What should I look for when buying a tent?
If you are thinking of taking the trip of a lifetime, you should consider camping as one of your vacation ideas. It does not matter if you are thinking of hiking the Appalachian Trail or going to the local campground, the memories of your camping trip will last a life time. Use these tips to help ensure you have a safe and exciting adventure.
Water is very important when camping. When camping at a campground, there should be ample supply of water available, but on the trail, you will have to carry some with you. If you are going long distances, you should probably carry iodine tablets to sanitize any water you find before drinking. Be careful, dysentery can be deadly.
You might think nature naturally provides all the wood you need, but the wood where you are could have already been picked clean, or it could be wet. As an added precaution, bring along wood from around your yard or logs from a home store, and keep them where they will stay dry.
Before you bring your dog along for a camping trip, get him used to the idea with a little practice run in the back yard. Pitch the tent in an already familiar area, and let him sleep or play in it for a while. Bringing a dog can really add to the fun of camping, so long as the animal has been adequately prepared for the event.
Take only photos and leave only footprints. That is the rule of thumb when camping. Only use the natural resources that you need and do not leave any traces that you were camping when you leave. Pick up all trash, extinguish and cover any fire pits, bury all human waste, and make the area where you camped look exactly as it did when you found it.
If your canteen is beginning to smell musty, you can give it a good cleaning with baking soda. Place a little bit of water in your canteen, and then add three tablespoons of baking soda. Shake gently, let it sit for sixty minutes, and then rinse with water. Your canteen will be refreshingly clean!
When going camping, try to buy non-perishable items to eat. There are no refrigerators in the wild, so everything you bring has to be kept in good order. You can certainly bring a cooler to put food in, but the cooler will be added bulk on your trip. Therefore, make an effort to bring more non-perishable foods than perishable.
Make sure you have a suitable water source. Even if you bring water with you, plan to need more water and know where you will be able to get more. It is a good idea to know where your water source will be before you go camping at all, but surely right after you arrive.
Prepare some of the food ahead of time so you will not have to mess around with it at the camp site. Make up some sandwiches, precook the pasta and take along foods that can be eaten as is to make each meal less tedious. Other meals can be enjoyable to prepare in the woods, but some should be ready to go on the days the weather is not perfect.
If you are camping for the first time, try to practice pitching a tent before your trip. This is a valuable camping skill to possess, especially when it can be done quickly. You don't want to be out on your trip and not know how to put up a tent right away when the weather takes an unexpected turn.
In this modern age, there is no excuse for being in the woods without some form of communication ability. Of course, no one likes to receive phone calls when they are relaxing, so leave your phone off but fully charged, just in case there is an emergency, and you need to contact someone.
Make sure you have cover in case of rain. When you're out in the woods, a rainstorm can be wet, cold and uncomfortable. Make sure you have some kind of protection against the rain, whether it be a tent, cabin or lean-to. In a pinch, you can use a garbage bag as a poncho!
If your children are with you, establish a daily routine early on. This will help them adjust to their new surroundings and have a good time. Try to stick to a certain bedtime and eat your meals at about the same time each day. Your kids will be happier, and you will be as well.
A Frisbee is a great toy to take for entertainment when camping. It is easy to pack and fun. But in addition to its use as a game, it is also a great way to strengthen a paper plate. Just place the plate into the middle of the Frisbee at meal times and the plate will not collapse no matter how big your hamburger.
Take the measures necessary to have a safe camping trip. Make sure to avoid all bears and larger wildlife in the wilderness. Squirrels, raccoons and the like can be quite dangerous, even though they are small. Obviously, stay away from larger animals like bears and never feed them.
Make sure your sleeping bag is fit for the environment in which you are going to camp. So bring a lighter sleeping bag for the hotter months out of the year, and a thicker one for the colder months out of the year. Be sure the bags you bring hug your body so your body heat is contained.
Camping is fun, and camping with kids can be even more fun, but certain precautions need to be made for these little campers. Take plenty of extra clothes for them, because they will get dirty and wet. It's important they don't stay in wet clothes, because it's possible, it could result waterproof canvas tent in hypothermia. This goes for adults, too.
Don't ever use any kind of gasoline or fuels you'd use in your car to start a campfire. Making a campfire can be frustrating, especially in unfavorable elements, but you need to avoid making dangerous decisions. This can cause injury or death to you or the other campers. There are many safer ways to make a campfire, so try learning those methods before the trip.
You can relax when you're camping, and when you're enjoying yourself you can get a bit more in tune with yourself. Use the tips in this article to make sure you really enjoy all there is to enjoy on your camping trip. Look for ways to make your experience one you will remember.