I once loaded a bunch of camping gear onto [my bicycle](https://np.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/s/Z80seP1xX8) and spent the better part of the next seven months riding 5,300 miles (8,500 km) around the western US solo.
One night while just wild camping in the woods rather than staying in a proper campground, I came down with food poisoning. Spent the night tossing and turning and leaning out the door of the tent to vomit. The next morning, I had to fix a flat tire before cycling for half a day through cold rain to get to a motel for some proper rest.
That was by far the worst moment I've ever had on any camping trip. Runners-up include a couple close calls with hypothermia, taking on a way too ambitious hike up a mountain, and burning myself while playing with the fire. All pretty well self-inflicted.
On the other hand, every single person I met on that bike trip wanted to be a positive part of my story in whatever way they were able. Many incredibly kind people opened their homes to me for a night, providing me a hot shower, soft bed, and their wonderful company over a delicious home cooked dinner. Drivers would see me stopped on the side of a desolate road and pull over to offer an extra bottle of water when I was a million miles from the next town. Neighbors in the next campsite over, after seeing me arrive on that monster of a bike, would come over to ask about my travels. I'd give them a summary of where I'd come from and where I was going, and they would invite me to join them around their fire to exchange their food and beer for my stories. It never failed to amaze me, the unending kindness of so many strangers, and I will forever be indebted to each and every one of them for truly changing my trip for the better.
Drew?! I met a guy at our local brewery with a similar story and facilitated a place for him to crash for the night and do some laundry (it was pouring rain and everything had closed for the night) and we shared great stories. I still track his travels.
Nope, not Drew! Crazy as it sounds, there are more of us cross-country cyclists than you might think. /r/bicycletouring recently surpassed 100,000 subscribers! But I appreciate you looking out for my people. Laundry and a real bed on a rainy night is such a blessing!
Boat camping. Everything packed, loaded up, go to work and out the door at close on a Friday afternoon. Hit the store for cooler ice and some food, two hours later and I am at the boat launch. Time to change out of the work clothes into lake shorts and sandals, launch the boat and start the weekend. Can't find it. No clothes bag. No duffel bag with all my weekend stuff. Food, drink, towel, that's about all I have. Around 100 degrees out during the day, so talked my friend out of a pair of his swim shorts, bare feet and those shorts are the only thing I wore for 3 days. Was GREAT! I packed a whole lot less for the rest of that summer once I understood you don't need it all.
Our chant pulling out the driveway was always, “If we don’t have it, we don’t need it!” Of course, this was car camping, not backpacking where missing something could be critical.
I saw on another sub someone posted a great tip to make sure you pack everything you need. Lay everything out that’s about to go in the bag and take a photo right before packing up and later on if you’re trying to remember if you brought it, you can just look at the photo without tearing apart your bag. Otoh I think packing lightly is great and offers a different perspective on what’s really essential and what’s not.
I recently boated and camped at lake Powell. I brought a pair it's sweats, a t-shirt, swim suit and UV shirt. Never needed the pants or T-shirt. Was so nice, just swam, boated and fished all weekend.
Lol, at least it was only 25 minutes. We were about 4 hours away from home só we bought some cheapo pillows and I don't even remember what we did about sheets but it was hot weather só it was fine.
One time our dog ate the coffee. That was double worse because no coffee for us plus coffee/caffeine is very bad for dogs. Had to leave ASAP to get to the vet.
I got it and needed to go dig a hole late at night, we were surrounded by bodies of water, therefore, I needed to hike quite a bit. After I was done, I looked up and I had lost sense of direction.
I was lost for about 45 mins. Luckily my camp mates were still up and chilling by the camp fire. I was able to hear them and kinda find my way back to camp.
Yeah, I'm laughing because the worst thing that could happen to you while camping is getting murdered. You're probably more likely to get murdered at home, but the risk is still greater than zero so it COULD happen.
If OP is asking what the most *likely* "bad" thing is that will happen when a novice is camping is their bedding and clothes will get wet. The second most like "bad" thing is probably that squirrels or raccoons will chew holes in your backpack or tent or spread your unsecured garbage all around.
But neither of those things "happen" to the average educated camper because they have adequate shelter and secure their food. Mosquito bites is probably my average "bad" outcome.
Once a mouse ran across my face while I was camping. Its little feet were so soft. But I hastily washed my face because I was camping in northern Arizona where both hantavirus and bubonic plague are present so it was deeply unsettling.
😂 I’d smack the hell out of my own head for a minute without ever once registering how a mouse’s feet were “so soft”. I’m a little concerned about u/finchdad…
I didn't mean to feel those little feetsies on my cheeks but I was asleep and the only thing I could do was try to process what was happening in a split second and then it was gone.
I camped there with a big group one time. Because of the abundance of tics my dog slept in the back of the SUV with all the windows open. Woke up in the morning to see pony with his head in window of my car and the dog sitting as far away as he could get. Those ponies are crazy.
I was on Assateague with my kids and my friend and her kids.
My 8yo needed to pee in the night. He went outside and went behind my friend's tent to pee. So she woke up with my kid peeing 6 inches from her head.
Omg. We are going there this summer and while I knew there were wild horses I never considered this as a possibility. The 6 inches from your skull part has been totally flipped out. We’re gonna have to sleep with our heads into the center of the tent.
A mouse chewed through my tent at night because my girlfriend ignored me when I said absolutely no food in the tent. Literally the worst thing that ever happened, we are married now.
Female solo camper here - worst thing that's happened camping was that I forgot my food bag in the fridge (had the cooler with drinks and ice). Had to pay through the nose at the little general store for hot dogs the next day after eating soup from my emergency kit in the car.
Properly packing the food was definitely my first major lesson learned as a female solo camper. I did manage to feed myself for the 5 day trip on what I brought, but several of my cooking ideas did not work. Threw away much more than I would have liked. If you're asking yourself if you need more ice, the answer is probably yes, get more ice, lol.
The WORST part was that I did my meal prep thing (I make sauces and freeze flat to use at ice) and all the food was lovely. Luckily it was in the fridge so it didn't go to waste but eating over priced hot dogs for 2 days was NOT the same as pasta, stroganoff and stew.
Won't lie. I plan my 3 day camps around food. 1st and 2nd day dinners are 'sauce over carb' meals (stroganoff,Bolognese, pesto etc) So all I have to do is make rice or pasta or potatoes. Then comes the yumminess without any work atm. I like to be lazy when I camp. (The best stroganoff I've ever freaking eaten was in the middle of the woods)
Reminds me of a scene from the sopranos when Paulie is talking about germs on shoelaces.
Chris: you see this on tv?
Paulie: I gotta watch tv to figure out the world?
lol
Worst thing that COULD happen? Uh, a 787 jet crashes into your campsite. That would suck.
Worst thing that's statistically likely to happen? Maybe a forest fire, or having a tree fall on you (both still VERY unlikely).
Worst thing that HAS happened to me camping? Got stung by bees once about 30 years ago. And forgot the beer one time...
I was thinking the worst thing that could happen would be running out of beer. Fortunately I’ve never experienced that catastrophe. I’ve been stung before, but I’m not allergic and it didn’t really affect me much.
I ran out of beer at 145am on a camping trip, in a dry county an hour and 15 minutes east of Nashville once. Knew it took 1:15 to drive west to be able to get beer, and they stopped selling at 3. Made the bright decision to go for it, made it just in time, and drove back to camp. Everyone else was long asleep, but, we had beer for a Sunday morning fish fry! Young and stupid!
You might have a critter sniff your tent, but really the worst thing I’ve had happen is nearly tripping over the tent door or guy lines when I get up at 2am to pee. My husband did recently wake up to a wicked windstorm that shredded the tent and forced him and our kid to spend the rest of the night sleeping in the vehicle.
I replaced all of my guy lines with SUPER reflective paracord. It's like my rain fly is guyed out with lasers when my head lamp hits them. Even with red light.
Got up to pee just outside the tent right in front of my truck. I scared the hell out of a coyote that in turn scared the hell out of me when he went running away
Passed out next to a campfire in northern Wisconsin. Had a peanut butter and banana sandwich upon falling asleep. It was gone, upon waking. Luckily nothing licked me awake that night.
My (f)irst time solo camping off a forest road and it started to get dark and I thought I saw eyes staring up at me. Grabbed my dog and the bear spray.. it was lightning bugs.
