Archive for the ‘camping’ Category
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How to Build an “Upside-Down” Fire
If you’ve always been a proponent of the tipi-style fire – you know, the type of fire with the tinder on the bottom and sticks and logs organized tipi-style overhead – but never enjoyed the constant prodding and poking necessary to keep the fire alive, this article is for you. Why? Because we’re going to be talking about how to build an “upside-down” or “self-feeding” fire, a fire that requires minimal effort while it’s burning to keep it alive. How can this be possible? Read on.
Forget What You Know About Campfires
An upside-down fire is called “upside-down” because it’s essentially the opposite of the tipi-style fire. In essence, you’ll want to place your biggest logs at the bottom and your tinder at the top. Doing so seems counter-intuitive, but once you build a fire that really lasts by itself, you’ll see how it works.
You start by placing the heaviest logs next to each other as tightly as possible. You take the next biggests sticks and logs and place them perpendicular to the layer beneath, slowly building this way upward until you have a complete “pyramid” style fire. Make sure that the longest sticks/logs are at the bottom, and that they decrease in length moving upwards.When you get to the top, you can use firesticks to get the fire going – firesticks are high-resin sticks that help to start fires. What happens next is how the art of the upside-down fire works: gravity pulls down embers and heats up the layer below, slowly kick-starting the entire fire itself. The result is a relatively slow-starting but long-lasting fire that you don’t need to poke or prod.
How to Practice an Upside-Down Fire
Now that you know the basics, it’s time to do some practicing. Gather plenty of firewood near your closes firepit. You can try building “mini-upside-down” fires in order to start practicing. As you practice, you’ll need to fill in the blanks between reality and this article, so don’t assume you’ll build a perfect fire the first time.
After you’ve built a small fire successfully, you’ll be ready to move onto the bigger ones. Once you’ve mastered these, you will be able to enjoy long-lasting fires that produce a consistent flame, ideal for campfires and the occasional marshmellow. These fires will also be great ways to consistently cook a breakfast skillet in the morning.
Photo Credits: mikemol
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How to Make Your Camping Trip More Exciting
Camping trips are meant to be exciting whether you’re going with your family or with a group of friends. Whether your group is adventurous or just looking to brave the outdoors there is something for everyone. If you’re off to a bad start though, what can you do to make your camping trip more exciting? This article will list a few ideas that can get your camping trip back on the right track.
Go Exploring
If you’re already at the campsite what’s stopping you from going to explore the wilderness? You never know what you may find out there and it’s a good way to take your mind off any hardships you may be facing. It’s amazing how even the smallest discovery can be exciting when you’re out camping with a group of friends. It’s important that when you go out exploring that you at least bring other person with you in case you get lost. Two heads are better than one when trying to find your way back!
Play Games
Making up different games is half the fun when you’re out camping with your friends and family. There are all sorts of games that you can come up with using the environment that you may have found, whether that is trees or a lake. From freeze tag to racing the woods is a great environment to play all sorts of games. Try to keep them safe because it could be very easy to hurt yourself in the woods, especially if you’re playing in the water.
Try To Rough It
Many people like to rough the great outdoors when they go camping. To them this can either mean being completely helpless to just have to catch your own dinner, whether that is a fish or whatever. This creates a sense of isolation; some people love this feeling because camping is a way to get away from the hustle and bustle everyday life.
Look For Wildlife
Looking for animals is great fun in the woods because often times they’re smart enough to stay away from you making it hard for to observe them. This can even be turned into a competition of who can find whatever animal first. It’s important that if you do seek out wildlife that you don’t anger it. Even the smallest animals can be dangerous if they attack you, especially if you don’t have the proper first aid.
Remember, camping trips are meant to be exciting, don’t just go outside put up the tent and go to sleep. Try to have some fun, catch some dinner, explore, there are endless possibilities waiting for you in the great outdoors.
