Danger sheet

Every Danger box from every entry, by category. 440 lines.

Fire

Entry	Danger
A fire reflector	Fire can creep underground through roots, moss and peat and come up again hours later, far from where you lit it. Build on mineral soil or rock, and drown it out cold before you leave. A fire and a wall close to a shelter door can trap smoke inside. If your eyes sting or your head aches, open it up and move the fire out.
Fire in wet weather	Cold hands lose skill fast. Get the fire lit before your fingers stop working, not after. Never use gasoline or stove fuel to start a wet fire. It flashes and burns the person, not the wood. A fire under a tarp melts the tarp and fills it with smoke. Keep the flames well out from the edge.
Fire safety in camp and at the cabin	Smoke kills more people than flames do, most of them asleep. The alarm is what wakes you. A nylon tent burns and melts in seconds, and the melted cloth sticks to skin. A forest fire moves fastest uphill and with the wind. Never try to outrun one uphill. Move across the slope, toward rock, water or ground that has already burned.
Fire without matches	A cold lighter will not spark. Warm it inside your coat for a few minutes first. Tinder that feels dry in the hand can still hold enough damp to smother a spark. Scrape it to fluff and it will take. Friction fire wants dry wood, dry weather and an hour of work. It is the last resort, never the plan.
Keeping a fire overnight	A banked fire still throws heat and sparks. Keep it clear of the tarp, the boots and the woodpile. Never bank a fire on peat or deep moss. It will run underground. Wind can bring a banked fire back up to flame while you sleep.
One match fire	Wood lying on the ground is soaked through even after a dry week. Green wood smokes and will not carry a young flame. A fire built on deep moss or peat can burn underground for days. Dig down to mineral soil.
Putting a fire out	Peat, moss and the deep duff of our woods can burn underground and come up days later metres away. Never light a fire on it. Roots under a fire ring carry fire away from it. Dig around and wet the ground if you are unsure. If a fire gets away from you, get yourself clear first, then report it. Call 911.

Water

Entry	Danger
Carrying and storing water	A bladder hose freezes solid in minutes below zero. Blow the water back into the bag after every sip or carry bottles. Dark urine, headache and cramps mean you are already behind. Stop, drink and rest. Stored water that smells or has anything growing in it gets dumped, not treated.
Catching rainwater	Rain is clean when it falls. What it runs over is not. A tarp, a roof and a gutter all add dirt and germs. Water left sitting in a barrel through the warm months goes stale and grows things. If it smells or has anything growing in it, dump it. See Carrying and storing water. Near a highway, a mine or a smoking chimney, the roof and the rain can both carry things a filter will not take out.
Finding water	Still water in a bog or a beaver pond needs treating, and so does the clear brook. Brackish water at the coast is not water. It costs you more than it gives. Eating snow cold takes more heat out of you than the water is worth. Melt it.
Making water safe	Beaver ponds and slow flat water carry giardia. A filter that has frozen can crack inside and still look perfect, and it will pass everything. Chemical tablets are slow against cryptosporidium. Boil when you can.
Staying hydrated	Headache, dizziness, dark urine and bad tiredness are early signs of dehydration. Stop, drink and rest. Confusion, a fast heart and no urine for many hours are serious. Get help. Drinking huge amounts of plain water with no food or salt over many hours can also make you sick. Eat as you drink.
Water in winter	Eating snow pulls your core temperature down and costs more than it gives. Melt it first. A bottle stood upright freezes at the neck. Store it upside down so the ice forms at the bottom and the cap still turns. Ice at a brook mouth, a spring or a narrows stays thin all winter, cold snap or not.
Water not to drink	Some algae blooms make poisons that can hurt the liver and the nerves. Sickness, cramps, diarrhea, tingling or weakness after drinking pond water is serious. Call 811, or 911 if it is bad. Thirst makes bad water look good. Decide what you will not drink before you are thirsty.

Shelter

Entry	Danger
Debris shelter	A shelter you can sit up in is a shelter you cannot heat. Boughs alone leak. It is the deep litter over them that stops the rain and the wind. Working fast soaks you in sweat. Slow down and vent while you build.
Emergency bivy and space blanket	You will get wet inside from your own sweat and breath. Open it up when you start to feel damp. Shivering that stops while you are still cold is a bad sign. See Hypothermia. Old space blankets split along the folds. Replace one that has been in the pack for years.
Natural shelter	In a thunderstorm, stay out of shallow overhangs and cave mouths and away from a lone tall tree. Lightning can jump across the gap. Get low in thick woods or low ground away from water. See Lightning and storms. In deep snow the hollow around the trunk of a big spruce, a tree well, can swallow a person who falls in head first. Go in feet first and know how you will get out. Dead trees fall in wind with no warning. In a storm, move away from them.
Pitching a tent in wind	A tree that falls in the night is the real danger at a windy camp. Look up before you stake down. Poles snap under a gust when the fly flaps loose. Tight fabric carries load, loose fabric shocks it. A cooking stove inside a closed tent fills it with carbon monoxide. Cook in the vestibule with it open.
Snow shelter	A roof dug too thin comes down. That is what the sticks are for. No stove and no fire inside, and a candle only with the vent open. Carbon monoxide gives no warning at all. Digging works up a sweat and wet clothes freeze you at three in the morning. Strip a layer before you start.
Snow trench	Fresh snow on the roof can bring it down in the night. Knock it off if it sags. Blowing snow can seal the door and the vent. Check both whenever you wake. Lying on bare snow drains heat faster than the air does. Get something under you. See Hypothermia.
Tarp lean to	A flat roof pools rain and then dumps the lot on you. Standing dead trees drop limbs in wind. Cold comes up out of the ground faster than it comes out of the air. Get boughs, a pad or dry leaves under you.
Tree well shelter	Snow falls off the branches with no warning, most of all when the wind picks up or the day warms. A fire outside the well is fine, but keep it well out from under the branches and never inside a closed shelter. See Carbon monoxide poisoning. Sweat from digging soaks your layers and the cold comes after. Strip a layer before you start. See Hypothermia.

