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Camping tips
From TipThePlanet
Contents |
[edit] Food and drink
- On old (but broken) heavy base electric frypan with high-dome lid can be used as a camp oven by placing it firmly on a flat bed of coals or even heat beads. Provided the heat is evenly distributed it will do a good job of cooking the Sunday lunch.
- Ice in the cooler (ice chest) whilst camping. Buy several individual cans of drink such as Capri Sun or Minute Maid and put in freezer for at least a day prior to leaving. They make excellent substitutes for the messy ice cubes that melt in your cooler or those pesky igloo gel freeze packs. They are convenient, take up less room because as they melt inside their containers you still have a cold drink and your food stays cool at the same time
- Another similar tip is to fill a large plastic container with water and freeze until solid. As it melts, this can then provide fresh cold water gradually over a long period of time. Ideal when sailing etc. To freshen up plastic water containers before use, place two denture cleaning tablets inside and fill up with water. Leave overnight, then discard water.
- Cut an orange in half and eat the flesh, leaving the peel complete. This can then be used to cook eggs in the ashes of a camp fire.
- If you smear washing up liquid on the outside of pans it will prevent the smoke from staining the utensil.
- To facilitate the start of a camp fire, particularly when kindling is damp, work petroleum jelly (Vaseline) into cotton balls and ignite. These can be stored safely in ziplock plastic bags until use. Keep away from children.
- For safety, when using a portable "Gaz" stove, drill holes in the four "feet" so that you can put a tent peg through into the ground to fix securely.
- To make your own larder, sew edges of an old net curtain to make a bag. Place a plate in the bottom and thread tape through the hem at the top to hang the larder up by.
[edit] Fires
- Minimise use of fires, particularly in high conservation areas. Obey all fire bans and restrictions.
- Make a fire only in constructed fireplaces using your own wood. Using fallen or standing timber interferes with the natural habitat for wildlife.
- When using methylated spirit burners whilst camping or bushwalking if you use a fuel mixture of 80% methylated spirits to 20% water it helps keep the bottom of the pots and billies clean, reducing the soot and lessening cleaning time.
[edit] Environment and Wildlife
- Avoid camping on low or poorly drained areas where soil or vegetation may be easily damaged; seek harder ground or sandier soils.
- Do not feed native wildlife and secure all food in wildlife-proof containers. The wrong food can make animals ill and in some cases can turn them into pests if they come to rely on being fed.
- We should regulate our water consumption as well as the use of lighting and heating energy. Use of electric hand dryers etc. should be avoided.
- Use of environmentally harmful products as disposable plates, mug, toilet articles, etc. should be avoided. Also we should avoid of use of canned drinks and drinks in plastic bottles in favor of glass bottles.
- Also we campers should take care of sorting the waste. Lubricants and other problem waste should be sent to enterprises qualified to dispose of them. Organic waste should became composted and all waste should be removed from the nature.
- Avoid playing loud music or operating machinery, which interferes with the enjoyment of other visitors and disturbs wildlife.
- If there are no toilets available, make an adequately deep hole, then do your business, burn the toilet paper and close the hole again. For larger groups camping at one spot for more than a night, digging a latrine should certainly be considered.
- Campsite operators and users should make use of local products and services as far as possible.
- Sustainable camping includes the use of public transport as far as possible.
- Hiking and biking are examples of environmentally friendly exercise.
- In nature we campers should stick to trails. Nature programs should be designed so that they use existing trails and routes. The goal of guided nature trips should be to improve our knowledge of the environment and awareness of the nature.
[edit] Other camping tips
- The lightweight and self-sufficient Multi Band Wind Up & Solar Radio is ideal for camping and hiking. Use solar power or recharge it from the mains or just wind it up – 30 seconds of winding gives you 30 minutes of play, and it plays for 20 hours when fully charged.
- The plastic tags used to close sliced bread wrappers can be used as clothes pegs. About 50 of them stack into a 35 mm film canister.
- To keep boots dry and insect free, push sticks into ground and place boot over top of stick.
- Radiator foil makes an ideal insulator under mattresses, or when sitting and kneeling on the ground.
- Nothing worse than soggy toilet paper apart from no toilet paper that is! Cut down a large plastic drink bottle, put a slit in the side through which to pass the sheet of paper - and the paper stays dry.
- To prevent soap becoming slimy, put the soap bar into a stocking or one leg of a pair of tights and use through the material. This can then be hung up when not in use.
- To keep shoes dry, take a wire coathanger and bend up about 2" at each end. Hang in the usual way and a shoe can be hooked over the ends.
- To hang washing without pegs, take two pieces of cord , string or rope and twist them together. Make into a washing line by suspending between two appropriate places. Washing can then be "poked" between the two strands.
- If sleeping on an air bed, if you place a blanket on top of the mattress, between the airbed and the sleeping bag, it will be much warmer.
- Place loops over tent rails which can be used to hang things from without causing water seepage through the canvas.
