| Camping is an outdoor
recreational activity. The participants, known as campers, leave
urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature
while spending one or several nights, usually at a
campsite, which may have cabins. Camping may involve the use of
a tent,
a primitive structure, or no shelter at all. Camping as a
recreational activity became popular in the early 20th century.
Campers frequent
national parks, other publicly owned natural areas, and
privately owned campgrounds.
Camping is also used as a cheap form of accommodation for people
attending large open air events such as sporting meetings and
music festivals. Organizers often provide a field and other
basic amenities.
Camping describes a range of activities. Survivalist campers set
off with little more than their boots, whereas
recreational vehicle travelers arrive equipped with their own
electricity, heat, and patio furniture. Camping is often enjoyed in
conjunction with activities, such as:
hiking,
hill walking,
climbing,
canoeing,
mountain biking,
motorcycling,
swimming, and
fishing. Camping may be combined with hiking either as
backpacking or as a series of day hikes from a central location.
Some people vacation in permanent camps with cabins and other
facilities (such as
hunting camps or children's
summer camps), but a stay at such a camp is usually not
considered 'camping'. The term camping (or camping out)
may also be applied to those who live outdoors, out of necessity (as
in the case of the
homeless), or for people waiting overnight in
queues. It does not, however, apply to cultures whose technology
does not include sophisticated dwellings. Camping may be referred to
colloquially as roughing it.
Campers span a broad range of age, ability and ruggedness, and
campsites are designed in many ways as well. Many campgrounds have
sites with facilities such as fire rings,
barbecue grills, utilities, shared bathrooms and laundry, as
well as close access to recreational facilities, but not all
campsites have similar levels of development. Campsites can range
from a patch of dirt, to a level, paved pad with
sewer and
electricity. For more information on facilities, see the
campsite and
RV
park articles.
Today’s campers have a range of comforts available to them,
whether their shelter is a tent or a recreational vehicle. Today,
backcountry campers can pack-in comfortable mattresses, compact
chairs, and solar powered satellite phones. Those choosing to camp
closer to their car ("car camping") with a tent have access to
portable hot water, tent interior lighting, and technological
changes to camping gear. For those camping in
recreational vehicles (RVs), options include
air conditioning,
bathrooms,
kitchens,
showers, and home theatre systems. In the
United States,
Canada
and
Europe, some campgrounds offer hookups where recreational
vehicles are supplied with electricity, water, and sewer services.
Other vehicles used for camping include
motorcycles,
touring bicycles,
boats,
canoes, using
pack animals, and even
bush planes; although
backpacking is a popular alternative.
Tent camping sites often cost less than campsites with full
amenities, and most allow direct access by car. Some "walk-in" sites
lie a short walk away from the nearest road, but do not require full
backpacking equipment. Those who seek a rugged experience in the
outdoors prefer to camp with only tents, or with no shelter at all
("under the stars").
Backpacking is a mobile variety of tent camping. Backpackers use
lightweight equipment that can be carried long distances on foot.
They hike across the land, camp at remote locations, and often
select campsites at will if resource protection rules allow.
Backpacking equipment typically costs more than that for car
camping, but still far less than a trailer or motor home, and
backpacking campsites are generally cheap.
Canoe camping is similar to backpacking, but uses
canoes
for transportation; much more weight and bulk can be carried in a
canoe or kayak than in a backpack. Canoe camping is common in
North America.
One form of
bicycle touring combines camping with cycling. The bicycle is
used to carry the gear and as the primary means of transportation,
allowing greater distances to be covered than backpacking.
Motorcycle camping is more comparable to bicycle camping than
car camping due to the limited storage capacity of the motorbike.
Motorcycle camping riders, as well as bicycle touring riders, often
use some of the same equipment as backpackers because of the lighter
weights and compact dimensions associated with backpacking
equipment.
Survivalist campers learn the skills needed to survive in any
out-door situation. This activity may require skills in obtaining
food from the wild, emergency medical treatments,
orienteering, and
pioneering.