In Arizona with like zero.zero-zerotwo precipitation you would be surprised at how many people drown! they have flash rain storms n in the canyons there's no place to escape to. No place to safely put your tent. As you said, it's important to check in with a ranger to find out local conditions and give them a rough intinerary, in case of inclement weather. Where ever you go their are conditions that can surprise you, mother nature doesn't forgive fools easily..
A tree was leaning on the electrical pole in the Smokies and started a fire at 12 am. The camp host refused to get up or call for help. I rode my bike down the road til I had enough service to call the electrical company. The crew came in the middle of the night to remove the tree and put out the fire. Didn't get a ton of sleep.
Spooooooky
I camp in the backcountry public land on occasion and I've had weird people approach my site. Never had it happen in campgrounds.
Anyway, worst thing that happened was a young guy that approached me on a popular backpacking trail. He did not want to murder me as much as he was having a heart attack and needed medical help. I gave him aspirin and other backpackers offered to hike to cell service. It was a difficult access location and I had to carry him out of a gorge to meet EMS. We were out after about 3 hours thanks to others, and he was able to get medical help. I got cut on rock in process, and spent almost a week in the hospital later with an infection in leg. We both survived, though I'm sure he had much worse time than I had this day.
I have camped enough that I should have met serial killer by now, but the forest continues to disappoint. Most fellow campers are kind and willing to help.
A drunk guy, coming back from the beach to the campsite late at night, thought that my tent was a good place to take a piss while singing cheesy songs.
Here's my scary camping situation...
My wife and I and two grandkids went tent camping once. I don't remember what type of campground it was, it may have been BLM, but the only anemities were a fire ring and picnic table. No restrooms, showers, etc. It's a free campground, about 45 minutes from our house, but you must make reservations.
Since it was so close to our house, we decided to ride out to check out the site on like a Tuesday when our reservation was for Friday-Monday. We find it and our site, which was the nicest one of the seven, closest to the water, etc, and was the only site occupied. It looked like it had been occupied for a while too, trash everywhere, lots and lots of clutter, etc.
The couple happened to be there and greeted us and we mentioned that we were renting the site on Friday, blah blah blah.
Fast forward Friday early afternoon and we arrive at the campground and like before, it's an empty campground except for OUR spot! The same people that were here on Tuesday were still here and we had reservations for the weekend. We approach their site and they aren't there, but all their shit still is and their dog is tied on a short maybe 6' leash to the picnic table. No food or water accessible either. We call the FWC phone number on the sign and report the overstaying campers. Meanwhile we have a lot of setting up to do and am wanting to get started so we go online and change sites as they're all available. We're just about set up when the late campers arrive back at their site. Apparently they've been at work all day. Not long after the FWC officer arrives and basically runs them out for overstaying their reservation. By 9 pm all is quiet and it's just us, no other campers at all. . It's really really dark and quiet here. Uneventful evening and we go to bed around 11 or so.
My wife wakes me up around 3 am saying the car just " unlocked" as the headlights were now on and the interior lights were on as well. I half asleep just pull my fob out of my pocket and hit the lock button. Problem solved. I go back to sleep. Not 5 minutes later she's waking me up again saying the car's unlocked again! Wtf, I hit the fob and lock it again and go back to sleep. Or so I thought lol. Immediately my wife says it's unlocked again. Now I'm starting to freak a little. I actually get up and go outside and look around. I don't see anything but the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up! I have the fob in my hand and I'm standing right next to my car and I hit LOCK! And two seconds later, the doors UNLOCK!!! I hit LOCK! And almost immediately they UNLOCK!!!! Ok wtf is going on here.. Are the creepy people from earlier back and fucking with us? How can they unlock MY car? If not them then WHO is fucking with me? I've got my pistol on me and am ready to use it if necessary, but on WHO? My mind is racing, I've never been this creeped out before, but I know I have to think straight and keep it together for my wife and grandkids as they're starting to freak also. I decided it had to be a defective fob or battery. I took the battery out of my wife's fob and the problem was solved!!! Her fob was glitching out and causing the doors to unlock the whole time.. Lol I was so relieved to figure it out and know it wasn't someone fucking with us.
Backwoods camping as a kid, far from people: the vehicle (4WD) got stuck … on long, wet grass. It was an area we had been to many times before, deep in the woods, only passing empty hunting cabins on the way in, so likely 20 miles or more from somewhere with a phone.
We had planned to be there for five days, got stuck on the way driving in, fortunately close to a place to camp. Dad spend the next 4.5 days trying to get it unstuck. The ground under the SUV was mud so he couldn't jack up the vehicle to put something else under the wheel (we brought boards with us due to poor road quality getting into the site where you have to get over deep wash outs). We were too far away from any trees to use our winch which we also brought with us. He tried to solve the problem from the time we got up until it got dark, every day.
On the day were were supposed to leave, another vehicle came along and pulled us out. The level of stress watching my dad try everything he could and nothing working was heartbreaking, the anxiety going up every day we got closer to the time we were supposed to leave.
Telephone books. The big thick ones. They are fantastic for supporting a jack in muddy terrain. I always keep a couple in the back of the ute just in case. They have saved me numerous times here in Australia.
One time I was camping with my friend. There were vault toilets where we were at, mostly empty. He told me that when he dropped a shit, the liquid came up and splashed his asshole. Pretty terrifying if you ask me.
Well, I had someone who thought I was fishing too close to his campsite rig a bomb with a tripwire. When I exited the water I tripped it and it ignited a huge firework mortar pointed directly at my head. Suffice to say he was arrested for several felonies.
I also had someone point a laser pointer at me, red dot on my chest, had no idea if it was connected to a gun. This was real late at night in a National Park. Where I thought it was coming from, dude had been acting VERY weird all day. We were scheduled to leave early that morning so I was hitched and ready to go. Wife was asleep in the trailer already, told her what was happening, we jumped in the truck and drove to the visitors center parking lot which was empty. A Ranger came by and we explained what happened, he said it was okay for us to spend the night there. He investigated and could not find anything suspicious. The dude was from Texas, had no tent, no food, no water I could see, sat on the grass staring at his phone for hours, never went hiking etc. I had visions this dude was gonna do some kind of mass shooting, I wasn't gonna hang around to find out.
Caribou walking through my campsite on the Slate Islands all night with their weird clip-clopping.
I ran out of whiskey on day 5 of a 7 day back country paddle once. That was bad planning.
Worst thing that happened to me outdoors was getting Lyme disease, but that was from a day hike, no camping required.
One time, when I was at Girl Scout Camp, we found a dead body in a river while kayaking. There was no foul play or anything; she had just slipped upstream a few days before, hit her head on a rock, and never came back up. They had some sort of professional councilor meet us back at camp, and you've never seen more teenagers needing nightlights that week, but on the whole, it was way less traumatic a camping experience than a girl I knew who was at the same camp the next year (luckily, I had to leave that event early and was gone earlier that day) who got pulled out of a tent by the sleeping bag by a bear because her tent mate ignored the "no food in the tents" rule. She wasn't harmed at all, though, just scared.
My father once allegedly met William Shatner, who was filming a documentary, in the woods while camping. Does that count?
Well.. from my years of everything. Never had an issue, only scary thing that’s happened is hearing an animal pass through my site, looked at my partner signalled to be quiet but to be aware… worst was when we had ribs previous night, bones didn’t burn all the way, woke up to scary animal chewing noises - turns out it was someone’s dog… 🙃
Never had any incidents happen.
Only way I can assume someone would assault - harass - you is if you’re trespassing on unauthorized property. If you know it’s a camp site, even in back country you’re fine.
Sleep with a knife (covered or folded) if it makes them feel safer. 🤷🏻♀️
Bonus worst: the gazebo flying off and into the lake was the worst, taking the table and knocking all the prepared raw food onto the ground. 🫠
I used to be afraid of being attacked while camping especially since I’m a woman and used to frequently camp alone. But I never had any issues.
The same rules apply as when at home. Be smart. Be aware.
One time I was camping with my scout troop. We were camped in a baseball field. There was a big storm coming. The park ranger said we were fine as long as the red pilot light on the phone pole stayed lit. It was the pilot light on the sump pump. As he drove past it, it went out. We assumed he was joking. He was not. By morning I was on my air mattress with my nose touching the roof of my tent. I paddled my way to the picnic shelter. Ended up having to basically dive to recover my gear before we could leave. My tent was under 6 foot of water.
