Ever wake in the morning while in the wild and wonder if man or beast has wandered into your camp late at night while you slept?

With a simple alarm system, you may be able to rest a little easier.

You won’t find the professional version of this contraption at your local sporting goods store, but if you travel the far north, you’ll find places that sell trip wire flares. These flares are used in remote camps to warn of polar bear and grizzly bear incursions.

We can also make our own version of this warning system to wake ourselves up if something big blunders into camp during the night. All you’ll need to set this up is an air horn, some mono filament, a small stick and a flat rock.

The trip wire warning system works like this:

• Bury the canister of the air horn in the ground, leaving the horn and the button exposed.
• Position the flat rock to fall on the air horn button, and prop up the rock with the small stick.
• Tie your mono filament to the small stick, and run it out as a trip wire across a trail, or make a circuit all the way around camp.
• Tie off the mono to a bush, rock or stake keeping the mono about 1 foot off the ground for its entire length.

Then you let this simple device do its job. If something hits the trip wire, the small stick is pulled out from underneath the flat rock. The rock immediately falls, smacking the button on top of the air horn. The loud sound scares the intruder, and alerts the residents to the breach of security.

Boating supply stores carry good-quality air horns. Party supply stores will often stock a lower quality air horn at a cheaper price than the nautical variety.

And in case you haven’t already thought this through, this setup also makes for an outstanding practical joke around camp. Set this up on your main trail into camp and see who sets it off first. Just make sure they aren’t carrying your dinner, and that their heart can stand the shock.

Comments (3)

from Glenn Shaffstall 8/30/2012 at 08:17pm

Now that's a great idea.

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from pineywoods 6/21/2012 at 03:29pm

That's a lot better than the old idea of hanging tin cans with rocks in them around the camp---you have to eat a lot of pork and beans and drink a lot of soda/beer to have enough cans, then you have to pack them back out

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from Bob Hansen 6/14/2012 at 03:57pm

Hi...

What a unique idea. I'm going to try it.

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from pineywoods 6/21/2012 at 03:29pm

That's a lot better than the old idea of hanging tin cans with rocks in them around the camp---you have to eat a lot of pork and beans and drink a lot of soda/beer to have enough cans, then you have to pack them back out

+3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Bob Hansen 6/14/2012 at 03:57pm

Hi...

What a unique idea. I'm going to try it.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Glenn Shaffstall 8/30/2012 at 08:17pm

Now that's a great idea.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

Write a Comment Your comment (200 characters or less):

 

All submitted answers are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.