Camping Tips: Beginners

[renodesertfox]

Howdy Campateers,
You may need camping tips if it's been years since you last went camping. Camping is an inexpensive way to get out of the house and share a unique experience with your family.


Start Your Camping Experience Small
As a beginning camper, you may want to stay close to home-very close to home. Consider a backyard overnighter for your first camping experience. Although it may seem childish to set up camp in your backyard, it's a great way to work out the kinks in your camping routine and an ultra-cheap way to find out if camping is right for you.
Great Camping Should Be About Safety
Before you hit the woods, think about ways to make your experience safe. Some things to keep in mind:

• Plan, plan and then plan some more. Study maps of the area where you'll be camping. Check and re-check the short and long-term weather forecasts. Make a detailed list of things to bring. Leave an itinerary of your trip with family or friends. Be prepared.
• Be ready for accidents. Bring a fully stocked first aid kit and know how to use it. Take a short first aid course at your local YMCA or Red Cross office.
• Respect fire. Although the image of a roaring campfire is romantic, open fires can be dangerous. Unless you've had experience setting, maintaining and extinguishing an open fire, consider using a camp stove or portable grill.

Basic Camping Tools
Although there are plenty of things that you'll need (or want) to bring on your camping trip, here are a few items to get you started:

• Sleeping pad. Nothing is worse than trying to get to sleep with a rock or root poking you in the back. A sleeping pad (foam or inflatable) will make it easier to get the rest you need. A yoga mat or old mattress pad will do in a pinch.
• Sleeping bag. It gets cold at night, and a good sleeping bag will keep you cozy. You'll get the most value from a three-season bag. If you camp in the winter or only in summer, get a bag specially rated for those seasons.
• Tents. You may want to start small at first, but when picking a tent, always select one that is rated for at least one more person than you think you'll need. The extra space will come in handy if you need to bring gear out of the rain. Make sure your tent comes with a rain fly and zipper-closed bug netting-keeping nature out is the main reason for having a tent.

Where To Camp
Although your first camping experiences should be in well-marked campgrounds, you may decide to rough it in a wilderness area. When selecting your campsite, keep these factors in mind:

• Get there early. The best way to pick a good campsite is to be able to see it. Plan your trip so that you arrive with plenty of daylight left to choose and set up your camp.
• Stick to the high ground. Avoid low lying areas or any site that is less than 200 feet from rivers or streams. Flash flooding, particularly in spring or summer, can put you in deep trouble quickly.
• Look up first. Inspect your proposed campsite for trees with dead or diseased limbs. Move to another site if necessary. Nothing will ruin your trip faster than a limb crashing through your tent at three in the morning!
• Keep an eye out for trouble. Look around for insect nest, both on the ground and in trees and bushes. Also, learn to spot and avoid poisonous plants. Avoid any questionable areas.

If I left anything out, please add your own two cents to this thread, that is if your an experienced camper! It is a forum and everyone opinions are gold! We do learn from one another! Thanks for looking! :D

[Bigdog57]

I would add......

Campsite Security.
Animals roam the campsite at night - do NOT take ANY food into the tent or leave it out on the table. Bears, Raccoons, Sqirrels - all can make a mess of any food containers or coolers left unsecured. Wash hands and do NOT wear clothes into the tent that may have food scent on them. Make sure kids don't take candy or snacks to bed.

[Christn2000]

Many of us, myself included, can testify to having made that mistake at some point in their camping careers.