# Obsolete camping advice **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732 "2016-06-29T19:39:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/81 "2024-07-21T10:53:42Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > We never sat around a campfire – fires are rarely permitted in the back country these days. It’s understandable, but a total deal breaker for me. As long as there is no fire danger or restrictions, we like making a ‘camp’ fire at our house and sit around it. It’s also a good way to get rid or slash/fallen branches. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/82 "2024-07-21T12:29:00Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > It’s 10 hours for a tank of gas ([Cite](https://youtu.be/f-PIhUQtWe8?t=940)). That Milwaukee I cited above is 18 hours on a charge. And how large are that tank and that battery? ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/83 "2024-07-21T12:43:16Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I hadn’t actually thought about the animals angle. But in any case, due to the slipping reason and not wanting to backtrack if I hit a waterfall, if this happened to me, I would take the easiest looking route that was still in sight of the stream valley, rather than insistently hug the water. I make it a point to always know a cardinal direction I can make for if I lose the trail (to find, for example, a road or a developed area if I just keep walking mostly in that direction). It only takes a few additional minutes of planning (if that) to get to know an area well enough to have such a “bail out” in mind. I keep a compass on me for that purpose. Also a trench whistle. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/84 "2024-07-21T13:21:06Z")
I can see that kind of concern for backpacking. What does that matter for a semi-permanent campsite? Also, a rechargeable battery + solar panel is a fixed weight, whereas the longer you stay, the more fuel you need to store. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/85 "2024-07-21T13:25:59Z")
This is more of an urban legend, but no, Avon “skin-so-soft” moisturizing oil is not a superior insect repellent to DEET. Neither are your hippie sister’s essential oils. Nothing beats DEET. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/86 "2024-07-21T14:07:10Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I can see that kind of concern for backpacking. What does that matter for a semi-permanent campsite? Coleman propane lanterns are dimmable as well. I can do that with my LED lanterns, but only directionally. As for fuel…well, the Colemans sit on top of feed poles connected to 5 gallon tanks that also feed our camp stoves. Fuel is never a problem, seeing as how we usually have 3 full tanks and never stay out more than 3 days. I know it’s silly, but I prefer my _campsite_ to be lit by fire, not electricity. Away from camp we all wear headlamps. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/87 "2024-07-21T14:11:50Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I know it’s silly, but I prefer my _campsite_ to be lit by fire, not electricity. Not silly at all, unless you expect everyone else to feel the same way. Each camper has their own ideas of what’s compatible with their own desired camping experience. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/88 "2024-07-21T14:37:52Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Coleman propane lanterns are dimmable as well. So are all my LED lanterns. Stepwise, not continuous, but that’s picking nits. > [@silenus](#): > > 5 gallon tanks[…]3 full tanks That’s _way_ more mass and volume than the deep cycle batteries+solar we use in our camp setup, even with the 9kg gas tank we use for cooking. > [@silenus](#): > > I know it’s silly, but I prefer my _campsite_ to be lit by fire, not electricity. Not silly, but for me, gas lights are no less artificial than LEDs. I love fires too, that’s why we have a firepit in camp. But when I want to actually _see_ things, like the food I’m chopping etc., I want the best light I can manage. I mean, I get aesthetics arguments, not going to argue those. It’s the supposedly factual ones like “brighter” or “lasts longer” that I’m countering ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/89 "2024-07-21T16:15:25Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Also, a rechargeable battery + solar panel is a fixed weight, whereas the longer you stay, the more fuel you need to store. It depends of course; Vancouver and the coastline of British Columbia isn’t the best place to rely on solar. 😈 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/90 "2024-07-21T16:30:47Z")
I’m never camping anywhere that has bears, in any case. But sure, if you’re in Mordor, the eternal darkness isn’t going to allow for solar, that’s true. Some of the other 'Burn camps use wind as well, but thankfully it’s never even remotely looked like being an issue here. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/91 "2024-07-21T16:46:35Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > It’s understandable, but a total deal breaker for me. You mean you refuse to hike in the Rockies, the Cascades, the high Sierra, just because it isn’t safe nor environmentally sound to have a campfire? Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/92 "2024-07-21T16:49:59Z")