Food and Foraging

Entry	Danger
Berries worth picking	Never eat a berry you have not identified with certainty. There are white and red berries here that will make you sick. Bog is soft and it hides holes and old cuts. Where the berries are in the fall, so are the bears feeding on them. Make noise.
Bottled moose	Botulism can grow in sealed jars of meat that were not processed right. You cannot see, smell or taste it, and it can kill. Throw out any jar with a bulging lid, a broken seal, spurting liquid or a bad smell. Do not taste it to check. A jar that did not seal goes in the fridge and is eaten within a few days, or is processed again within a day.
Jerky and dried meat	Mould, a sour smell or a sticky surface means throw it out. Home jerky is not the store bought kind, which is made with cures and tested. Treat yours as keeping weeks, not years. Meat from an animal that was kept warm too long or handled dirty does not get better by drying.
Keeping food cold	Between 4 C and 60 C bacteria grow fast. That is the danger zone. Meltwater that has touched raw meat spreads bacteria. Keep meat sealed. A cooler left out is a bear's lunch box. Lock it in the truck or hang it. See Keeping animals out of camp.
Mussels and seaweed	Paralytic shellfish poisoning starts as tingling round the lips within minutes to hours and can stop your breathing. It is an emergency. Call 911 and go. Slippery rock and swell take people off the shore every year. One hand for the rock, always. Anything picked below a road culvert, a wharf or a sewer outfall is not food.
Packing food for a trip	Dried food needs water and fuel to cook. Plan the fuel for every hot meal. Meat and cheese go off fast in summer heat. Eat the fresh things first. A trip that runs long runs on the spare day. Do not eat it early.
Salting and drying fish	Fish that smells off, feels slimy, or shows pink or red patches after salting has spoiled. Throw it out. Botulism can grow in fish kept warm without air. Salt it, dry it, or keep it cold, nothing in between. Flies lay eggs on fish drying in warm weather. Dry in spring or fall, or under a screen.

Camp Cooking

Entry	Danger
Bannock	A pan on high flame burns the outside and leaves the middle raw. Grease spatters. Keep your face back when you lay the dough in.
Cooking on coals	Rock out of a brook or a beach holds water inside and can crack and throw pieces when it heats. Use dry rock. Fat dripping into coals flares up and burns whatever is over it. A lid holds half your heat in. Use one.
Cooking trout	Undercooked fish can carry parasites. Cook it through. Hot fat in a pan over an open fire can flare. Keep the pan level and a lid close by.
Dutch oven cooking	The pot, the lid and the bail get hot enough to burn through a glove. Use a lifter. Coals set on dry grass or duff can start a ground fire. Put them out cold when you are done. See Putting a fire out. Too much heat under bread burns the bottom long before the top is done.
Fish and brewis	Salt fish that smells off, feels slimy or shows pink or red patches has spoiled. Throw it out. Salt cod keeps its fine bones. Feel for them as you break the fish up. Hot pork fat spits. Keep the pan handle turned in and the pan away from children.
One pot meals	At a boil, a pot on a rock ring can tip. Set it level before you fill it. Altitude and wind make everything take longer. Judge by the food, not by the clock. Fish and tinned meat left out at camp in the warm goes off fast. Cook it the same day you open it.
The boil up	A kettle bail gets hot enough to burn. Lift it with a stick or a glove. In dry weather a spark can jump into moss and brush. Keep a pot of water beside the fire. A kettle of boiling water that tips scalds. Set it down on level ground.

