Ahhh Camping, There’s nothing better than escaping from the rat race of everyday life to the great outdoors. When it comes to camping, we love picking up fun or handy tips and tricks to create a better camping experience. Here are a few fantastic camping hacks you can use to make your camping experience as wonderful as possible!
1. Choose your containers carefully
There’s nothing worse than opening the fridge or cooler to find a mess of food mixed at the base due to broken containers is just one potential disaster. I’ve found containers with lids that ‘lock’ into place with tabs to be a great option as they ensure moisture and liquids cannot escape. For durability, the thicker the better. Even though lots of food items might come in circular containers, opt for transferring food to square containers for camping. Square-shaped containers stack up in chilly bins and storage spaces better and won’t roll around or knock into each other while driving.
2. Burn sage to repel mosquitoes
Place some sage in your campfire and the smell is sure to ward off any pesky mosquitos. You can also mix lemon and eucalyptus to create another natural mosquito repellent.
3. Custom made match holder to keep them dry and easier to light
Matches will almost always come in a cardboard box, but what if the box gets wet. The matches become extremely hard to light. Why not keep your matches in a sealed waterproof container. Glueing some sandpaper to the lid of a container will also make them easier to light. Buy fine-grained sandpaper, preferably with adhesive on one side so that you can stick the sandpaper to the inside of the lid of t small waterproof container.
4. Use pool noodles for night safety
There’s nothing more annoying than getting up in the middle of the night for a bathroom run and tripping over tent pegs or guy ropes. There are several ways to create a ‘safer’ campsite and one very easy, affordable option is to buy a few foam pool noodles before hitting the road. Unlike glow sticks, you won’t have to replace your markers everyday which is why I love this hack. Simply cut down into 6” lengths and make a slit in the middle (if it doesn’t have one already). No matter what size you bought, each noodle will slip over the rope and peg with ease.
5. Use deodorant toquell the itch Don’t smell … and get rid of the itch
Mosquito bites just come with camping—as much you might like to avoid them completely, most likely you are going to get at least a few over the course of a camping holiday. Everyone has different methods of taking the itch away from making an “X” across it with your nail, to applying a lemon slice. However, this camping hack allows you get to get double duty. You’ll already be packing deodorant, but did you know that you could also rub it on a mosquito bite to quell the itch?
6. Make a lantern out of an empty milk botle and headlamp
All you need is your headlamp and a gallon jug of water or large water bottle. Any translucent bottle will do, but the coolest effect comes from the type of plastic that is not completely transparent. In Australia a milk bottle is perfect as it is a coudy colour and gives off a gentle ambient glow. When it gets dark, strap the headlamp to the side of the jug so that the beam is facing inward. The jug of water transforms into a cool, glowing orb that casts light in all directions! This works because the water in the jug spreads the light, which then is dispersed further by the milky plastic of the container.
7. Line you cloths bag or backpack with a Garbage bag to keep the contents dry
Weather is everything when you’re camping, and a seasoned camper knows that you can never be too prepared for Mother Nature’s fickle moods. Once you’re warm and dry inside of your tent, there’s nothing to worry about — unless, of course, you can’t get warm or dry because your bag and all of its contents got soaked in the rain.
This trick offers the ultimate cost-to-benefit ratio: a single trash bag in exchange for warmth and dryness. Simply line the inside of your backpack with a trash bag before placing all of your items into it. For the cost of a trash bag — somewhere between a nickel and a dime — you have dry clothes and a dry sleeping bag for your trip, guaranteed.
8. Use bottles of frozen water as ice packs in your Esky.
When camping, space is crucial so you are always on the lookout to make sure you have everything you need that is space-efficient. Bringing ice on a camping trip can be difficult. It melts quickly and turns into a watery mess, meaning that any non-plastic food packaging will soon become soaked and soggy. To solve these issues why not freeze bottles of water and put your Esky in instead of ice. Then, as the ice warms and turns into water, you’ll have drinking water ready without having to haul extra. Packing more than enough drinking water is very important, but try not to pack water that will go to waste — like ice that will soon melt and become undrinkable. This hack helps with both points simultaneously by allowing your ice to become extra drinking water after it has done its job keeping your food cold.
9. Use PVC piping as knife olders
FAMILY HANDYMAN
Carrying kitchen knives safely for picnics and camping trips is challenging. So why not look for various sizes of PVC piping to store your knives. You may take up a little more space with this hack, but it will be safer, more organises and the knives will stay sharper.
10. Use a shoe organiser as an outdoor kitchen organiser
You can use a shoe organizer as an outdoor camping kitchen organizer that can be hung above the ground. Fill the pockets with eating and cooking utensils, and various food prep supplies.
11. A must for every camper – a pocket first aid kit
Your van or car should be stocked with a full-sized first aid kit, but a pocket version can get you out of trouble when you’re out on hikes or daytrips. You can assemble one easily in a small sturdy container. Add four Band-Aids, a small bottle of antiseptic, an antiseptic swab, a pair of tweezers, four analgesic tablets and two compressed cloth wipes, which expand to full size with a few drops of water. IF you can fit it, a small amount of Toilet paper is also a handy addition.
12. Wrap the Gorilla Tape around the RV power cord to prevent the ants from getting into your trailer.
Ant will find any way to get to higher ground and invade your camper. The power cord is always one of the main entry points so next time, raps some duct tape (Sticky side outwards) around the cable to stop ants from climbing up.