Scouting Hints and Tips - Camping
When sleeping in blankets, or using a blanket for additional warmth, have more layers below you than on top of you.
Wear shorts and thin canvas shoes with no socks around the campsite on wet and rainy days. Your skin is waterproof, and the canvas shoes will dry quickly when it stops raining.
If your tent does not have a sewn in groundsheet, instead of digging a drainage trench around your tent in bad weather, raise the edges of the groundsheet with wood. This forces the rainwater underneath the groundsheet.
Use dead wood from a tree when lighting a fire - it will be drier than wood found lying on the ground.
Keep your knives and axes sharp - there will be less chance of slipping and accidental cuts.
Always use a figure of eight motion when sharpening on an oilstone - this will even the wear on the stone and make it last much longer.
Always remove all grass / leaves and debris from a tent as you fold it up - they will rot during storage and ruin your material - especially canvas.
Always hank your guy ropes when striking a tent - they will not be tangled when you next pitch it.
If your tent is wet, or even just damp, when striking it, dry it out before storing it, especially if it is canvas.
Rub the outside of billies and dixies with soap or washing up solution before cooking. It makes the removal of the soot much easier.
Here is a contentious tip - check with your Quartermaster first!
Do not clean the soot off the bottoms of billies and dixies. (However, do clean the sides.) The soot is black, and absorbs heat quicker than shiny metal. The pot will heat up quicker, and require less fuel.
Bake eggs in the campfire embers. Just a pin prick hole in one end is all that is required for a perfect hot snack.
A Beaver or Cub between two slices of bread makes a tasty snack for a hungry Scout!
The best thing to remember is that skills can replace equipment. A flat stone thrown in the fire can replace a frypan if you work your menu around it. (Bacon and eggs work well. Remember that when well heated, the stone is cleaned and sterilized.)
Hooks are made out of forked branches that are cut to useful lengths so that when lashed to a tree, you have hooks to hang your pots and towels.
Orange peels are great for making eggs and muffins -- just cut open near the top, scoop out the fruit (but not damaging the peel,) pour in the egg or muffin mix, and cook over the fire.
Take along several sticks of hot glue on overnights. They can be melted with a campfire stick or ember and will repair a punctured air mattress or leaking tent in short order...
When camping, a piece of white paper seems to attract ants to it rather than to food, or your tent.
Waxed dental floss works extremely well for whipping the ends of rope. It comes in a small plastic container that is perfect for throwing into your pack. After you whip the ends of the rope, heat the dental floss to melt the wax. Works great.
When hiking, wear two pairs of socks. Not only does this cushion you feet, but the outer pair can be turned down over the knot in your shoe laces to stop them getting caught on tree roots, etc.
Building a campfire from scratch first thing in the morning can delay breakfast. Instead, "bank" the fire by burying some embers in a few inches of ashes. Without much oxygen, they'll smolder slowly all night. This little trick also shows the importantance of scattering a fire (and dousing it with water) when you want to make sure it's out!
Winter camping? Brrrr! We used to keep our clothes inside our sleeping bags at night. It makes getting dressed in the morning a lot less chilly.
The perfect kindling on a wet day is "fat wood" or "sheepherder's gasoline." Find a very rotten pine stump. As the wood rots, the pine resin concentrates in a little stick in the center. Good fat wood will just about light under water!
Did you know that you can boil water in a paper cup? Even in the hottest fire, the water keeps the paper cool (although the dry rim can catch fire). Try it and amaze your whole patrol.
It may feel "dry" but your sleeping bag naturally absorbs moisture as you sleep. Open it up and air it out for an hour, preferably in the hot sun, before you roll it up. Take care of it and one sleeping bag will see you through many years of camping.
Especially in the winter, gather up a thick layer of leaves or pine needles before you put down your tarp or tent bottom. They insulate you from that block of ice called the ground and feel like a dream.
Wearing two pairs of socks will help prevent blisters. As soon as you get a foot blister, sterilize a needle or knife blade and poke a tiny hole in the side of the blister to drain the fluid. If you don't, the blister will rub open on its own and hurt like the beejeebers. After the "operation," put on antiseptic and a band-aid, if you happen to Be Prepared.
Conduct award ceremonies by candlelight. The mood is more solemn; the honors more memorable.
If you found these hints and tips useful, please send us yours
DISCLAMER: These hints are provided for information only. We do not accept responsibility for any loss or damage to person or property by anyone using these tips.
