This unusual hiking tip could help save your life

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — A towel and a chunk of aluminum foil may not look like life-saving tools, however in a hiking emergency, they could be.

Before you go hiking, taking a number of additional precautions could make all of the distinction. Here are some tricks to be sure to return safely from your adventures.

Aluminum foil trick

West Virginia’s Okay-9 Search and Rescue Team lately shared this hack on their Facebook page. Before leaving for a hike, depart a print of your sneakers in your automobile so that somebody can observe your tracks if you find yourself lacking or getting misplaced.

To do that, put a towel on the bottom, then place a chunk of aluminum foil on prime. Step on it with your hiking boot, or no matter shoe you’ll be sporting on your journey. It will make a clear impression of the underside of your shoe to depart in your automobile or campsite.

Parents, you can too use this hack with your kids’s sneakers earlier than any out of doors exercise, in case they get misplaced or wander away.

“Whether you’re planning a short trip, all-day hike or [weeklong] adventure, this tip will help trained SAR [search and rescue] teams focus on the correct tracks should you get lost,” the put up learn.

While it gained’t at all times work throughout dry circumstances, taking this fast precaution earlier than longer hikes could be the explanation you get saved in an emergency.

Here are another suggestions that everybody ought to observe to remain secure on hikes and out of doors adventures:

• Tell somebody. As nice as an impulsive hike alone sounds, it may be extraordinarily harmful. A foil footprint isn’t going to help if nobody is aware of the place your automobile is. When going into the woods, particularly alone, just remember to inform somebody the place you’re going and while you count on to be again. This is very necessary in areas the place cellphone service is unreliable. Before you head into the woods, simply drop your begin location to somebody you belief and textual content them while you get again to your automobile or name them while you get dwelling.
• Map up. We know, this one is apparent. But generally on shorter, spontaneous hikes, nobody takes the time to assume, “How will I get back?” If you’re taking a brief day hike, be sure to snap a photograph of the path map on your telephone or look it up and take a screenshot in case you lose service. And for longer journeys, have a paper map. Make certain you additionally carry alongside navigation tools on longer hikes; a compass actually could be the distinction between a enjoyable journey and a terrifying evening within the woods.
• Bring water. Another seemingly apparent tip: Bring water, irrespective of how quick or lengthy your hike is. For longer hikes, carry a snack as nicely. You don’t need low blood sugar to be the explanation you don’t make it dwelling.

The National Park Service has lists of extra security precautions and issues it’s best to think about packing on your hike.

“The outdoors is no place to try a maneuver just to see if you can do it,” says the West Virginia Department of Transportation.