Is there anything better than ditching the city for a life-renewing camping trip? We think not! To that end, we decided to gather a curated list of tips and hacks to make your next camping trip infinitely easier. Let’s dive right in!
Practice Setting Up New Tents in Advance
If you are planning your first camping trip or are heading out with a brand-new tent, do yourself a favor and practice setting it up before you get in the great outdoors. Every tent has their own unique challenges when setting up (though technology has made some pretty impressive advancements in quick-tent-set-up technology), so practice setting up and taking it down a couple of times.
If you’re hiking to your camping destination and there’s any chance you’ll have to set up in the dark, do yourself a favor and practice tent setup in similar conditions. There’s nothing worse than getting delayed on the trail and realizing you’ll be chasing daylight to get an unfamiliar tent set up before the sun goes down.
(And, if you’re looking for a great lantern to add to use when nighttime setup is necessary, you can’t go wrong with one of our portable LED lanterns.)
Have a Paper Map of Your Camping Area
This will apply more for those campers who are hiking into their campsite or on a multi-day thru hike. Don’t assume you’ll have reliable cell service that can be used to figure out where you are. Stop by the park ranger’s office and ask for a hard copy of the park. You can also sign up to use sites like Caltopo for free (though they also offer paid subscriptions) to download maps.
Accidents happen. Cell phones can break or run out of battery. Keep a hard copy map of the area you’ll be in to make sure you can get you and your crew out safely.
Carry a fire starter
I know there are some in the hiking community who believe you aren’t really camping unless you go as minimalist as possible. Carrying flint for fire starting is all well and good…but you never know when high winds will kick in or rain will fall, leaving you without a way to start a fire easily.
I always throw a fire starter stick in with my gear (these sticks from Black Beard are great!). They’re waterproof, windproof, and will have a roaring fire going in a matter of seconds.
Bring Some Sage for Burning
Sage is a natural mosquito repellant, so bring several sprigs along to toss into your fire. Not only will it keep the bugs away, but it will leave your campsite smelling great!
Wrap Duct Tape Around Water Bottles
You probably already know that most things can fixed with a piece of duct tape. That is certainly the case when camping—use it to patch rips in your tent, to keep your tent closed if the zipper breaks, or to attach a splint in the event of an emergency (seriously, we could write an entire blog on what you can do with duct tape while camping or hiking).
Because rolls of duct tape are heavy, tear off a few feet of tape and wrap it around every water bottle that is going with you. You may not need it…but you’ll be glad to have it on hand if you do.
So, there you have it—five camping hacks that will make your time in mother nature infinitely easier. Are there any tips or tricks we didn’t include that you think others should know about? Let us know in the comments…we love to hear from you!
Here’s to happy camping!
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