Security and safety around camp

Security and safety seem to be the number one barrier to people camping (based on a very informal survey I conducted through a local FB group for Jimny owners). This article hopefully helps outline some things to consider with this to help increase your safety and security when camping.

Sections

Before you go

  • Weather and road conditions
  • Tell people you trust what you’re up to & how you’ll communicate with them
  • Don’t tell the world what you’re up to

When you’re there

  • Location, location, location
  • Don’t draw too much attention to yourself or what you have
  • Don’t post identifiable pics/details while you’re somewhere
  • Nighttime things
  • If something worries you, tell others (and it’s ok to just up and leave)
  • Other safety/security things

Once you’re home

  • Let people who need to know that you’re back
  • Now you can post all that sweet social media content
  • Review how you felt

What if something does happen?

  • Fight the panic and slow decision making down
  • If it involves helping others, ensure your safety first then help others
  • No matter the issue, if you can take some notes
  • Say something (if you feel up for it) and seek help

Before you go

Weather and road conditions

No point going if it’s going to completely suck; also, if there’s been poor weather before you get there then that can heavily impact your ability to get to your chosen camping area.

  • Don’t be scared of camping in rain or other inclement weather, but make an informed decision
    Camping in (sort of) inclement weather can be fun, but just make sure you know what you’re in for. Potential storm warnings or the likelihood of flooding conditions are worth knowing about. Bear in mind forecasts can only be general, and storm conditions can arise in much more localised ways.
    I find it pays to check things like MetEye and the rain forecast, especially a couple of days before you go, just so you can see how things will evolve and what to expect.
  • In summer, know what the bushfire conditions are (and the fire restrictions)
    Most people love a good camp fire, even in summer. It’s worth knowing what the restrictions are before you go but also likely bushfire conditions. Many 4wd trails can be closed on any high fire danger days so it’s another lens to look at your planned route through. Noone wants to be the person who drove on a trail and set fire to some vegetation and started a bushfire.
  • Check local road conditions, including just before you saddle up to drive away
    This depends on where you’re going but you should at least check Main Roads and any local shires you are driving through. Local Facebook groups especially when doing big trips can be incredible resources about conditions, too, as well as great places to get help if you need it.

Tell people you trust what you’re up to & how you’ll communicate with them

This doesn’t have to be that you’ll always be in touch with someone. I, for instance, might tell someone I’ll be off grid for a few days, but, I’ll also give them periodic updates on the way so they know I’ve at least set off. Things to consider here include:

  • Have a bit of a plan others can follow & know how you can communicate with them when out
    This doesn’t have to be full military specification laying out movement. It’s worthwhile making sure people you can trust know where you’re going, including how you intend to get there.
    A good thing as part of this planning is to look up stuff like mobile phone coverage. Major networks such as Telstra, Optus and Vodafone all have coverage maps. Resellers such as Boost or Aldi Mobile also have their own coverage maps.
    Note that some Indigenous communities if you are going very remote only have access through 1 provider as part of the Mobile Phone Blackspot Program. Note that provider is shared across all the major networks (i.e. they aren’t just all Telstra)! Prepaid cards for that provider can help a lot!
  • Make sure they know when they can expect to hear from you
    This is the big thing people forget with a plan. Make sure to include some slop here; if you expect you will have signal at the camp site, you might let them know you’ll message when you arrive, but maybe not to totally expect that because you aren’t sure about signal conditions.
  • Going super remote for a long period of time? Consider satellite messaging or phone options.
    This doesn’t have to be buying your own satellite phone. You can rent satellite phones; messaging tools like the Spot Messengers/trackers or the Garmin InReach (I’ve used both) also are great. Some mobile phones (e.g. modern iPhones) can also message via satellite. Maybe you’re going to do a lot of time off grid, in which case you can go all the way to a roaming Starlink setup.
  • If your trusted people need to raise an alarm, what do they need to know?
    This isn’t just info about where you were going. Useful stuff for them to know here might be an easy lookup for police stations or rangers in the region, but also mobile phone numbers of any 4wding mates you have who might be helpful as first responders to help look for you if something’s gone awry.
    An often overlooked thing here is making sure your trusted people can describe your car! If people need to search for you, it helps immensely if they know what you’re driving and some identifiable features. You might laugh but calling a Jimny a Jeep to a search party might mean they overlook your car when it’s been found on the side of a track and you’ve wandered off…

Don’t tell the world what you’re up to

Just because you tell some trusted associates what you’re up to doesn’t mean that the whole world needs to know immediately what your plans are. You can absolutely be purposely vague here or at least not identify exactly where you’re going camping.