When sleeping in blankets, or using a blanket for additional warmth, have more layers below you than on top of you.
Wear shorts and thin canvas shoes with no socks around the campsite on wet and rainy days. Your skin is waterproof, and the canvas shoes will dry quickly when it stops raining.
If your tent does not have a sewn in groundsheet, instead of digging a drainage trench around your tent in bad weather, raise the edges of the groundsheet with wood. This forces the rainwater underneath the groundsheet.
Use dead wood from a tree when lighting a fire - it will be drier than wood found lying on the ground.
Keep your knives and axes sharp - there will be less chance of slipping and accidental cuts.
Always use a figure of eight motion when sharpening on an oilstone - this will even the wear on the stone and make it last much longer.
Always remove all grass / leaves and debris from a tent as you fold it up - they will rot during storage and ruin your material - especially canvas.
Always hank your guy ropes when striking a tent - they will not be tangled when you next pitch it.
If your tent is wet, or even just damp, when striking it, dry it out before storing it, especially if it is canvas.
Rub the outside of billies and dixies with soap or washing up solution before cooking. It makes the removal of the soot much easier.
Here is a contentious tip - check with your Quartermaster first!
Do not clean the soot off the bottoms of billies and dixies. (However, do clean the sides.) The soot is black, and absorbs heat quicker than shiny metal. The pot will heat up quicker, and require less fuel.
Bake eggs in the campfire embers. Just a pin prick hole in one end is all that is required for a perfect hot snack.
A Beaver or Cub between two slices of bread makes a tasty snack for a hungry Scout!
The best thing to remember is that skills can replace equipment. A flat stone thrown in the fire can replace a frypan if you work your menu around it. (Bacon and eggs work well. Remember that when well heated, the stone is cleaned and sterilized.)
Hooks are made out of forked branches that are cut to useful lengths so that when lashed to a tree, you have hooks to hang your pots and towels.
Orange peels are great for making eggs and muffins -- just cut open near the top, scoop out the fruit (but not damaging the peel,) pour in the egg or muffin mix, and cook over the fire.
Take along several sticks of hot glue on overnights. They can be melted with a campfire stick or ember and will repair a punctured air mattress or leaking tent in short order...
When camping, a piece of white paper seems to attract ants to it rather than to food, or your tent.
Waxed dental floss works extremely well for whipping the ends of rope. It comes in a small plastic container that is perfect for throwing into your pack. After you whip the ends of the rope, heat the dental floss to melt the wax. Works great.
When hiking, wear two pairs of socks. Not only does this cushion you feet, but the outer pair can be turned down over the knot in your shoe laces to stop them getting caught on tree roots, etc.
Building a campfire from scratch first thing in the morning can delay breakfast. Instead, "bank" the fire by burying some embers in a few inches of ashes. Without much oxygen, they'll smolder slowly all night. This little trick also shows the importantance of scattering a fire (and dousing it with water) when you want to make sure it's out!
Winter camping? Brrrr! We used to keep our clothes inside our sleeping bags at night. It makes getting dressed in the morning a lot less chilly.
The perfect kindling on a wet day is "fat wood" or "sheepherder's gasoline." Find a very rotten pine stump. As the wood rots, the pine resin concentrates in a little stick in the center. Good fat wood will just about light under water!
Did you know that you can boil water in a paper cup? Even in the hottest fire, the water keeps the paper cool (although the dry rim can catch fire). Try it and amaze your whole patrol.
It may feel "dry" but your sleeping bag naturally absorbs moisture as you sleep. Open it up and air it out for an hour, preferably in the hot sun, before you roll it up. Take care of it and one sleeping bag will see you through many years of camping.
Especially in the winter, gather up a thick layer of leaves or pine needles before you put down your tarp or tent bottom. They insulate you from that block of ice called the ground and feel like a dream.
Wearing two pairs of socks will help prevent blisters. As soon as you get a foot blister, sterilize a needle or knife blade and poke a tiny hole in the side of the blister to drain the fluid. If you don't, the blister will rub open on its own and hurt like the beejeebers. After the "operation," put on antiseptic and a band-aid, if you happen to Be Prepared.
Conduct award ceremonies by candlelight. The mood is more solemn; the honors more memorable.
If you found these hints and tips useful, please send us yours
DISCLAMER: These hints are provided for information only. We do not accept responsibility for any loss or damage to person or property by anyone using these tips.