Fishing

Entry	Danger
Casting a fly	A hook in the eye is the real danger. Wear glasses every time you cast, and a hat. Look behind you before the first cast. Power lines, trees, people and dogs all catch flies. Atlantic salmon rivers have their own rules, tags and fly only water. Read the current angling guide before you go.
Cleaning your catch	Gut smell and fish scraps at a campsite are a bear invitation. Deal with them before dark. A fish left in a warm bag for an hour is spoiled. Cold is the whole job. Limits, seasons, bait rules and salmon tagging change year to year and by river. Read the current guide, not last year's.
Fishing knots	Hooks in fingers and faces. Hold the hook by the bend when you tie, and wear glasses when you cast. Old line that has sat in the sun goes brittle. Replace it every season.
Ice fishing a pond	Moving water under the ice at a brook mouth keeps it thin all winter. If you go through, turn back toward the way you came, get your arms up on the ice, kick your legs out flat behind you, and pull out with the picks. Roll away from the hole. Do not stand up until you are well back on thick ice. Hands and feet chill fast when you sit still. Get up and move before they go numb.
Jigging for cod	Fog can close in with no warning. Carry a compass, a GPS and a horn. See Fog and coastal wind. Cold North Atlantic water takes your strength in minutes. Wear the lifejacket. See Capsize and cold water. Jigger hooks are big and sharp. Mind the hook while a fish is flapping in the boat.
Trouting a brook	Wet rock and slime on the bottom cause most brook falls. Test every step, and never wade fast water above the knee. A brook can rise fast and cold after heavy rain upstream, even where it is not raining. Many brooks and rivers in this province are scheduled salmon waters with their own seasons and gear rules. Check the current angler's guide before you fish running water with a worm or a spinner.
Trouting a pond	Seasons, limits and gear rules change by year and by water. Read the current guide before you go. A trout played out of warm shallow water often dies even after a careful release. Fish the cool of the day. Ice on a pond edge in spring will not hold you.

Hunting

Entry	Danger
Calling moose	Calling draws hunters as well as moose. Wear orange and keep your back to something solid. See Hunter orange and being seen. A bull in the rut can charge. Keep a tree or a rock between you and him when he is close. Seasons, zones, licence types and shooting hours are in the current hunting guide and change by year. Read it before you go.
Field dressing	A cut paunch or bladder taints meat fast. Slow right down at the pelvis. A warm carcass left in a pile spoils from the inside out in a few hours. Blood and gut on your hands and forearms belongs in a wash bucket, not on the gear and not on the truck seat.
Hanging and cooling meat	A sour smell deep at the bone means the meat did not cool in time. Throw that part out. Warm, still days in September and October can spoil a moose in a day. Move fast. A meat pole near camp draws animals in the night. Hang it well away from the tents. See Keeping animals out of camp.
Hunter orange and being seen	Most hunting shootings are one hunter taking another for game, or not seeing someone in the line of fire. The rules on how much hunter orange you must wear change. Read the current Hunting and Trapping Guide every season. Fog, low light and thick cover shrink the distance orange shows. Be most careful at first and last light.
Shot placement and the follow up	Know what is behind the animal before the safety comes off. Bright frothy blood is lungs. Dark blood with gut matter means back off and wait it out. Hair at the hit tells you where you struck. Look at it before you follow. Tag it and report it the way the licence says, and know the season and the area you are in.
Small game and birds	Rabbits carry tularemia. Wear gloves to clean them and cook the meat through. Check the season, the bag limit and the shot rules before you go. Non toxic shot is required for waterfowl. A twenty two round travels well over a mile. It needs a backstop like anything else. Leaving birds whole and warm overnight ruins them.
Still hunting and glassing	Other hunters are in the same country. Wear your orange and never shoot at sound or movement. Glassing late means walking out in the dark. Carry a light and know your way back. A cow moose with a calf, or a startled bull in the rut, can charge. Give them room.

Firearms

Entry	Danger
Carrying a firearm in the field	Brush can push the safety off and catch the trigger. Check the safety often in thick cover. A sling can slide off the shoulder and swing the muzzle across the people beside you. Ice, wet rock and moss take your feet out from under you. Most field accidents happen on the way in and out, not at the shot.
Cleaning a rifle	Snow, mud or a patch left in the barrel can burst it. Check the bore every time you have fallen or put the muzzle down. Bringing a cold rifle into a warm cabin fogs it with water inside and out. Leave it in its case to warm slowly, then dry it. Solvents give off fumes. Clean in a place with fresh air.
Matching ammunition	A twenty gauge shell dropped into a twelve gauge slides down and lodges in the barrel. A twelve fired behind it can burst the barrel. If a shot sounds weak or wrong, stop. A bullet can be stuck in the bore. Unload and look through the barrel before firing again. If a cartridge does not go off, keep the muzzle pointed safe and wait at least thirty seconds before opening the action. It can be a hang fire.
Safe gun handling	A safety is a mechanical part and mechanical parts fail. It is not a substitute for muzzle control. Alcohol and firearms never share a day. Snow, mud or ice in the barrel will burst it. Check the bore before you load.
Shotgun basics	A smaller shell lodged in the barrel, with a proper shell fired behind it, can burst the gun in your hands. Shot travels a long way. Know what is behind your bird, including roads, cabins and other hunters. Handle a shotgun with every rule in Safe gun handling. Treat it as loaded, every time.
Sighting in a rifle	Never rest the barrel itself on anything hard. Rest the stock. A scope that will not hold zero is usually loose rings, not a bad scope. A different box of ammunition can move the point of impact several inches. A bumped rifle in a truck or a fall in the country means you confirm the zero again before you hunt.
Storing and moving firearms	Storage and transport rules are law in Canada, not advice, and restricted firearms carry more of them. A cable through the action of a lever gun or a pump needs the action open. Forcing it damages the gun. Kids find every hiding place in the house. A lock is what stops that, not a high shelf. Check the local rules before you carry across a provincial line or into a park.

