The internet is home to thousands of DIY suggestions and hacks that promise to make any aspect of life easier. Question is, do all of them really work? After all, when it comes to camping, you don't want to take your chances on camping hacks that don't work.
To help make sure you'll have the best camping experience and that you'd be prepared for anything, we've put together an updated list of camping hacks that really, really work.
Bring Duct Tape. Always.
Duct tape should be among the first things you should have in your camping checklist. You may already know that you can use it patch up tears on your tent, backpacks or sleeping bags. You can also use it to seal up food packages before you go to sleep - to keep insects and wild animals from smelling the food. But we've found out you can use duct tape for the following purposes when you're camping:
1. Make a rope using duct tape - Yep. That's right. Apparently duct tape can be used as a non-load bearing rope outdoors. You only need to coil two long strands of tape together and you can use it to secure stuff around your campsite. If you want to create a stronger, thicker rope, you can just coil more strands of tape together.
2. Mark your trail - If you're hiking in unfamiliar locations, duct tape can be used as trail markers. You just tape a strand of tape around tree branches as you walk past them. Make sure though, that you take those strips off the trees as you make your way back to your campsite.
3. Make a spear (for fishing) - When you want to go all "Castaway" and want to catch fish but forgot to bring a fishing pole, you can just tape your camping knife at the end of a stick - et voila! - fishing spear! Just be sure you wrap the knife real tight with the tape before you start spearing for fish.
Tin Cans Save The Day
Tin cans are the ideal containers when you're the outdoors. They're sturdy, come in various sizes, and have lids to prevent spills. And we've got a few suggestions on how you can use tin containers when camping:
1. Store your toilet paper in tin cans - Don't you find it annoying that the toilet paper you bought for your camping trip either ends up getting squashed under all your other camping stuff? Worse yet, what if it gets wet? If you don't fancy the idea of using leaves to wipe yourself with, keeping toilet paper in coffee or oatmeal tin cans with lids keeps it dry and undamaged throughout your camping trip.
2. Bring your favourite spices with you - Just because you're camping doesn't mean you should eat bland food. Take some of your fave spices camping by storing them in small tin containers used for mints. These are small enough to fit in your backpack and won't spill onto the rest of your stuff.
Dip Cotton Pads In Wax
No campsite is complete without a campfire. Trouble is, not all of us are very skilled at starting fires. So here's a handy trick. Buy cotton pads (the kind you use to wipe off makeup with), soak/dip them in wax and store them in zip lock bags. These make for handy fire starters.
You can also try dipping cotton balls in Vaseline - pretty much the same thing. Either methods are great alternatives to trying your luck (and most likely failing) starting a fire using a flint.
Sleeping Bags Can Keep Your Clothes Warm
Your clothes can get very cold in the morning when you leave them in your backpack overnight. This means changing into new clothes in the morning can be very uncomfortable.
Here is a neat trick especially when you're out camping during winter: Before you sleep, choose clothes you will wear the next day and bring it with you in your sleeping bag. You can fold it up and wrap it in a towel or a plastic bag if you like. Doing this keeps the clothes warm all night and ready for when you change into them the next morning.
There you have it. Easy camping hacks for 2020 that actually work. Got more camping ideas and hacks that we missed on this article? Let us know by commenting!
