What are the precautions for outdoor travel?

Nowadays, many families have their own cars, and they will organize themselves to travel outdoors during vacations, which is called self-guided tours. When traveling outdoors, we must pay attention to prevention in many aspects. So what are the precautions for traveling outdoors? The most important thing to pay attention to when traveling outdoors is safety, followed by diet, and finally disease prevention and control. It is also extremely important for my patients to have the ability to identify directions when they are in the wild. This can be linked to safety, and patients should be more cautious about what they pay attention to.

Things to note when traveling outdoors:

1. Use natural features to determine direction

It is very simple to use the sun to determine the direction. You can use a pole (straight pole), make it perpendicular to the ground, and place a stone at the top of the pole's shadow, A. After about 10 minutes, when the top of the pole's shadow moves to B, place another stone. Connect points A and B into a straight line, and the direction of this straight line is the east-west direction. The direction perpendicular to line AB is the north-south direction, and the end facing the sun is the south.

Use a pointer watch to point at the sun to determine the direction. The method is: place the watch horizontally with the position indicated by the hour hand (24-hour system) after half of the time is facing the sun. The direction indicated by the 12 o'clock scale on the dial is the approximate north. If the current time is 16:00, the 8 o'clock scale on the watch points to the sun, and the 12 o'clock scale points to the north.

If the weather is clear at night, you can use the North Star to determine the direction. To find the North Star, you must first find the Ursa Major constellation (which we call the Big Dipper). The constellation consists of seven stars and begins like a spoon. Once you find the Big Dipper, follow the line connecting the two stars A and B on the edge of the spoon and extend toward the mouth of the spoon. A brighter star about five times the distance between stars A and B is the North Star. The direction indicated by the North Star is north. You can also use the Cassiopeia constellation opposite the Big Dipper to find the North Star. The Cassiopeia constellation is composed of five stars that are almost as bright as the Big Dipper and are shaped like a W. The North Star can be found in front of the middle of the W-shaped gap, about twice the width of the entire gap.

Using terrain features to determine direction is a supplementary method. When using it, it should be applied flexibly according to different situations. Solitary trees usually have dense foliage on the south side and smooth bark. The annual rings on a tree stump are usually sparse on the south side and dense on the north side. The doors and windows of rural houses and the main entrances of temples usually face south. Snow on buildings, mounds, ridges, and highlands usually melts faster on the south side and slower on the north side. The south side of large rocks, mounds of earth, and big trees is covered with dense vegetation, while the north side is prone to moss growth. When you get lost in the wild, don't panic. Instead, stop immediately, calmly recall the path you have taken, try to re-orient yourself according to all possible signs, and then look for the way again. The most reliable method is to “turn back when lost” and return to the original starting point.

If you get lost in the mountains, you should first climb to a high place and look far away to determine which direction you should go. Usually you should walk towards the low terrain so that you can easily come across water sources. It is safest to walk along the river, which is especially important in the forest. Because roads and settlements are often built along rivers.

If you come to a fork in the road and there are so many roads that you don't know which one to choose, you should first clarify the direction you want to go and then choose the right path. If the directions of several roads are roughly the same and it is difficult to determine which one is in which direction, you should take the middle road first. This way you can have the best of both worlds and even if you take the wrong road, you will not deviate too far.

2. Methods of traveling in complex terrain

When traveling in the mountains, in order to avoid getting lost, save energy and increase travel speed, you should try not to go through the forest or climb the mountain if there is a road, and not take the small road if there is a main road. If there is no road, you can choose to travel on longitudinal beams, ridges, hillsides, edges of rivers and streams, as well as terrain with tall trees, sparse forests, large gaps, and low and sparse grass. We should strive to walk on the beams rather than the ditches, and walk vertically rather than horizontally.

When walking, take big steps instead of small ones. This way, you can save tens of thousands of steps over dozens of kilometers. When you feel tired, you should take a rest by taking a slow, relaxing walk instead of stopping. When climbing rocks, you should observe the rocks carefully, carefully identify the quality and degree of weathering of the rocks, and determine the direction and route of the climb.

The basic method of rock climbing is the "three-point fixation" method, that is, fixing two hands and one foot or two feet and one hand and then moving the remaining hand or foot to shift the body's center of gravity upwards. The hands and feet should coordinate well to avoid moving two points at the same time. Be sure to move steadily, lightly and quickly. Choose the most appropriate distance and the most stable fulcrum according to your own situation. Do not take big steps or grab or kick points that are too far away.

When climbing a slope of less than 30 degrees, you can ascend in a straight line. When climbing, lean your body forward slightly, put the entire sole of your foot on the ground, bend your knees, and put your feet in an outward "figure eight" shape. Don't take steps that are too big or too fast. When the slope is greater than 30 degrees, a zigzag climbing route is generally adopted. When climbing, bend your legs slightly, lean your upper body forward, point your inner toes forward, place the entire sole of your foot on the ground, and point your outer toes slightly outward. If you accidentally slip while walking, you should immediately face the hillside, open your arms but keep your legs straight, raise your toes, and move your body as high as possible to reduce your sliding speed. In this way, you can try to find climbing and support while sliding. Never sit facing outwards, as this will not only make you slide faster, but also make you more likely to roll on steeper slopes.

The precautions for outdoor travel are complex and changeable. When traveling in the wild, you must analyze the things you encounter and take measures to control their development. There will be many dangerous events in the wild. Natural disasters are beyond our prevention and control, and we can only do our best to avoid them. When patients choose a location for outdoor travel, they should also first judge whether they are able to ensure their own safety when they go and protect themselves from harm when danger arises. If it is unavoidable, they should stay away from these outdoor tourist spots.