Camp Out

Ah, the great outdoors! There’s nothing like it, especially in summer! It’s the perfect time of year to get away from the city and experience the beautiful sights and sounds of the natural world! What better way to do this than through camping? You know, taking a tent, some food, some wood tools, packing your bags and actually living outside for night or two? It takes a lot of preparation and a little skill, but it’s well worth it. There isn’t a better activity for reconnecting with the outdoors, something we do too little of these days. Oh, by the way, even though it’s a low-tech activity, we wouldn’t be able to camp without mining. Surprised? Don’t be! Take a look at just a few ways mining makes it possible to spend a weekend with Mother Nature:

- Sleeping & Shelter: When it comes to the outdoors, shelter is a must and sleeping comfortably is a necessity. After all, camping’s supposed to be fun, not miserable! Tents and sleeping bags are widely used for both. Tents are commonly made of fabrics like nylon and polyester that require mined materials, and the poles that allow tents to assume and retain their structure are often made of fiberglass (a combination of plastic and glass using minerals like boron and feldspar) or aluminum. Sleeping bags, like tents, are commonly made with synthetic fabrics like nylon which come from polymers partially made with plastic (which uses minerals such as barium, cadmium, and fluorite).

- Tools: While shelter and sleeping are important, so too is bringing along tools to help cut wood for a fire, prepare food for meals, or help with any number the chores camping entails. Some essential camping tools include an axe, pocket knife, matches, and a water bottle. Axes and pocket knives are highly useful for chopping wood, preparing fire-starting material, or even carving a walking stick. Both predominantly use stainless steel for their blades, edges, and other tools (pocket knives often include screwdrivers, tweezers and other “extras”). Water bottles are typically made from either a hardened plastic or from a metal like aluminum to offer durability. You’ve got to love durable water bottles that’ll keep you hydrated for a long time! The tips of matches, so vital for starting fires for cooking or socializing, are made using sulfur along with phosphorous for ignition (in strike-anywhere matches phosphorous is included in the match-tip).

Don’t forget that in addition to the minerals used to make each of these particular items, minerals and metals are also required to produce and transport each of these outdoor essentials. Without them, camping would be much more harder and far less enjoyable. All things considered, this means camping may be low-tech but it still requires a substantial amount of mining. Unless, that is, you want to live like a caveman. I’ll take mining-enabled camping over that primitive lifestyle any day!