I've done quite a bit of hiking on mountain trails, semi-arid prairie trails, and desert trails... I'd like to pass along a few tips for survival...
First and Foremost!!! NEVER EVER hike/bicycle/whatever with something blaring in your ears!!! I've seen so many people blundering down the local trails with music blaring in their ears, 'Bluetooth' hands' free phones in their ears, and so on...
These people are just asking to be taken down by some sort of predator. The first time I was stalked by a cougar, my ears alerted me to the fact I was in danger!! If I'd been wearing headphones... I'd be as dead as that idiot jogger who was killed a year later by a cougar, in the same area that I was being stalked... Which brings up another point - don't - DON'T - jog in areas where there might be cougars. Jogging REALLY stimulates that big-cat 'pursuit' instinct...
We've had a few trails here with rapists stalking them - usually these are fairly close to civilization. Again, keep your ears open!!!
And when hiking/jogging along a busy road/highway - what idiot would wear earphones in that situation??? But, as my neighbor has warned me of all the joggers being hit by cars on a local stretch, I'd guess that the joggers are plodding along at 5 A.M. with headphones on... Right on the edge of the asphalt. "Beep beeeep! Splat! Darwin Award!!!"
Now, about hiking in the woods...
Guns aren't nearly as good at protecting one as many people may think. Guns take too long to draw, release safety, aim and fire... And if you're carrying your gun with the safety off?? - hah, yeah, let me know where to send the flowers for your funeral... That gun had better not have a 'hair' trigger... One good, sharp 'whack' against a boulder or strong 'hop' off a shelf, and - you can imagine the rest.
Bear spray - I've carried the stuff and consider it unreliable - pretty much the same protests as those against guns. I used to attempt to draw my bear spray from my belt-mounted holster, remove the safety, figure out where the trigger was, and so on - you get the picture... I was running drills, and bear spray took too long.
A hatchet - I've actually carried them on trails; heavy, but instantaneously effective and immediately useful - it was a hatchet that I used to scare off that first cougar who stalked me... then I realized that, though a hatchet would be very destructive to anything that attacked me (including rapists; we've had one or two of those on the trails near civilization), I didn't really want to allow a bear or cougar or coyote or badger to get that close to me before I started doing damage...
What I've come to rely upon is a long, sharp ski pole - NOT THE COLLAPSIBLE KIND!!!, which works really well; my dog and I ran into THREE [3!!!] bears at ONE TIME hiking near Boulder, Colorado; the three bears gave me, my dog, and my waving ski pole one disgusted look and faded into the brush. We could hear them crashing downhill for about fifteen minutes afterwards... They weren't scared, they just gave us that "oh crap, tourists!" look and meandered on.
Personally, for protection on-trails, I vote for ski pole/spear/lance and a Bowie/hunting knife; quickly pulled/available, no need to cock/release safety, has OBVIOUS potential to cause harm that animal can see IMMEDIATELY, and less likely to take YOU down by mistake (guns misfire much more often than spears/knives/hatchets/ski poles...) Though ski poles aren't very safe in thunderstorms, one can switch to a stout oak stick/staff, and if you happen to have a 'knapped' piece of flint on the tip, so much the better. A staff should be AT LEAST equivalent to your height, it would be better if it were a good 6-9 inches longer.
Besides, ski poles (or staffs/spears) can be used to beat the grass ahead of you along the trail to screen for rattlesnakes... And I HAVE run into more rattlesnakes than bears when hiking...
They [ski poles/staffs] also work really, really well on those blasted mountain-bikers ramming down the mountainside at 90 miles per hour without looking further than 3-10 feet ahead on the trail... Works REALLY well on those brain-dead rolling accidents-waiting-to-happen!!!
You can also use a ski pole/spear/lance to brace yourself while hopping rocks across a stream...
Also works on domestic dogs/pit bulls that try to attack me or my dog - you can put a ski pole right thru something just like a foil/saber/sword, and if you HAVE to, you can brace the butt of the pole against the ground or other solid object like a tree/wall, and let the animal 'run' onto it...
On coming down a trail in the dark - I have excellent night vision, but even I've ended up on trails when I couldn't see much more than my hand in front of my face. I started carrying two - three flashlights along in my fanny pack. You can pick up ones nowadays that aren't much bigger than a quarter. If you're afraid you'll use up the battery on an exceptionally long hike, there are "Rechargeable" flashlights about the size of a woman's wallet - uh, let me check those dimensions... 6 inches long, 2 1/4 inches wide, and 2 inches deep. TOTALLY rechargeable. The rechargeable one fits quite well into my fanny pack and if you've got a daypack - puh-lenty of room. They're fairly lightweight, too - I think about 6 oz... There are plenty of good websites for such flashlights...