Navigation

Entry	Danger
Aiming off and catching features	In fog or snow, a pond or a barren can look like the one you want. Check the shape on the map before you turn. Brooks and shorelines in bog country can be hard to follow and easy to lose. Stay on the firm side and check the map often. If nothing matches the map, stop. See When you are lost.
GPS and phone navigation	A dead phone is the most common way a phone navigator gets lost. Watch the battery all day. A wet or frozen screen stops working. Keep it in a bag. Map apps show trails that no longer exist. Old logging roads grow in.
Navigating without a compass	Moss on the north side is a story. It grows where it is damp and shaded, and that is any side of any tree. Everyone circles when they cannot see. Walking at something ahead of you is the whole cure. Downhill and downstream leads to water and usually to people, but in this country it also leads into bog and over cliffs. Look before you commit to it.
Pacing and judging distance	In fog, snow or the dark you feel you have walked farther than you have. Trust the count over the feeling. The rougher the ground, the worse the count. On blowdown, tuckamore and steep slopes, treat your distance as a rough guess and lean on the map features. Daylight: check the time against the distance left while there is still light to turn back or make camp. See When you are lost.
Reading a topo map	Bog shown as open ground on a map can be waist deep. Walk the edges and test with a pole. A map case left open in the rain ruins the map in an hour. Contours hide small cliffs between the lines. Ground that looks steep on the map is steeper on foot.
Taking and walking a bearing	Steel, phones, axes and a truck hood pull the needle off. Ponds and cliffs make you detour. Count your paces around and come back onto the line. Declination drifts over the years. Check the date on the map.
When you are lost	Walking with no bearing puts you in a circle. It happens to everybody. Your gut in thick country is usually wrong. The compass is not. Downhill leads to water and water often leads to people here, but it also leads through the worst ground on the island.

Weather and Sky

Entry	Danger
Fog and coastal wind	Sea fog can drop visibility to a few metres in minutes and hold for days. Wind against tide in a tickle or a run stacks the sea up short and steep. Cold and wet in a fog on a headland is a hypothermia setup even in July. Sound in fog is a liar. A boat or a brook can seem to be in the wrong direction entirely.
Freezing rain and ice	Branches and whole trees snap under the weight of ice, often in the night or when the wind picks up. A downed line can be hidden under ice and snow and still be live. Stay at least ten metres away and call it in. Falls on ice break wrists, hips and heads. Go slow, and keep your phone on you, not in a pack.
Hurricanes and fall storms	Storm surge: the sea rises well above the high tide line and big waves ride on top of it. Low ground along the coast floods fast. Brooks and rivers rise for a day or more after the rain stops, as the water comes down off the hills. Hanging and leaning trees after a storm can fall with no warning. Keep out of blowdown until it has settled, and never camp under one. Downed power lines. Keep well back and call the power company.
Lightning and storms	A person struck by lightning carries no charge and is safe to touch. If they are not breathing, start CPR and call 911. The wind ahead of a storm line can flatten a tent, drop dead trees and roll a canoe. Look up before you pitch a camp. Lightning can strike well ahead of the rain. Blue sky overhead does not mean you are clear.
Reading a forecast	Weather on the coast changes faster than the forecast. Fog and wind can arrive in minutes. See Fog and coastal wind. Forecasts are for a region. A valley, a pond or a headland can be much windier or colder. Out of cell range, a weather radio is the only way to hear a new warning.
Reading the sky	A fine morning here says nothing about the afternoon. Wind on open water builds faster than you can paddle back into it. Lightning: off the high ground, off the water, out of the open, away from the tallest thing around.