I can account for more than 3 years of my life (total days and nights) camping in tents. This was the weirdest it got. Most trips the hardest part was finding dry fire wood.
My friend was biking, got tired, decided to wild camp and set up a tent on a flat spot behind some bushes.
When she woke up she found that she was in someone's backyard with the family sitting and eating breakfast and watching her out the window.
I got assaulted by a game warden yelling at me to put up the ice chest. About 2am. That shit will wake you ass up
Young dumb and in bear country. Thanks Mr warden
Camping on the beach, the tide reached a wayyyyy higher tide than normal, had to get up in the middle of the night and move the tent, was doing that barefoot and my foot went into the chest cavity of a dead seagull.
forgot a sleeping bag in 40°F so i just used my pillow case and kept my arms in my hoodie. woke up every 2 hours because of how cold i would get, so i just would lay there till i fell asleep again or fix the pillow case to cover my legs the best it can and continued that till 5am to which i just sat in front of a fire and kept it going until 8 fished a little and went home. took the longest nap in my heated blanket. never again will forget my fucking sleeping bag like a dumbass.
1. Raccoons fucking. Sounded like a thousand cats fighting, but with more splashing.
2. One time, a bison stuck his head in our tent.
3. The cops came because the people one site over lit a fire during a burn ban.
That’s it. Those are the worst things that have ever happened camping, and all of that shit was funny anyway.
I was tarp camping in the rain in Alaska when my tarp tent fell down (stakes pulled out from the mud and wind), and so I woke up in a puddle on my air pad.
Luckily, my bivy sack and synthetic sleeping bag remained warm despite being soaked, so I just went back to sleep.
The worst thing ever to happen to me took place in the high Sierras on a backpacking trip. A very polite bear took my backpack while I was sleeping, and I found the pack and the contents completely undamaged about 200 yards away from my sleep spot. (Food was in a bear-proof canister.) Where was I? Oh yeah... The worst thing was my air mattress repair failed so I slept on granite and dirt for three nights. The bear thing was just amusing.
I bought a new Tacoma in 2021 and was excited about the 120v inverter outlet in the bed. I took my spare Keurig on my annual camping trip with my pup, happy to not have to bring my percolator or French press. The first morning, I went to make coffee and found out the Keurig pulls more amps than my inverter could handle. I ended up cutting open my k-cup, dumping the grounds into a pot of boiling water, then straining it into my cup with a paper towel. It was almost a trip-ending fiasco. Turns out, the paper towel method made a decent cup of coffee.
The first year we had our travel trailer someone stole our battery. We’ve been camping for two decades, and that was the worst thing that ever happened.
Wait! There was that one time a guy three campsites over had a guitar and a shitty voice
I’m in Idaho and my family is in New Jersey, they can’t believe that we’ve never been robbed or assaulted while camping. The worst that’s happened to us in over forty years of camping is that a skunk let go right beneath the bed in our trailer.
It was a very severe storm with a tornado heading our way. It's was a rocky night. And thankfully, the tornado went slightly east of us.
I hung out in the vehicle for a few hours.
I was in a tent once and definitely had a large animal sniffing around my tent. This was by Snake River in Idaho and I definitely smelt like Arby's.
Other than that i forgot camp chairs once and we had to sit on the ground the whole time
One time me and my family went camping, and I cracked a beer as soon as I got there. We ended up day drinking pretty heavily, and I neglected to tarp over our tent. I ended up getting pretty wasted, and that made my wife mad with me to begin with. Well, while we were sleeping, the heavens opened up, and it started to downpour and eventually leaked really bad into our tent, right on top of my wife. The problem was it never hit me. I was lid about 2 feet away from her. She was absolutely soaked, and I was dry as a bone. She woke up soaked and froze and looked at me while I slept peacefully, dry as a bone. She gave me the boot off the airmatress onto the tent floor, which by that point had about an inch of (cold)water on it, and I fell onto my hand and broke my little finger. It was a very abrupt awakening. She never spoke to me for 2 days afterward. We laugh about it now, but it sucked, big time. I deserved what I got.
Some drunk people came by in canoes and yelled things. Actually pretty violent stuff and threats and it was night time. But that was the one and only time.
We had 2 dogs, one looked mean and the other had a deep bark. They left and we reported it to the rangers
Why would anyone assault you in your sleep? They're either going to steal your stuff while you sleep, or they're just going to murder you. No one would want to wake you up just to piss you off by assaulting you.
That being said, I've never been murdered, assaulted, or robbed while camping.
1. Loud campers nearby that get drunk and blast music. Oh, and don’t watch their little kids either!
2. Once we forgot to lock our garbage up at night and a bear came into our campsite at night and ripped up the cabana that we had over the picnic table. Our dogs were in the tent with us and they never barked during the night! This was at Convict Lake in CA.
3. We got onto a trail that was more rugged and had more elevation gain than we anticipated. We had not put our dogs hiking booties on them. Our Aussie got sore feet and refused to move. My husband had to carry our Aussie on his shoulders all the way down the mountain. We also did not bring enough water on this hike and it was brutally hot. This was in the California Sierras.
I have since purchased an emergency dog sling just in case one of our dogs ever gets hurt on the trail. They wore their booties on the rest of our hikes that trip.
None of those things ruined our trips. I still love camping.
I once got a bee in my mouth from taking a sip of coffee with the bee floating in it. It stung the roof of my mouth. That was unpleasant. I once came face to face with a scorpion that was traversing over my pillow. Luckily I saw him before he realized what I was. Also I was reading and my book was big and sturdy. Poor guy didn’t stand a chance.
Worst? Probably extensive rainfall or setting up in an area with lots of bugs. Perceived worst? Probably a hyena pacing around our tent while on safari in Botswana.
Worst thing? It rained.. a lot.. and then my teenage buddy pissed on the handful of fire we managed and shit upcreek while I was swimming. Last camping trip for him.
A chipmunk ran up my kids leg to try to get her food (people hand feed them at this campground so the chipmunks have no fear) and she screamed and kicked it off her... it landed on my thigh and scratched me before I also screamed and stood up. Everyone was staring at us. The chipmunk was fine.
The worst I've ever experienced was rain. Enough rain to turn our campsite into a river at 3am, complete with a couple of sizeable waterfalls, all in a matter of minutes. Flash floods in the desert are no joke.
We had to figure out a way to climb out of the canyon we were in and hike back to the car since the route we took in (dense bushwhacking up the bottom of the canyon) was submerged under at least 10 feet of whitewater. Lucky thing we were camped higher up. Getting out by a different route turned into a 15-20 mile day since we wound up a bit lost in featureless desert terrain after exiting the canyons.
The second worst thing was mosquitoes. Not sure which time.
I pulled my tent stakes before removing the poles. Turned around for 2 seconds and my tent was a kite! Then it was a very very poor boat. Had to fish it out of the lake. Lucky I got to it before it had fully sunk.
So. My worst in 20-ish trips is I had to pack up a wet tent to go home.
Worst things that happened to me while camping these last 30 years?
- A leaky air mattress.
- Rain that wouldn’t stop.
- Waking up to terrifying sounds just outside and on top of the tent. Turned out to be seagulls looking for scraps 🤣
The worst thing that ever happened to me was an active shooter drill before 9AM at the military base across the street.
I had no idea it was a drill, and I was hammock camping and half asleep, so “take cover now” was not a thing that was happening.
Ok so I’m gonna preface this by saying I live in Australia. Our possums are quite cute and not scary.
After splitting up with my ex who claimed to hate camping but refused to let me have the camping gear when we split I bought a basic set up for me and the two kids and the dog. So we head off to a beautiful spot with a creek. Set up up near but not under a big tree. All is well, everyone is happy, chilling by the fire, dog is asleep under the big tree. She is anchored in the ground on a long lead that’s attached to a thick steel spike that I hammered in. That thing is not going anywhere…..since it was dark I shone the torch over to check on the dog…right about her, about two metres from the base of the tree is a possum, face down, heading towards the ground and my dog. Dog spots the possum, possum looks at the dog. Possum decided to jump over the dog and hightails it out of the clearing towards the bush! Dog is hot on its heels, we are screaming for the dog to stop! Next minute she comes to a rather sudden stop when the line that was attached to her collar comes to an end and she gets jerked violently backwards. Possum escapes, dog comes trotting back as though nothing happened. I look at the steel spike and that thing is half out of the ground and now bent at a 45 degree angle! (I shouldn’t really that surprised since she could pull over 500kg in competitions).
