Camping Tips: Got Any?

[renodesertfox]

Here are a few camping tips I use all the time, if you got a clever idea having anything to do with a camping, c'mon post up and share what you know with others. Sharing is fun and makes a camping experience more enjoyable! See ya at the campfire!

-Get a campfire started easily by preparing at home. An old egg carton and dryer lint is all you need. Stuff the egg carton full of dryer lint and carry it with you to your campsite. Place it under some dry boughs,light it and presto.

- Rub liquid soap on the outside of pots and pans. The black soot will come right off after cooking over an open fire.

-Keep the bottom of your pots that you use over the open fire clean by wrapping them in tinfoil.

- Spray flies, wasps or bees with hairspray and watch them head for cover .

-Spray your garbage and trash with ammonia to keep animals away. Works in grizz country too.

- Take some warmth from the campfire or stove to bed. Keep a pot of hot water simmering on the campfire and when you turn in fill up water bottles and place them in your sleeping bag.

-Buy orange juice in plastic bags and freeze it so it can be used instead of ice in the cooler. Then,when it thaws out you have refreshing cold juice for later.

-Take a headlamp, instead of a flashlight,so your hands are free.

- When finished eating an orange, wipe exposed skin with the inside of the peel. Insects will stay far away from you.

Thanks for looking it'll be great to see what tip is added next!

[Johnny Test]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

Bring paper plates and cups, not plastic, then use it as fuel in the campfire after the meal. No clean up, and less weight going home.

[surmisez]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

Great tips!

We have two sun showers that we rotate for washing dishes. My husband fills them up first thing in the a.m. and then finds a sunny place to put them.

After breakfast, my husband hangs the sun shower from a hook on my camp kitchen and use the shower to wash and rinse the dishes. While the water for breakfast is not hot yet (usually lukewarm) water for lunch and dinner dishes is usually pretty warm, sometimes hot.

Works great!

[familycamper]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

Ever have an issue with paper plates folding under pressure? Go to the dollar store and score you a few frisbees. Dual purpose camping gear.

Blue wal mart tarps and paracord are indispensable.

If you have the stink in hydration bladders or canteens, throw a tab or two of denture cleaner in them and let 'em sit a bit. If you like mint, they have that flavor!

Protect your feet from blisters, smear soap on the inside of your inner sock at the heel and underneath the toes. Carry along a bar of soap and,
when you feel your feet become tender.

I use an old shower curtain under my hammock so I don't track in dirt.

Duct Tape...nuff said.

[liveecofriendly]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

Line your camping bags and backpacks with a plastic bags to protect your clothes and belongings from them critters as well as the rain.

[Yukon Jack]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

- Take some warmth from the campfire or stove to bed. Keep a pot of hot water simmering on the campfire and when you turn in fill up water bottles and place them in your sleeping bag.

Thats one of my favorite tips and one I wish I had known when I was younger.

[nearlywild]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

Thats one of my favorite tips and one I wish I had known when I was younger.

My grandma told me that when they were kids, they would put rocks in the fire and then at bedtime they would wrap the rocks up and put them in the bed.

[Bigdog57]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

Always pitch your tent close to the treeline, especially if the bath house is a good distance away....... nuff said. :cool:

I carry ear plugs (foamies) and a small radio/CD player with headphones in case anyone at camp snores or some idjit is running a generator or playing a guitar (badly) at midnight.......

Always carry a pair of light slippers, for that midnight visit to the bath house (if you aren't close to the trees.....) :rolleyes:

[Flibitygiget]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

Now that we have gotten older, 60+yrs, we like to make it a simple as possible. We prepare all meals at home, wrap in alum foil and place in ziplok bags in the cooler. At the site we just heat them up on the fire, enjoy and clean up is only a matter of throwing the foil, P Bags and plastic utensils into the garbage bag and the paper plate into the fire. The only thing we have to wash is our coffee cups and we may go to paper on those.

[Bigdog57]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

Line your camping bags and backpacks with a plastic bags to protect your clothes and belongings from them critters as well as the rain.

Yep, I learned this one early on - it seems to always rain on one day during campout! And no nylon bag is ever rainproof! :cool:
I put dirty clothes in a ziplock bag too - keeps them from stinking the others up, if the campground has no washing facility.
Also, if you run out of liquid 'camp soap' for bathing, a big bottle of Prell shampoo goes a long ways - it's what we used in USAF bootcamp instead of bar soap. Makes a good body wash!

[Johnny Test]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

I always bring a fly swatter to eliminate any bugs that get into the tent. It works alot better than whipping clothes around.

[Yukon Jack]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

I thought of one other tip about camping around trees. Always take a look up at the branches before pitching your camp. Make sure none are broken or look like they might break. Tents don't offer much protection from a heavy, falling limb.

[tplife]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

Hogsnapper, that ranger's Old School! Actually you'll still get hassled by "the man", as in more and more campgrounds, you are not allowed to attach anything to trees or bushes - no flags, no lanterns, no nails, etc. If you want to really save a tree, use these:



And by using reflectors, you aim more light where you want it and shield the neighbors:



These big heavy green things aren't pine cones, if you cannot almost reach them with a chair, don't sit or set up your tent under them! :cool:

[Gus@campingwithgus.com]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

Amazing! I always hope to learn something new everyday, and usually do. But this one makes me feel kinda like a dummy. As many years as I have been camping, this is the first time I have seen a lantern reflector like that. What a great idea! Wich I had thought of it.

Gus

[brewmandan]

Re: Camping Tips: Got Any?

a tip that i've always used is to put a regular tarp under my tent when i set it up. the tarp serves as an extra barrier from any small sticks or rocks poking a hole through the bottom of the tent. it also helps keeping the bottom of the tent dry from morning dew or water that runs down hill when it rains.