First Aid

Entry	Danger
Burns and blisters	Get help for any burn bigger than the person's palm, any burn to the face, hands, feet, groin or over a joint, and any burn that is white, leathery or has no feeling. Singed nose hair, soot around the mouth, a hoarse voice or trouble breathing after a fire means the airway may be burned. That is an emergency. Red streaks, pus, spreading heat or a fever from a burn or blister means infection. Head out.
Carbon monoxide poisoning	Headache, dizziness, feeling sick, weakness, confusion and sleepiness. It feels like the flu, with no fever. Several people sick at once, or the dog as well, and better once outside, is carbon monoxide until proved otherwise. Sleep hides it. People die without waking. That is why the alarm matters. A finger pulse meter reads normal with carbon monoxide in the blood. Do not trust it for this. Children, older people, pregnant women and anyone with a heart or lung problem get sick faster.
Cuts and infection	Signs of infection: redness that spreads, heat, swelling that gets worse, pus, a bad smell, or pain that grows after the second day. Head out and see a doctor. A red streak running up the arm or leg from the cut, a fever or chills means the infection is spreading. That is urgent. Get help now. Numbness or a finger or toe that will not move after a cut can mean a cut nerve or tendon. Get it seen the same day.
Frostbite	Thawing then freezing again does far more damage than staying frozen. If you cannot keep it warm, leave it frozen until you can. Skin that stays hard, grey or black after warming, or large blood filled blisters, means deep injury. Get medical care. Wind chill freezes skin much faster than the thermometer suggests. See Tools for the wind chill chart.
Hypothermia	Shivering that has stopped in a cold person is a bad sign, not a good one. Handle a badly cold person gently and keep them flat. Rough handling can stop the heart. Somebody in it will tell you they are fine and argue about it. That is the condition talking, not them.
Splinting a break	White, cold or numb fingers and toes after strapping mean the ties are too tight. Loosen them now. Swelling comes on fast, so a splint that fit when you tied it will bind within the hour. Check it every twenty minutes. A broken hip, thigh or pelvis is a stay put and send for help job. It is not a walk out.
Stopping bad bleeding	Blood soaking through means the pressure is in the wrong place or is not hard enough. Pack tighter instead of piling more cloth on top. Cold and shock kill people who stopped bleeding an hour ago. Wrap them, including under them.

Knots and Rope

Entry	Danger
Bowline	A bowline tied backwards looks close and slips under load. Pull test every one. It loses strength when the loop is loaded sideways. On stiff slippery rope it can shake loose with no backup hitch.
Clove hitch and timber hitch	A clove hitch near the end of a post, pulled from the side, can roll right off the end. A timber hitch holds only under a steady pull. For a load that jerks, or goes slack and tight, use a round turn and two half hitches. See Knots that do everything. A log that catches on a stump and swings can take your legs out from under you. Never use either hitch to hold a person.
Coiling and caring for rope	Retire a rope that has cuts, flat spots, soft or stiff sections, a glazed or melted look, or that has held a hard fall or a big shock load. Camp rope and cord are for tarps, loads and lines. Never use them to hold a person's weight in a fall or a rescue. That takes rope made and rated for it.
Joining two ropes	A sheet bend can shake loose when it is not under load. Check it, or use the double. Tails that are too short pull through under load.
Knots that do everything	A knot not dressed flat, with its turns lying neat, is weaker and it slips. Every knot takes strength out of the rope. Allow for it on anything that matters. Cheap slippery cord will not hold a hitch that holds fine in decent rope. A prusik cord must be thinner than the rope it grips or it will not bite.
Tarp lines and lashings	Any knot you cannot pick apart in the dark with cold hands is the wrong knot. Paracord stretches wet and everything goes slack by midnight. Taut line hitches fix that in ten seconds. A line strung at neck height across camp is how somebody gets hurt. Hang a bright rag on it.
Trucker's hitch	Rope running over rope makes heat and wears fast. Check for glazed or fuzzy spots on a line you use often. A loaded line that lets go comes back hard. Keep faces clear. Slippery modern cord can creep. Put an extra half hitch on it.

Tools and Blades

Entry	Danger
Axe and saw work	A dull edge glances. Most axe wounds come off a blunt tool. A loose head is done until it is wedged. Do not swing it. Frozen wood throws chips and frozen steel chips too. Warm the head before you work it hard in the cold.
Batoning and feather sticks	A blade that slips off the end of a split swings toward your legs. Kneel or keep them wide. Batoning big wood breaks knives. Use an axe for anything thicker than your wrist. See Axe and saw work.
Carving camp gear	A knife that skips off a knot goes wherever your hand was pushing it. Slow down at knots. A cut hand in the bush is a trip ender. Keep a first aid kit handy. See Cuts and infection. Folding blades without a lock can close on your fingers.
Choosing a knife	Most camp cuts happen on the hand holding the work. Wear a glove on that hand for heavy carving. A dull knife slips and needs more force. Sharp is safer. A deep cut to the thigh or wrist can bleed fast. See Stopping bad bleeding.
Fixing gear in the field	Epoxy putty will not cure in hard cold. Warm it against your body first. A field repair is temporary. Do it again properly at home or it fails on the next trip. Pliers on a stuck fuel canister fitting can split it. Warm it instead.
Sharpening a knife	The angle is the whole job. Rocking the blade rounds the edge and no amount of work after fixes it. A power grinder cooks the temper out of a thin blade and that damage is permanent. A dull knife slips and cuts you. The sharp one is the safe one.
Sharpening an axe	The file slipping off the edge is how most people cut themselves sharpening. Wear gloves and keep the guard on. Blue or straw coloured steel near the edge means it has been overheated and has lost its temper. A deep nick from a rock or a nail must be filed back past the bottom of the nick, or it tears the next cut. Frozen wood is hard on a thin edge. Warm the head before heavy work in the cold.

