A List of Emergency Camping Supplies You Always Need on Hand

Whether camping at a luxury Salem RV park or at one Oregon’s many state campgrounds, you always need to remain prepared in the case of an emergency. Unexpected snowfall, an ice storm, and even wild fires can make it necessary to have the right type of emergency supplies on hand.

Let’s take a look at a few of the most indispensable items you need to have on hand when heading out on your next camping trip.

At Least 3 Days’ Worth of Nonperishable Food

Whenever in an emergency situation, the first thing you need to have on hand is enough food to keep you and your family fed. You never know the circumstances surrounding an emergency, so the food you keep in stock needs to be ready-to-eat options like canned food or nonperishable snacks.

You can’t rely on having an operating stove or refrigerator, so anything that needs to be kept cool or cooked before eating doesn’t fit within the emergency category. MREs (meals ready to eat), dried fruits and nuts, and canned soup all make excellent options. Just make sure you also keep a non-electric can opener on hand just in case your RV loses power.

The amount of food you keep on hand should vary depending on how many family members you will need to feed. Calculating the number of family members, make sure you have enough food to last for at least three days.

If you have a habit of camping with your pets, make sure to bring enough extra pet food along as well.

Excess Drinking Water

In addition to food, potable drinking water ranks as the other necessity for basic survival. You can’t always rely on public water taps to work in the case of an emergency (especially during the winter months when a storm may cause water lines to freeze).

Just as when packing extra food, you need to have enough water on hand to keep everyone properly hydrated. The U.S. Forest Service recommends having at least one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days available.

In case your fresh water supply somehow runs low, it’s also recommended to include a water purifier, filter, or chemical treatment tablets in your emergency kit.

Independent Lighting Source

If the power to your RV goes out, you’ll want to have some way of creating enough light so you’re not bumping around in the dark. Most luxury RV parks in Salem will have generators to keep lights going should a storm knock out the power, but when camping out in a more rural setting, you’ll want to have at least one independent light source available to use.

Headlamps and electric lanterns offer convenient options that will allow you to walk around outside at night and to keep the interior of your RV lit. Battery powered light sources offer a better alternative to ones that have rechargeable batteries. If you’re without power, you won’t be able to recharge these types of lamps, which makes them only a temporary solution.

Just make sure to have extra batteries on hand, and you won’t need to fear the dark.

First-Aid Kit

In an emergency, you never know what types of injuries you or a member of the family may suffer. Cuts, burns, sprains, and broken bones can all require medical attention well before you can reach a hospital or a doctor. Having the medical supplies to treat an injury, whether serious or minor, will provide you with plenty of peace of mind.

You can choose to build your own kit with supplies you buy individually, or you can purchase a premade first aid kit. If you or a member of the family take a special medication, make sure you have a few days’ worth of extra meds just in case.

Bring a Map

In an age of GPS tracking, physical maps have gone the way of landlines and dial up modems. However, in an emergency, an old fashion map can provide the direction and clarity you need.

Cell phone coverage becomes spotty when far outside of major metro areas, and you may not have access to that data needed to pull a map up on your mobile device. If you ever need to reroute around a wild fire or a road closed due to ice or snow, you’ll be glad to have a map of the area on hand.

Depending on how often you camp outside of Oregon, you may want to consider picking up an atlas of the U.S.

 

Even though most of us would expect to encounter few problems while camping at a luxury RV park in Salem, it’s always to be better safe than sorry in case of an emergency. By having the right supplies available, you can keep your family safe no matter what nature throws at you.