Camping Hacks Everyone Can Do!

Camping Hacks Everyone Can Do!

By Ricky Kinder

The best smell in the entire world? I know that is an argumentative question, but I would have to put the smell of an open campfire up towards the top. There is something special about that scent. It is almost like once it hits your nose it draws you in and makes you want to come closer and closer. If the scent of the camp fire wasn’t enough once you sit down the flames draw the attention of our eyes and soon we are staring aimlessly into its magical powers.

It won’t be long now folks and we get to experience the bliss of another Iowa camping season. I know we talk a lot about hunting and fishing in the magazine, but we thought it was time to do something that a lot of us probably cut our teeth on in our younger days. For a lot of us it is a tradition we still carry on today. That is correct, camping season is right around the corner!

To get the season started we thought it would be fun to share with our readers some simple “hacks” that anyone can do. Camping is about getting away from it all, yes even if you have a camper the size of a house you are still roughing it…a bit. Camping is also about being creative and showing a little ingenuity. We did some research for our readers and found some great tips, tricks, and hacks that you can do this season that can make your camping adventures less stressful, more efficient, safer, and more fun.

• Use an empty laundry detergent dispenser as a hand washing station – even though you are roughing it you still need to wash your hands. Rinse out an old nozzle style laundry detergent bottle. Then fill it up with water and set it on the picnic table. Place a catch bucket below it and you have a ready-made hand washing station.

• Pack a mini first-aid kit into an old prescription bottle or Altoids tin. – Cuts, scrapes, slivers, and bruises are common around the campsite. Having a simple first aid kit in your pocket can help with relief when needed. Pack a few small items that can help with minor injuries.

• Doritos, hand sanitizer, lint for kindling – when sticks and twigs are not readily available a number of other things work as fire starters. Doritos, the new food of life!

• Sage to campfire keeps mosquitos away – while not widely available here in Iowa this plant when burned will emit a natural mosquito deterrent.

• Scavenger hunt – kids and adults can get bored sitting around a campfire. Add some fun and adventure into the mix and plan a scavenger hunt party. Give away prizes for the winners to add some competition to the mix.

• Cold feet? Fill up a hot bottle of water and put it in your sleeping bag – nothing is worse than a night of cold feet. This is a good hack to start off on the right “foot”.

• Deodorant for bug bites – if you are out of bug bite ointment a brush of deodorant on the bite will take away that annoying itch, as well as improve your scent.

• Bread bag tags make great clothes pins – those pesky little things actually have a secondary use at a campsite and make great hangers for light weight objects you need to hang.

• Bust a grommet on a tarp? We have all been there, an inferiorly built tarp grommet breaks making it useless to use as intended. Problem solved when you wrap a rock into the corner and attach your strap around the rock.

• Wax your tent zipper – most zippers have a short life span or so it seems. To improve the quality and life of your zipper apply wax to it when needed.

• Pool noodles for tent stake lines – how many times have you seen someone run into stakes around the campsite? It is a common occurrence so take some annoyance out of the problem by placing cut off pool noodles around them. The brightness of the noodles will make people aware of their location.

• Pack Your Cooler Smartly – coolers are essential to camping and keep things safe and cold from the outside environment. The problem is you only have so much space. Make sure and have an organized cooler. This will allow you to pack as much as possible while keeping everything chilled.

• Keep ants off of picnic table with trays filled with water under legs – ingenious! One of those things that you think “why didn’t I think of that before.” It may look silly, but there is nothing funny about ants all over your picnic table.

• Tinfoil meals – quick, easy, versatile, and yummy. Nothing says camping better than a mixture of food wrapped in tinfoil and place over an open fire. Plus the cleanup is quick!

• Foam floor tiles – these things are normally seen in kids’ playrooms, but they make a great base layer for campsites. Put them in your tent for added comfort or place them outside to keep your feet off the dirt.

• Carpet remnants – these things are a great addition to campsites as well. They add some area around the campsite to get off of the dirt.

• Head lamp into a jug of water makes a lantern – if you are the type of person that likes to get creative this one is for you. A simple head lamp duct taped onto a jug of water gives you an instant lantern.