Kayak and Canoe

Entry	Danger
Canoe strokes	Wind catches a canoe like a sail. Stay near shore when it is up. See Reading a forecast. Cold water kills fast. Wear the PFD every time. See Capsize and cold water. A paddle pinched between the canoe and a rock can throw you out. Let go of it.
Capsize and cold water	Cold water takes your hands and your strength in minutes and makes the decision for you. A capsize in wind and chop is nothing like the one you practiced. Alcohol on the water is how most drownings start.
Lifejackets and boat kit	Most people who drown boating were not wearing one. It works only if it is on and done up. Foam that is hard, fabric that tears, or a jacket faded by years of sun can fail. Replace it. Many inflatables count only when worn, and a fired cartridge means no float until you rearm it. Read the label.
Loading a canoe	A pond that is flat at the landing can be running a metre of chop at the far end. Load for the worst water on the route, not the water you can see. Wind on the beam with a light bow will spin you. If you cannot hold a line, land and put weight forward. Cold water and a loaded boat are a bad pair. If the water would kill you in twenty minutes, dress for swimming in it.
Paddling a kayak	Our water is cold enough all year to take your strength in minutes. Dress for a swim every time. See Capsize and cold water. Waves bouncing back off a cliff meet the incoming ones and make a confused, steep sea. Stand well off cliffs in any swell. An offshore wind feels calm near the beach and gets stronger the farther out you go. It can blow you out to sea. Fog can close in fast along the coast. Carry a compass and know your bearing home. See Fog and coastal wind.
Portaging and lining	Foot entrapment: never stand up in moving water above your knees. If you are swimming, get on your back with your feet up and downstream. A boat that swings broadside in current will fill and pin in seconds. Let the rope go before it takes you with it. Wet rock, alders and a canoe on your shoulders is how ankles get broken. Slow feet.

Camp and Cabin

Entry	Danger
Camp kitchen and dishes	Food smells on clothes you sleep in draw animals. Keep cooking clothes out of the tent. A stove in a closed tent can kill you with carbon monoxide. See Camp stoves and fuel. Warm leftovers kept for tomorrow can grow enough bacteria to make you sick. Cook what you will eat.
Camp stoves and fuel	A stove burning in a tent or a closed cabin makes carbon monoxide. It has no smell and it puts you to sleep. A canister that feels cold and weak is not empty. It is too cold to boil off. A windscreen wrapped tight around a canister stove can overheat the canister. Fuel on your hands in the cold takes heat straight out of the skin.
Firewood for the stove	Green wood hisses at the ends and burns cold. Softwood spits sparks. Keep the screen up and a pot of water handy. Never burn painted, treated or salt soaked wood in a cabin stove. Check the pipe and clean it before the first cold night, not after the chimney fire.
Keeping clean in camp	Dirty hands spread stomach bugs through a camp faster than bad water. See Making water safe. Diarrhea on a trip drains water from the body quickly. Drink more. See Staying hydrated. Wet skin rubbed all day turns into raw sores. Dry off and air out every evening.
Lanterns and headlamps	A fuel lantern gives off carbon monoxide and gets hot enough to melt a tent wall. Outside only. See Propane and carbon monoxide. Dark comes early and fast in the fall woods. Be back at camp, or have your light out, an hour before sunset. Rechargeable lights lose charge in the cold and a dead one gives little warning. Top them up every evening.
Picking a campsite	Game trails run through the best flat ground, and so does whatever made them. A hollow with no wind in it is a long night with the flies. Wet moss looks soft and soaks you by morning.
The toilet in the woods	Waste near water spreads giardia and stomach bugs to whoever drinks next, maybe you. See Water not to drink. Diarrhea in camp spreads through hands. Wash every time and keep a sick person away from the cooking. See Keeping clean in camp. At night, take a headlamp and tell someone where you are going. People get turned around 60 metres from camp.

Off Grid

Entry	Danger
Cabin power	Lead batteries pulled below half charge die early. Lithium must not be charged below freezing. Propane and any flame need real ventilation and a carbon monoxide detector. A generator runs outside, never in a porch or a shed against the cabin.
Closing and opening the cabin	A propane leak builds up in a closed cabin all winter. Air the place out before you strike a match or flick a switch. A chimney blocked by a nest fills the cabin with smoke and carbon monoxide on the first fire. See Propane and carbon monoxide, and Heating with wood. A roof loaded with wet snow can fail. After a heavy winter, check the rafters and the ceiling for sag and water marks.
Heating with wood	A chimney fire roars like a train, the stove pipe glows, and sparks come out the top. Shut the stove air, get everyone out, and call 911. A stove that smokes into the room, or a headache that clears when you go outside, can mean carbon monoxide. Get out and air it. See Propane and carbon monoxide. Hot stoves burn skin in a moment. Keep children and pets back.
Propane and carbon monoxide	Headache, dizziness, sickness, sleepiness and poor judgement in more than one person at once, or in the dog as well, is carbon monoxide until proved otherwise. Get out. A propane smell at floor level means gas has pooled. No switches, no lights, no flame. Open the door, shut the tank, leave, and let it air. Ice or heavy snow blocking a vent or chimney sends the exhaust back inside. A cylinder valve left cracked open while the appliance is off will fill a small building overnight.
Running a generator	Carbon monoxide has no smell. Headache, dizziness or sleepiness in more than one person means get everyone outside now. Exhaust drifts in through open windows and vents. Wind changes, so keep checking where it is going. A generator on wet ground, handled with wet hands, can shock you. Keep it dry and follow the manual on grounding.
Water and waste at a cabin	A frozen line that splits is not found until the thaw. Drain it properly. Water that looks clean off a barren can still carry giardia from beaver and caribou. A soak pit too close to a well or a brook contaminates it, and you will not see it happen. Antifreeze in a water line is only the plumbing kind marked non toxic, never the vehicle kind.

