Even in the best of times, when you’re home with everything you could need, getting sick is never easy or helpful. But when you’re out in the woods backpacking or camping, you definitely don’t want to get sick when you have limited resources.
To help dispel one of the most common myths of camping illness and prevent the top common cause of illness, The Manual talked with Gates Richards, the Associate Director of NOLS Wilderness Medicine. Richards holds a Master of Education and is also a Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine, which means he has achieved the highest level of practicing wilderness medicine in the field.
Now, as the associate director and formerly the director of education at NOLS, the top industry-leading wilderness medicine academy, Richards uses incident data that goes back to 1985 to ensure its knowledge and curriculum cover the most prevalent issues people face outside. Tracking and using this data on non-motorized extended expedition travel allows NOLS to pick up illness trends early and take steps to prevent those issues from happening. It’s also why Richards and the company are among the top experts to explain how people can avoid getting sick while camping.
Purify your water
For a long time, boiling water was the go-to method for killing bacteria and preventing gastrointestinal distress. In other words, getting an upset stomach. Symptoms might include cramping, diarrhea, and vomiting. While bodily functions might not make for polite conversation, they’re important to talk about in a wilderness context.
Consider the situation where you’re three days into a six-day backpacking trip through a remote location, and now you can’t hike at all or can’t cover the distance you need to in the timeframe you planned. Hopefully, you brought the essentials, so you have extra water and extra food. It’s still not a great situation. Introduce dehydration, common with these types of illness, and now you’ve got a pretty serious emergency.
To avoid this situation, it’s important to treat your water in some way. The above chart outlines Some different water treatment options and what they’ll treat for. Depending on where you are in the world how much you’ll need to treat your water is varied. Boiling water isn’t always the best option, though you will notice it takes care of bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Boiling water takes time and fuel, something you may not carry a ton of on a backcountry expedition.
The need to boil water for a specific length of time and for an even longer period of time when at a high elevation is actually a common myth, Richards said. “The time it takes to bring water to a rolling boil (big bubbles coming off of the bottom) is enough exposure to high enough heat to kill off any pathogens. This holds true regardless of altitude. Yes, the boiling temperature of water drops as you ascend, but even at 18,000 feet, the temp and time combo is adequate,” he explained. So don’t count water treatment as the main cause for concern when it comes to getting sick while camping.
Focus on hygiene
Instead, you should be focused on hygiene or “good old-fashioned cleanliness” as Richards put it. “We have consistently found poor hygiene to be the leading cause of illness on backcountry trips,” he said. “For some reason, people think that they don’t need to wash their hands when they’re in the wilderness!” Clearly, this is not the case even though you don’t have access to a sink and soap like you would at home. But there are other basic hygiene practices in addition to washing your hands that will keep you from getting sick.
“Handwashing with soap and water or hand sanitizer, good kitchen practices such as not sharing utensils, cleaning dishes, and keeping anyone with the sniffles out of the cook role, as well as good bathroom habits like going away from camp and washing hands afterward are the key preventative measures,” Richards told The Manual. These camping grooming and hygiene practices are all things you’d likely expect to do when you’re at home, and it holds true when living outdoors. The only change you really might have to implement is the type of soap or toothpaste you use while
Wash your hands frequently, especially after going to the bathroom or touching something that might carry bacteria. If washing your hands isn’t an option, carrying hand sanitizer can be a great option. If possible, keep waste contained and at a distance. This may seem obvious, but set up your wilderness bathroom away from your kitchen. If you are required to pack out waste, store it in a specific pocket designated for that purpose.
Adapt to leave no trace
Many things we use for personal hygiene, such as toothpaste, soap, toilet paper, and more, do not meet the Leave No Trace practice. So, to ensure you’re living up to the best outdoor practices, you’ll need to learn them and adapt to ensure you’re leaving nature just as you found it rather than allowing environmental degradation to happen.
As for keeping things Leave No Trace while going to the bathroom, remember to walk 200 feet or 70 steps away from any water source to pee. You’ll need to walk the same distance from any water source and camp and dig an eight-inch deep hole to poop in the woods. This will keep the water source safe and help the waste to break down more quickly. Of course, always take a trash bin or bag that seals very well and is waterproof to pack out your toilet paper. And don’t forget to wash your hands after as well. There are also portable camping showers for a more thorough clean.
More tips
Proper food handling is crucial to avoid foodborne illness. Here are some general tips on food safety while camping.
- Pack pre-washed fruits and vegetables
- Keep coolers cold enough
- Cook food thoroughly
- Keep food covered
Insect bites can be itchy and uncomfortable, and some can transmit diseases. Here are top tips for avoiding insect bites while living in the outdoors.
- Use insect repellent
- Wear long sleeves and pants in the evenings and early mornings when mosquitos are most active
- Consider treating clothing with permethrin
- Do a daily tick check
Hopefully, these tips will help you enjoy hiking, camping, and backpacking without getting sick. Adapting a few of these best practices and making them part of your routine will keep you and your loved ones happy and healthy outdoors.
