Inpired by this thread,
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=450169 I was thinking of little hints for camping (tenting, or otherwise) to improvise things yo forgot or might want while you’re camping.
for instance, if you have no grommet holes on a tarp in a section, you can improvise by using a round rock about the size of a marble. Place it in on the tarp and pucker the tarp around the rock, and tie around the rock. Presto, temporary grommet point.
Not exactly OP answering, but some things that may or may not be of value for your camping pleasure;
Buy a plastic 5 gallon water jug if you’re not going to be near a well or spigot. Sounds like a lot, but it isn’t if you look at washing dishes and such.
Obviously a cooler is a good idea. Buy a big one with larger handles and a drain hole. Might take two to carry it, but you’ll find it works a lot better.
A better way to bring small quantities of milk and other liquids is old salsa jars in your cooler. Sealed, aren’t going to be bothered by being tussled (unless you’re dropping the cooler off a cliff), aren’t going to be randomly punctured.
The new LED flashlights are cool and last so much longer than the old ones that they are a must have. No more worries about turning them off to save the batteries!
Don’t buy crappy Captain’s Chairs. Your butt will hate you by the end of the night. OTOH, you don’t need to buy super expensive ones either. With Spring coming up, you should be able to find good ones with good arm supports fairly inexpensively at Target or such.
Buy a flask for some good liquor. Not expensive and you can hike around with a really nice Scotch or Tequila or Bourbon in your back pocket.
Mummy bags? Unless you’re into Cold Camping and/or camping alone, get yourself two flat bags that can be zippered together. You and your SO will appreciate it. Bring along a smaller blanket too. You’ll thank me for it - you can wrap it around shoulders to keep warmer if it gets cold or if you’re tall and don’t want to scrunch down in the bag.
Everyone should have a pocket knife and a bic lighter.
You can never have too many ropes, too many tarps, or too much aluminum foil.
If you have a wheeled camper of any kind, carry plenty of tools because you’re going to have to repair something on it.
It’s fun to do some elaborate cooking while camping. However, sometimes it’s better just to take some lunch meat and bread and spend a little more time relaxing.
If you forget something, don’t fret over it and let it ruin the whole trip. Just improvise or do without and have fun.
If you are male, and are camping in the winter, take along an empty wide-mouthed water bottle, clearly marked. At about 3AM or so, you’ll know what to do with it… 
plastic bags…lots of plastic baggies. To wrap stuff in when you pack, and later to hold your stuff when it’s used… wet socks, half-eaten bars of chocolate, the wet scrubby pad for washing dishes…
Y’know, I’m FAMOUS at campgrounds for being an awesome campsite improviser, but dang if I can think of anything good at the moment!
Or for females, a wide mouthed, empty and cleaned out peanut butter jar. With screw-top lid.
Actually, I’ve gotten even more gauche. We have a couple of wash basins (not the collapsible ones, those are on this year’s wish list) for doing dishes, which also hold stuff for packing. One sits on the floor under the spout of the (collapsible) water jug, which has a tendency to drip. It’s also my chamber pot at night, as well as my spit-basin while brushing my teeth and sink for catching my contact solution as I wash my contacts.
Gardy-loo!
I thought of a couple more.
Those big, slip-joint pliers that are designed for oil filters, they’re great for moving cans of pork-n-beans on and off of a fire. Or cans of anything, as far as that goes. You can use the can to heat them up and not dirty up a pan.
I discovered this one while camping at the beach. You know those little plastic toy kits with a shovel, bucket, and rake that toddlers (and certain adults) use to play in the same. Well, that little shovel is the perfect cooking utensil for a big shrimp boil. It’s pretty good for turning steaks, too, but you have to do it in a hurry so the plastic doesn’t melt.
Oh, that reminds me of another one. I wasn’t camping for this one, but I burned a big pile of brush and I realized you can cook a steak on a shovel pretty well after the fire burns down to embers. The shovel handle keeps you far enough back from the heat.
Just last weekend, we had a big wienie roast with the nieces and nephews. I made wienie roasting sticks from bamboo poles about eight feet long with a piece of coat hanger attached to the pole with duct tape. The long pole was necessary because the bonfire was so hot.
I just pee in the woods. I do pack out toilet paper in plastic baggies, though.
Duct tape is the best thing to bring for tent repair.
Take a tuna can roll up a strips of cardboard so that it will fit in. Melt some old candles to fill it up. Improvise a wiclike appendage. Take this with you. Great fire starter if you need one. This will provide fuel for quite some time. You can even invert a coffee can and make a cook top with it. Good use for old cardboard, old cans, and old candle wax.
Dryer lint makes an excellent fire starter. It is featherlight and compacts easily and most people have plenty readily available.
A cupful of pencil shavings makes great fire starter as well.
Fire starters are a great thing to have. I usually do not have a problem starting a fire but if damp conditions are at hand or you are rrunning low on matches or lighter fuel or scraps these are highly helpful. Plus if you pack them secretly noone will know and you wont have to run around harvesting trash and shit.
That is the idea, but sometimes it isn’t a happy event.