Winter and Cold

Entry	Danger
Hauling a toboggan	A loaded sled on a steep downhill can run into the back of your legs and knock you flat. Slush and overflow on a lake soak the bottom of the sled and freeze it solid to the load and the snow. A sled on a sidehill wants to roll. Cut a flat track across or go around. Sweat is the danger in winter hauling, not the cold. Wet clothes at the end of the day lead to hypothermia.
Keeping gear working in the cold	Alkaline batteries can lose most of their punch below freezing. Breathing into a sleeping bag soaks it from the inside. Zippers and buckles pack with ice. Work them before they freeze shut. A phone can shut off with half a charge showing when it gets cold.
Layering for cold	Cotton holds water and holds it against your skin. Boots laced tight cut the circulation and freeze your toes. Shivering that stops while the person is still cold is a bad sign. Shelter and heat, now.
Snowmobile travel	Moving water under ice, at inlets, outlets, narrows and around rocks, stays thin all winter. A machine through the ice sinks in seconds. Get off it and away from it, and use your picks. Wind chill at speed freezes skin fast. Watch each other's faces for white patches. See Frostbite. Deep snow off the trail can bury a machine and wear you out digging it free.
Snowshoes and breaking trail	A broken binding far from the truck turns a walk into wading. Carry a spare strap. Snow over brush and between rocks can hide holes deep enough to trap a leg. Deep snow on steep open slopes can slide. Stay in the trees or on low angle ground.
Travelling on snow and ice	Ice over a brook, a narrow, or a spring is thin no matter what the pond says. Snow on ice is a blanket. It keeps the ice warm and weak. Slush over ice soaks boots and freezes them solid. Dark blue and clear is strong. Grey, milky or honeycombed is rotten.
Winter camping	A tent under a dead tree or a loaded snowy branch can be crushed. Look up before you pitch. Sweat from the day freezes in your layers overnight. Change before you cool down. A person who stops shivering and gets clumsy is in trouble. See Hypothermia.

Signals and Rescue

Entry	Danger
Calling for help on a phone	Cold can shut a phone off at half charge. Warm it against your body and it may come back. A weak signal can carry a call that keeps dropping. Give your location in the first sentence. Coverage maps are wrong about the woods. Test the phone where you are going before you rely on it.
Flares and strobes	A handheld flare drips burning slag hot enough to burn through a boat, a jacket and skin. An aerial flare fired straight up can come back down on you still burning. Expired flares can fail to light or light badly, right when you need them.
Getting found	A whistle carries far past your voice and costs you nothing to blow. A phone with no bars still burns battery hunting for a tower. Airplane mode holds the charge, and it still shoots video with a time stamp. Searchers work daylight. Be visible at first light, not just at dusk.
Ground to air signals	Fresh snow buries a snow signal overnight. Stamp it out again every morning. A signal fire in dry weather can start a forest fire. Clear to bare ground and keep water handy. Waving casually at a passing aircraft can look like all is well. Use the two arm signal.
Leaving a trip plan	Do not change the route once the plan is out unless you can tell somebody. Do not lean on the phone. A plan works where there are no bars. Leave a note on the dash with the same detail. The vehicle is what gets found first.
Radios and beacons	A beacon under a tarp, in a pack, or against wet rock may never get out. Batteries and subscriptions expire quietly. Check both before every season. Cell coverage on a map is not coverage in a valley. A text that says you are fine is worth nothing if the position is stale.
Signal fires and smoke	In a dry spell a signal fire can get away into the woods. Keep it on open rock, gravel, a shore or the ice, and never leave it. Smoke from oil, rubber and plastic is poison. Stay upwind and use a little, not a lot. In wind and rain smoke lies flat along the ground and is hard to see. On a still morning it stands straight up.

