Personal safety when hiking alone

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Replies

  • MamboRumba
    MamboRumba Posts: 423 Member
    No! You are not overreacting. Bad men are women greatest threats.

    Go on Meet Up and sign up for Hiking groups. Our group has hikes every week. It is a lot of fun when I go.


    I live in a gated community and my backyard is a Preserve. I walk the open trail around the lake.

    But, I won’t go into the woods alone. I WANT TO!

    It is just too risky that some man might be lurking about waiting for female hikers.

    It only takes a few minutes to commit an assault.

    Outside the neighborhood gates it is a city park .....so, everyone has access to this wooded park.

    Or, start your own Hiking Group.
  • floofyschmoofer
    floofyschmoofer Posts: 209 Member
    My sister hikes a lot in CO wilderness and she carries bear spray and a knife.
  • yelliezx
    yelliezx Posts: 633 Member
    Not that I hike but I have a taser disguised as a hiking stick thing lol.
  • MamboRumba
    MamboRumba Posts: 423 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    The reason to take a dog is not so that it will defend you it is so that you become a less desirable target. That is the same reason to take a stick with you. The goal is to avoid defending yourself at all because no matter how much training and what weapons you have you are always at risk of losing. If someone sees you with a dog that can bark and get attention and a stick that can hurt they will be much less likely to try anything.

    I also agree that you are never in as much risk as the "stories" would have you believe. Most people are just trying to get through their day too and probably barely even notice you are there.

    I scared a young girl not to long ago. I am a creature of habit and I like filling my gas at the same gas station and even using the same pump. So I pulled into my pump and there was a young girl on the other side. There was no one else getting gas and I guess the fact I pulled in next to her when I could have picked another pump alarmed her. She quickly headed inside looking back to make sure I wasn't following her. She started talking to the attendant and a few times she pointed at me. She stayed there until I left watching me the entire time. I would have barely known she was there if she hadn't been so obviously scared. I could have gone inside and tried to calm her but I decided that even if I told her I meant her no harm there was a chance she would think I was lying.

    Are people really taking their dogs on long hikes? What kind of dogs do y’all have?


    For mine.....it is tiring and hot! Making them walk for a long amount of time on dirty uneven grounds, with rocks, sticks, insects, etc. Mud! I don’t do it.

    Short walks are ok on better weather days.

    But, when I think of a hike it is like 7+ miles. A few leisure hours of me-time walking enjoying nature.

    I have a jogging stroller for my little dog.....and, she really loves that. Makes her feel like the Queen of the World!

    For my larger dogs....I walk about a mile with them. Then drop them off at home and keep walking by myself.

    (I do live in very hot humid weather. We also get a lot of rain. Ground is either too hot or mud)


    What breeds are good for long wooded hikes?

  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    both my collie mix and my lab mix can do 10+ walking. i bring them water and usually give them a chance to play in water too
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited August 2019
    MamboRumba wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    The reason to take a dog is not so that it will defend you it is so that you become a less desirable target. That is the same reason to take a stick with you. The goal is to avoid defending yourself at all because no matter how much training and what weapons you have you are always at risk of losing. If someone sees you with a dog that can bark and get attention and a stick that can hurt they will be much less likely to try anything.

    I also agree that you are never in as much risk as the "stories" would have you believe. Most people are just trying to get through their day too and probably barely even notice you are there.

    I scared a young girl not to long ago. I am a creature of habit and I like filling my gas at the same gas station and even using the same pump. So I pulled into my pump and there was a young girl on the other side. There was no one else getting gas and I guess the fact I pulled in next to her when I could have picked another pump alarmed her. She quickly headed inside looking back to make sure I wasn't following her. She started talking to the attendant and a few times she pointed at me. She stayed there until I left watching me the entire time. I would have barely known she was there if she hadn't been so obviously scared. I could have gone inside and tried to calm her but I decided that even if I told her I meant her no harm there was a chance she would think I was lying.

    Are people really taking their dogs on long hikes? What kind of dogs do y’all have?


    For mine.....it is tiring and hot! Making them walk for a long amount of time on dirty uneven grounds, with rocks, sticks, insects, etc. Mud! I don’t do it.

    Short walks are ok on better weather days.

