly, an intense piercing in the man’s left shoulder awakened him. He immediately swiped his right hand at it and to his surprise it was a rattlesnake now fleeing back into the brush just outside their campsite. In a drowsy state of mind, half from being awoken from sleep, the other from the poison just injected in his veins, the man stumbled to his wife’s tent and told her what had happened. She grabbed her cell phone and called an ambulance and the man was taken care of. If only the man had used a tint, he could have avoided all confrontation with creatures from the wild.

Our latest article, Outdoor Emergency Supplies Are Neccessary When Camping, while expound on why it is absolutely necessary to take a first aid kit with you when you go camping.  Hopefully nothing happens which would merit you needing it, but you never know.

You simply cannot get enough of the right durable camping equipment and supplies, especially if you’re an avid outdoors person!  Read this article, Camping Equipment For The Rugged Outdoorsman, to help you sort out what you’ll need for your next hiking trek.

Especially if you live in the north, you realize what a frigid winter this has been and will continue to be.  However, that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the outdoors.  Read our new article to find out some tips on picking out the right camping gear for the winter months:

Choosing The Right Camping Gear For Winter

Ever wondered how it all began for the oh-so reliable piece of camping equipment the canteen?  Beleive it or not, the history goes very far back, and has always played an important role.  Read this article to learn some interesting facts:

Canteens Throughout History

TheCampingOutfitter.com’s latest article will help you realize how important it is to have with you the right buck for the right job, whether that be when you’re hunting, hiking, fishing, or camping:

Importance Of Keeping Buck Knives During Hiking

Sure, that statement might be a little obvious, but how serious do you really take it?  Having the right flashlight for the right job can make the difference between an excellent camping trip, or one that’s forgettable.  Check out our new article on this:

Significance Of Flashlights During Hiking

With so many different styles, types, and uses for sleeping bags, it’s easy to see how someone can get very confused.  Whether it’s for indoors or outdoors, like for a camping trip, having the right sleeping bag can make all of the difference in the world.  Read our latest article to help you in your search:

Shopping For The Ideal Sleeping Bag

Regardless of how much planning you do ahead of time when going on a hiking or camping trip in the outdoors, the weather can always throw you a curve ball.  Talk about “Murphy’s Law” being proven right!!!  Read our latest article to be prepared for what may happen so that your trip isn’t ruined.

Be Prepared For The Weather When Outdoors

With modern technology making its way in today’s day and age, even areas such as outdoor camping and hiking have made huge leaps forwards.  It’s a must to stay on top of what’s the latest and most effective pieces of camping equipment and supplies to make the most out of your hiking or hunting trip.

Read our latest article to find out more:

Camping Gear In The 21st Century

This new article we’ve just posted will give you some excellent tips and tricks to help you save and find discount camping equipment and gear. (Just in time for the upcoming season).

How To Find Discount Camping Gear

The last thing you want happen to you is that you suffer some type of mishap that affects negatively your outdoor trip. But, as is the case, no matter how much prevention you place the possibility is always there. This is how to deal with a burn you may suffer while enjoying your camping equipment and supplies:

1) Cool the burned area, which can be done with pouring cold water and / or applying a towel that has been soaked in, again, cold water.

2) Try as much as possible to clean the burn site, being that since you’re in the outdoors, you have sweat, dirt, etc., in that area, and you need to clean it to keep it from getting infected. Do this by gently using clean water and soap.

3) Pat the area dry with a clean towel after cleaning.

4) Leave closed blisters that have formed from the burn alone, but try to gently pull off with tweezers any loose skin from bursted / opened blisters.

5) Apply some antibiotic ointment to stop any infection from developing.

6) Cover the burn site with gauze or some type of clean clothing.

So, while laying around in your truck tent, floating in your kayak, or just enjoying your hunting trip, do be careful out there!

In our last post concerning the RICE protocol of handling a strain or sprain that could have been suffered on a camping excursion, we’ll touch on the “E” in RICE.  This stands for Elevation.  After haven Rested, Iced, and Compressed the area, you’ll now want to elevate the area.  In other words, you sprained your arm, keep it elevated.  If you strained an area of the leg, elevate it.

The rule of thumb is to keep it elevated “above the heart”.  In simpler terms, if it’s a wrist you injured while out hiking, place some objects (such as books or camping pillows) under your arm so that it keeps your wrist elevated, higher than your heart.  The purpose of the elevation is to force gravity to keep any fluids that could swell up the area.  Like I mentioned in a previous post, you want to keep swelling to a minimum right off the bat because the more swelling that is allowed to accumulate in the area the longer the recovery and recuperation is going to take.

So, in recap, any strain or sprain suffered while out camping and having the time of your life with your camping gear, remember RICE:

Rest
Ice
Compress
Elevate

The next major step in camping first aid in the process of handling the RICE process is the “C”, which represents the Compression in this protocol.

As a brief reminder, the first two letters stood for Rest and Ice….which are the first two things you need to do in the unforeseen case of some type of injury experienced when on a hunting, fishing, hiking, at a family picnic, or just regular camping.  This can be a strain or sprain (which is the first major injury we’re addressing in our series of blog posts).

After stopping usage and resting the injured area, you’ll want to ice it, per the instructions given in the previous post.  Now, you’ll also want to add some compression, aka pressure, to the area, in the way of wrapping some type of cloth or piece of clothing around the sprain.  This is to help keep fluids within the body from accumulating in the area, which results in the swelling that follows a strain.  The more you can keep the swelling down, the quicker you’re recovery time will be.

Again, we want to be able to get the most out of our outdoor excursion, including when we’re out on the river, lake, or ocean in our kayak.

Being careful around your camping equipment and gear is very important if you don’t want your outdoor weekend ruined.  However, sometimes we can’t avoid certain mishaps.  In the post we’ll get into the second letter of the all important RICE of first aid.

The “I” in RICE stands for “ice”.  When suffering a strain or sprain, you first want to Rest the injured body part.  Second in line in your care-taking is to Ice the injured area.  You’ll want to apply ice to the injured section for an alternating time of 20 minutes icing, 20 minutes resting.  This will allow for proper cooling of the injury, which helps bring down any swelling, but without the over-exposure to icy temperatures.

If for some reason you don’t have enough ice, then you can use a towel or cloth that’s dipped in cold water.

In the next post will discuss the next letter in the RICE protocal.  And remember, keep yourself safe so that you can get the most enjoyment out of your camping supplies, equipment, and gear!

Murphy’s Law can very likely come into play whenever you and your family or buddies go to the outdoors for a hiking trip, hunting, a picnic, or just a good old fashion camping excursion.  Suffering an abrasion, a contusion, some type of insect bite, etc., is always a reality that you must accept whenever you venture out to the woods, forest, or trail.  Well, in a serious of posts on our TheCampingOutfitter.com blog, we’ll give you excellent first aid tips and tricks to prevent an unforeseen occurrence from ruining your next weekend trip.

How to deal with a strain or sprain:

First off, a sprain or a strain is basically, in everyday terms, the pulling / slight injuring of a tendon, ligament, or muscle tissue.  Whenever this happens, you’ll want to remember the mnemonic RICE.  This stands for Rest….Ice…..Compression……Elevation.

Rest:
Obviously, if you’ve strained some body part you’re not going to want to continue to go on ahead and working with it.  You have to literally rest it.  Apply no weight to it, especially if it’s a strain or sprain in the lower body.  You’re going to have to sit down, take a break, and simply relax.  (Take a breather.  Enjoy nature.)

…..in the next post we’ll get into the next letter of the RICE mnemonic, “I”.