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The Outdoors Skills Quiz
from Kids Outdoors
by Victoria and Frank Logue

Test your knowledge of leave no trace camping and hiking as well as other outdoor skills. Some answers are worth one point, while others are good for two points. Answers for points scoring follow each question. More details on each response follow the entire quiz.

If you get no points, do us all a favor and stay out of the backcountry. For 1-10 points, you are a certified couch potato. For 11-15 points, you are ready for the outdoors. More than 16 points, you are a backcountry guide. No matter how you rate in the quiz, if you love getting out in the outdoors, you'll love Kids Outdoors.

Hint: The answers are practical and not always at the extreme of leave no trace.

1. Your walking a trail with two other hikers. Three miles in from the road, one of the other hikers slips off a steep slope. The hiker is now 20 feet down a steep embankment with what seems to be a badly broken leg and a vicious bruise on the forehead. You should:

2. You are camping at a primitive campsite equipped with a privy that has more flies and smells worse than the south end of a northbound moose. What do you do when nature calls?

A. Head to the woods with a trowel, keeping at least 200 feet from any water source and well off from camp to spread out the impact on the campsite and your nose.
B. Use the privy.
C. Pack out all wastes in a plastic bag.
D. Wait till you get home two days later.

3. You reach your goal for the day's hike, an established primitive campsite along the trail. The two campfire rings are full of half burned trash. What do you do?

A. Take both rings apart by scattering the rocks in the woods and packing out the trash.
B. Dismantle one fire ring by scattering the rocks away from the camp and pack out the trash from both rings.
C. Build a fire in one ring and leave the other one in case more campers arrive later.

4. Bushwhacking straight up or down a mountain, and bypassing switchbacks is:

A. A mortal sin punishable by a lifetime in hell under any circumstances.
B. Allowable when beating a quick retreat off a treeless summit to get away from an electrical storm booming overhead.
C. A good idea if you're tired.
D. O.K. if nobody else is around to follow your bad example.

5. Banana peels, peanut shells and other "natural trash" should be:

A. Eaten. You have to take the bad parts with the good when trying to leave no trace.
B. Buried out of site of camp.
C. Scattered in the woods to rot.
D. Packed out with the rest of your trash.

6. Tents, rain jackets and pack covers are sold in a variety of colors. You should buy them in:

A. Earth tones to blend in with the surroundings.
B. International orange so hunters won't confuse you for deer and other big game animals.
C. Bright colors to signal airplanes in case you get lost.
D. White for summer gear to reflect heat, keeping you cooler and black for winter gear to absorb heat and keep you warm.

7. If dumped overboard on a whitewater rafting or canoe trip, you should:

A. Swim across the rapids doing the crawl stroke to get to the bank as fast as you can.
B. Pull someone else overboard to help you in the rapids.
C. Pinch yourself to make sure it isn't all a bad dream.
D. Point your feet downstream and float through the rapids, getting out at the closest calm spot.

8. When collecting wood for a campfire, be sure to:

A. Get enough wood to keep the fire burning all night in case you get a really good joke-telling session going.
B. Cut down trees that look like they are dead anyway.
C. Collect wood out of site of the camp, picking up only dead and downed wood.
D. Not get any, because you shouldn't build fires.

9. You have been hiking all afternoon in a steady drizzling rain. It forty-five degrees out and your backpacking partner has been complaining about being cold and shivering. Now he is slurring his speach and talking about going to sleep early without dinner. You should:

A. Set up the tent and keep quiet while he drifts off to sleep.
B. Get him out of his wet clothes, fire up the stove and get something hot to drink and a good warm meal in him.
C. Hike the eight miles back to the car together. Your partner has hypothermia and needs medical attention.
D. Strip off all your clothes and climb in a sleeping bag together to warm up.

10. When cleaning the dishes in camp, you should get rid of the water you washed them in by:

A. Packing it out.
B. Pouring it in the water of a swift moving creek where it will be cleaned as it rushes through the rocks.
C. Packing out any leftover food scraps and scattering the little bit of water well away from camp and at least 200 feet from a water source.
D. Swallowing the left over water, if you didn't use soap it only has leftover food anyway.

Answers in detail:

2. B Give yourself 2 points for using a smelly privy. You get 1 point for answer A. You should have used the privy, but at least you followed leave no trace guidelines when you hit the woods.

3. C At an established site, it is overly optimistic to assume that other campers will forgo a fire. But taking the second ring apart will concentrate the later use to one site. Give yourself 2 points for answer C and one point for answer B, which takes leave no trace practices a bit too far for an established campsite.

4. B Let's be realistic. Safety should come first, but only bend the rules if you are really in danger. Give yourself 2 points for answer B and just one point for taking things too far with answer A.

5. D Pack out any trash, natural and otherwise. It takes banana peels and peanut shells to long to rot in the woods and they could be dug up by animals if buried. Give yourself 2 points for answer D, and no points for any other answers (eat peels and shells if you like, but you won't get any points for it here).

6. A Give yourself 2 points for selecting gear that won't clash with the outdoors. It will make your camp less intrusive on your fellow campers wilderness experience. Give yourself 1 point for answer B, though, because an international orange coat, vest or pack cover will make winter hiking safer in areas frequented by hunters. You don't get 2 points, however, because getting all your gear in orange is a little too much.

7. D Keep your feet pointed downstream to absorb the shock of running into rocks. Give yourself 2 points for D and no points for other answers. Trying to swim across the current in big rapids will only send you over a falls sideways and unprotected. Work with the current not against it.

8. C or D Give yourself 2 points for either response. It is true that you should forgo a campfire whenever possible, but the question did ask what to do if you are going to have a fire. Gathering wood away from the campsite will prevent that surface-of-the-moon, picked-over look that well-worn campsites get.

9. B You get 2 points for recognizing signs of hypothermia, even when the temperature is well above freezing. You should have to take away a point (but don't) if you laughed at answer D. If you hiking buddy doesn't have dry clothes and you can't get enough warm food and drink into him to stop the shivering, the next step is to use your own body heat to warm him up. Don't worry about how this story will sound when told at school, your hiking partner's life is at stake.

10. C You get 2 points for this answer. Go ahead and give yourself 1 point each for either A or D. They are a little extreme to be practical, but either of these would work.