Photo Credits: TheNickster
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Killing Time On a Camping Trip
It’s an ideal scenario: you’ve finally gotten the family away from the distractions of daily life back in the city, you’ve cleared enough time to have a great vacation, and you’ve brought all of the amenities you need to enjoy a comfortable camping trip. Then, your first morning, you wake up, fire up breakfast, lounge around on a chair, and the thought hits you:
What now?
It’s a perfectly normal situation to encounter, and it simply means that even while you’ve put aside some time for fun, you haven’t decided what to do with that time yet. Here are some ways for you to enjoy a camping trip and “kill time” the most fun and relaxing way possible.
First, make sure before your camping trip that you know what kind of activities are available in your camping area. If you’ve decided to “rough it” and head out into some deep, desolate woods, that’s fine, but you’ll need to define some activities ahead of time for that trip as well. Is there a body of water nearby? Are there boats to rent, jet skis available, good hiking trails, bikes to rent? Just asking yourself a few of these questions ahead of time will help you get started on the right foot.
Second, don’t waste time making decisions. It’s all too common for people to turn into “decisions, decisions” mode instead of simply taking action early and often. If you face a choice of fishing, hiking, or biking your day away, and family members are undecided on which to do, try this: make a decision for yourself and invite others to come along. Get your feet moving and get the activities under your belt. You’ll find that this kind of active momentum will probably carry you through the rest of your day.Third, know when it’s time to relax. If you’ve been active all day, you can still live a “full day” without staying active – it might be time to kick up your feet, light a campfire, and listen to some ghost stories. It’s one thing to relax when you’re stressed, but it’s another thing completely to relax after an exhausting day of fun, exercise, and activity. You’ll feel like you’re relaxing deeper then ever before and you’ll get a better night’s sleep.
If these sound like good ways to spend your next vacation, look into having your own camping trip, and then customize the trip to suit your tastes. Adventurers can find plenty of adventure in the outdoors, while relaxers will enjoy campfires and quiet nights under the stars. It’s up to you to decide how you’ll “kill your own time.”
Photo Credits: .:[CT]:.|.:[CB]:. |…
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Tips for Women: How to Camp Comfortably
We all know that any given woman is capable of accomplishing the same things outdoors as any given man, and that what makes a good camper is not only attitude, but skill. Either gender is capable of developing both. But when it comes to camping comfortably, it would be just plain wrong to act like there are no differences between men and women, and it’s fair to say that women have higher needs for comfort than many men. With that in mind, here are a few tips for the adventurous women out there.
First, getting a good’s night sleep during a camping weekend should be considered the most vital aspect of your comfortable camping experience. If you wake up with a sore back, it’s going to ruin the rest of your day. But if you wake up like you wake up out of your bed at home, you should feel absolutely fine and have more energy to accomplish the things you want to accomplish while camping that day.
With that in mind, be sure to focus on a few essential things: padding, insulation, and dryness. Padding simply refers to the type of bed you might be using – if you can bring along an air mattress with a gadget for easily pumping it up, you should have no problem sleeping on it. For insulation, make sure you have a comfortable sleeping bag that adequately traps your body heat. And when it comes to dryness, take extra precautions to keep both your tent and your equipment of of moisture’s way.Next, think about the kind of equipment you’ll be using during the daytime that will change your camping experience. For example, what luxury at home can’t you live without? If it’s a shower, you can find portable camping showers that function similar to showers at home, or simply find a campsite shower on a campground. It’s usually a good idea to try out a night of camping out in your backyard, without the conveniences at home except the ones in your bag, to get an idea of how you’ll fare when you’re camping. Make sure to bring a notepad to keep track of all of the things you believe you’ll need and that which you won’t need to bring on your trip.
Having a comfortable camping experience is all about preparation. As long as you have your bases covered, you should have a great experience that feels like you’re at one with nature, not constantly fighting it by tossing and turning all night.
Photo Credits: russelljsmith
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The Morning: How to Start Your Day of Camping Off Right
Believe it or not, a good day of camping doesn’t necessarily start in the morning. No, I’m not suggesting that it should start off in the afternoon: rather, a great day of camping should start the night before with a solid night’s sleep and the right kind of preparation. If you want to wake up to cool air and a bright sun, it’s time to learn how to start your day off right. Here’s how you want to get started camping in the morning.
