You need to know camping basics and how to prepare in advance to keep yourself safe and have an enjoyable experience. Use the advice here to help your next trip go off without a hitch.
Pre-cool your ice chest by filling it with loads of ice, at least six hours prior to departure. When you are about to leave, pack up your refrigerated cooled drinks and block ice, not cubed. Popping room temp beverages will take up valuable ice-life, and the cubes will melt much quicker than a block!
Before you head out on your long-awaited camping trip, make sure the area where you plan to camp doesn’t require a camping permit. If you happen to camp in a place that does require one and you didn’t get one, then you could be facing quite a hefty ticket or fine from a local forest ranger.
Always take more water than you think you will use when you go on a camping trip. Many times, people forget how much water is needed. It is used for drinking, washing dishes and hands, cooking and even brushing your teeth. Water is not something you want to be without.
It is important to remember that getting dirty is inevitable. If you’re ready for this, it will bother you less when it happens. Just enjoy and appreciate being free in the wilderness; get stuck in and get messy. You can always take a bath back at the house.
While a campfire gives off enough light in the general area around it, you want to be sure you take along a flashlight on your camping trip if you plan to venture outside of the campfire’s glow. This is a definite safety precaution you don’t want to ignore. It can be quite dark out there in the woods at nighttime.
Practice makes perfect when pitching a tent. Take the time to put the tent up before leaving for your trip. This allows you to build your proficiency at erecting the tent, and will also help locate any issues with the tent in case you need to exchange it for a better option.
To avoid blistered and chapped feet on your camping trip, bring a bar of soap along! Prior to any lengthy walk, rub the soap into the heals of your socks and this will minimize friction, thus reducing soreness. Keep the soap in your pocket for a quick dose when your feet start feeling beat-up or blistered.
Giving yourself enough time to enjoy your camping trip is key. Plan out your trip far in advance and get a couple of days off from work if possible. You want to enjoy yourself camping for at least a few days, that way you feel like you got the full experience out of it.
Understand how your food will be cooked. You need to consider how you are going to prepare all meals. Will you need charcoal? Perhaps you need a small propane tank. It can be difficult to cook every meal over an open fire; no matter, how much fun it might seem.
Many people who are not very experienced with camping start out by doing day trips. This can be a great way to adjust to nature without the dangers associated with staying in the woods all night. The best way to do is to find a simple hotel near the campground, but only for sleeping purposes.
A large number of camping related injuries are due directly to carelessness with fire, so be sure to use fire with caution. First, make sure that fires are permissible in the area of your camp site. Set a ring of stones around the fire to keep it contained. Never leave children unsupervised near an open fire.
It is really critical to make sure that you pack the essential items and equipment for camping. Unfortunately, forgetting one or two key items can ruin your trip. Make a master checklist of everything that you will be needing on your trip and be sure to check off items as they are packed or loaded into the car. Some things you should bring include your tent, sleeping bag, tarp, lots of water, a utility knife, already-made food, soap or hand sanitizer and items to start a fire.
Pack extra flashlights and batteries. It can get quite dark at night, away from all the city lights. A light source is very important. Bring a few spare flashlights just in case. Make sure that you pack extra batteries as well. A light source is something you do not want to find yourself without.
Make sure you have charged flashlights for the trip. It is not uncommon to accidentally bump the switch and turn your flashlight on when you are digging around in your bag. To avoid this, store the batteries backwards in your flashlights. That way you make sure you don’t accidentally turn them on.
Bring along extra flashlights, lanterns and spare batteries when you go camping. You will need a light source to see clearly once the sun sinks in the sky. Having the ability to light up an area well can prevent injuries and potentially dangerous encounters with wildlife. If your children are along on your camping trip, give them each their own flashlight.
A great tip for those of you planning a camping trip would be to bring along flashlights that are LED and run on lithium batteries. These types of flashlights last much longer than traditional flashlight and the last thing you want when out in the wilderness is a broken flashlight.
When you’re packing up to go camping, don’t forget lighting essentials such as flashlights and batteries to operate them, hats to protect from sunburn and any toiletries you may need (in travel sizes of course!) Nobody enjoys going to the bathroom in the dark, and a flashlight comes in very handy. A hat can shield you from the sun and hide wild hair, while toiletries can help you stay clean during your trip.
Preserve the batteries in your flashlights. When flashlights bounce around during your travel, they might come on. To make sure that doesn’t happen, flip the batteries around to an incorrect position. This can allow you to carry your batteries while having no chance that they will turn on by mistake.
Camping is an enjoyable way to spend time outdoors. Forewarned is forearmed, and this will ensure that your next camping adventure is more fun and less worry. You can also view hard hat flashlights here.