Outdoor Safety Tips

The hazards in nature keep us aware…

How do awareness skills increase my level of outdoor safety?

Imagine having the skills of a native scout. The most heightened of awareness and the most intimate knowledge of the land. This was needed for survival.

Though it’s very difficult for us in this modern world to attain the skills a scout had, we can certainly enrich our lives by learning techniques to help us become more fully present and aware. These skills are vital if one wants to have a deeper connection with nature, and a strong sense of safety outdoors.

In this section we will feature many awareness skills that can leader to great outdoor safety, some of which are covered deeply in the Kamana Naturalist Training Program.

Hazards in nature are important to cover here as well. The hazards in nature keep us aware and on our toes.

For some of you, the hazards to outdoor safety may be bears and cougars, for others it might be poison ivy or Lymes disease. Sensory awareness and knowledge of place go hand and hand. Even in our day and age, they are needed for survival.

How to Read a Compass

Navigation by way of compass may seem daunting at first to a beginner, but this trepidation shouldn’t stand in the way of learning to use one. In fact, once the basics are down, a compass will be a valued friend in the back-country — one you can always count on to help guide your steps. [...]

Yellow Jacket Stings

Yellow Jacket Stings. These words are enough to make the average American recall memories of checkered tablecloths and picnics, swarmed by black and yellow bodies. Most people view this insect as a pest. While they can be dangerous, they are also incredibly beneficial for your garden, and are a source of food for skunks, bears [...]

Poisonous Plants Basics

Plants are amazing creatures that produce many great benefits for human consumption. We get most of our medicines from plants, our foods and even our beauty products. Still, there are certain plants people need to be aware of when it comes to consuming them.  To be responsible foragers we should have a few basic pieces [...]

Following Fears & Gaining Awareness

When Wilderness Awareness School folks gather, we often pause to thank all the things around us. For me, this has become a powerful reminder of how all life is connected. The plants keep me alive, the sun keeps the plants alive — surely there is nothing that is separate from this whole of Creation. We [...]

Insect Bites Treatment

Summertime means insect bites and stings. Ouch! Take a leaf from Susun S. Weed’s storehouse of natural remedies: Soothe, heal, and prevent bites with safe herbal remedies that grow right where you live, north or south, east or west, city or country. The best natural treatments for insect bites are right underfoot. Plantain, also called [...]

Bear Safety – Survive a Bear Attack

A commonly asked question about bear safety is “What do I do if I run into a bear and the bear attacks?” There is no easy answer. Like people, bears react differently to each situation. The best thing you can do is to make sure you have read all the suggestions for hiking and camping [...]

Lost in the Woods

Hi. Elias Kolsun here. I just wanted to take a few minutes to talk about an experience that I had not too long ago. It was a beautiful day; crisp and sunny, warm enough to melt the snow covered ground.  I was at peace with myself and the world.  I was nestled in the feeling [...]

Alone in the Wilderness – Learning to be Quiet

Stalking Wolf was very old, and he drifted into reveries that made him seem as if he might be senile when I first met him. But I realized later, when I had seen with amazement how keen his senses were, that he had simply gone inside of himself for a moment to check his perceptions [...]

Mosquito Bite Prevention

Song of the Mosquito: How to Live in Balance With This Honored Guardian of the Wild Places No other animal in the Wilderness is more joked about, cursed or feared than Mosquito.  After all, she is known to spread disease, suck veins dry and drive otherwise sound people to delirium.  Yet there is another side [...]

Come To Your Senses

In a circle outdoors, look straight ahead and imagine that your eyeballs cannot move, like the owl’s eyes. Sitting absolutely still in its tree perch, the owl stares and sees 180 degrees in all directions. It puts its mind on “off” and just gazes. This patient expectant open gaze is the way to look at [...]