- Get a full night’s sleep.
The most important thing to consider is your sleep before you begin your day. If you stay up too late, you’ll find yourself waking up when the sun is already at its highest. If your sleeping is too uncomfortable, you won’t be able to find the quality of sleep that leaves you feeling refreshed and rejuvenated in the morning. That’s why it’s important to consider tomorrow morning before you go to bed. If you have to, cut off conversations and tell people you have to go to bed because you’ve got a “big day tomorrow.” It’s ultimately you who decides the quality of day you want to enjoy.
- Make sure breakfast is ready or at least accessible.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it will provide you with the fuel you lost overnight and help regulate your appetite throughout the day. If you’re going to eat to really get full, breakfast is the time to do it. The problem during a camping trip is that eating in the morning often simply means chewing on beef jerky or whatever’s available. Instead, make sure you’ve got some easy-to-prepare food in the cooler: fruit and protein work great for both giving you an energy boost and filling you up. Heat up some sausages in a pan while you eat bananas, apples, and oranges, and eat some almonds or mixed nuts for some healthy fat.
- Get going!
You might notice that when you lounge around all day, you can’t help but feel sluggish. That’s because your energy will often rise to the occasion. If you’re out and about at 7 a.m., then there’s a good chance you’ll feel more energized throughout the day. Even if everyone else is sleeping, it’s time for you to take the boat out for a quick fish, or indulge in another physical activity like hiking or swimming. By the time everyone else is waking up, you’ll feel fueled and ready for a great day of camping.
Choosing how to live your days is a skill; it might take some practice. If you don’t think you have the kind of self-discipline to start off with a good morning out on a camping trip, try doing it on one of your Saturdays in the coming weeks.
Photo Credits: jawcey - Get a full night’s sleep.
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Three Essential Camping Safety Tips for Families
Depending on just how daring you are, your camping trip with your family might or might not fraught with potential hazards. These hazards don’t necessarily refer to the minor inconveniences that come with bug bites or sleeping on a harder surface – instead, the more recklessly you camp, the more you expose your family to real danger. That’s why you’ll want to make sure you camp the right way from the first time on. These three camping safety tips will help you be prepared for camping hazards, hopefully leading to a safe and enjoyable camping trip for you and yours.
- Tip #1: Set clear rules for the campfire.
- One of the most obvious hazards involved with campfires. If you have smaller children who are in the stage of their life when their legspeed far exceeds their common sense and they feel like they have to explore, you’ll have to make it explicitly clear that the fire pit is not the place to explore. The campfire serves both practical and aesthetic purposes -it doesn’t need to be played with.
Once you’ve established clear boundaries for your children, give them viable alternatives to enjoy when it’s time to light the fire. Toys, stories, and even a portable video game can help them keep their mind occupied – and away from the fire. Remember to be acutely aware of where your children are once you light the fire.
- Tip #2: Scout out water yourself first.
If you’re near a new lake, pond, or river and aren’t exactly sure about issues like water depth, temperature, or potential hazards like animals or insects, you’ll want to take a dip yourself to make sure that everything will work well for your children. In destinations with higher traffic, this won’t typically be an issue. If you’re a little further out into the American frontier, however, you’ll want to make sure to act as the scout for your family.
- Tip #3: Make sure your children are aware of the dangers of provoking animals.
Even seemingly harmless creatures might carry diseases, so it’s important to make sure your children know how to react when they come across an animal. Larger mammals like raccoons can be potentially deadly – don’t just leave these situations to nature. Even if animals are generally scared away when they detect human activity, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t let your children know about animals. Don’t send them into situations where they might confront a dangerous animal.
Photo Credits: Joi
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Camping in a Thunderstorm
Although you try to keep tabs of the weather forecast, you find that this particular day, you’ve simply watched the weather by looking at the sky. And although the sky was relatively clear at dawn when you fished, you noticed that by lunchtime it had gotten cloudy and, in the afternoon, downright dark.
