Wildlife
Animals and insects that can bite, sting, charge, transmit disease, or otherwise injure people.
Know before you go™
The world is packed with hidden dangers. We help you see them first.
What Can Kill Me™ is a community-powered safety platform designed to help hikers, travelers, beachgoers, drivers, boaters, families, and outdoor workers discover real-world hazards before they become emergencies.
- Preview hazards at your destination before leaving home.
- Receive location-based alerts as conditions change.
- See crowd-sourced reports supported by trust and verification data.
- Use dynamic risk scoring to make better decisions.
- Save critical information for areas with limited connectivity.
Destination
Yosemite National Park
Activities
Hiking • Camping
Travel dates
May 25–28
🍄 Poisonous mushrooms • 1.2 mi
🌊 Flash flood warning • 3.5 mi
🔥 Wildfire smoke • 5.3 mi
Flash Flood Warning
Heavy rainfall may cause dangerous flooding nearby.
8Hazard families
3 levelsConsistent hazard classification
Real timeLocation-aware alerts
CommunityReports, confirmations and trust
Simple by design
How it works
From planning to reporting, the experience is designed to help users act quickly without burying them in technical details.
1. Search
Choose a destination or use your current location.
2. Scan
Review nearby hazards and destination risks.
3. Alert
Receive real-time warnings as conditions change.
4. Report
Share factual hazards and help protect others.
5. Prepare
Save trip information for offline access.
One safety view
Eight hazard families
The app organizes hazards into clear families so users can filter the map, understand reports, and receive relevant alerts.
Weather
Storms, lightning, extreme temperatures, snow, ice, wind, and rapidly changing conditions.
Fire
Wildfires, prescribed burns, smoke, evacuation zones, and dangerous fire conditions.
Water
Flooding, currents, rip tides, dangerous surf, water contamination, and drowning risk.
Terrain
Cliffs, unstable ground, rockfall, avalanches, landslides, trail damage, and low visibility.
People
Violence, threatening behavior, unsafe crowds, criminal activity, and avoid-area reports.
Infrastructure
Road closures, washouts, bridge damage, power lines, utilities, construction, and structural failures.
Plant
Poisonous plants, toxic mushrooms, thorns, irritants, spores, and other botanical hazards.
Designed for real decisions
More than pins on a map
Pre-trip safety scans
Research likely hazards before arriving at a trail, beach, road, campground, city, or international destination.
Geofenced alerts
Risk zones can trigger visual, audio, haptic, and connected-device notifications as a user approaches danger.
Photo-enabled reports
Photos, time, location, heading, altitude, and device accuracy can help the community understand a report.
Confidence and verification
Confirmations, expert review, official sources, freshness, and disputes can help communicate reliability.
Multiple map views
Street, satellite, and outdoor map layers give users the context needed for travel and outdoor decisions.
Offline trip packs
Save important hazard information, routes, contacts, and preparation notes before entering low-signal areas.
Interactive prototype
Try the app concept now
This browser demo contains sample data and is still in development. It is not a substitute for official alerts or emergency services.
Sample field reports
Real hazards deserve clear context
These project photos demonstrate how visual reports can help users recognize conditions before entering an area.
Rattlesnake on Trail
Keep a safe distance and allow the animal an escape route.
Wildfire Near Homes
Active flames and smoke near structures require immediate official guidance.
Flooded Roadway
Never drive through floodwater; the road surface may be compromised.
Snow and Ice-Covered Road
Reduced traction and visibility may make the route unsafe.
Dangerous Surf and Rocks
Breaking waves and sharp rocks create a serious shoreline hazard.
Road Collapse / Washout
Roadway failure and exposed utilities require closure and professional response.
For organizations
Shared safety intelligence can serve entire communities
The long-term platform is designed to support public agencies, parks, tourism organizations, schools, nonprofits, outdoor groups, and private partners.
Parks and land managers
Communicate closures, wildlife encounters, trail damage, fire risk, and changing access conditions.
Tourism and destinations
Help visitors understand local hazards, seasonal risks, and preparation needs before arrival.
Emergency and public agencies
Extend awareness of official warnings while clearly distinguishing official and community reports.
Schools and outdoor programs
Support trip planning, safety education, and age-appropriate hazard awareness.
Nonprofits and volunteer groups
Share field observations and help vulnerable communities prepare for environmental hazards.
Travel and outdoor businesses
Integrate destination intelligence into customer preparation, guided activities, and duty-of-care workflows.
Join the mission
Help build a new layer of public safety.
Kickstarter support will help move What Can Kill Me™ from an interactive prototype toward a tested mobile product with mapping, reporting, moderation, alerts, and community tools.
Early supporter benefits
Campaign rewards are expected to include early access, founder recognition, special badges, lifetime or extended memberships, and opportunities to help shape development.
Founder story
Built from a lifetime outdoors
Founder Michael Harlow is an author, filmmaker, PADI Scuba Divemaster, USCG 100 Ton Master with Sailing Endorsement, naturalist, educator, and founder of The Adventure Travelers.
Years spent hiking, sailing, diving, traveling, teaching, and documenting wildlife revealed a persistent problem: travelers can research restaurants and hotels in seconds, but practical local hazard intelligence is scattered across many sources—or missing entirely.
USCG CaptainPADI DivemasterFilmmakerAuthorNaturalistOutdoor educator
Read the full storyQuestions
Frequently asked questions
Is What Can Kill Me available in the App Store?
Not yet. The current version is an interactive browser prototype created to demonstrate the concept and gather feedback.
Are reports official emergency warnings?
Community reports are not official warnings. The future product is intended to distinguish community, expert, system-generated, and official information clearly.
Will it work outside?
The long-term plan includes destination search, live location awareness, offline trip information, and features for hikers, travelers, drivers, boaters, and families.
How can I help?
Join early access, test the demo, share feedback, follow the project, and support the Kickstarter campaign when it launches.