useful tricks for camping.

**PT945** · 05-03-2011, 07:40 AM

Originally Posted by Echo2

A mesh bag for a big turkey or a big bag of onions....can make a decent little fishing net/ trap.....and can fit in a film canister.

Great idea. Ill have to try that.

**Snow Walker** · 05-11-2011, 10:04 AM

This wasn't my idea, but I did improve upon it by adding the jute twine for firesteel use. We all know about vasiline and cottonballs, but if you want something which will last longer (at least 20 min. from my experimenting) get a cardboard egg carton, cotton balls, jute twine, wax and sawdust if you wish. To be honest though from experimenting the sawdust really didn't improve anything.

Take 3-4 cotton balls and tie them together with the jute twine allowing enough excess when cutting for a fuse. From there just follow the pictures to learn the rest.

When needed just fray the jute and it will start no problem with a firesteel. Out of all the playing around I did I had at least a 20 min. burn time if not more.

The jute wick is also coated in wax.

**maric** · 05-11-2011, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by Snow Walker

This wasn't my idea, but I did improve upon it by adding the jute twine for firesteel use. We all know about vasiline and cottonballs, but if you want something which will last longer (at least 20 min. from my experimenting) get a cardboard egg carton, cotton balls, jute twine, wax and sawdust if you wish. To be honest though from experimenting the sawdust really didn't improve anything.

Take 3-4 cotton balls and tie them together with the jute twine allowing enough excess when cutting for a fuse. From there just follow the pictures to learn the rest.

When needed just fray the jute and it will start no problem with a firesteel. Out of all the playing around I did I had at least a 20 min. burn time if not more.

The jute wick is also coated in wax.

I think I could actually make these, since I made those was firestarters the other day! Nice pics, thanks!

**Snow Walker** · 06-01-2011, 09:49 AM

When in bear country keep you cooking, eating and washing areas well down wind from your sleeping area.

Always have cord tied to the end of your flashlight, to prevent it from being dropped and there will be plenty of places like inside of your tent where you can hang it to free up your hands.

When in camp wear a pouch on your belt or wear a small fanny pack to keep emergency or frequently needed items easily at hand.

Sand works great for scrubbing pots and pans.

Avoid using pretty smelling hygiene products, they attract more then the opposite sex if you know what I mean. A good source of products to use are unscented ones that you can find in the hunting/sporting goods stores. They also carry unscented deodorants.

A good quality poncho like the military issue ones should ALWAYS be part of your gear. It can be used for shelter, ground cover, an emergency stretcher, collecting water, carrying gear if a pack strap breaks, protection from the elements, a pillow, pack cover etc...very mulitifunctional!

**maric** · 06-02-2011, 07:23 AM

When family camping, in larger groups, I have realized a few tricks. We usually have at least 6 kids when we camp like this. Making sure there is plenty of easy snacks available, those growing boys eat a lot! We took jiffy pop this time,and melted some extra butter and salt.. it was a hit. smores, of course, and tons of "dogs".. GFS has some great deals on meat, a spiced stuff up and marinated jerk chicken, and even the kids liked that! A quick and easy meal when camping, besides sandwhich stuff is tortilla shells! Quesidillas are so easy to make! The little kids love them, and so do I! Now, this is more of big family camping stuff, so ofcourse when were backpacking, things are done differently. We just went on a 3 day camp with family to Shawnee State Park (beautiful-the longest time for the little ones) and I was impressed at how well we were prepared, and how smooth it went..only thing we ran out of was whiskey!

Always take whiskey.. so many wonderful uses... lol..

**no1woodwizar** · 09-06-2011, 09:31 PM

One of the best things i have ever learned about camping has to do with tents.
The first trick is I always put a very large tarp over our cooking and sitting spot. This works well in case of rain and for shade in the heat. Keeps the ground pretty dry in that area. i use a 20'x10' silver tarp.
The second trick was instead of having one large tent for all 4 of us I bought 3 small dome tents. Gives me and the wife alot of privacy for evening activities and it is alot easier to find 2 or 3 small level spots as to finding one large level spot. Also the tent that me and the wife share is a little larger than the other 2 and if anything happened to one of the kids tents there is enough room for them to squeeze in for the night.

**countryboy6685** · 09-07-2011, 09:15 AM

Originally Posted by no1woodwizar

One of the best things i have ever learned about camping has to do with tents.
The first trick is I always put a very large tarp over our cooking and sitting spot. This works well in case of rain and for shade in the heat. Keeps the ground pretty dry in that area. i use a 20'x10' silver tarp.
The second trick was instead of having one large tent for all 4 of us I bought 3 small dome tents. Gives me and the wife alot of privacy for evening activities and it is alot easier to find 2 or 3 small level spots as to finding one large level spot. Also the tent that me and the wife share is a little larger than the other 2 and if anything happened to one of the kids tents there is enough room for them to squeeze in for the night.

We too use a large tarp suspended over a rope between 2 trees but ours is 25x40 and yes it is a bit to big for backpacking . but it covers well and dose a great job . It is cotton canvas duct . You can get a good deal on these and any other sixes at Harbor freight .
Robert W