18 Amazing Camping Hacks
1. Canned Heat.
Materials Needed:
1 new 1-Quart paint can with lid
1 roll toilet paper
1 bottle alcohol
1 label
1 book matches
Take the cardboard tube out of the roll of toilet paper and slide the roll into the can. Pour the alcohol over it and allow to absorb. Close the can tightly. On the label write the following: “Ignite for a couple of hours of warming/ cooking heat. Can will become very hot. Must be used in a ventilated area.” Stick the label on the can and tape the matches to the top for storage. After alcohol is consumed, it can be refilled for another use. For a cooking stove, place a new 1-gallon paint can with holes punched in it on top.
2. Use personal water jugs as cooler ice.
Fill to 1/2 ” of top and freeze. Drop into your cooler and drink when melted. Or freeze gallon jugs of water (use jugs that have been used for juice or distilled water, not milk.
3. Homemade fire starters.
(Adapted from KidsActivitiesBlog.com.)
Mound dryer lint into a cardboard egg carton. Melt paraffin wax and pour over to create separate starters. Break off the section of the carton and use to start a fire even in the rain. As an alternative, you can dip cotton pads in wax.
4. Newspaper firewood.
Materials needed:
Huge stack of news papers, and junk mail; don’t use glossy pages
Large container for water
Cotton string or twine
Water
Stack about 10 sheets of newspaper in a location that can get wet and soak with water. Lift paper vertically to drain off the excess water. Roll the paper into a log. Repeat, adding more and more paper to the same log until it is a desirable size. Tie with twine or string in several places. Stand the wet newspaper logs on end to dry, preferably in the sun.
5. Hang a shoe storage organizer over a tree and insert supplies into each cubby.
6. Try variations on standard S’mores.
- Melted marshmallows in Oreo cookies
- Banana, bacon and peanut butter
- Use dark chocolate instead of Hershey’s — or other chocolate variations
- Add salted caramel sauce
- Instead of chocolate, use Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- Use homemade chocolate chip cookies instead of graham crackers
- Try adding hazelnuts and Nutella with melted marshmallows on graham crackers
- Use peppermint patties instead of Hershey’s chocolate
- Add fruit jam to a standard S’more
- Add melted Brie cheese with dark chocolate
7. Use a milk jug as a lamp.
Fill a clean milk jug and fill it with water. Wrap your head lamp around it with the light facing in. The jug will glow and light your whole tent. (See more hacks at Buzzfeed.com — By the way, you can’t make Mountain Dew glow.)
8. Bring “strike anywhere matches.” Store them in a small Tupperware container to protect them from moisture, and attach a piece of coarse sandpaper to the top.
9. Stuff Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and roast over the fire.
Open a container of crescent rolls and pull apart. Stuff with sweet things and fruit for dessert, or try ham and cheese and savory stuff for dinner.
10. Save Tic Tac boxes and store everything from fish hooks to spices.
11. Create individual soap servings buy shaving off large pieces from a bar of soap. Store in Tic Tac boxes.
12. Construct a hand-washing station from a large laundry detergent bottle. (See more hints at greatwildoutdoors.com.)
Fill the bottle with water, mount paper towels on top.
13. Tea Tree Oil repels ticks.
14. Cook bacon and eggs over the fire in a paper bag!
Be sure to use thick-sliced bacon for this cooking/camping hack. It works better. Some campers scramble eggs ahead of time, put into a container and freeze. Defrost before making breakfast.
15. Learn how to recognize and use Usnea. It grows in many forests and kills germs fast!