In this situation, a thunderstorm might be headed your way. But you’ve got an entire campsite built for relatively mild weather, and no where in particular to go for the evening. What exactly can you do? In this article, you’ll learn how to weather a thunderstorm effectively when you’re camping with your family.
Lightning
First things first: the most crucial issue will be safety, and this means avoiding lightning as best as possible. Being outside during a thunderstorm can be downright dangerous, so you’ll want to pay attention to these tips.
First, seek shelter as quickly as possible. If this means abandoning your campsite, you should still do it. Put out your fire with a bucket of water (you should always keep one handy just in case) and find a place where you’ll be protected from lightning.If this is impossible, you’ll want to follow a few rules of thumb. First of all, avoid being the tallest object in the area – get low to the ground by squatting, not lying down. Make sure that you don’t squat under the tallest tree, either.
Make sure you also avoid wires and fence lines, and other metal objects that can move electricity from one area to another.
In order to gauge where lightning is, keep track of the time between a flash and the sound of thunder – five seconds usually means roughly a mile. This information won’t be of much use, as you should try to seek shelter anyway.
Your Campsite
If your campsite is on a hill or comprises the tallest objects around, you shouldn’t try to stick around or seek shelter in your tents. All tents will do is shelter you from rain; it’s better to be stuck in the rain then it is to be exposed to a greater chance of getting hit by lightning.
If you can, get into a vehicle – the metallic frame disperses much of the electric current of a lightning blast. If there is no other shelter, getting into your car is one of your best options; it shelters you from rain and helps protect against lightning.
Most importantly, the best way to camp in a thunderstorm is to stay prepared. Bring a radio or GPS watch that will help you forecast the weather; if you know a thunderstorm might be coming hours in advance, you’ll be able to make necessary changes and adapt. If you get stuck in one, however, you might potentially be in harm’s way.
Photo Credits: nebelkerze
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Three Reasons to Take Your Kids Camping
The tradition of camping began in the late 1800s as the world became more industrialized, suburbs sprouted around large cities, and people moved away from rural areas. As you can probably guess, camping as a recreational activity grew in popularity the less people had access to the American rural life, and since then it has been not only a national pastime but a way to teach some skills and values to our children. If you have been thinking about taking your kids camping but need a little nudge in the right direction, here are three more reasons.
Reason #1: To teach skills they can’t get otherwise.
You don’t have to be a Boy Scout troop leader in order to relate some of the great skills that camping can teach. One single camping trip can include skills like fire-starting, cooking, setting up campsites, fishing, swimming, rope-tying, and hiking. In other words, it’s a great way to learn some basic survival skills. Maybe your children won’t ever need to use these skills, but it’s a nice thing to pass on anyway. You don’t want to lose touch with nature, and staying out under the stars for a few nights is all it takes to feel comfortable outdoors again.
Reason #2: Confidence-building.
As a child learns how to be self-sufficient, they also learn confidence. Why? Because if they know they can handle themselves in the wilderness, they’ll learn that they can trust their own skills and instincts. This is a crucial way to build self-confidence and is employed by the Boy Scouts. Sometimes we forget just how easy we have it in a world of air-conditioning and indoor heating that we forget the innate value of self-sufficiency and what it does for our self-esteem.
Reason #3: It’s fun without the consequences.
What does that mean? Well, a year’s worth of video games might not always have the most positive effect on your child’s health. But activities you can do outdoors are almost always healthy and help build their level of fitness. This doesn’t mean you have to tackle an obstacle course when you’re out camping – simply being outside will include walking, jogging, and moving around that you can’t always get indoors. Video games are fun, too, but they can take their toll on the body. The more you can get your kids to play outdoors, the better.
Are these the only reasons to take your kids camping? Of course not. But if you take a trip soon, you’ll start to learn that your family has its own individual reasons for heading into the great outdoors.