One should always carry waterproof matches. You can use those pencil lead containers for mechanical pencils to hold them. These should be "scratch on any surface" matches, btw.
One should always carry a rain slicker of some sort - I've found that those mid-length dry-cleaning bags (approx 3 - 4 feet long) work very well, cut arm-and-head slits and you're off. They're very lightweight; tend to tear a bit if you catch them on brush, but would do in an emergency.
Always carry a small packet of kleenix and a 1/4 roll toilet paper... Cloth handkerchiefs would be better than kleenix, btw.
One should always carry a small first-aid kit. Mine has bandaids, joint-wrap-tape, a small pocket knife (I can use it to cut up my shirt if I need a fairly large bandage), germicide gel, quick-drying 'liquid' bandage (sort of like clear nail polish...), and beeswax-based hand creme and lip balm.
I've come down trail a few times dripping blood (scraped skin on a boulder or ripped open a finger on a rock - didn't need stitches though), and with a sprained wrist (put my foot squarely on a round twig just as I looked up at the view, slid and came down with my full body weight on top of my wrist. Heard it 'pop', jumped up, yanked it back into place, and continued downhill, making sure I didn't have to use that wrist again! And I didn't use it - for a month...) So I am somewhat familiar with the need for a first-aid kit.
Carrying a compass/mirror/clock combination can be a good idea, but be aware - the Bermuda Triangle isn't the only place a compass can go haywire. Hubby and I alighted at a trailhead in the San Juan Mountains in southern Colorado one time, only to have my compass freak out when we tried to find 'north'. ANYtime you're in mountains near large ore bodies or rocks with a high iron content - you may experience a compass failure. Be sure you can find directions by the sun (rising, setting) and stars.
Woah! I almost forgot one very important thing - when in BEAR country, DO NOT WEAR any PERFUME, AFTERSHAVE, SHAMPOO, MAKEUP, SUNSCREEN, HAIR CONDITIONER, use LAUNDRY FRESHENER sheets, or ANYTHING that smells even vaguely like FOOD!! [I have one tube of sunscreen that I call "Bear Candy" because of its sweet smell...]
Remember all those reports of grizzly attacks in Yellowstone, and the idiot male rangers would say things like, "She was on her period. She was just over her period. She was about to have her period." Not possible that ALL those conditions would cause a bear attack. What was REALLY attracting the critters [IMO] was the smell of the food-scented cosmetics that women tend to use more often than men. Combine that with the fact that a sleeping bag looks somewhat like a garbage bag....
I realized the significance of the 'perfumed products' factor one day when hubby and I were following some knucklehead greenhorn woman in Yosemite National Park who reeked - absolutely REEKED - of perfume! I could follow her scent for 3/4 of a mile, and a bear?? 5 miles, at least. I've run into so many stupid college girls on the trails near Boulder who stink up the woods for a good half-mile with their perfumes 'cause they're so afraid of 'perspiration odors'... Believe me, when you're in the woods, you WANT to 'smell' like a human - tends to keep predators away.
Oh, and one last thing. ALWAYS stash your food - hang it or hide it in your car. In bear country, in coyote country, even in desert (pack rats, desert mice) country, 'cause there's always SOMETHING out there that would like you to 'share' your goodies with them!
Keep your campsite really clean - throw food wastewater and dishwashing water down the toilet. That's after you've put the solids into the trash and deposited the trash in your car or in bear-proof trashcans - depends on whether you're backpacking, 'primitive' camping, or have a cushy developed campground to stay in.
Ooops. How could I forget this?? PROTECT YOUR PETS AND CHILDREN. I have a newsphoto of a cougar stalking right up behind a MOTHER AND HER TWO CHILDREN - the husband taking the picture was only 7-10 feet away, and the cougar was going to snatch one of the children right out from under their noses. That is what a cougar is capable of, as well as many other types of predators. Not to mention rattlesnakes, poison ivy, and so on. In ancient times, children survived by either staying close to camp or knowing what to do (and being big enough) in case a predator did threaten. Make sure your kids are 'wilderness'-savvy. Pets - don't EVER leave them unattended. Don't leave them 'out' at night - keep them in your car or in your tent with you.
Enjoy the great outdoors, but remember, as I've always said, "The earth can quickly kill those who are not careful or alert, and She sometimes gets those that are careful and alert, as well." Keep your eyes open, think 'outside' the box [how many of you have checked to be certain there aren't any dead trees about to fall as you hike along?] and BE A-W-A-R-E. If you have a 'gut' feeling something is wrong - CHECK IT OUT. Don't ignore it.
Happy hiking and trail adventures! Zid