  • Group meetups give you safety in numbers, though it does mean more people might know what the plans are
    Especially if you’re organising something that’s sort of private but a little public then consider making plans privately as opposed to
  • If there’s limited ways in/out/direction of track then a small amount of info can help

When you’re there

Location, location, location

Balance being near others and your own privacy if camping alone
This is a real tradeoff and there’s no silver bullet. If I’m camping alone I generally like to tuck myself right away from everyone else and be sheltered from them by distance or other stuff, and generally just keep myself as low profile as I can. That might not work for everyone: a better solution that you’re comfortable with might be finding the campers you think are the least trouble and camping nearish to them. Those strangers can quickly become friends in a camping situation and if your solo that can also be both helpful and a reassurance.

Don’t draw too much attention to yourself or what you have
If it looks like you’re the one at camp with an endless supply of booze and it’s where the party is happening then you can absolutely draw unwanted attention. That’s really on them to know that they don’t have a right to barge in, but sometimes discretion is the best option when camping. By all means have fun, it’s about making sure you’ve got the right balance to keep people at a distance, too.

Think about what exits you’ll use if something happens
This doesn’t have to be a full exfiltration plan, but at least understand where the exit(s) to where you’re camping are. This is especially important in bushfire season: where are you going to go if you need to get out of there quickly? In addition, if you need help for yourself or others at the campsite where are you going to go?
Being mindful of this requirement when you set up can make a huge difference if you end up having to get out of there.

Keeping the bugs away
This is a combination of location, preparation and gear. If you don’t like bugs (and really, who does) then you can influence this a lot by choice of location. Buried right into the undergrowth but with prominent areas for cold blooded animals to sun themselves? Great way to see lizards but increases the chances of snakes. Areas people don’t often walk between trees? More likely to find some spiders around there. Near a big stagnant body of water? That’s where you’ll find the mozzies.
This can be influenced a lot by gear though. Amber lights around camp help stop bugs being attracted; if it’s the more insect prone months then there’s nothing wrong with getting around with a flynet on your head (I do!). Insect repellant works really well, but bear in mind that the DEET (the really smelly, stinging ones) can dissolve plastics so think about this versus your gear and/or some synthetic clothing.

Don’t post identifiable pics/details while you’re somewhere

I’ve given this its own section, even though I think most people understand it. There’s a few angles to it to consider.

  • You’d be surprised how easily people can locate you if they want just from pictures
    Ever watched those absolute gurus at playing geoguessr? Sometimes you need very little information to work out where someone is. If you’ve got anything close to a reasonable following on social media, and people know roughly where you are, then it can be pretty straightforwards to pinpoint even what camping spot you’re hanging out at.
  • By all means capture content, but live in the moment and post about it later
    One of the biggest things people (when surveyed) said they want from camping is to escape the city and get out and amongst nature. Balancing this against grabbing stuff for socials can be tricky as it’s great to share what you were up to, but at least avoid posting anything immediately and instead wait till you’re back. This means you’re helping out with your own personal security but also
  • If you do want to go live, sometimes a bit of obscurity can be worthwhile
    Maybe you do want to do some more instant posting. That’s ok, too, but it can be worth being a bit less identifiable as to where you are. Maybe that means you do some stuff a little bit away from camp (even better, in an area people might think you’re camping but you aren’t). Small bit of post camouflage can go a long, long way.