Gear and Packs

Entry	Danger
Boots and rain gear	Wet feet all day means blisters and trench foot. Stop, dry off, change socks, and deal with a hot spot the minute you feel it. Rubber boots keep the bog out and hold the sweat in. Fine for a day on flat ground, hard on a long walk. Cold rain and wind is the fastest way into hypothermia in this province, warmer than freezing and far more dangerous.
Choosing a tent	A tent is not a winter shelter on its own. In the cold you need the right sleeping bag and pad under it. See Sleeping bags and pads. A stove, lantern or heater burning in a closed tent can kill you with carbon monoxide. Outside only.
Hammock camping	Widowmakers overhead, and trees with rot at the base or loose roots in wet ground. Wind. A hammock in the open loses heat fast. Hang it in the trees, out of the wind. Where the trees are all small or all dead, a tent is the better night.
Packing a backpack	A heavy pack on a slippery rock or a log crossing throws your balance. Undo the hip belt and chest strap at water crossings so you can shed it if you fall in. Sore spots on the hips or shoulders turn into raw skin. Stop and fix the fit early. See Burns and blisters. Carrying too much is how knees and backs give out far from the road.
Sleeping bags and pads	Down is warmer for the weight and useless when it is wet. In wet coastal weather synthetic is the safer bet unless you can keep down dry for certain. A comfort rating and a limit rating are two different numbers. The limit rating is survival, not sleep. A punctured air pad in winter is an emergency. Carry the patch kit and a foam backup.
The day pack	A phone is not navigation and it is not a light. It is a bonus. Gear you have never used in the dark and the wet does not count as gear. A kit holding nothing but sticking plasters is decoration.

Animals and Tracks

Entry	Danger
Beavers and beaver ponds	Beaver fever. Giardia lives in water where beavers and other animals live, and it can make you sick for weeks. Ice near a lodge, a dam or a feed pile stays thin all winter because the beavers keep the water moving. See Travelling on snow and ice. A cornered or sick beaver can bite hard. Leave it be.
Blackflies, mosquitoes and ticks	Hundreds of blackfly bites can make you feverish and sick. Cover up. Ticks that carry Lyme disease are rare on the Island but are found. A spreading red rash, fever or aches in the weeks after a bite mean seeing a doctor. Swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing after a sting, is an emergency. Call 911.
Coyotes and foxes	Rabies is found in foxes in this province, most often in Labrador. An animal that walks in circles, staggers, drools, attacks for no reason or is oddly tame may be sick. Stay away and report it. Any bite or scratch from a fox or a coyote needs a doctor. Rabies can be stopped with shots after a bite, but only if they start before signs show. Call 811 for advice. Coyotes will take a small dog, and a pair can kill a large one.
Keeping animals out of camp	A black bear in camp that will not leave is a serious problem. Get everyone together, make yourself big and loud, and give it a clear way out. Never run and never climb. A bear that comes at night, follows you, or comes back after being chased off is behaving like a predator. Fight back hard with anything to hand. Mice at a cabin carry disease in their droppings. Wet the mess down, do not sweep it dry, and wear a mask and gloves. Moose in the fall rut are more dangerous than most bears. Give them the whole meadow.
Moose and bear	A bear that keeps coming after it knows you are there is a different problem than one you surprised. Fight that one, hit the face and nose, do not play dead. A moose with its ears flat back and its hackles up is going to charge. Bear spray you have never handled is not protection. Know how it works before you need it.
Reading tracks and sign	Fresh bear sign around a carcass, or small tracks beside big ones, means leave the way you came. In the fall rut, fresh moose sign with thrashed saplings means a bull is close. Give him room.

Plants and Trees

Entry	Danger
Bark, moss and spruce gum	Fir and spruce boughs throw sparks and burn hot. Keep the bed well back from the fire. Sphagnum from standing water is not sterile. It is a pad, not a wound dressing on its own. Green boughs make heavy smoke. That is useful for a signal and bad inside a shelter.
Cattails	Blue flag iris grows in the same wet ground and its young leaves look much like cattail shoots. Iris is poisonous. Pick only where last year's brown cattail heads still stand, and check every shoot. A lit puff of fluff can drift away into dry grass. Light it low, in a fire pit. Marsh edges can be soft and deep. Test the ground with a stick before you step.
Fiddleheads	Raw or undercooked fiddleheads cause vomiting, cramps and diarrhoea within hours. Bracken fern looks a little like a fiddlehead when young. It is fuzzy, grows alone in dry open ground, and is not safe to eat. If you are not sure it is ostrich fern, leave it. See Plants to leave alone.
Labrador tea	Sheep laurel grows right beside it on the same barrens and is poisonous. Sheep laurel leaves come in threes, with no wool underneath and pink flowers. See Plants to leave alone. Bog laurel and bog rosemary also grow here, have narrow rolled leaves, and are poisonous. They have a pale or white underside, but no rusty wool. Labrador tea itself holds compounds that are harmful in large amounts. Too much can bring on sickness, cramps, dizziness or worse. If someone feels unwell after drinking it, call 811, or 911 if it is bad.
Plants to leave alone	If someone eats a plant and gets sick, call 911, or the poison line on the Emergency card. Keep a piece of the plant to show them. Water hemlock poisoning brings seizures within an hour. That is a 911 call, not a wait and see.
Rose hips	Other red berries grow in the same places and some are poisonous. A rose hip grows on a thorny rose bush, is shaped like a small egg or ball, and is packed with hairy seeds inside. Thorns go through cotton gloves. Wear leather or pick slow. Damp hips go mouldy in a closed jar. Dry them hard first.
Trees worth knowing	Live green wood does not burn. It smokes and steams and kills a young fire. Standing dead spruce drops limbs in wind. Cutting bark right around a live birch kills the tree.