    But, when I think of a hike it is like 7+ miles. A few leisure hours of me-time walking enjoying nature.

    I have a jogging stroller for my little dog.....and, she really loves that. Makes her feel like the Queen of the World!

    For my larger dogs....I walk about a mile with them. Then drop them off at home and keep walking by myself.

    (I do live in very hot humid weather. We also get a lot of rain. Ground is either too hot or mud)


    What breeds are good for long wooded hikes?

    Probably any working dog breed; in fact, these can have behavior issues if they don't get enough exercise - cases in point my mom's Australian Shepherd and my Husky. (Sadly both deceased.)

    Mom's dog would take herself for walks if Mom didn't get on it fast enough. (Mom has a hard time with the concept of leash laws and lives in a quiet neighborhood with dirt roads where she could get away with this.)

    My uncle uses border collies on his working sheep farm and they need tons of exercise as well.

    This is not very comprehensive, but perhaps a good starting point: https://news.orvis.com/dogs/dog-exercise-needs-by-breed
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    cbihatt wrote: »
    What about something loud, like an air horn? It could be loud enough to damage a person’s hearing if used up close, and at the very least it would help you to signal for help.

    I was just going to suggest this. Great minds. 😉

    What about a taser?
  • PapillonNoire
    PapillonNoire Posts: 76 Member
    MamboRumba wrote: »

    Are people really taking their dogs on long hikes? What kind of dogs do y’all have?


    For mine.....it is tiring and hot! Making them walk for a long amount of time on dirty uneven grounds, with rocks, sticks, insects, etc. Mud! I don’t do it.

    Short walks are ok on better weather days.

    But, when I think of a hike it is like 7+ miles. A few leisure hours of me-time walking enjoying nature.

    I have a jogging stroller for my little dog.....and, she really loves that. Makes her feel like the Queen of the World!

    For my larger dogs....I walk about a mile with them. Then drop them off at home and keep walking by myself.

    (I do live in very hot humid weather. We also get a lot of rain. Ground is either too hot or mud)


    What breeds are good for long wooded hikes?

    I have an 11 year old Papillon who did a 9 mile hike with me last weekend. I figured since she's only about 7 pounds I would just carry her if she got tuckered out, but she happily kept up the whole way.
  • MamboRumba
    MamboRumba Posts: 423 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    One thing I see a lot at a nature hike I take in a park...it's about three miles round trip and the first leg ends at a beach, so the dogs do quite a bit of running around at the beach in the sun. People bring their puppies. Big puppies, like labs and retrievers. These puppies tend to bonk after the first leg. There is plenty of water available but these people aren't bringing food for the dogs. The pups need food! If they haven't eaten within a half hour of their walk, bring food for them! These pups are flat-out refusing to walk, lying down on the trail, and people are trying to force them to walk.

    No. Puppies need to be eased in to longer walks and should never be run. Check with the vet before exercising young animals.

    And now we'll have dog arguments...gosh, I know better than to get in threads about this.


    🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 no, no arguing, please! I love it that people have dogs that can tolerate long hikes in their areas.

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    MamboRumba wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    The reason to take a dog is not so that it will defend you it is so that you become a less desirable target. That is the same reason to take a stick with you. The goal is to avoid defending yourself at all because no matter how much training and what weapons you have you are always at risk of losing. If someone sees you with a dog that can bark and get attention and a stick that can hurt they will be much less likely to try anything.

    I also agree that you are never in as much risk as the "stories" would have you believe. Most people are just trying to get through their day too and probably barely even notice you are there.

    I scared a young girl not to long ago. I am a creature of habit and I like filling my gas at the same gas station and even using the same pump. So I pulled into my pump and there was a young girl on the other side. There was no one else getting gas and I guess the fact I pulled in next to her when I could have picked another pump alarmed her. She quickly headed inside looking back to make sure I wasn't following her. She started talking to the attendant and a few times she pointed at me. She stayed there until I left watching me the entire time. I would have barely known she was there if she hadn't been so obviously scared. I could have gone inside and tried to calm her but I decided that even if I told her I meant her no harm there was a chance she would think I was lying.

    Are people really taking their dogs on long hikes? What kind of dogs do y’all have?