Photo Credits: RichardBH
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Should You Go on a Safari?
Imagine it – you’re out there in the middle of a land that’s been called Eden, looking at some of the most impressive wildlife you’ve ever seen. Elephants, hyenas, leopards, and maybe even lions. Except this isn’t the zoo – the distance between these animals and you is only filled by air.
Sound thrilling?
Then maybe you should consider an African Safari, an outing typically the length of an entire vacation in which you are guided around wilderness that retains its prehistoric qualities and animals that don’t know what year it is. For many people, this is the only way to experience wildlife, while for others, a Safari can actually be a great challenge. Here are some tips on finding out if a Safari is the right kind of vacation for you and yours:
-Remember the financial commitment involved.
To get a lot out of an African Safari, you’re going to actually have to – naturally – travel to Africa and arrange about a week-long trip. Many programs will be able to offer tour guides, lodging, the whole package – but this will cost you. The first thing you’ll have to consider when planning an African Safari is the kind of money you’re willing to spend in order to have a good time and long-lasting memories.
-Where should you go on your Safari?
In this article, we’ve been addressing African Safaris, but that doesn’t mean you still won’t have plenty of options. You can consider options along the Indian Ocean, or East Africa in countries like Kenya. South Africa is also a frequent destination for people on Safari. Look up the local accommodations and the wildlife to see which trip best suits your ideas of a real African Safari.
-Make sure everyone else is on board.
If you’ve got a family, especially, you don’t want to drag along two kids that weren’t interested from the get-go. If you’re dead-set on going on a Safari but no one is as enthused as you and your spouse, you could plan on dropping the kids off at a relative’s. Make sure to get feedback on your Safari plans well before you even start thinking about the trip itself.
-If you plan on going, do your research thoroughly.
This includes checking testimonials from previous customers on specific Safari trips, requesting detailed itineraries from your Safari operator, and knowing exactly where you’ll be lodging. These are crucial questions that you’ll need answers to before you make any set-in-stone decisions about going on a Safari.
If you’re willing to front the cost and do your research, you won’t only find that you’re ready for a Safari, but that you’re already open to a wonderful new experience that the entire family can enjoy.
Photo Credits: yaaaay
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The Tent-less Outdoor Sleeping Guide
For some people, the definition of “rustic” means simply heading out into the woods – even if you bring a camper with a bathroom, a sink, and a microwave. For others, “rustic” means an experience that at least has some amenities like tents to keep your dry and covered from rain. But for the die-hard campers, there’s only one definition of rustic: tent-less camping, including true under-the-stars sleeping. If you’ve always wanted to do this, here’s your guide.
What to bring: Even if you’re not bringing a tent, you’ll need to bring something in order to keep you warm and separate your back from the hard, rocky ground. Many people bring a simple sleeping bag and sleeping pad, and possibly a camping cot, in order to sleep outdoors.
The good thing about sleeping without a tent is that you can stay warm near – but not too near – a fire. Even so, you’ll want to stay warm for the entire night, including after the fire dies down on its own. Make sure you bring enough to keep you warm and relatively comfortable when you sleep on the ground.
As for your pillow, what you do will be up to you. You can’t exactly lay your pillow down on the ground, so try to bring some sort of tarp or bag that can separate your pillow from the dirt.Watch the weather: When you’re thinking about camping in a tent, knowing it’s going to rain is less important knowledge than when you’re sleeping outdoors. You’ll want to be sure that a high-pressure system is moving through the area you intend on sleeping in; these systems keep things clear – and usually provide for better views of the stars anyway. If there’s going to be rain, you probably won’t be able to have a good night’s sleep, so you might want to consider throwing in the towel and simply sleeping under a tarp or simply a tent.
All in all, sleeping outdoors can be a pleasant experience, but it’s not without its risks. You’ll want to be aware of local insects and wildlife before you sleeping without shelter. When in doubt, simply sleep in your tent so that you can stay dry and not worry about everything that comes from sleeping outdoors. You might just be glad you did.
Photo Credits: anoldent
