What's your best tip or hack for camping?
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Plus you don't have to even buy the manufacturer's special ground tarp for your tent. I picked up a huuuge tarp at a yard sale for like $5. And cut a footprint-size piece for my tent and had oceans of tarp left over for other camping and household uses.
Good point. I got to do that. I have one that's a little too long for my footprint. I'll have to cut it to make it exact
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Any kind–drive-up camping, backpacking, RV camping, in the woods, at the beach, in a shelter, let's hear it all.
If you're car camping or RVing, I started bringing my tree limb shears with me camping to cut up kindling from dead branches. So much faster and easier on the shoulder than a hatchet. If they're small enough, breaking them over my knee is fine, but I sometimes find good thick ones and I can't break that sucker down without a sharp tool.
Bring a bucket. Buckets are useful. I have 2 different collapsible kinds, but I also keep a good ol 5 gal paint bucket from the hardware store. It carries wood, water, is a trashcan, can be a seat, used to wash clothes or dishes, can be used as a toilet in an emergency (ideally with a trash bag liner and some kitty litter)...I love buckets.
Use a pill organizer to bring a variety of cooking spices in a tidy lightweight caddy.
Have a good first aid kit always.
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HARD DISAGREE! I fucking love camping in the winter, as there's nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night hot asf.
The whiney southerners unable to take a simple 40° night was my least favorite part of scouting. Clowns crying whilst I curled up in a snowbank. Losers!
Half-Jokes aside, I grew up cold and have a monstrous tolerance, but winter camping is often great, build the fire high, and find your Sisu!
My slightly littler cousin doesn't appreciate the cold so much, so she also wraps herself in tomorrow's clothes, good call
I had winter camping every year in scouts. We two subzero night in a quinzhee hut one year. It was awesome. We did the old boiling water in a nalgene water bottle in our sleeping bag before bed and slept great in the cold. Great memory
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I just pack an eye mask
I keep losing my eyemasks.
I started lightly tying a bandana around my eyes. It works great! I always have a bandana around. Not sure why they can manage to stay unlost but my eyemasks can't. I look like I'm headed to the firing squad, lol, but I need it to be dark to sleep. -
Any kind–drive-up camping, backpacking, RV camping, in the woods, at the beach, in a shelter, let's hear it all.
Best time of the year to camp is spring and fall. The nights are cool while the days are warm. You are either too early or too late for mosquitos. It can be less busy as well.
Summer camping gets too hot both during the day and at night.
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The most effective way to start a fire, for me, is to use fire-starting candles that Yankee Candle make.
For my first fire, I gave up caring about whether I can rough it and will use a starter log. It is so hard to get that first fire to really catch and not need constant tending. The rest of my fires I practice doing it the hard way after there's a fresh bed of coals and half burnt wood from the previous day. Much easier to build up hot coals after that.
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That most camping gear is horrendously expensive and over engineered.
Get old and used gear, repair things, and make your own if you can.
A good bug net and a tarp are going to be just as effective as a modern tent, and breathe better.
For a backpack, those old aluminum a-frame packs are so easy to repair, and you can clip/tie things to the frame.
A good bug net and a tarp are going to be just as effective as a modern tent, and breathe better.
No. Maybe better than a cheap tent from Walmart.
Don't buy cheap tents or sleeping bags and take care of them.
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HARD DISAGREE! I fucking love camping in the winter, as there's nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night hot asf.
The whiney southerners unable to take a simple 40° night was my least favorite part of scouting. Clowns crying whilst I curled up in a snowbank. Losers!
Half-Jokes aside, I grew up cold and have a monstrous tolerance, but winter camping is often great, build the fire high, and find your Sisu!
My slightly littler cousin doesn't appreciate the cold so much, so she also wraps herself in tomorrow's clothes, good call
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I'm a 3 season camper but that's fall, winter, spring. I love winter camping but I also have a travel trailer. I have gone tent camping in sub-30°F weather. That was the nightly low, and the high was 50's, so plenty comfy during the day, just had to bundle up good for the night. If you have a branded Nalgene bottle, you can fill it with hot (not too hot though) water and put that in your sleeping bag with you. Always have a beanie. I crochet so I'm never without one. Don't wear any cotton (especially don't wear cotton socks). "Cotton kills" as they say. Performance fabrics, wool, and layers layers layers. 2 layers of socks as well. And that will also help keep your feet from blistering if you go hiking.
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Any kind–drive-up camping, backpacking, RV camping, in the woods, at the beach, in a shelter, let's hear it all.
- Don't go to bed with the same clothes you wore during the day. The perspiration will make you really cold at night
- Even though it's warm during the day, don't assume it'll be warm at night. The temp differences can be quite drastic
- pack your clothes for the next day in your sleeping bag so they're warm in the morning. I usually either roll them up and use them as a pillow, or put them deep inside my sleeping bag by my feet.