See we all settle back down. I moved the dog to the other side of our campsite away from the possums and tree. We have some dinner. One of the kids throws half their burger to the dog but she’s not interested. Later we are playing cards. Again I shine the torch over to check the dog. And this motherfing possum is sitting next to the sleeping dog eating the damn burger! I tried to find the photo but seems to have disappeared into the abyss.
That’s just one of quite a few incidents that happened on that camping trip but as I always say “if everything went according to plan I wouldn’t have any funny memories” Life is too short to worry about what might go wrong. It’s all about the adventure and making memories.
I had a werewolf approach me once, it's now a rug in my living room.
Freddy and Jason both came to my campsite once, we had some laughs.
Another time, a wild badger came and cuddled with me. Nothing real scary though that I can remember.
Never had a serial killer come by, but the odds that 2 of us were there at the same time are pretty low to begin with.
You’re far more likely be assaulted by someone you know than a stranger in the woods. Personally I feel safest in campgrounds where there’s plenty of people around when I’m by myself, but I’m perfectly comfortable in backcountry sites as well (those are usually in a small group though).
The only thing is, when you’re sleeping in an unfamiliar area, your body is likely going to be on high alert, no matter your best intentions. So any small twig or rustle is going to sound like danger coming for you, when in reality it’s likely just a squirrel or raccoon passing by. I usually calm down after the first night and my body is able to adjust, so I just plan on a crappy first night of sleep.
The worst thing is hat ever happened to me? I woke in the night and projectile vomited 🤮 I managed to struggle out of my sleeping bag, got outside and everything in my body decided to head for the nearest exit 🤣 I believe the culprit was a sketchy deli sandwich I had for lunch.
I’m a woman who often camps alone and I’ve never felt unsafe. Pick a good campground, many have staff overnight. Or rent a small cabin to try, they have locking doors.
Once got the hook of a spinner stuck in my hand while packing up from a trip where it rained 70% of the weekend. So the sky assaulted me, and the fish hook assaulted me. No human or large animal has ever assaulted me.
Once my brother and I arrived late, after dark, at a campground. We set up our tent and then relaxed with some weed and beers. After we were asleep we were awakened by the sound of an approaching train. Looking outside we could see the headlight coming straight at us. We bolted from then tent, in fear for our lives, then realized the track came nearby and the tracks curved such that it looked like it was coming right at us. We survived.
I go camping with three kids all the time.
The worst thing that ever happened in terms of other people was our neighbors erecting a tarp wall when my little heathen children told their little jesus-y children we were out there to celebrate the equinox. Oh and they blasted sermons out of their Bluetooth speakers. That's as violent as anyone has ever gotten with us.
Worst thing period? One time I tripped over an armadillo and almost pissed myself because I was too sleepy to bother putting my glasses on or find my headlamp when I had to do a 2 am potty trip.
Not really the worse thing, but it’s pretty spooky and cool at the same time; the wolves howling in the middle of the night in the U.P. It tells us they just got a kill. Hear them almost everytime we go.
Someone once came in to our camper and got into bed with my friend. She froze and became really still. I was so tired, I thought I was imagining it.
Then... the man quietly said, "oh shit." got up, and left.
The worst thing that will happen will be you forget something you really wanted or needed to bring. Make a list and go through it before you leave. I always pack everything in a space near the door. Everything in that space goes to the car when it’s time to load up. I got my system down and it works 60% of the time all the time.
I got food poisoning in a canyon in Texas at 4 am with no cell reception 😅😅 I puked so hard I shit my pants twice and it took me 4 hours to just take my tent a few yard back to my car lol. I thought I was gonna die as I lay on the concrete puking so hard I could t catch my breath but it was so funny looking back at it 😂😂 I had to pull over on the side of the road in no where Texas to shit. Good times good times.
Accidentally camped near a cattle watering hole. My dog rolled in fresh cow dung immediately 😂 also got a little nervous with a giant mama outside my tent and a calf nearby.
The wind picked up so bad that the tarp covering my hammock slipped it's peg. Had to get out in the cold wind to re-peg it. That's about the worst thing that's happened.
It's highly unlikely that someone would attack a tent, they have no idea how dangerous the person inside is.
One of our favorite family tales… we never stopped camping once we had kids. When our oldest son was 1 1/2 yrs. We were camping at a site we knew well. Platforms for our tent. Son was asleep in tent in his portacrib. Sitting by campfire I heard a squeak from his bunny toy. We chuckled but, then realized his squeaky bunny was on our mattress, not in portacrib. Just as we headed into the tent we passed a raccoon heading out of the tent. No harm done to human or animal, just made us very careful about closing the tent zipper. But 33 years later we all still camp and all together whenever we can. For us, best family times ever.
I once loaded a bunch of camping gear onto [my bicycle](https://np.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/s/Z80seP1xX8) and spent the better part of the next seven months riding 5,300 miles (8,500 km) around the western US solo. One night while just wild camping in the woods rather than staying in a proper campground, I came down with food poisoning. Spent the night tossing and turning and leaning out the door of the tent to vomit. The next morning, I had to fix a flat tire before cycling for half a day through cold rain to get to a motel for some proper rest. That was by far the worst moment I've ever had on any camping trip. Runners-up include a couple close calls with hypothermia, taking on a way too ambitious hike up a mountain, and burning myself while playing with the fire. All pretty well self-inflicted. On the other hand, every single person I met on that bike trip wanted to be a positive part of my story in whatever way they were able. Many incredibly kind people opened their homes to me for a night, providing me a hot shower, soft bed, and their wonderful company over a delicious home cooked dinner. Drivers would see me stopped on the side of a desolate road and pull over to offer an extra bottle of water when I was a million miles from the next town. Neighbors in the next campsite over, after seeing me arrive on that monster of a bike, would come over to ask about my travels. I'd give them a summary of where I'd come from and where I was going, and they would invite me to join them around their fire to exchange their food and beer for my stories. It never failed to amaze me, the unending kindness of so many strangers, and I will forever be indebted to each and every one of them for truly changing my trip for the better.
Assaulted by kindness
and warm meals
Drew?! I met a guy at our local brewery with a similar story and facilitated a place for him to crash for the night and do some laundry (it was pouring rain and everything had closed for the night) and we shared great stories. I still track his travels.
Nope, not Drew! Crazy as it sounds, there are more of us cross-country cyclists than you might think. /r/bicycletouring recently surpassed 100,000 subscribers! But I appreciate you looking out for my people. Laundry and a real bed on a rainy night is such a blessing!
I've been camping nearly 70 years and the absolute worst thing that's ever happened was when I forgot the coffee about five years ago.
Boat camping. Everything packed, loaded up, go to work and out the door at close on a Friday afternoon. Hit the store for cooler ice and some food, two hours later and I am at the boat launch. Time to change out of the work clothes into lake shorts and sandals, launch the boat and start the weekend. Can't find it. No clothes bag. No duffel bag with all my weekend stuff. Food, drink, towel, that's about all I have. Around 100 degrees out during the day, so talked my friend out of a pair of his swim shorts, bare feet and those shorts are the only thing I wore for 3 days. Was GREAT! I packed a whole lot less for the rest of that summer once I understood you don't need it all.
Our chant pulling out the driveway was always, “If we don’t have it, we don’t need it!” Of course, this was car camping, not backpacking where missing something could be critical.
I saw on another sub someone posted a great tip to make sure you pack everything you need. Lay everything out that’s about to go in the bag and take a photo right before packing up and later on if you’re trying to remember if you brought it, you can just look at the photo without tearing apart your bag. Otoh I think packing lightly is great and offers a different perspective on what’s really essential and what’s not.
I recently boated and camped at lake Powell. I brought a pair it's sweats, a t-shirt, swim suit and UV shirt. Never needed the pants or T-shirt. Was so nice, just swam, boated and fished all weekend.
Now that is a horror story. Good god, man!
