First of all, don’t worry – we’re not here to bring you inexplicable “why would anyone do that?” hacks like making flip-flops out of hot glue or painting a perfectly nice vase a worse colour with an aerosol can. The Camp Master team are all veteran outdoorsy types though, so we’ve gathered a few tips and tricks over the years that make sleeping under the stars a little bit more comfortable, at minimal cost and with low effort.
Though some things aren’t ideal to DIY (think shelter, you’ve got Camp Master tents for that), there are little ways you could be having an even better time by repurposing items you likely already have in your home. Take notes, or even better, just bookmark this blog for the next time you head into the wild on an adventure. You’ll thank us later.
Swimming? Don’t let your valuables get carried away
Let’s face it – three things in life are inevitable: death, taxes, and your keys slipping out of your pocket at precisely the wrong moment. If your planned excursion includes a lot of swimming or crossing rivers and creeks, it’s imperative that you make sure your valuables – especially your keys – don’t sink to the bottom of a deep pool or get swept away by a current before you can rescue them.
A simple solution to this lies in the humble wine cork! After enjoying your fruit of the vine of choice, save up the corks and, using a simple piece of wire, attach them to a keychain. This keychain can be popped onto your keys, money pouch, sunglasses case or other small items. This way, if any of them fall into a body of water, they’ll float straight back up to the top for you to fish out.
You can even adorn these corks with bright colours to make sure they’re even more visible in the water. No more panicked attempts at immediately learning to free dive so you can get back into your car after the hike!
Ultra-light pegs to battle the breeze
The name of the game when you’re hiking is keeping your pack light. Though it’s tempting to bring along everything but the kitchen sink, knowing it’s all on your shoulders (literally) makes the thought of even a few grams of unnecessary weight a painful one. Another crucial element of hiking hinges on dry socks and clothes, as a soggy hike is almost always a particularly gloomy one. So, where do packing light and keeping your clothes dry intersect? In precisely how little you want to pack a bulky bag of clothing pegs into your rucksack for use in windy mountain conditions!
We’ve got the solution to your problem here. For a makeshift clothesline in windy mountain conditions, simply rig a length of twine between two trees and use bread tags to secure your wet items to the line! Yes, we mean those little plastic thingies you get at the open end of a bag of bread. Save a few of them, keep them in a matchbox, and you have an ultra-compact securing mechanism for hanging up gear. Nifty, huh?
Coffee snob? Try coffee bags!
If you absolutely, positively cannot bear the thought of drinking freeze-dried instant coffee on your camping trip, but your French press is too precious to bring along and there’s no outlet to plug your milk steamer into, you can still get your caffeine fix in a classy way. All you need is your coffee of choice (pre-ground), some coffee filters, and food-safe string.
Simply spoon two or three scoops of your beans onto the centre of the coffee filter, gather up the ends in a neat little parcel, and use a short length of your string to tightly secure your coffee bomb! When the need calls, drop your lovely little coffee bomb into a mug of boiling water and allow your coffee to brew as strongly as desired. The cleanup on this is minimal too, as all your grounds should stay neatly wrapped in the filter to discard. That’s a sophisticated cup of joe, on the go!
You shouldn’t have to DIY most of your camping trip, though.
Because with Camp Master products, we’ve made it easy, convenient and affordable to feel perfectly at home when you’re far from yours. Our range of outdoor gear and camping accessories lets you take all your creature comforts on adventures with you, and makes staying in the great outdoors even better than a walk in the park.
For more gadgets that will make your life easier in the bush, take a look at our small camping accessories. To check out our full range in person, get to a Builders’ Warehouse, Makro or Game near you and embrace the intersection between convenience and quality with Camp Master