5 Easy Steps to Giving the Perfect BackCountry Gift

Does the thought of buying a gift for a friend or relative make you smile or does it stress you out? Is there a hiker or camper on your gift giving list? What can you give to the someone who already has everything? The secret of gift giving is not always the “what.” Many times the “why, when and how” make an ordinary gift the Perfect Gift. Continue reading to discover 5 sure-fire steps to giving the perfect gift to the outdoor enthusiasts in your life.

Step 1: Do Your Homework. This is the toughest of the 5 steps. Doing your homework means thinking about your outdoor enthusiast and what he or she likes about being in the backcountry. Are there any current or past outdoor interests? Perhaps he likes to fish or she likes to climb. Maybe you overheard the comment “I remember when I used to go camping every long weekend. I miss those days.” Our personal shopper service receives hints like this all the time. Chances are you already know their interests, so take a few minutes to think prior to shopping. There are loads of great outdoor gifts available.

Another part of your homework is to understand the relationship between you and your gift recipient’s outdoor hobbies. Last year I was camping with a dear friend who got mildly lost. After about an hour, he showed up in camp a little embarrassed – but safe. So the perfect gift for him before our next trip was a GPS unit. I also included a hand written coupon good for one free lesson and an extra set of batteries. The relationship we had allowed me to have a little fun with the gift giving. I did provide him with a quality gift and he uses it all the time.

Step 2: Speaking of High Quality. The best way to get the most enjoyment out of our backcountry experiences is to have good gear. When giving a backcountry gift, be sure it’s high quality. There are two gear buying rules to live by. First, only give gear you would use. And secondly, buy the best gear you can afford. Nothing derails good times in the great outdoors like bad gear.

Step 3: The Right Way to Give Certificates. Gift certificates can be an excellent choice for a gift. Here’s a great use of a gift certificate - I was fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of this story. A friend living across the country knew I loved to hike. He also knew from his own experience that you can’t just buy a backpack for someone else. Backpacks are a very subjective purchase. Instead of buying a me a pack and giving me the task of returning it in order to get the right one, he sent me a gift certificate AND he told me what to buy with it. So now I get the backpack I want and my friend has proven once again how well he knows me. I loved the gift. When giving gift certificates, tell the recipient what to buy with it.

Step 4: Seek Out Customer Friendly Retailers. This is especially important when purchasing a gift on-line. Make sure you are purchasing from a store with visible customer satisfaction and return policies. If your gift recipient needs to exchange or return a piece of gear, the process needs to be hassle-free. If the return procedure is clunky, the perfect gift just became imperfect.

Step 5: Timing is Everything. The best time to get “the birding binoculars I always wanted,” is not on your birthday or at Christmas time. The best time to get them is just before you go birding. The new backpack is a more thoughtful gift just prior to hiking the Grand Canyon than it is for graduation. The value of a gift is greatly increased when given at the right time. Surprise someone with a perfectly timed present.

Giving the Perfect BackCountry Gift is easy to do. Determining “what” to give is important, but so is knowing “why, when and how” to give. Make your next gift giving experience a good one. The outdoor enthusiast in your life is counting on it.

Use this information and you’ll Get It Right The First Time. Get Outdoors!

Survival in the Wilderness

If you are planning on a life in the woods hiding out from civilization, then survival in the wilderness is something that requires a lot of training. But survival for those lost backpacking or hunting or in a plane crash is something else. Here is a look at the basics of getting out alive.

To begin with, food is not a big priority when you are lost and awaiting rescue. In fact, it is very rare that anyone dies from starvation when lost in the wilderness. There are too many other ways to die long before hunger gets you, and in any case most rescues happen long before the passing of the month or so that you could live without food.

If you have any injuries or immediate threats (like aggressive bears) you have to deal with those. As soon as the immediate threats are gone, shelter will normally be your top priority. If you have never build a wilderness survival shelter, you might want to try it sometime for practice. Just remember that your goal is to keep out wind and rain, as well as to provide a space small enough for your body to heat if you are facing cold nights.

The most common survival shelter is the basic lean-to. A pole or stick is attached horizontally between two trees, and then others are laid against it, sloping down to the ground. More sticks are piled against this "roof" and then it is covered with evergreen boughs, leaves or tree bark, starting from the bottom so the last layer of roofing acts like shingles to shed the rain.

In an emergency you can also just pile up dry leaves or grass and crawl into the center of the pile. This provides a quick and warm shelter. It can even keep you dry if the rain or snow is light. The "dead air" space that is created is what insulates you and keeps you warm. Keep this in mind. You might also use dry vegetation as a mattress and blanket inside any other type of shelter.

Water is the next important survival priority. Streams and lakes are the obvious sources, but in dry areas you might have to work a little harder at locating water. Look for low shaded spots where it may have pooled during the last rain, and not yet evaporated. You might also be able to collect dew in the mornings by running a piece of cloth through the wet grass and wringing the moisture out into a container or directly into your mouth.

If you do not have a means to purify water, and more than a day has gone by without a drink, use whatever you find unless it is clearly poisoned (indications include a lack of any plant life around the water). Generally you are more likely to die from dehydration than from contaminated water. In fact, many organisms, like giardia, can take a week or more before you have symptoms, and hopefully you will be rescued by then.

Finally, you need to be able to help the searchers find you. A fire is a good idea for this. have green leafy branches or something else that will create a lot of smoke ready in case you hear a plane or helicopter coming. If you can't make a fire, find an open place and lay out whatever you have that is colorful and/or large, so it can be spotted from the air. If you have a whistle, blow it in sets of three occasionally.