"Winter
camping" refers to the experience of camping outside during the
winter - often when there is
snow on
the ground. Campers and outdoorspeople have adapted their forms of
camping and survival to suit extremely cold nights and limited
mobility or evacuation. Methods of survival when winter camping
includes: building snow shelters such as
quinzhees,
igloos,
or
snow caves, dressing in "layers," staying dry, using
low-temperature
sleeping bags, and fueling the body with appropriate food.
Workcamping allows campers to trade their labor for a free
campsite, and sometimes even for utilities and additional pay.
Adventure camping is a form of camping by people who race
(possibly adventure racing or
mountain biking) during the day, and camp in a minimalist way at
night. They might use the basic items of camping equipment such as a
micro-camping stove,
sleeping bag, and
Bivouac bag.
Camping is a key part of the program of many youth organizations
around the world, such as
Scouting. It is used to teach self-reliance and team work.
Boutique Camping is found at music festivals in the UK. Also
called glamping, posh camping or comfy camping. It allows people to
escape the hassles of finding camp space, carrying their tents, and
erecting and taking down nylon tents. Companies deliver
accommodation units to the festival, as well as build and breakdown
the units for their guests. Various companies with various products
exist. These products include: tents, bell tents, podpads, yurts,
and tipis.
Sail Camping is a form of camping while sailing or boating.
Sailers will visit islands and campgrounds along the shorelines,
dock their boats, and set up camp. This form of sail camping gives a
variety activities to the boater they may want a break from being on
the water.
Survival skills are techniques a person may use to help other people
or a person in a dangerous situation such as natural disasters.(also see bushcraft). Generally speaking, these
techniques are meant to provide the basic necessities
for human life: water, food, shelter,
habitat, and the need to think
straight, to signal for help, to navigate safely, to avoid
unpleasant interactions with animals and plants, and for first aid. In addition, survival
skills are often basic ideas and abilities that ancient humans had to use for
thousands of years, so these skills are partially a reenactment of history. Many
of these skills are the ways to enjoy extended periods of time in remote places,
or a way to thrive in nature. Some people use these skills to better appreciate
nature and for recreation, not just survival.
Our ancestors were in reality survivalists because they were self sufficient.
They were responsible for one’s own self and family, protection, health, and
sustenance as well as shelter. This is what our ancestors knew and lived every
day. They were prepared for what life brings through planning, learning, and
preparing for any possible future… Through education we can teach people how to
survive more than one day at a time. We can teach them how to feed themselves
and their families for life, be prepared for future unknown and the basic art of
human survival to be pasted on for generations to come. [1]
Such skills are presented as useful in situations such as storms or
earthquakes or in dangerous locations such as desert, mountains, and jungle.
Every different situation or location is said to present a different range of
dangers - (see hazards of outdoor activities).
Techniques to fit most situations are suggested by sources on the topic.
Secondary sources on survival skills, including those produced by the United
States Army[2], and the Boy Scouts
of America (priorities for an individual or group in a survival situation) [3], formulate lists of
needs to be met for survival.
The needs for survival are differently conceptualized between sources; they
may give six, or seven, or ten "needs" or "priorities." Furthermore, those
sources often differ as to the relative priority of survival needs in a given
survival situation. Some sources expressly acknowledge what seems manifest: that
the order of priority of survival needs shifts according to the immediate
situation faced.[4]
One widely circulated concept to help set priorities is called the "Rule of Three":[5] Employed a mnemonic device, the Rule of Three
states:
- Humans cannot survive more than three hours exposed to extremely high or low
temperatures.
- Humans cannot survive more than 6 days without water.
- Humans cannot survive more than nine days without food.
The Rule of Three is often otherwise formulated and is viewed by commentators
as a rough guide. An aircrew reportedly lasted 8 days without water in a
liferaft [6]. People have
survived without food for over twenty-one days.
In 1998, Alaskan fireman Robert Bogucki survived for 12 days without
water and 36 days with nearly no food [7] in the Great Sandy
Desert, Western
Australia,
The Boy Scouts, in addition to listing seven priorities, use a mnemonic
device, "STOP", to address the mental aspects of survival. "STOP" stands
for "Stop, Think, Observe, Plan."
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