Camping can be tons of fun, but only when you come fully prepared and with a complete understanding of all the challenges, you’re likely to face. With the right amenities, you can sleep well, eat well and safely engage in a broad range of outdoor activities. Following are the top 7 best camping tips for beginners along with a few, easy strategies for making life on the outside a lot easier.
1. Bring Homemade Firestarters
If you’ll be sleeping in a tent rather than a motor home or cabin, being able to start a good fire will prove essential for warmth. This will provide a cozy ambiance of nighttime activities and it will also serve as the perfect place for heating food up in a durable, Dutch oven. While you might have plenty of dry logs, leaves, and twigs for getting things going, nothing will create a stronger and warmer fire than homemade firestarters.
To make these, simply saturate a few cotton balls in petroleum jelly. You can store these in an airtight jar or tin. Once you have a suitable fire bit and a weak flame, toss one of your little fireballs in and watch the heart come ablaze.
2. Create A Detailed Packing Checklist
Don’t make the mistake of tossing a lot of canned goods into the car, only to forget your can opener. While spontaneous camping trips can be fun, creating a general packing list will ensure that nothing vital ever gets left behind.
3. Avoid Back Pain With The Best Air Mattress
Always be sure to get a good tent and a good sleeping bag, but don’t forget to write a quality air mattress into your budget. Having the best air mattress for these excursions is especially important for those who are planning to spend more than a single night, sleeping out in the wild.
Without a good mattress, you won’t have the energy or overall well-being to do all of the hiking, climbing, fishing, boating or other activities that you want to indulge in.
4. Bring Along A Few Camping Games For Adults
Some families are so intent on keeping the kids entertained, that they forget to pack activities for adults. This can be as simple as showing few new decks of cards in your bags, or pulling out your favorite board games.
Once the kids are out for the night, you can open a bottle of wine, break of the sumptuous desserts, and laugh your way well into the early morning hours.
5. Always Have A Comprehensive First Aid Kit
A good first aid kit will alleviate a tremendous amount of stress whenever even the most minor accidents happen. This should have bandages in multiple sizes, a sterile water solution, gauze, antibacterial ointment, aspirin, butterfly closures and even a basic splint.
Should anyone sustain a severe injury, this unit will likely have all that you need to minimize bleeding and trauma until help arrives.
6. Know Your Location
Invest in a quality map of the area that you’ll be camping in and learn how to identify all of the markers and guides that have been put out on trails for ease of navigation. Also, find out whether or not there’s access to onsite emergency services or other forms of help, should you ever need it.
7. Have A Plan For Waste Management
Most campgrounds have solid waste management plans in place. The best way to keep critters both large and small away from your campsite is by following campground rules carefully. Never leave cooked, uncooked or unfinished food sitting about.
Instead, be sure to store these things in airtight containers so that their scent isn’t easily picked up. Also, bag up all garbage before going to sleep and carry this away from your campsite to toss it in an appropriate rubbish bin.
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About Author
Deann Rebello – I’m a founder at BearinForest.com, a Camping blog that shares everything about traveling and camping. I’m just a young lady who loves camping out and always eager to share my bonding experience to the world. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter
