20 Game-changing Camping Hacks
Photo by Zach Betten on Unsplash
SHARING IS CARING!
UPDATED POST: May 10, 2022
Camping doesn’t have to be a nightmare. It can be truly enjoyable (this coming from a campingphobe! lol) if you prepare and pack right. It doesn’t hurt too to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Read on for some ingenious game-changing camping hacks that might help your family on your next camping trip.
1. Download all the maps you will need for your trip and save them on your phone. Most of the National/State parks and campgrounds have spotty wifi so having all the maps you need for your trip be readily accessible will save you both precious sightseeing time and unnecessary stress.
Photo by Sebastian Hietsch on Unsplash
2. Place a hand warmer (or two) inside your sleeping bag at bedtime. These Hot Hands hand warmers are life savers on those cooler nights. You will thank me when you wake up warm and toasty from a restful sleep.
3. Always keep a pair of clean socks in your sleeping bag so you don’t have to use dirty socks inside your tent keeping it clean (well, somewhat lol).
4. Save time (woot woot!) and cooler space by prepping your camp breakfasts (eg. scrambled eggs or pancake mixture) ahead of time. We use our old water bottles and just label them with masking tape (image on the right).
Image by Chelsea Faulkner via HGTV
5. Store your seasonings in mini containers. Ours are stored in these reusable waterproof containers. I like that they are leakproof and do not take up a lot of room in your food bin. At home, I also use these containers for dressings and sauces for Bogey and Alaina’s packed lunches. I use travel bottles from a travel kit for liquids such as oil and soy sauce. We also bring leftover sauce packets if we have some.
If you use a lot of spices, consider using these stackable pill organizers. They come in small, medium and large sizes.
6. This ingenious camping hack utilizes a shoe organizer as camping storage. Brilliant!
Photo by Margie Barnett via Pinterest
7. Silicone cups are super light, packable and best of all, unbreakable.
8. Portable fans not only keep you cool on warm days but they also help keep mosquitoes at bay. Joseph Conlon, technical adviser of American Mosquito Control Association, says “Mosquitoes are weak fliers and have trouble navigating a moderate breeze. Plus, the breeze will tend to dissipate all of the body odors and the carbon dioxide that people give off that attract mosquitoes, so the mosquitoes have much more of a difficult time trying to find their hosts. It’s low-tech, but very effective.” I really like camping gear that serve a dual purpose. We bring a portable battery fan anyway to have some ventilation inside the tent so having this extra use guarantees that the fan always gets a spot in our camping bag.
9. Use clothes dryer lint coated in petroleum jelly as cheap fire starters. Store them in used paper towel rolls and you’re ready to light them up for your next campfire. Always check fire restrictions in your campground before (safely) building a fire. When done, wait for flames to die then drown the embers with water to make sure the fire is completely out. This is VERY IMPORTANT because according to the Forest Service, nearly 85% of wildfires are caused by people’s carelessness.
10. Firewood is essential for those cold mornings and s’mores nights. Store dry firewood under your car to ensure that you have dry firewood that is ready to use anytime.
Rainbow campfire using Magical Flames
11. Speaking of campfires, no camp night is complete without s’mores! Making s’mores prep boxes using plastic containers not only saves precious camping cooler real estate but also makes it so much easier and cleaner with less trash to take out.
12. Clear plastic storage bins serve a dual purpose as storage for our camping bedding/clothes and dishwashing bins when camping.
13. Store all shoes in a plastic bin to keep mud to a minimum in your vehicle. We pack all hiking and camping footwear in a plastic bin and throw them in the same bin on the drive home. We keep a separate pair of shoes or flip flops to wear in the car so that cleaning the car (You’re welcome, B!) after a camping adventure wouldn’t be such a pain.
14. Leaving your dirty/muddy shoes outside your tent when raining is always a problem. Use these plastic shower caps to cover dirty shoes so you could keep your shoes inside your tent while keeping the area clean.
15. Plastic shower caps are also great food covers to keep bugs and dirt away from your food.
16. A small dustpan and broom set keeps dirt in check inside your tent.
17. Instead of buying bags of ice to keep food cold in the cooler, freeze water in used soda 2L plastic bottles. Once the ice melts, you can use the water for dishwashing. A huge plus is that water stays inside the bottle and does not flood the cooler (and your food!) when it melts. Because water expands when frozen, filling just 3/4 of the bottle will help prevent cracking of the plastic bottles.
18. The mesh storage bag that comes with your tent can also be used as a drying bag for just washed pots, pans and plates. If your tent doesn’t come with one, you can use any mesh bag.
19. Use tennis balls in the dryer with your sleeping bag to break up any clumps of down to keep it fluffy/lofty. A mild soap is always recommended to protect your down sleeping bag. This soap is specially formulated for down filled items and claims to improve the water repellency of fabrics. Make sure the sleeping bag is about 90% dry before putting the tennis balls in. Some people claim clean sneakers do the trick too. I am wary about that one since sneakers are heavier and might end up tearing the outer shell of the sleeping bag. I’m sticking with tennis balls on this one.
Image courtesy of Felix Dorn via Unsplash
20. Those cheap brightly-colored pool noodles not only bring hours of fun in the lake but also can be used as tent line covers to prevent tripping.
Image via Pinterest
It took a few dreadful trips before we mastered (or at least I think we did lol) our camping game. I hope that these camping game-changers will make your next camping trip a pleasant and relaxing experience. Let me know how these hacks worked out for you in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.
-Ellie
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You might also want to check out my post on packing for family camping that includes a printable comprehensive packing checklist for families.
Related post: Family Camping Essentials plus Printable Packing Checklist
