Camping solo, and staying safe, need advice.

[replaceablehead]

Right so I'm trying to save my pay check towards a camper van and since hostels eat a hole in my wallet i was thinking of camping out. I'm in the blue mountains NSW australia. Thats on about 50 miles from sydney, but theres a lot of bushland and national parks. No trouble finding a place to camp, but it's my first time doing anything like this and since i'll be alone i'm feeling pretty nervous. I'm kind of worried about some wild mountain man carrying me off to his rape dungeon. I think I can camp pretty close to residential streets, just because the all end in bushland. Thing is i'll be in my swag and it's dense bush, so unless theres some guy with a dog i think i'll be pretty well invisible. I'm a pacifist so i'm not keen on carrying any kind of protection either. So should i be worried, or am i being unrealistic? seen to many hitchhiker movies? and does anyone have any advice for staying safe?

 

[Firefly]

No experience down under, but a lot of things are similar. Caring protection, even if its just a fixed blade knife should be a must. Just having it on your side will deter most basic violent encounters from humans. I carry a fixed blade knife on my belt and feel like it is needed.

 

[Pheonix]

carrying a knife ain't just protection against humans but also against dogs. I heard they have a big feral dog problem down under.

 

[Kim Chee]

...but it's my first time doing anything like this and since i'll be alone i'm feeling pretty nervous. I'm kind of worried about some wild mountain man carrying me off to his rape dungeon.

I'm not sure why this would bother you. This happens to be the favorite fantasy of many travelers.

 

[Unslap]

Git sum pepper spray at a gun store or consignment shop. Enjoy, camping is fun

 

[replaceablehead]

Lol feral dogs is more media hype then reality, besides they can be easily out run on kangaroo back ;P This is true though I really should carry a knife. Aside from that I really doubt any one would even know i was there. my swag is green canvas and theres plenty of bushes to completely conceal myself in. Also I'll really just be sleeping there then hitting the swimming pool for a shower. I grew up in rural australia and i'd be more then comfortable camping alone in most places, but this close to the cities got me worried about unsavoury types. Pepper sprays not a bad idea, but i don't think it's legal here, could be wrong. Anyway i think i can stay pretty close to residential stuff like i said. The mountains are like that suburbia sort of backs right up against national park. I should mention i have a car, so i can sleep in it if needs be, but the swags comfy as. anyway how many of you have camped solo? what problems have you run into?

 

[baconrind]

Ive always kinda fantasized about some mountain man taking me to his rape dungeon... Most kidz aint stabbin hobos... but they still take a knife. I'd also take a machete. Bushwackin!

 

[travelin]

Take some string of some kind and run it about a foot(30 centimeters) off the ground around your camp, then hang some cans with rocks in them from the strings.

Do two loops about four foot apart to ensure anyone coming up to your camp hits one of them.

When you make a camp, study routes and directions to retreat if an intruder comes.

If you can make it past your stated pacifism you can begin to study ways to survive against an attacker, otherwise, if you cant escape by running away or talking the attacker down, well, yer screwed.

 

[replaceablehead]

Yeah i thought about laying some string alarms, used to rig those up around cubbi houses and hidey holes as a kid, but i really dont think i'll be setting up anything that permanent. like i said pretty sure if i just lay my swag out behind some bushes no one will be any the wiser, or thats my plan at least. As for being a pacifist, it's more that i think if it came to having to pull a knife on someone i really aught to rethink things. I'd rather not be in that situation at all, in fact if i think i'm in any danger i do have other options i'm not completely broke and i have friends and family if things get too tough. I just thought it might be fun, i'm an experienced camper and i figured it might be a bit of an adventure and i can save a little money at the same time, but i'm not totally desperate. More that i'm wondering realistically how dangerous is it? i mean theres so much media hype and more horror movies that you can through pop corn at. so whats the truth? is it really dangerous? i mean aside from natural dangers.

 

[fateoficarus]

I'd be worried about all the poisonous shit you people get, but that's just me.

 

[travelin]

understood.

cant say about the crazies wandering around your country, but ive never had a problem with a human in all the years of camping ive done. im 48 and have spent weeks at a time out in the brush. one bear encounter up close but he wandered away. of course, up here i always have a firearm but have never needed it for personal defense.

of course i kinda look like the kind of crazy people that mothers warn their children about. maybe thats why i never had any problems!

a good stout walking stick is an amazing tool to have...poke, dont swing. poke hard, really hard.

 

[Revo]

yeah pepper spray would work i guess i never had to use it but i guess it can do the trick with shit. i just carry a knife so i dont know

 

[baconrind]

um. maybe the knife isnt for people... I use mine for all kinds of shit when camping. Couldnt imagine camping without one. Its a pretty handy utensil. You can make shit, open things, prepare food, cut open crazy spider/snake bites... id be more worried about animals than people.

 

[makan kotoran]

I Always carry a knife, not so much for protection as a tool, but there has been a couple of situations where it has made me feel that much more secure.
I'm also in Australia. Where around the blue mountains are you? Like penrith area? Or further in like Katoomba? Or even closer to Sydney?
Either way I've slept around the streets in all those places and always come out fine, also, being the oldest city empty's are prolific and it shouldn't be to hard to find a temporary squat if your in suburban areas. Other wise somewhere behind some bushes or on a roof will be your best bet, roofs are the bomb. Even if just for peice of mind.

 

[freedude2012]

knives r a must when in the great wide open they got lots of uses other than pertection just make sure that its always handy and if you aint got to worry bought the law messin with ya campin is a blast have fun with it and be sure u know the area and were your resorces are

 

[outskirts]

I'd be worried about all the poisonous shit you people get, but that's just me.

You ain't kidding! Australia has some of the most poisonous organisms on the planet. Poisonous snakes, poisonous spiders, poisonous plants... even the fucking platypus is venomous(they have a venomous spur in their legs). I'd be more worried about the wildlife for sure!

 

[NMNM]

you should think about getting a dog too. dogs are awesome plus, if you train them proper they will let you know if things are lurking around you with plenty of time to jump up and get the knife out. the tuff part is getting them to stay quiet when there isnt a threat. but anyway, most people arent gonna fuck with a dog so if your dog starts barking at them theyll most likely turn right round and go out the way they came. im pretty sure my friends dog saved our ass' in memphis about two weeks ago.

 

[Xan]

I'm a pacifist so i'm not keen on carrying any kind of protection either.

then don't worry? I don't know. good luck

 

[bygmeister]

I've been living in a tent in the farthest part of the city for years & sometimes I'm up taken a leak and there's a moose/bear and I only use bear pepper spray(for both). But now that it's be snowing soon I'm back in a the parents apartment.

 

[East]

Can anyone elaborate on how they prevent bear encounters or handle them? I know people in tents usually use whistles and hang their food somewhere or store it in an air tight container while wilderness camping, but is that really it? I mean apart from pepper spray what other tips do you guys have? I've been pretty interested in hammock camping in the future at some point after seeing the advantages of some of the setups posted around the forums, but for some reason that sounds way more vulnerable in terms of bears. I mean if the bear wakes you up and you're just hanging there, right, there's a chance it's already under you, so you could see how blowing a whistle might make things a lot worse in that situation.