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If you're a first-time camper, or if you haven't been camping in a while, there are a few things you should keep in mind when making your plans. The following provide a comprehensive overview some of the realities of tent camping, as well as some helpful tips:
- You'll be sharing your four-billion-star accommodations with numerous uninvited, wild guests.
- Chirping birds will probably wake you before the sun is up.
- You may have to break the skiff of ice in your coffee pot before you can even think about brewing that first morning cup.
- You won't see a single soap opera, game show, or daytime talk show.
- Your food will taste different when you cook it outside.
- Your clothes will smell like campfire. For a long time.
- S'mores are a sticky, gooey mess.
- If you leave something in your car, you may have to walk miles along a narrow trail through the woods to get it. And then walk back again.
Tent Camping Tips and Advice
- The early bird gets the best campsite. Arrive as early as possible, walk or drive around to check out all the options, find your "perfect" campsite (the one with the fewest compromises), and get things set up. Ideally, you can have dinner, clean up, and relax before dark.
Places to Avoid:
- Narrow canyons, which pose a risk of flash floods
- Open fields, where a lone tent can attract lightning
- Clay soils, which drain poorly and get messy in rain
- Cliffs and ledges, which can't be seen at night
- Stagnant water, which is often home to biting insects
- Pack items that have multiple uses. A light poncho, for example, packs easily and can be used as a rain jacket, a windbreaker, a ground cloth, or a mosquito shield.
- Save those little canisters your film comes in. They're the perfect size for keeping essentials like aspirin and matches dry.
- Wear comfortable shoes. Really comfortable shoes. That short hike to the top of the hill can turn into an endless journey back to camp if you're fighting a blister.
- Pack a pair of polypropylene long johns. Even in the summer. They don't absorb moisture, they dry quickly, and wick moisture away from your body. Pull them on if a sudden storm blows in, if you get cold sleeping, or if you tip your canoe and are waiting for your pants to dry.
- Dress in layers. You can peel them off or pile them on as the temperature rises or falls or your physical activity increases or decreases.
- Pack clothing in trash bags. The bags keep clothes dry in wet or humid weather and can double as laundry bags or makeshift ponchos in a pinch.
- Plan a menu and bring menu-specific measured items to save time and space. For example, measure all of the dry ingredients for pancakes and pack them in a covered container. When you're ready to cook, add the wet ingredients, put the lid on, and give it a shake to mix it up. But remember--and this is important--label the containers.
- Pack insulated mugs with lids. They keep hot beverages hot, cold beverages cold, and insects out of everything.
- Invest in a solar-heated camp shower. This mini shower can double as a faucet and is ideal for dish rinsing and hand washing.
- Partially unzip the upper window in your tent to remove unwanted moisture and condensation from perspiring sleepers. On muggy nights, also zip open a lower window to draw cooler air through to create a chimney effect.
- Firewood may be scarce where you are camping, so pick up a few bundles before you head to the campsite.
- Even if you forget everything else, remember to pack the can opener and the toilet paper. The rest is secondary.
- Clean up when you leave. Take away everything you brought. And anything else that shouldn't be there.
Used with permission from the Coleman Company.
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