At least in emergencies, survival in the wilderness is not about how to build a cabin or make bread from cattail roots. It's usually about protecting your core body temperature and keeping hydrated while you wait for help to arrive. Food can help, and is a comfort, but it is last on this list of priorities.

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The Great Outdoors

Being outdoors is good for everyone. The belief that everyone needs fresh air is very true. Indoors can be fun and entertaining, but people aren't made to spend all day inside! We didn't even have computers until the eighties, so obviously it isn't natural to be on one all day long. Everyone needs to spend a little time outside. You don't need to take a run, or a day-long trip to the mountains, but just getting outdoors is very important. If you are an adventurous person, doing things like Little Miami River Canoeing and kayaking is a lot of fun. Little Miami River Kayaking can be a great way to mix up a humdrum routine of office work during the week and gardening on the weekends. It can be a fun, and somewhat nerve racking experience if it is your first time. It is an awesome way to bring families together in an exiting environment as well.

If you are going to spend a day on the water, you have to be prepared however. If you don't prepare yourself in the right way, you may be stuck in the middle of a stream hungry, wet, and sun burnt. Always bring a lunch or snacks. Water activities burn a good amount of calories and you will be hungry come lunch time. Don't over estimate the fact that you are sitting down either. Your face and arms and part of your legs will all be exposed to the sun. If you don't apply and reapply sunscreen, you will be very pink.

Also, you will want to pack all of your things in a water proof container. A gallon sized plastic bag would work or you could go the extra mile and buy a water-proof bag.

If you don't feel like you would be comfortable in the water, there are other fun outdoor sports to get involved in. Hiking may sound extreme, but in reality everyone can do it. All you need is a place to hike, and some minor equipment. I suggest getting hiking shoes but sneakers would also work fine, Depending on what type of hiking you are planning on doing and how serious you are about it, you may want to invest in a hiking pack. If you are going to be hiking all day long, you will want a place to store plenty of water, snack and sunscreen. Also, always take a cell phone and back up phone with you on major hiking excursions. Some people may also advise you to take a GPS or compass, but that is only relevant if you aren't taking a preset trail.

Everyone can find a niche outside. Whether it is walking, running, hiking, or being in the water; there is an activity for everyone. You may enjoy the exercise aspect of it, or the peacefulness of being in nature. Birdwatchers and extreme mountain climbers are all alike in the sense that they love the outdoors.

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Navigation - Which Path Should I Take?

There is an extremely high standard of mapping available in this country and we are extremely lucky to be able to use highly detailed Ordinance Survey maps wherever we go. With practice these maps can tell us everything we need to know to get ourselves from A to B safely. However one area that often seems to cause confusion is the different ways paths are marked on Ordinance Survey maps; a better knowledge of when each symbol is used will soon improve your ability to find your way across the hills.

On a 1:25,000 Ordinance Survey map public rights of way in England and Wales are marked with green dashes (short dashes for footpaths and long for bridleways) but it is very important to remember that this means only that there is an ancient common law right to pass along this route at all times. It does not mean that you will necessarily be able to see the path to follow it. Definitive maps of the rights of way were drawn up by county councils in the 1950s and many are now long since disused and overgrown and, even in good visibility, can be difficult or impossible to find.

Other paths which are not designated rights of way are marked on the Ordinance Survey maps as short black dashes. If these paths are within the newly designated access land you are perfectly within your rights to walk along them. These paths are marked on the map because at the time of the aerial survey used to create this map they were visible on the ground; they have usually been made by thousands of feet walking along the same line. They are often the most direct route from summit to summit or from the summit to the valley because they have been created by humans going where they want to go.

For hill walkers the problem with this system is that the green dashes of the public highways stand out clearly on the map and often give the impression that these paths are more important or bigger than the black dashed paths, however often the opposite is true. You should never assume that a path is going to be easy or even possible to find but this is particularly true for the public rights of way. A black dashed line on the other hand tells you that particular path was visible on the ground at the time of making the map and chances are it still is.

When following any path you should continually compare the map to the ground you are covering to make sure the path really is going the same way as the dashes on the map. Paths change over time and could have changed since your map was last updated. Do not rely on paths and always be prepared to use a compass if the path you are following disappears or goes off in the wrong direction.


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What to Pack For a Short Hike

Many people spend their entire lives in the city. They never experience the great outdoors. Taking a shot hike is a good way to get out and experience nature. You do need to be prepared, though, even for a short hike. Taking a few simple steps to ensure your own safety and comfort will make your excursion much more enjoyable.

You should always bring a map of the area where you will be hiking and make sure that your read the map before you get going. It is important that you are familiar with the area and any potentially dangerous terrain. You will also need to bring water to drink and a survival knife is also a good idea.

You should bring just enough food to eat for the time that you will be gone and make sure that it is in air tight containers. Also bring something to discard your trash in until you get back from you hike. It is a bad idea to throw trash on the ground, not only because it is littering but because it attracts animals.

You should also bring a compass and a flashlight. You may not plan on being out after dark, but you do not want to be stuck without one in case you get behind schedule. A compass is a good idea in case you get turned around and this coupled with the map could save your life. There are places even in developed countries where you can get lost and not be found in time. Make sure you know the area you are going into, never go alone and tell someone where you are going and when you should be back.

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