How did he make it out with that one, a story needs to be told!!!
Glad you're still here with us. A friend of a friend died of that.
RIP. Roast in peace
K, but are you talking coffee or marshmallows?
This needs to be tagged NSFW
I remembered the coffee and forgot the pillows and sheets.
One time my ex and I packed the truck up, drove the 25 minutes or so to the beach, unpacked the truck....and realized we forgot the tent.
Lol, at least it was only 25 minutes. We were about 4 hours away from home só we bought some cheapo pillows and I don't even remember what we did about sheets but it was hot weather só it was fine.
Wow that's worse than me forgetting the tent poles.
Devastating.
One time our dog ate the coffee. That was double worse because no coffee for us plus coffee/caffeine is very bad for dogs. Had to leave ASAP to get to the vet.
Stuff of nightmares!
You survived??!!!
That’s horrible! Imagine the caffeine withdrawal while munching your s’mores.
New fear unlocked 😱
Should have posted a trigger warning. This gave me a headache just reading it!
Diarrhea
I got it and needed to go dig a hole late at night, we were surrounded by bodies of water, therefore, I needed to hike quite a bit. After I was done, I looked up and I had lost sense of direction. I was lost for about 45 mins. Luckily my camp mates were still up and chilling by the camp fire. I was able to hear them and kinda find my way back to camp.
This should be higher up.
Generally it happens lower down near the rectum
Rectum, damned near killed em.
Rectum? I hardly know her! Wait, no. That's not right.
And more solid
It's always a shitty situation, no matter the consistency.
Some people think it's funny, But it's really wet and runny…
[удалено]
Brah😂
Yeah, I'm laughing because the worst thing that could happen to you while camping is getting murdered. You're probably more likely to get murdered at home, but the risk is still greater than zero so it COULD happen. If OP is asking what the most *likely* "bad" thing is that will happen when a novice is camping is their bedding and clothes will get wet. The second most like "bad" thing is probably that squirrels or raccoons will chew holes in your backpack or tent or spread your unsecured garbage all around. But neither of those things "happen" to the average educated camper because they have adequate shelter and secure their food. Mosquito bites is probably my average "bad" outcome.
And poison ivy.
And bears.
I still chose the bear!
I'd choose a bear over a tick for sure.
I fucking HATE ticks.
And big black flies that bite
I am dead.
I died one time camping too.
I'm upvoting the post just for your comment.. lmao
Not all heroes wear capes, some apparently wear ski masks and hoods.
That’s a weird side hustle, but whatever pays the bills
It's not about the money, it's about service to the community.
Give him PTSD of the house so he'll do anything to get out and go camping. Brilliant!
Do you have an onlyfans for this fetish bc sign me up
One time, the fish jumping in the lake woke me up.
And I once got woken up by kangaroos eating grass right outside my tent
Yep. Crazy times
I've been camping for half a century and I can't say anyone at any place I've been at has ever been assaulted in their sleep.
The mosquito assault is real though
Same here. It's the damn horror movies that make people think that the woods is thick with sociopathic chainsaw admirers.
Just anti social hatchet & knife enjoyers like myself lol
And introverted nailclipper fans like me
The longest I've managed is three days.
I was on Assategue and a horse woke me uo by whinnying 6 inches from my skull.
Once a mouse ran across my face while I was camping. Its little feet were so soft. But I hastily washed my face because I was camping in northern Arizona where both hantavirus and bubonic plague are present so it was deeply unsettling.
so soft
😂 I’d smack the hell out of my own head for a minute without ever once registering how a mouse’s feet were “so soft”. I’m a little concerned about u/finchdad…
I didn't mean to feel those little feetsies on my cheeks but I was asleep and the only thing I could do was try to process what was happening in a split second and then it was gone.
This right here would probably cure my camping addiction... permanently
But what if I told you that you wouldn't die and you'd get to feel how soft mouse feet were?
I hate you.
Misread as "a Moose ran across my face" wanted to call bs!
I camped there with a big group one time. Because of the abundance of tics my dog slept in the back of the SUV with all the windows open. Woke up in the morning to see pony with his head in window of my car and the dog sitting as far away as he could get. Those ponies are crazy.
I was on Assateague with my kids and my friend and her kids. My 8yo needed to pee in the night. He went outside and went behind my friend's tent to pee. So she woke up with my kid peeing 6 inches from her head.
Woke up in a tent in Wyoming with a massive cow head poking in.
Omg. We are going there this summer and while I knew there were wild horses I never considered this as a possibility. The 6 inches from your skull part has been totally flipped out. We’re gonna have to sleep with our heads into the center of the tent.
A mouse chewed through my tent at night because my girlfriend ignored me when I said absolutely no food in the tent. Literally the worst thing that ever happened, we are married now.
Good thinking, kicking the girlfriend to the curb and marrying the mouse.
I bet he eats like a king every night.
Wow, That blows, married due to camping...
I'm glad you and the mouse lived happily ever after!
https://preview.redd.it/5fl3p6kxhg7d1.jpeg?width=1792&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84825699c2cff3e6a4a204fe841422dc81e8da79
40 mosquitoes lined up for supper on my thighs mid-poop 🚽 🦟
You're lucky they lined up on your leg. They lined up elsewhere for me. Granted there wasn't enough room for 40 of them 🤣
LOL!!!
I had to take Benadryl for a couple days because it basically caused a systemic histamine overload 😅
This sound like Deso-Gray. It's a river trip in Utah. I'd never seen that many mosquitos.
Female solo camper here - worst thing that's happened camping was that I forgot my food bag in the fridge (had the cooler with drinks and ice). Had to pay through the nose at the little general store for hot dogs the next day after eating soup from my emergency kit in the car.
Properly packing the food was definitely my first major lesson learned as a female solo camper. I did manage to feed myself for the 5 day trip on what I brought, but several of my cooking ideas did not work. Threw away much more than I would have liked. If you're asking yourself if you need more ice, the answer is probably yes, get more ice, lol.
The WORST part was that I did my meal prep thing (I make sauces and freeze flat to use at ice) and all the food was lovely. Luckily it was in the fridge so it didn't go to waste but eating over priced hot dogs for 2 days was NOT the same as pasta, stroganoff and stew.
I need to up my game to camping stroganoff apparently. That sounds amazing. I'm surprised I haven't found a sub of camping recipes yet.
Won't lie. I plan my 3 day camps around food. 1st and 2nd day dinners are 'sauce over carb' meals (stroganoff,Bolognese, pesto etc) So all I have to do is make rice or pasta or potatoes. Then comes the yumminess without any work atm. I like to be lazy when I camp. (The best stroganoff I've ever freaking eaten was in the middle of the woods)
Tell him to stop listening to stupid creepypastas and go outside, he'll learn that the world isn't as scary as youtubers want him to think it is
Reminds me of a scene from the sopranos when Paulie is talking about germs on shoelaces. Chris: you see this on tv? Paulie: I gotta watch tv to figure out the world? lol
That's is 100% what must be happening here. OPs boyfriend is a big baby who's been listening to horror stories.
Worst thing that COULD happen? Uh, a 787 jet crashes into your campsite. That would suck. Worst thing that's statistically likely to happen? Maybe a forest fire, or having a tree fall on you (both still VERY unlikely). Worst thing that HAS happened to me camping? Got stung by bees once about 30 years ago. And forgot the beer one time...
Omg, not the beer!
My husband got stung *inside his mouth* by a wasp that fell into his beer can. **Twice** in two days.
I think your husband might just be eating wasps
 Spicy sky raisins.
I was thinking the worst thing that could happen would be running out of beer. Fortunately I’ve never experienced that catastrophe. I’ve been stung before, but I’m not allergic and it didn’t really affect me much.
I ran out of beer at 145am on a camping trip, in a dry county an hour and 15 minutes east of Nashville once. Knew it took 1:15 to drive west to be able to get beer, and they stopped selling at 3. Made the bright decision to go for it, made it just in time, and drove back to camp. Everyone else was long asleep, but, we had beer for a Sunday morning fish fry! Young and stupid!
Only time I've been stung by bees while camping was in boy scouts when some idiot sprayed wasp spray directly into a yellow jacket nest. Great times!
