Collins Complete Hiking and Camping Manual: The essential guide to comfortable walking, cooking and sleeping. Rick Curtis

Collins Complete Hiking and Camping Manual: The essential guide to comfortable walking, cooking and sleeping - Rick Curtis


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devices there are devices designed to help you on your wilderness experience. Here are some of the things out there:

       Mobile phones or satellite phones Mobile phones are now ubiquitous, so it’s no surprise that people take them along on hiking trips. A mobile phone or a satellite phone can be a big help in an emergency situation, allowing you to contact help almost immediately (if you have reception). There is a great deal of discussion in outdoor programs about the use of mobile phones, satellite phones, and radios. Some people feel that these are essential hiking safety devices, some feel that they intrude on the experience of being in the wilderness, and others feel they are mistakenly used as a crutch. They can be useful tools in an emergency situation. However, it is important to recognize that none of these communication technologies works in every location and therefore shouldn’t be relied upon completely. A lot of people assume that satellite phones work everywhere. Not true—sat phones require a clear view of the sky in order to establish a connection with a satellite. You often can’t make a connection in deep forests, canyons, deep gorges, or other locations. And any electronic device can run out of power or break, so never rely on it in place of first-aid training, knowledge of the area, and a good trip plan. If you carry a phone or a radio, don’t delude yourself that help is only a phone call away. Even with a phone, it still may take rescue personnel hours or even days to get to you, so you must be prepared to deal with the situation. At a conference on wilderness safety someone told the story of a fellow who went hiking with his mobile phone. He got lost and called the rangers to tell him where to go. They asked him what landmarks were nearby, and there weren’t any obvious ones. It turned out he had no map or compass and had absolutely no idea where he was. He assumed that because he had a mobile phone, all he had to do was call and ask for directions. But the rangers couldn’t figure out where he was or how to help him find his way back. At the same time hikers and mountaineers have been seriously injured and called for help on a mobile phone. Without the phone to speed the rescue people would have died.

       Global Positioning System (GPS) Receivers GPS receivers use satellites to identify your exact position. They can be a great help in planning your route, keeping track of your location, and navigating from place to place. Even so, a GPS is not a replacement for knowing how to use a map and compass. For more on GPS, see page.

       Personal Radios Personal radios using the FRS or GMRS have become increasingly popular when hiking. They can be helpful for larger groups who split up. FRS radios have a range of about 1/2 mile (0.8 kilometer), while GMRS have ranges up to 5 miles (8 kilometers).

       Personal Locater Beacons (PLBs) Personal Locator Beacons are another satellite technology. This is a land-based version of rescue beacons that have been in use by mariners for some time. When activated the beacon sends an emergency signal to a satellite along with your exact position. This is not a phone, so all the signal means is “I have an emergency.” All PLBs must be registered so the responding agency knows who initiated the call (in part to discourage false activations). If a signal is received, the Rescue Coordination Center telephones the beacon’s owner and/or emergency contact to check to see if the beacon going off is a false alarm. If it cannot be determined that the signal is a false alert, SAR teams are dispatched to locate the person in distress. Pushing the button means mobilizing a potentially huge rescue effort, so it had better be a real emergency. There are certainly real uses for these devices, particularly for people who travel in remote parts of the world.

      The ongoing debate about the use of these types of technology when hiking is that carrying these devices creates a false sense of security, the “Hey, if something goes wrong we just use the Satellite Phone, PLB, GPS, etc.” approach. Some people are justifiably concerned that people may go into wilderness areas without sufficient experience because they assume they can always get rescued, or don’t take a map because they have a GPS receiver. What’s important to remember is that these are just tools and have limitations. They get left in camp, batteries die, somebody steps on the thing or drops it off a cliff. If you don’t have it or it doesn’t work, you’d better have the skills to handle the situation. These devices should be used as an adjunct for emergency assistance or navigation, not as a replacement for sound training and good judgment.

       Cooking and Nutrition

      Food can be one of the most important and complicated elements to plan for a trip. You have to be aware of nutritional requirements, individual dietary needs, and amounts required to feed the entire group. Plus, the food should be appetizing—there is nothing better than a delicious hot meal to bolster morale after a long, hard day of hiking, and nothing worse than trying to keep up your strength while staring into a cup of disgusting mush. Seasoned through-hikers may be more concerned with weight than taste or variety, but it can be difficult to get people, particularly inexperienced backpackers, to eat a meal that doesn’t taste good.

      Good nutrition is just as important, if not more so, in the outdoors as it is at home. Food supplies energy to your body to fuel your physical activity and keep you warm. Food also provides essential nutrients that your body cannot produce: vitamins, minerals, certain amino acids, and certain fatty acids. The amount of energy the body takes in from food is measured


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