I fondly remember being trapped in our tent in a downpour on the west coast of Vancouver Island. After three solid days without the slightest let up we said screw this, packed up in the unceasing downpour and hiked out to the trailhead. I’ve never been in such unremitting wet. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/93 "2024-07-21T16:50:44Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > so-soft” moisturizing oil is not a superior insect repellent to DEET. Neither are your hippie sister’s essential oils. Nothing beats DEET. word. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/94 "2024-07-21T17:07:31Z")
I think most non-indusrial towels are flammable. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/95 "2024-07-21T17:09:54Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > You mean you refuse to hike in the Rockies, the Cascades, the high Sierra, just because it isn’t safe nor environmentally sound to have a campfire? Sheesh. My camping ended quite a while ago. Hiking and camping are different things. Campfires are plenty environmentally sound and safe. If you know how to do it. Idiots ruined that though. That and the population explosion in Colorado. I live in the central Colorado Rockies. Can’t see any houses from my house, my house has beautiful views of two 14teeners just on the other side of the valley. Camping is sort of pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/96 "2024-07-21T17:19:07Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Idiots ruined that though. a widely applicable sentence. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/97 "2024-07-21T17:38:29Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > but I always wondered about the corkscrew–it’s not long enough to get deep enough to work I have pulled a number of corks in my life with the corkscrew in a Swiss army knife. It doesn’t work as easily as the one that lives in my kitchen drawer, but it definitely works. Haven’t used it for quite a while, though. There’s less impromptu wine in my life than there used to be. Headlamp LED’s are neat – unless you’re anywhere with insects, which is most places anytime the weather’s warm enough. Seems like every insect for miles will come and swarm in a crowd around the light, and therefore around your face. Nice indoors for reading when the power’s off, or in a screened tent, or in the wintertime. Very useful for seeing the connector half hidden behind that part you’re trying to get off the tractor in a poorly lit barn well enough to get the wrench or screwdriver on it. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/98 "2024-07-21T17:47:34Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Campfires are plenty environmentally sound and safe. If you know how to do it. Idiots ruined that though. It’s not _always_ idiots. I took a backpacking class taught by the head of the West Valley College Park Management Program. He was an ex-park ranger and very experienced outdoorsman. The class included a trip to Sykes Hot Springs in the Ventana Wilderness. The instructor nearly started a fire when he spilled a little fuel on the ground when filling the priming cup on his Whisperlite. When he went to light the stove a small fire flared up underneath it. He quickly turned off the stove and stomped out the fire. It was a minor incident but it could’ve been a disaster. I’ll always remember his wife’s remark that got a big laugh from everyone in camp: “Oh, great John. I can just imagine the headlines: _‘Backpacking teacher burns down Big Sur!’_” ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/99 "2024-07-21T18:02:42Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > “Oh, great John. I can just imagine the headlines: _‘Backpacking teacher burns down Big Sur!’_” Huh. Yeah. It is easy to get lazy. My wife and I are very cautious. Haven’t made a fire in a couple of years. And when we do, we wet down the area, and trees that are near. The fire is NEVER unattended, and we always hook up a hose and have it right there. The fire is absolutely drowned when we are done. Stick your hand in the ashes drowned. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732/100 "2024-07-21T18:34:03Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I fondly remember being trapped in our tent in a downpour on the west coast of Vancouver Island. After three solid days without the slightest let up we said screw this, packed up in the unceasing downpour and hiked out to the trailhead. I’ve never been in such unremitting wet. Fondly? I suppose (temperatures permitting) one could just wear a bathing suit and pool shoes, and accept being wet. At least no mosquitos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-camping-advice/758732.md?page=6)