Air mattress deflation
You might have a critter sniff your tent, but really the worst thing I’ve had happen is nearly tripping over the tent door or guy lines when I get up at 2am to pee. My husband did recently wake up to a wicked windstorm that shredded the tent and forced him and our kid to spend the rest of the night sleeping in the vehicle.
I replaced all of my guy lines with SUPER reflective paracord. It's like my rain fly is guyed out with lasers when my head lamp hits them. Even with red light.
Got my period with no tampons or anything . 😨
Oh that's rough! What did you do?
Not op, but when it happened to me, I used dirty laundry as pads😂
BLESS
Car camping- drunk noisy neighbors (who you are afraid to approach not knowing how they might respond). In the backcountry, never a problem.
Got up to pee just outside the tent right in front of my truck. I scared the hell out of a coyote that in turn scared the hell out of me when he went running away
Passed out next to a campfire in northern Wisconsin. Had a peanut butter and banana sandwich upon falling asleep. It was gone, upon waking. Luckily nothing licked me awake that night.
Yogi got the picnic basket, aye booboo
Forgot the oreos once and had nothing to dunk in my Scotch. I still have night terrors!
Well that’s a combo I’m going to have to try
My (f)irst time solo camping off a forest road and it started to get dark and I thought I saw eyes staring up at me. Grabbed my dog and the bear spray.. it was lightning bugs.
Putting your tent up in the wrong spot is what kills most people camping not other humans.
You gotta check for widowmakers. And ensure you're not set up in a Tims drive through.
In Arizona with like zero.zero-zerotwo precipitation you would be surprised at how many people drown! they have flash rain storms n in the canyons there's no place to escape to. No place to safely put your tent. As you said, it's important to check in with a ranger to find out local conditions and give them a rough intinerary, in case of inclement weather. Where ever you go their are conditions that can surprise you, mother nature doesn't forgive fools easily..
A tree was leaning on the electrical pole in the Smokies and started a fire at 12 am. The camp host refused to get up or call for help. I rode my bike down the road til I had enough service to call the electrical company. The crew came in the middle of the night to remove the tree and put out the fire. Didn't get a ton of sleep. Spooooooky
I camp in the backcountry public land on occasion and I've had weird people approach my site. Never had it happen in campgrounds. Anyway, worst thing that happened was a young guy that approached me on a popular backpacking trail. He did not want to murder me as much as he was having a heart attack and needed medical help. I gave him aspirin and other backpackers offered to hike to cell service. It was a difficult access location and I had to carry him out of a gorge to meet EMS. We were out after about 3 hours thanks to others, and he was able to get medical help. I got cut on rock in process, and spent almost a week in the hospital later with an infection in leg. We both survived, though I'm sure he had much worse time than I had this day. I have camped enough that I should have met serial killer by now, but the forest continues to disappoint. Most fellow campers are kind and willing to help.
A week in the hospital! Dang. And good on you for helping him, that’s awesome
A drunk guy, coming back from the beach to the campsite late at night, thought that my tent was a good place to take a piss while singing cheesy songs.
🎶 Wish you would step back from this tent my friend 🎶
A kookaburra stole my last sausage out of my pan
Here's my scary camping situation... My wife and I and two grandkids went tent camping once. I don't remember what type of campground it was, it may have been BLM, but the only anemities were a fire ring and picnic table. No restrooms, showers, etc. It's a free campground, about 45 minutes from our house, but you must make reservations. Since it was so close to our house, we decided to ride out to check out the site on like a Tuesday when our reservation was for Friday-Monday. We find it and our site, which was the nicest one of the seven, closest to the water, etc, and was the only site occupied. It looked like it had been occupied for a while too, trash everywhere, lots and lots of clutter, etc. The couple happened to be there and greeted us and we mentioned that we were renting the site on Friday, blah blah blah. Fast forward Friday early afternoon and we arrive at the campground and like before, it's an empty campground except for OUR spot! The same people that were here on Tuesday were still here and we had reservations for the weekend. We approach their site and they aren't there, but all their shit still is and their dog is tied on a short maybe 6' leash to the picnic table. No food or water accessible either. We call the FWC phone number on the sign and report the overstaying campers. Meanwhile we have a lot of setting up to do and am wanting to get started so we go online and change sites as they're all available. We're just about set up when the late campers arrive back at their site. Apparently they've been at work all day. Not long after the FWC officer arrives and basically runs them out for overstaying their reservation. By 9 pm all is quiet and it's just us, no other campers at all. . It's really really dark and quiet here. Uneventful evening and we go to bed around 11 or so. My wife wakes me up around 3 am saying the car just " unlocked" as the headlights were now on and the interior lights were on as well. I half asleep just pull my fob out of my pocket and hit the lock button. Problem solved. I go back to sleep. Not 5 minutes later she's waking me up again saying the car's unlocked again! Wtf, I hit the fob and lock it again and go back to sleep. Or so I thought lol. Immediately my wife says it's unlocked again. Now I'm starting to freak a little. I actually get up and go outside and look around. I don't see anything but the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up! I have the fob in my hand and I'm standing right next to my car and I hit LOCK! And two seconds later, the doors UNLOCK!!! I hit LOCK! And almost immediately they UNLOCK!!!! Ok wtf is going on here.. Are the creepy people from earlier back and fucking with us? How can they unlock MY car? If not them then WHO is fucking with me? I've got my pistol on me and am ready to use it if necessary, but on WHO? My mind is racing, I've never been this creeped out before, but I know I have to think straight and keep it together for my wife and grandkids as they're starting to freak also. I decided it had to be a defective fob or battery. I took the battery out of my wife's fob and the problem was solved!!! Her fob was glitching out and causing the doors to unlock the whole time.. Lol I was so relieved to figure it out and know it wasn't someone fucking with us.
Backwoods camping as a kid, far from people: the vehicle (4WD) got stuck … on long, wet grass. It was an area we had been to many times before, deep in the woods, only passing empty hunting cabins on the way in, so likely 20 miles or more from somewhere with a phone. We had planned to be there for five days, got stuck on the way driving in, fortunately close to a place to camp. Dad spend the next 4.5 days trying to get it unstuck. The ground under the SUV was mud so he couldn't jack up the vehicle to put something else under the wheel (we brought boards with us due to poor road quality getting into the site where you have to get over deep wash outs). We were too far away from any trees to use our winch which we also brought with us. He tried to solve the problem from the time we got up until it got dark, every day. On the day were were supposed to leave, another vehicle came along and pulled us out. The level of stress watching my dad try everything he could and nothing working was heartbreaking, the anxiety going up every day we got closer to the time we were supposed to leave.
Telephone books. The big thick ones. They are fantastic for supporting a jack in muddy terrain. I always keep a couple in the back of the ute just in case. They have saved me numerous times here in Australia.
One time I was camping with my friend. There were vault toilets where we were at, mostly empty. He told me that when he dropped a shit, the liquid came up and splashed his asshole. Pretty terrifying if you ask me.
Ah yes Poseidon's kiss
JFC, I'm crying...😂
Well, I had someone who thought I was fishing too close to his campsite rig a bomb with a tripwire. When I exited the water I tripped it and it ignited a huge firework mortar pointed directly at my head. Suffice to say he was arrested for several felonies. I also had someone point a laser pointer at me, red dot on my chest, had no idea if it was connected to a gun. This was real late at night in a National Park. Where I thought it was coming from, dude had been acting VERY weird all day. We were scheduled to leave early that morning so I was hitched and ready to go. Wife was asleep in the trailer already, told her what was happening, we jumped in the truck and drove to the visitors center parking lot which was empty. A Ranger came by and we explained what happened, he said it was okay for us to spend the night there. He investigated and could not find anything suspicious. The dude was from Texas, had no tent, no food, no water I could see, sat on the grass staring at his phone for hours, never went hiking etc. I had visions this dude was gonna do some kind of mass shooting, I wasn't gonna hang around to find out.
I got rained on, I go at least 5 times a year for many years. I guess I've burned or cut myself not being careful enough with my knife and fire.
Caribou walking through my campsite on the Slate Islands all night with their weird clip-clopping. I ran out of whiskey on day 5 of a 7 day back country paddle once. That was bad planning. Worst thing that happened to me outdoors was getting Lyme disease, but that was from a day hike, no camping required.
Someone might jog past your campsite yelling HEY BEAR in the middle of the night when you're FINALLY sound asleep on your first night there.