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A good bug net and a tarp are going to be just as effective as a modern tent, and breathe better.
No. Maybe better than a cheap tent from Walmart.
Don't buy cheap tents or sleeping bags and take care of them.
I’ve been using the same net and tarp for like 15 years and on more trips than I can count.
No problems yet, just a few repairs that cost next to nothing.
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Good point. I got to do that. I have one that's a little too long for my footprint. I'll have to cut it to make it exact
For the newbies, you don't want your footprint tarp sticking out from under your tent if you can help it. It will wick water under your tent (rain, dew). Even waterproof fabric can fail given too much water exposure.
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Counter argument: be unprepared and ready to improvise. I swear half the fun is just zip-tieing random stuff together late at night in the light of your phone torch.
Which you can't do without zip ties
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Instructions unclear. Applied fire directly to forehead.
HEADTORCH APPLY DIRECTLY TO FOREHEAD! HEADTORCH APPLY DIRECTLY TO FOREHEAD!
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Any kind–drive-up camping, backpacking, RV camping, in the woods, at the beach, in a shelter, let's hear it all.
Pool Noodles - Place them like this in your canopy so they add tension to the roof. This will prevent rain water from collecting near the edge and weighing down the roof.
I always place the entrance to my tent under a canopy. This allows me to to stay dry when entering the tent. It also protects me from the sun. And I can put a rug down in front of my tent to wipe my feet.
If you are using multiple canopies, considering some canopy gutters. They are basically 1 foot by 10 feet strips of tent material that you attach between two canopies. This way you don't have to avoid the drip-strip under two canopies.
Outdoor rugs can help to prevent the ground from becoming a muddy mess. They sell large, lightweight plastic rugs that work very well for this. They can be folded down to a portable size and are very light. They allow water to pass through, so they don't soak it up and become heavy.
I've learned to not put a tarp under my tent, that just traps water between the tent and the tarp. Put a tarp down inside your tent and then put a rug (or towels) on top of that. Nice dry comfy rug in your tent.
Apparently it rains every time I go camping...
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Mine is a small mokka/Turkish coffee pot with a removable handle. On a recent trip, someone bought a portable espresso thingy and it was a really nice alternative to the bottom-of-the-shelf cheap instant coffee we had otherwise. But to be honest, non-terrible instant coffee is fine for me, just don't get the ultra cheap crap.
At the end (or rather beginning) of the day I settle for "hot, caffeinated, does not make me want to spit it out". I'd rather drink the shitty cheapest possible instant coffee on a cool trip with nice people than the other way round.
There are some surprisingly decent instant coffees out there nowadays; a fancy third-wave roaster in my city even does instant now.
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Any kind–drive-up camping, backpacking, RV camping, in the woods, at the beach, in a shelter, let's hear it all.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]A lb on your feet is the same as 5 lbs on your back. And bring light shoes for when you've set up camp.
And the chair kit for your thermorest is the best investment you will ever make.
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Any kind–drive-up camping, backpacking, RV camping, in the woods, at the beach, in a shelter, let's hear it all.
Hammocks are the best tents, especially for solo camping. Some pack up so small I can fit the hammock, tarp and bug net into the pockets of cargo pants.
Thermo-rest is your best friend, even in a hammock. Having a wind pass under your body will make you real cold.
Scout campsites thoroughly for poison ivy, poison oak, anthills, wasp nests, etc.
Pay attention to sleeping bag ratings and remember that a 0°C rating just means you won't die at that temp, not that you'll be comfortable. Sleeping bags are one of the few things with a strong cost/quality correlation.
Always have rope. Bring lots of rope. Know what makes a good rope.
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Any kind–drive-up camping, backpacking, RV camping, in the woods, at the beach, in a shelter, let's hear it all.
Never piss on your camp fire if it's upwind of your tent. - source, was in the scouts, we did this to another patrol. Man, their tent stank.
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- Don't go to bed with the same clothes you wore during the day. The perspiration will make you really cold at night
- Even though it's warm during the day, don't assume it'll be warm at night. The temp differences can be quite drastic
- pack your clothes for the next day in your sleeping bag so they're warm in the morning. I usually either roll them up and use them as a pillow, or put them deep inside my sleeping bag by my feet.
As far as it being cold, a water bottle left out at night can get cold. An insulated bottle left out will stay cold through the hottest part of the day
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If you're in bear country, you want to hang your food high from a tree branch. Not right next to the trunk, bears can climb like squirrels. It's really amazing how fast they can climb a tree.
Also hang toiletries; don't keep toothpaste or anything scented in the tent with you.
If you catch site of a bear, spread out your arms and legs (and use any jackets like frills) to make yourself as big as possible, and make as much noise as you can.
Do Not Run
Bears can run at like 40 mph
