What are things you should never do when you are camping?

Never ever ever cook food and leave it in your tent overnight… Scratch that. Just never bring food inside your tent. especially in bear country. Even outside of bears, there are a lot of other critters just as likely to sneak in and ruin your camping trip.

Never let a camp fire get out of control.

Never point any loaded weapon at anything, unless you plan on killing it. And always treat every weapon like it’s loaded, even if it’s not. So never point a weapon at anything, unless you are actively trying to kill it.

Never go swimming at night. There are exceptions, but in general, just do not do it… especially while camping, drinking, in any natural body of water.

Never wave a stick around after it’s been in the fire…. It happens a lot more than you’d think.

Never throw a battery into a fire, despite the fact that it makes pretty colors. I’ve seen them explode and shoot battery acid everywhere.

While camping, never put your shoes on without making sure to clear them of any critters… like brown recluse spiders.

Never ever leave any flames burning throughout the night unattended.

Never keep your food or trash close to your tent. Outside of the dangerous critters, you have a lot of other critters that could end up waking you up and scaring the crap out of you in the middle of the night.

Never throw anything but wood into a fire. I see a lot of people throw trash into fires, but anything like cardboard has a decent chance of flaking and sending burning embers into the air, only to land on something dry and cause a serious and uncontrolled fire.

Never go unprepared and under equipped into the wilderness. Nature is an unforgiving bitch. If you bring the wrong sleeping bag into the wrong climate, you will hopefully have a miserable night that you forget. The reason that I hope your night is miserable is that, anything else could be seriously dangerous, even deadly. Seriously, do your research ahead of time and bring the appropriate gear.

Never wonder into unfamiliar woods without a clear plan of egress. I know this sounds stupid, but you would not be the first person to get lost in the brush less than a thousand yards wide and end up in serious trouble.

Last but not least, never forget to have fun camping. Do not get wrapped up in anything other than enjoying the moment. I LOVE camping. I love being out in nature and just enjoying the quiet. Enjoy the sun, or the moments of peace you do not normally get in everyday life. Enjoy the smells of nature, the scent of sap and tried leaves. The dewy smell of first light as you wake up outside, reconnecting with nature.

Enjoy your camping trip and rock on!