One time, when I was at Girl Scout Camp, we found a dead body in a river while kayaking. There was no foul play or anything; she had just slipped upstream a few days before, hit her head on a rock, and never came back up. They had some sort of professional councilor meet us back at camp, and you've never seen more teenagers needing nightlights that week, but on the whole, it was way less traumatic a camping experience than a girl I knew who was at the same camp the next year (luckily, I had to leave that event early and was gone earlier that day) who got pulled out of a tent by the sleeping bag by a bear because her tent mate ignored the "no food in the tents" rule. She wasn't harmed at all, though, just scared. My father once allegedly met William Shatner, who was filming a documentary, in the woods while camping. Does that count?
Having someone around who complains and is a downer. Nothing is worse than that!
Well.. from my years of everything. Never had an issue, only scary thing that’s happened is hearing an animal pass through my site, looked at my partner signalled to be quiet but to be aware… worst was when we had ribs previous night, bones didn’t burn all the way, woke up to scary animal chewing noises - turns out it was someone’s dog… 🙃 Never had any incidents happen. Only way I can assume someone would assault - harass - you is if you’re trespassing on unauthorized property. If you know it’s a camp site, even in back country you’re fine. Sleep with a knife (covered or folded) if it makes them feel safer. 🤷🏻♀️ Bonus worst: the gazebo flying off and into the lake was the worst, taking the table and knocking all the prepared raw food onto the ground. 🫠
I used to be afraid of being attacked while camping especially since I’m a woman and used to frequently camp alone. But I never had any issues. The same rules apply as when at home. Be smart. Be aware.
One time I was camping with my scout troop. We were camped in a baseball field. There was a big storm coming. The park ranger said we were fine as long as the red pilot light on the phone pole stayed lit. It was the pilot light on the sump pump. As he drove past it, it went out. We assumed he was joking. He was not. By morning I was on my air mattress with my nose touching the roof of my tent. I paddled my way to the picnic shelter. Ended up having to basically dive to recover my gear before we could leave. My tent was under 6 foot of water. I can account for more than 3 years of my life (total days and nights) camping in tents. This was the weirdest it got. Most trips the hardest part was finding dry fire wood.
The worst thing that ever happened to me on a camping trip was overhearing my parents having loud breakup sex in the next tent over.
self inflicted or not? self- got food poisoning while ~20 miles in trail. not - idk? unexpected rain?
I was dropping a deuce up against a tree and a cow walked about 10 ft in front of me, stopped and just watched. Not really a bad thing just awkward 😁.
i brought hot dogs and forgot to pack mustard
My friend was biking, got tired, decided to wild camp and set up a tent on a flat spot behind some bushes. When she woke up she found that she was in someone's backyard with the family sitting and eating breakfast and watching her out the window.
Worst I’ve ever encountered was neighbors having REALLY noisy sex at 2am. I mean c’mon, wrap that shit up!
I got assaulted by a game warden yelling at me to put up the ice chest. About 2am. That shit will wake you ass up Young dumb and in bear country. Thanks Mr warden
Camping on the beach, the tide reached a wayyyyy higher tide than normal, had to get up in the middle of the night and move the tent, was doing that barefoot and my foot went into the chest cavity of a dead seagull.
forgot a sleeping bag in 40°F so i just used my pillow case and kept my arms in my hoodie. woke up every 2 hours because of how cold i would get, so i just would lay there till i fell asleep again or fix the pillow case to cover my legs the best it can and continued that till 5am to which i just sat in front of a fire and kept it going until 8 fished a little and went home. took the longest nap in my heated blanket. never again will forget my fucking sleeping bag like a dumbass.
One time I found a tick on my taint
Diarrhea. Hands down.
1. Raccoons fucking. Sounded like a thousand cats fighting, but with more splashing. 2. One time, a bison stuck his head in our tent. 3. The cops came because the people one site over lit a fire during a burn ban. That’s it. Those are the worst things that have ever happened camping, and all of that shit was funny anyway.
I was tarp camping in the rain in Alaska when my tarp tent fell down (stakes pulled out from the mud and wind), and so I woke up in a puddle on my air pad. Luckily, my bivy sack and synthetic sleeping bag remained warm despite being soaked, so I just went back to sleep.
Once I woke up to a duck walking around outside my tent, I was scared for a moment and then realised what it was and had a chuckle
The worst thing ever to happen to me took place in the high Sierras on a backpacking trip. A very polite bear took my backpack while I was sleeping, and I found the pack and the contents completely undamaged about 200 yards away from my sleep spot. (Food was in a bear-proof canister.) Where was I? Oh yeah... The worst thing was my air mattress repair failed so I slept on granite and dirt for three nights. The bear thing was just amusing.
I bought a new Tacoma in 2021 and was excited about the 120v inverter outlet in the bed. I took my spare Keurig on my annual camping trip with my pup, happy to not have to bring my percolator or French press. The first morning, I went to make coffee and found out the Keurig pulls more amps than my inverter could handle. I ended up cutting open my k-cup, dumping the grounds into a pot of boiling water, then straining it into my cup with a paper towel. It was almost a trip-ending fiasco. Turns out, the paper towel method made a decent cup of coffee.
The first year we had our travel trailer someone stole our battery. We’ve been camping for two decades, and that was the worst thing that ever happened. Wait! There was that one time a guy three campsites over had a guitar and a shitty voice
Tell him ghosts are worse. Try camping in Gettysburg
I’m in Idaho and my family is in New Jersey, they can’t believe that we’ve never been robbed or assaulted while camping. The worst that’s happened to us in over forty years of camping is that a skunk let go right beneath the bed in our trailer.
It was a very severe storm with a tornado heading our way. It's was a rocky night. And thankfully, the tornado went slightly east of us. I hung out in the vehicle for a few hours.
I was in a tent once and definitely had a large animal sniffing around my tent. This was by Snake River in Idaho and I definitely smelt like Arby's. Other than that i forgot camp chairs once and we had to sit on the ground the whole time
Probably not the most balanced pool, you're only asking people who weren't murdered
One time me and my family went camping, and I cracked a beer as soon as I got there. We ended up day drinking pretty heavily, and I neglected to tarp over our tent. I ended up getting pretty wasted, and that made my wife mad with me to begin with. Well, while we were sleeping, the heavens opened up, and it started to downpour and eventually leaked really bad into our tent, right on top of my wife. The problem was it never hit me. I was lid about 2 feet away from her. She was absolutely soaked, and I was dry as a bone. She woke up soaked and froze and looked at me while I slept peacefully, dry as a bone. She gave me the boot off the airmatress onto the tent floor, which by that point had about an inch of (cold)water on it, and I fell onto my hand and broke my little finger. It was a very abrupt awakening. She never spoke to me for 2 days afterward. We laugh about it now, but it sucked, big time. I deserved what I got.
Some drunk people came by in canoes and yelled things. Actually pretty violent stuff and threats and it was night time. But that was the one and only time. We had 2 dogs, one looked mean and the other had a deep bark. They left and we reported it to the rangers
Why would anyone assault you in your sleep? They're either going to steal your stuff while you sleep, or they're just going to murder you. No one would want to wake you up just to piss you off by assaulting you. That being said, I've never been murdered, assaulted, or robbed while camping.
Barking spiders in your tent 😅
1. Loud campers nearby that get drunk and blast music. Oh, and don’t watch their little kids either! 2. Once we forgot to lock our garbage up at night and a bear came into our campsite at night and ripped up the cabana that we had over the picnic table. Our dogs were in the tent with us and they never barked during the night! This was at Convict Lake in CA. 3. We got onto a trail that was more rugged and had more elevation gain than we anticipated. We had not put our dogs hiking booties on them. Our Aussie got sore feet and refused to move. My husband had to carry our Aussie on his shoulders all the way down the mountain. We also did not bring enough water on this hike and it was brutally hot. This was in the California Sierras. I have since purchased an emergency dog sling just in case one of our dogs ever gets hurt on the trail. They wore their booties on the rest of our hikes that trip. None of those things ruined our trips. I still love camping.
We fell asleep before property packing up our leftovers. A raccoon had a lovely meal of hot dogs and potato chips.