• Natural tick deterrent 1 part tea tree oil 2 parts water – We have yet to meet anyone that likes ticks. The shear thought of them gives people the creepy crawlies. Make your own deterrent with some tea tree oil and water!

• Put matches into a waterproof container and glue sandpaper on top. – matches and moisture don’t mix, nor do the containers they come in. To keep matches useful put them into a plastic waterproof container and then put a strike on top by gluing a piece of sandpaper to the top of the container.

• Pre-make coffee balls – place single servings of coffee into a coffee filter and tie off at the top and you have instant single serve coffee.

• Single use soap – shave off shards of soap from a full bar and you have a piece of soap good for one shower, instead of carrying a full bar back and forth each time.

• Use an old coffee jar and put TP in it to keep it from getting wet or damp – Cut a slot in the side of the jar, run the TP end through the slot, put the lid on and you will have dry toilet paper at all times.

• Pre-scramble eggs and put them into a used water bottle – transporting eggs is risky business with their fragility. Instead, scramble the eggs ahead of time and pour the mixture into a plastic bottle. If you need a certain amount of eggs make sure and mark the bottle every time you add another egg.

• Hanging shoe organizers make great campsite kitchen organizers – everything you need hanging in one spot. Makes kitchen duty much easier.

• Know your basic knots – specific duties sometimes call for specific knots. Make sure you are efficient in the basic knots.

• Lint roller after being in the woods for tick removal – The ticks like anything will stick to the lint roller and remove them from your clothing, giving you a sense of comfort.

• Don’t take the entire medicine cabinet – organize your medicine into a space saving container. Only pack what you need into smaller containers (unless prescribed) and label accordingly.

• Duct tape around a water bottle – Duct tape is the savior of all things and you never know when you might need it. If you are out on a hike, instead of packing a whole roll, wrap tape around your water bottle several times.

• Fresh smell for water bottles and coolers – Mix 3 teaspoons baking soda and some water, scrub a little and let dry. You have a fresh smelling bottle and/or cooler. Use more mixture for larger containers.

• Knife holders– Cut some PVC pipe down to the size of your knives, put some cork in the bottom, mark the end where the point goes, label what knife goes in each, and you have great knife holders.

• Wire of different gauge – while not a necessity it is always nice having wire handy. Pack several different pieces of gauge so you have the right wire for the job.

• Kitty litter toilet bucket – Hey, when nature calls for you tent campers it is nice to have a spot to go in a pinch. The kitty litter will make clean up easier. No one said camping has to be glamorous.

• Extra tarps – there is never such a thing as too many tarps. They have dozens of uses from a wind block to keeping things dry and everything in between.

• Solar lights – put a few around the campsite and you give instant light to your area.

• Egg carton coal fire starter – place charcoal into an egg carton and you have a ready-made fire starting kit.

• Ratchet straps for everything – they are worth their weight in gold!

• Plan your meals in advance for the entire trip – make the days easier for yourself. Have a pre-set meal plan ready to go.

• Roll your clothes – stack your daily outfits on top of each other and roll them. It is a great way to stay organized and save packing space.

• Red light for headlamp – give your camping friends a break, don’t blind them by wearing a traditional yellow light, and switch to a red bulb.

• Packing list – never go camping without checking off the items you need. The moment you forget something is when you will need it.

• Dryer sheets to improve odors and keep bugs away – Dryer sheets are a great way to keep living quarters odors at bay, not to mention bugs tend not to like them.

• Label everything – label every piece of luggage you take with you. It will save you a bunch of time searching.

• Collapsible buckets – these things are great and do not take up near the amount of space as traditional buckets do.

• Make holders for playing cards – make a wind proof card holder. Grab a piece of 4×4 about a foot long and cut a ¼ inch notch into it. Place the cards into the notch and they are safe from the wind. You can also use a shallow container with some weight to place your cards into when you play them. This will keep them away from the wind as well.

• Let the kids get dirty – it’s camping, not glamping (glamorous camping), let kids be kids. You can give them a shower at night.

• Stainless steel mugs – by now we probably all have one. They have no better use than a camping trip. They keep hot, hot and cold, cold for hours on end.