This year, think big for your camping season without getting too cluttered! Here you’ll find 12 ingenious tips and tricks for minimalist but comfortable camping.
- Use glow sticks to find your campsite in the dark
When you go to the woods or to the woodshed after dark, you can easily find your campsite in the dark with these glow sticks that have been placed in strategic locations around your tent and/or at the entrance to your campsite.
They’re inexpensive, easy to find at any good dollar store and will give a colorful look to your neck of the woods!
- Use bread ties to hang your clothes on the clothesline
Once you’re done with the hot dog buns, don’t throw away the plastic ties, they can be used to hang all sorts of things on your camping line: clothes just washed in the river, tent cloth drying in the sun, etc.
- Use wax crayons as candles
It would be wrong to tell you that a crayon burns better than a candle or that it costs less, but if your kids are grown and you have an astronomical amount of crayons left in your attic, you can give them a second life at a camping party. Each crayon provides between 20 and 30 minutes of light.
- Use a pencil sharpener to make small shavings of kindling
Here’s a quick tip from Survie Boréale for making kindling shavings, considering that not everyone has the same ease or dexterity with a knife. Using a pencil sharpener and a small dry branch will give you the desired amount of shavings with minimal effort and time. It costs next to nothing and weighs only a few grams… and the result is so easily flamed.
- Scavenge synthetic dryer foam for easy fire starting
Second good old Survival Boreale lighting trick: use dryer foam instead of absorbent cotton to start a fire. There are both natural and synthetic fibers in the dryer filter that you can easily collect. You can keep them dry in a sandwich bag until you need them…
- Start a fire with antibacterial gel
Made from a hydro-alcoholic solution, antibacterial gels are perfect fire starters when camping. A few drops on a piece of cotton or wood of this highly flammable product is all it takes to start your campfire. A good emergency solution, and a must have in your first aid kit… and everywhere you go this year!
- Dip your drink in the bottom of a stream to keep it cool
When camping in hot weather, it can be helpful to keep your drinks as cool as possible. To do this, consider immersing your bottles in a stream or on the banks of a lake. You’ll need to float them, or better yet, hold them underwater with a weight. In both cases, remember to tie them securely so that they don’t disappear with the current or the tide.
- Carry your eggs in a bottle to prevent them from breaking on the way
There’s nothing better than a good omelet cooked over the fire in the morning while camping.
However, if you don’t want to risk carrying and breaking the eggs in your backpack during the day’s hike, consider breaking them before you leave and pouring the contents into an airtight bottle. This will make them easier to store and last longer.
- Brush your pots and pans with dishwashing liquid to avoid cooking marks on the fire
There’s nothing more unpleasant and messy than a pot that’s blackened by the fire you’ve been cooking on.
Here’s a tip from a grandmother who’s a camper to prevent this: brush the underside of your accessories with dishwashing liquid before cooking over the flames. The soapy material will help prevent any marks that flames might cause.
- Tie your headlamp to a water can to give you 360 degree light
It’s not always easy to light up the inside of a tent with the concentrated beam of a headlamp. However, simply strap your headlamp to a full water canister to provide a soft 360-degree light.
- Use a bottle as a hot water bottle in your sleeping bag
No one likes to slip their body into a cold, damp sleeping bag. A good way to fall asleep comfortably in cold weather is to heat enough water in the evening and fill an airtight bottle with it before placing it at the bottom of your sleeping bag (rolled up in a piece of clothing if the water temperature is too warm at first). The heat will spread throughout the night.
- Use a tote bag filled with clothes as a pillow
These inexpensive and convenient tote bags allow you to efficiently carry, sort and store your gear in your backpack. Fill one with your overnight essentials (spare socks, pajamas, insulated torque, etc.) and when you’re ready for bed, replace the contents with your next day’s clothes. It will then serve as a pillow for the night while keeping your stuff warm under your head for the next