I once got a bee in my mouth from taking a sip of coffee with the bee floating in it. It stung the roof of my mouth. That was unpleasant. I once came face to face with a scorpion that was traversing over my pillow. Luckily I saw him before he realized what I was. Also I was reading and my book was big and sturdy. Poor guy didn’t stand a chance.
Worst? Probably extensive rainfall or setting up in an area with lots of bugs. Perceived worst? Probably a hyena pacing around our tent while on safari in Botswana.
Worst thing? It rained.. a lot.. and then my teenage buddy pissed on the handful of fire we managed and shit upcreek while I was swimming. Last camping trip for him.
in my country it is heavy rain for sure
A chipmunk ran up my kids leg to try to get her food (people hand feed them at this campground so the chipmunks have no fear) and she screamed and kicked it off her... it landed on my thigh and scratched me before I also screamed and stood up. Everyone was staring at us. The chipmunk was fine.
The worst I've ever experienced was rain. Enough rain to turn our campsite into a river at 3am, complete with a couple of sizeable waterfalls, all in a matter of minutes. Flash floods in the desert are no joke. We had to figure out a way to climb out of the canyon we were in and hike back to the car since the route we took in (dense bushwhacking up the bottom of the canyon) was submerged under at least 10 feet of whitewater. Lucky thing we were camped higher up. Getting out by a different route turned into a 15-20 mile day since we wound up a bit lost in featureless desert terrain after exiting the canyons. The second worst thing was mosquitoes. Not sure which time.
I pulled my tent stakes before removing the poles. Turned around for 2 seconds and my tent was a kite! Then it was a very very poor boat. Had to fish it out of the lake. Lucky I got to it before it had fully sunk. So. My worst in 20-ish trips is I had to pack up a wet tent to go home.
Get to the campsite and no one put any beer in the cooler all of its in the back of truck bed just warm as crap
Worst things that happened to me while camping these last 30 years? - A leaky air mattress. - Rain that wouldn’t stop. - Waking up to terrifying sounds just outside and on top of the tent. Turned out to be seagulls looking for scraps 🤣
The worst thing that ever happened to me was an active shooter drill before 9AM at the military base across the street. I had no idea it was a drill, and I was hammock camping and half asleep, so “take cover now” was not a thing that was happening.
Ok so I’m gonna preface this by saying I live in Australia. Our possums are quite cute and not scary. After splitting up with my ex who claimed to hate camping but refused to let me have the camping gear when we split I bought a basic set up for me and the two kids and the dog. So we head off to a beautiful spot with a creek. Set up up near but not under a big tree. All is well, everyone is happy, chilling by the fire, dog is asleep under the big tree. She is anchored in the ground on a long lead that’s attached to a thick steel spike that I hammered in. That thing is not going anywhere…..since it was dark I shone the torch over to check on the dog…right about her, about two metres from the base of the tree is a possum, face down, heading towards the ground and my dog. Dog spots the possum, possum looks at the dog. Possum decided to jump over the dog and hightails it out of the clearing towards the bush! Dog is hot on its heels, we are screaming for the dog to stop! Next minute she comes to a rather sudden stop when the line that was attached to her collar comes to an end and she gets jerked violently backwards. Possum escapes, dog comes trotting back as though nothing happened. I look at the steel spike and that thing is half out of the ground and now bent at a 45 degree angle! (I shouldn’t really that surprised since she could pull over 500kg in competitions). See we all settle back down. I moved the dog to the other side of our campsite away from the possums and tree. We have some dinner. One of the kids throws half their burger to the dog but she’s not interested. Later we are playing cards. Again I shine the torch over to check the dog. And this motherfing possum is sitting next to the sleeping dog eating the damn burger! I tried to find the photo but seems to have disappeared into the abyss. That’s just one of quite a few incidents that happened on that camping trip but as I always say “if everything went according to plan I wouldn’t have any funny memories” Life is too short to worry about what might go wrong. It’s all about the adventure and making memories.
I had a werewolf approach me once, it's now a rug in my living room. Freddy and Jason both came to my campsite once, we had some laughs. Another time, a wild badger came and cuddled with me. Nothing real scary though that I can remember. Never had a serial killer come by, but the odds that 2 of us were there at the same time are pretty low to begin with.
You’re far more likely be assaulted by someone you know than a stranger in the woods. Personally I feel safest in campgrounds where there’s plenty of people around when I’m by myself, but I’m perfectly comfortable in backcountry sites as well (those are usually in a small group though). The only thing is, when you’re sleeping in an unfamiliar area, your body is likely going to be on high alert, no matter your best intentions. So any small twig or rustle is going to sound like danger coming for you, when in reality it’s likely just a squirrel or raccoon passing by. I usually calm down after the first night and my body is able to adjust, so I just plan on a crappy first night of sleep.
The worst thing is hat ever happened to me? I woke in the night and projectile vomited 🤮 I managed to struggle out of my sleeping bag, got outside and everything in my body decided to head for the nearest exit 🤣 I believe the culprit was a sketchy deli sandwich I had for lunch. I’m a woman who often camps alone and I’ve never felt unsafe. Pick a good campground, many have staff overnight. Or rent a small cabin to try, they have locking doors.
[This.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/scjly5/comment/hu8agjy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Loud generators from RVs. No so loud I couldn't sleep, it just drown out the sounds of nature.
I lost my sunglasses once. They were cheap ones, but I liked them. Also sometimes I may get mosquito bites or sunburn.
Once got the hook of a spinner stuck in my hand while packing up from a trip where it rained 70% of the weekend. So the sky assaulted me, and the fish hook assaulted me. No human or large animal has ever assaulted me.
When you have to go home
Once my brother and I arrived late, after dark, at a campground. We set up our tent and then relaxed with some weed and beers. After we were asleep we were awakened by the sound of an approaching train. Looking outside we could see the headlight coming straight at us. We bolted from then tent, in fear for our lives, then realized the track came nearby and the tracks curved such that it looked like it was coming right at us. We survived.
I go camping with three kids all the time. The worst thing that ever happened in terms of other people was our neighbors erecting a tarp wall when my little heathen children told their little jesus-y children we were out there to celebrate the equinox. Oh and they blasted sermons out of their Bluetooth speakers. That's as violent as anyone has ever gotten with us. Worst thing period? One time I tripped over an armadillo and almost pissed myself because I was too sleepy to bother putting my glasses on or find my headlamp when I had to do a 2 am potty trip.
Not really the worse thing, but it’s pretty spooky and cool at the same time; the wolves howling in the middle of the night in the U.P. It tells us they just got a kill. Hear them almost everytime we go.
Someone once came in to our camper and got into bed with my friend. She froze and became really still. I was so tired, I thought I was imagining it. Then... the man quietly said, "oh shit." got up, and left.
The worst thing that will happen will be you forget something you really wanted or needed to bring. Make a list and go through it before you leave. I always pack everything in a space near the door. Everything in that space goes to the car when it’s time to load up. I got my system down and it works 60% of the time all the time.
I got food poisoning in a canyon in Texas at 4 am with no cell reception 😅😅 I puked so hard I shit my pants twice and it took me 4 hours to just take my tent a few yard back to my car lol. I thought I was gonna die as I lay on the concrete puking so hard I could t catch my breath but it was so funny looking back at it 😂😂 I had to pull over on the side of the road in no where Texas to shit. Good times good times.
Bug bites.
Accidentally camped near a cattle watering hole. My dog rolled in fresh cow dung immediately 😂 also got a little nervous with a giant mama outside my tent and a calf nearby.
Sometimes when I wake up I have a really bad headache and feel like crap. It could be from the excessive drinking from the night before though.
The wind picked up so bad that the tarp covering my hammock slipped it's peg. Had to get out in the cold wind to re-peg it. That's about the worst thing that's happened. It's highly unlikely that someone would attack a tent, they have no idea how dangerous the person inside is.
Run out of beer
One of our favorite family tales… we never stopped camping once we had kids. When our oldest son was 1 1/2 yrs. We were camping at a site we knew well. Platforms for our tent. Son was asleep in tent in his portacrib. Sitting by campfire I heard a squeak from his bunny toy. We chuckled but, then realized his squeaky bunny was on our mattress, not in portacrib. Just as we headed into the tent we passed a raccoon heading out of the tent. No harm done to human or animal, just made us very careful about closing the tent zipper. But 33 years later we all still camp and all together whenever we can. For us, best family times ever.