Nighttime things

  • Lighting is good but think about your night vision (and staying stealthy)
    Lights give you away if you’re trying to be a bit stealthy so that’s the first element to think about. While red lights are good for maintaining night vision, because the eye is so sensitive to them a less bright red light can be more obvious to someone in the distance than a white light, so you need to think about these things a little bit if trying to hide away.
    Modern LED lighting is so bright you really get so much light around you when camping, but it’s worth dimming them or even going without as much as possible to preserve night vision. Even just from an ‘enjoying nature’ perspective this is worth considering. After exposure to a bright light it can be 15-20 minutes before you recover night vision fully.
    A life hack to maintain night vision when you need to do something like go to the toilet at night: just keep one eye closed while you navigate with a torch. While you lose a bit of stereo vision and depth perception, your depth perception at night is warped anyway & your brain uses other clues, too. Doing this though means you have one ‘bright light’ eye for seeing when you need to, and, if you need to use your night vision then torch off and open the other eye. It can be an absolute game changer.
  • If you’re with a group of people and you need to head away from camp for a bit, consider having a buddy who knows what you’re up to
    This isn’t mandatory but it can be a good idea, especially if you’re doing something like wandering off to take photos or whatever, not just ducking off for 5 minutes. Even going to the bathroom if there’s someone around it’s better they know that you’re just ducking off, just in case something happens.
  • Hang a little light on your car/tent/camp area so you can find it no matter where you go
    Even walking away 100 m to go to the bathroom can be sufficient to get hugely disoriented, especially on moonless nights. Everyone thinks it’s silly until it happens to them; having a light to guide you back to the camp area or your tent is a great way to ward off this possibility.
  • Anywhere you go take communication device(s) with you
    The key here is about making sure that if something happens when you’ve wandered off you can get help. This can be as simple as grabbing your phone when you head off to the toilet (and a good idea from a perspective of having light available to you). If you’re someone travelling with a satellite messenger then no bad thing to grab this too. If you’ve been using CB radios around camp or you have a little mini handheld then there’s always the option of grabbing this.
    I actually have a little grab bag in the car for items I might need for going to the bathroom in the middle of the night at camp. I have a little emergency torch, a couple of wipes and if I’ve been using a satellite tracker then it lives in this bag too. (My phone is almost always on me, but there’s a slot to tuck it in so I can carry everything one handed).

If something worries you, tell others (and it’s ok to just up and leave)

This one is a real balancing act but I wanted to draw it out as it’s own topic.

Other safety/security things

  • Different states have different laws around carrying knives: camping is absolutely a time when a knife is an appropriate tool to have with you.
    Just having it for self defence is not a sufficient reason: but that’s all the more reason to understand some bushcraft knife skills as to why you’d have one with you camping.
  • In WA, it’s legal to carry and use pepper spray for self defence.
    This doesn’t apply to other states in Australia, however, super useful to know in WA you can have it with you. While there aren’t really any dangerous animals that could serve being fended off by it, there are certainly other kinds of predators you could be getting rid of with it as needed.

Once you’re home

  • Let people who need to know that you’re back
    This goes back to your preparation at the start. Anyone who was expecting a call from you or to know your movements then let them know before you unpack the car. It’s easy to just get into the “sort everything out and worry about admin stuff later” but this saves them thinking you’re lost when you’re just unpacking the car and having a nap.
    I usually do this as a message or a quick call to my contacts when I’m near home. To a partner it could be “just going past the shops, nearly home, want anything?”. Or to family or friends it might be a quick call or message to say nearly home, had a good time etc. Just saves forgetting and either having an embarrasing phone call from them or (worse) a ranger who is starting the process of finding out what happened to you.
  • Now you can post all that sweet social media content
    The power of the scheduled post, people! Once you’re back from a trip then that’s a great time to start posting. If you want to get some love for the trip then once you hit the highway and have a break on the way home then maybe start with a post of setting up camp. It’s your life and what you got up to, just a little delayed.
    This strategy just means people don’t know where you are till you aren’t there.
    It is a little trickier with stories and instant reactions being prioritised but there are ways around that too; either through capturing content or only live/semi-live stuff in a way that isn’t identifiable.
  • Review how you felt
    Debriefing doesn’t have to be some formal thing. If you’re into journalling then that’s a great start, but I do like to spend a few minutes and think through how things went around what stuff I liked, what stuff didn’t work quite so well and a couple of things I’ll change up if I was to do it again. This is all about helping to evolve your camping setup. I think it’s important to reflect and learn, especially when starting out. It might feel a little silly at first but, trust me, it’s worthwhile; this is doubly true when new to camping.
    Great sources here of things to change can be some of the various groups around the place: a post of “I went and camping like this, this thing annoyed me, do I suck it up or do people have other suggestions” can be a great way to look at other things you could do. (You’ll also get some stupid responses; the internet isn’t always helpful).

What if something does happen?

Fight the panic and slow decision making down

If it involves helping others, ensure your safety first then help others

No matter the issue, if you can take some notes

Say something (if you feel up for it) and seek help


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