    For mine.....it is tiring and hot! Making them walk for a long amount of time on dirty uneven grounds, with rocks, sticks, insects, etc. Mud! I don’t do it.

    Short walks are ok on better weather days.

    But, when I think of a hike it is like 7+ miles. A few leisure hours of me-time walking enjoying nature.

    I have a jogging stroller for my little dog.....and, she really loves that. Makes her feel like the Queen of the World!

    For my larger dogs....I walk about a mile with them. Then drop them off at home and keep walking by myself.

    (I do live in very hot humid weather. We also get a lot of rain. Ground is either too hot or mud)


    What breeds are good for long wooded hikes?


    My puppy loves the mud, uneven ground, rocks, sticks. and he routinely eats insects... so basically a normal dog. When choosing a rescue I picked a, then, 28lb dog so he is not huge for being indoors which is what my wife wanted and certainly big enough for fairly long treks. I am more careful on hot days because he is still a puppy and I bring water for him to drink but he is not a fragile animal by any definition. He will max out under 35 pounds so definitely a medium sized dog.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    I have nothing to add, but I really empathize with you. I also like long hikes alone. It's so care free and restorative. Unless you feel unsafe, which really destroys the whole care-free and restorative point of the endeavor. Since your dog can handle it, that's a great solution. No special training needed. As others said, a dog introduces too many variables for a predator... even a wimpy little dog discourages someone looking for an easy target. I wish you the best and happy trails.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Hannahwalksfar wrote: »
    Never mind. It’s illegal here.

    Here in Texas Monday for the first time in several decades it will be legal to possess and carry brass knuckles. Maybe that for you there?
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    Australia, where everything wants to kill you and you're not allowed to stop it. Lol

    ETA: with your options for self defense being so limited, I would second the suggestions for a sturdy stick and taking the pup.
    Also, walk tall and make eye contact with everyone. It portrays confidence which makes you seem less vulnerable.

    Haa haa. Our homicide rate is tiny in comparison to the US and here most victims are known to the perpetrator. We have crocodiles and sharks which we won't have a problem with when hiking. There are snakes which will leave you alone if you leave them alone. Kangaroos, koala, emus, wombats .... certainly don't need a spray to protect us from those. That only leaves those killer drop bears ;)
  • Hannahwalksfar
    Hannahwalksfar Posts: 572 Member
    I was thinking more kidnapping or assault. Didn’t even consider being murdered. Glad it’s statistically unlikely.
  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
    edited August 2019
    Hannah--get bear spray. If you had a gun you'd just hesitate to use it anyway, because in most cases you'd still be trying to calculate a way to get out of the situation without killing someone (especially in a remote area where emergency response to their gunshot wound would be delayed). With bear spray you put them in a nasty backwoods pickle, but you can get away and they probably won't die unless they do something stupid like walk off a cliff while they can't see anything.

    I understand what lilly is saying about the stats, however your personal experience is informing your fear. We don't know the nature of the creepy experience, but one thing to remember is that even as you were at the time it happened, without training or weapon, you got away and are here to post about it now. Whatever you did worked--your existing survival skills were adequate to that particular challenge.

    It makes sense to become better prepared in case the next threat is more dangerous, but take some comfort in the fact you already prevailed in one situation.

    PS: now I go back and see pepper spray is illegal where you live. In a pinch a handful of dirt can be pretty effective.

    Martial arts come in two broad flavors--striking and grappling. I suggest taking up a grappling type art because it will teach you ways to escape when someone grabs you. The problem with a striking art for us women is if we fail to deliver adequate power in a strike we'll just piss the attacker off. With a grappling art you keep escaping, he's expending much more energy than you are, and if you can make him fall one or more times then all his weight and energy are working against him when he hits the ground. Grappling arts include jiu jitsu, aikido, judo, etc---but you want to focus on situations where *you* stand and *they* fall, not wrestling around in holds on the ground.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    It's not clear that bear spray is legal in Australia. I haven't seen any indication that it is or any place that seems to sell it.

    Even if it was, bear spray is NOT the same thing as pepper spray and not considered an effective defense against human attackers. It is much weaker and while it may possibly scare off a human attacker, it will not incapacitate them.
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