I remember once, camping and partying, I woke up at about 4am, and again about 6am, seriously needing to piss. Lucky me, the temperature had dropped to about 40 degrees and there was an ungodly amount of dew on the ground and the grass. So I’m standing outside, shivering like a madman, pissing like a racehorse, getting soaked from the dew. TWICE.
Damn, a glass bottle would have been a blessing!
Melt old candle STUBS. Or get bulk wax meant to make candles…the cheapest stuff possible. I’ve even used old cooking grease (hamburger drippings, used oil, etc.) to make firestarters. Keep these COLD, so that the grease stays solid, or you will have one hell of a mess. I used to use the cardboard egg cartons to make firestarters, too.
If you want to try cooking on a coffee can, punch (with a church key) holes around the cylinder side of the closed end, and cut (with tin snips or similar tool) an opening on the cylinder side of the open end. The holes are for ventilation, and the opening is for ventilation and for carefully feeding more fuel into the can. I’ve cooked on a coffee can, just to say that I did it, but I’d just as soon use my mess kit over a campfire. Coffee can cooking uses very little fuel, though, I’ll say that for it.
It ain’t a camping trip unless there’s at least one meal of Frito Chili Pie.*
Back when I was camping, I used to keep a bar of soap tied in an old pair of panty hose tied to the water jug. These days, I’d just use liquid soap.
Trying to wear contacts while camping is a VERY BAD IDEA. Just take my word for it.
*Frito Chili Pie
Canned chili
Fritos corn chips (no other brand will do)
Shredded Cheddar or American cheese, or even Velveeta
Chopped onion
Heat together until cheese melts. Serve piping hot. Also excellent as a general Guy Snack, especially during football games. I generally allow about 1/2 can of chili, 2 cups Fritos, and half a cup each of cheese and onions per person. For teenage boys, well, I’d say use about four or five times as much.
We called those ‘pepper bellies’ in high school. They were slightly different from yours. Nothing was cooked together. Just open the bag*, spoon in the heated chili, and top with shredded cheese and chopped onions.
Edit: *Individual bag.
Works great for about 24 hours, then turns into a gunky mess. Gaffer’s tape is similar without that fault.
Scotch Bacon
Assuming you have a means to cover the bacon with a lid while you’re cooking it, add a shot of Laphroig of Lagavulin (in other words, a peatier Scotch) at the end and cover to let steam.
If you don’t have a cover, but you have tin foil, cook your bacon, wrap in the tinfoil and add a shot of the Scotch, then set aside while you cook other things.
Make a list of what you are going to need. It makes it easier as you pack to just check things off then standing around trying to remember what you need.
Depending on how many are camping throw in an extra four or five baked potatoes at night for easy fried potatoes in the morning. Even if you are not having baked potatoes for dinner you can still throw them in the fire wrapped in foil and have them cooked and ready for breakfast.
If you are bringing can food you can open them and save them in good ziploc bags. It cuts down on the weight of things quite a bit. This actually applies to many items. You can cut down on a lot of space by removing them from their original container.
If you are camping with younger children an extra smaller cooler for their juices or fruit is helpful. That way they can serve themselves without opening the larger cooler that is holding meats, cheese or milk. It will save on ice later. Actually a cooler seperate for beer or pop even with adults is a good idea.
Pack at least once change of clothes in a sealed bag with at least two pairs of extra socks. If it rains you have a dry set and keeping your feet dry and warm is a must. If it is cold weather then include extra gloves and a hat. Packing extra matches or a lighter in this bag is also a good idea. Always be prepared for it to rain.
I am not a real fan of precooked meats like bacon or sausage but when camping with young children this can be helpful. It takes longer to cook raw food on a campfire or a Coleman stove. It can make it faster and easier if you are just heating things up. You can also cook your own at home and just pack it to re-heat. Even with adults this is a good idea if you have early plans to go hiking or fishing.
Make sure all flashlights or lamps have fresh batteres. Just because you have not used it in a year does not make the batteries fully charged.
Take a mesh bag when camping near water. You can keep drinks and such pretty cold by dropping them into the depths of a lake.
A few pieces of adhesive lined shrink-wrap tubing of various sizes can be invaluable for repairs. It is great for repairing fishing rods, joining rope, shoring up splintered tent poles, etc.
Always, always, always take a hammock, double wide if you can. Toss a tarp and mosquito net over it, and you don’t need a tent or camp mattress.
You mean uncooked?
Any issues with spoilage? Opening a can would allow the food to come into contact with the air and whatever is floating around in it.
I guess it depends how handy you are and if you have the room. Still, something we found very useful when trying to cook at a fire pit: a pair of high quality professional grade Welding Gloves.
Yeah, yeah. Ha-ha. Guess guys don’t know how to cook on an open fire w/o getting burned :rolleyes: . Laugh it up, but when you’ve got a few nice stinging hand/finger burns/blisters & no one else is going to roll up your sleeping bag, put up or take down your tent, or stow your gear but you, you might think back and remember this post…
Hey, no laughs here. All the Firetender Tribe at neopagan festivals use welder’s gloves while tending those huge bonfires. When my son was awarded his red suspenders (signifying membership in the Fire’ Tribe), my presenting him with his first pair of welder’s gloves made him tear up a little! They use them to grab burning logs and rearrange them, Jenga-style; I borrow them to move the kettle over a couple of inches.