Does it work? Post general helpful camping/survival hints ONLY if you have personal experience with

Redundancy in fire building - I carry a Swedish steel, 2 disposable lighters and a box of weather proof matches when I go backpacking. A film cannister with cotton balls covered in vaseline and some trick birthday candles that are hard to blow out. I don't like being too cold.

A couple of space blankets, a small tarp,some thin plastic painters sheeting, parachord and duct tape. You can repair your tent with these or make a shelter. Practice making your own shelter it's fun, each time you do it you find new ways to improve on it. It's okay seeing how to make them in a book but first hand knowledge is always best.

Learn to use what you have with you for mulitple purposes. I was camping near a stream and wished I had my fishing pole. I used my tent pole that went to the rain fly, it's about 6 feet long. I tied some fishing line and a hook on it that I always have in my backpack. Dug up a few worms and grubs and caught 3 bream and a bass. They were small but it was enough for a meal.

Check your first aid kit frequently and before going camping. The last trip I went on I needed some things that had gotten wet and were useless. I found out the hard way the waterproof container wasn't waterproof. Don't take for granted all your gear is good, check on it and make sure.

Tip #1: Do not use rocks from beside a stream for around or in your campfire. They will explode! (personal experience)

Tip #2: If caught out in freezing temperature overnight, nine miles away from civilization or a car, in the backwoods, expect the zipper on your tent and your hiking vest to fail. Nothing will ruin a zipper quicker than cold weather. I'd recommend carrying along some pins and sewing buttons and Velcro onto any vests as back-up for when zippers inevitably fail. I'd also recommend these items:

mandrake1975.hubpages.com...

Also, when caught in these conditions you can survive in 10s to 20s degree temperatures (with sub zero windchills) in a 40 degree F mummy bag if you put all of your clothes you have with you on, a jacket, and place a water bottled filled with hot water in your mummy bag, even if you do not have any more insulation between you and the ground than the tent floor. You will wake up the next day eventhough you are so cold you are convinced you will die!

Tip #3: When backpacking in climates similar to the northern Pennsylvania mountains, March is too early to be backpacking (see tip #2), even if the temperature in the valley during the day you left was 70 degrees.

Tip #4: Buy a $4 rechargable solar lawn light at Wally World, strap it onto the outside of your backpack during the day, and at night you can stick it in the ground when you set-up camp and have your own outdoor light anywhere you are. A few of them (say 3) set-up as a perimeter are great for scaring critters away from your camp.

Tip #5: Buy swimming shoes with grip bottoms for water crossings. They aren't that much extra weight for the value they provide. You still have to change shoes and socks, but they stay dry, and the swim shoes are much better at grabbing hold of rocks than bare feet. They are also more lightweight and less bulky than rubber overboots.

Tip #6: On average for approximately every fifteen minutes you spend gathering firewood, you will get 1 hour of fuel for a campfire. This is useful for figuring how much daylight you will have left for setting up camp. (personal experience). Of course this varies depending on how hard you work, but it is pretty well true for getting a fire started and the first hour or two afterwards (if you even keep a fire that long).

Tip #7: Buy 1 inch PVC piping (the thick grey kind, not that junky white pvc) in foot long sections. Buy rubber cork stopper and stuff them in one end of each section. Buy couplers and screw the sections together. Buy a cap for the top and a rubber grip for the bottom. You now have a super sturdy waterproof walking stick which you can carry maps, clothing, fishing gear, food, or just about anything in. Also purchase one of those bicycle water bottles and the holder...attach the holder to the stick, and you now have convenient access to a water bottle.

I was taught that you are only as sharp as the knife you carry. Always go for a good quality knife ( the best you can afford ).

In my kit, as stated above, I always have multiple sources for fire starting, including wind proof matches, bic lighters, a fire stick and a fire piston.

Always have some condoms (each can carry up to 2 lítres of liquid) and as many tampons as you can carry (good source of tinder). In my small kit, I also carry a small pump water filter and a water filter straw.

A good size bag to carry, when you are one walkabout, is a NATO issue respirator case, either the 58 pattern or the soldier 95 will do.

My Dear Old Gramma taught me this one when I was very young. For killing wasps/yellow jackets. Fill a shallow pan (pie pan size) with water, pour a thin layer of oil or liquid soap into water in pan. Using an empty can, poke a small hole in bottom of can, string thin wire or string through hole..Tie a small piece of raw meat on end of string, pull back into can. Hang the baited can about 5 inches above the pan, secure from branch, hanging from tree, or pole. All the wasps in the area will be drawn to the raw meat...they make it into the can just fine, but when they exit, they drop before beginning flight, and end up in the pan to drown. Place away from your camping/eating area to be wasp/yellow jacket free. I've used this many times...works great.

Something probably well known, but I'll say it anyways. Pine needles are extremely good kindling, and they are good as small things to keep a fire going. Pine cones are good to use to make a fire bigger once you have it started, as the sap in them burns well.

Okay... here's one you can take to the bank...

forget bugs and grubs...
peanut butter and hard cheese makes for the best high energy food you can get your hands on..

Dryer Lint/Wax fire starter cubes-, melt some wax, make a cube cube out of some tin foil, place a good ammount of dryer lint in the cube and then pour wax to the top, keep topping off as it cools.
Cut slabs off as you need them, they burn long, easy to make, lite weight, and cheap.

Emergency "LONG" burning candle- Take a 5"L x 1"W metal tube, cap it and pour yo0ur wax down it (Bee's wax is best, but what you can afford is what works best).
Pull the wax plug out, make sure you have plenty of wick on hand, start at the base and wrap the wick around the wax plug, leaving a half inch gap between each wrap, working your way to the top.
Next take a larger in width metal tube but the same length (5"L x 6"W) place the wax plug with the wick in the center and fill the tube, level off as it cools, then trim the wick.

reply to post by rosar098


On that note, another thing pine needles are good for is vitamin C. If you find yourself out in the woods with no source of fresh fruit, or just camping and want to try something new, try some pine needle tea!

fresh salad greens all winter for free:


This should be done after the yard is dormant but before the ground is frozen. You need some boxes of dirt, maybe 5 inches of soil, able to stand up to moisture and not so big that you cant carry them. Put these boxes along side the house or garage, someplace a with a little shelter but not heated.

Now from an untreated yard, no herbicides, dig dandelion roots and plant them in the boxes. Fill those boxes right up don't be shy. Now wait for the first hard freeze it is best if those roots think winter has come. Bring one of the boxes inside, you don't need light or much heat just warm and dry, the cellar will be fine. Water the box and keep it well watered. You will get several cutting of pale yellow leaves that make a fine and gourmet salad. When production starts to taper off bring in another box.

this can be adapted to many plants

If you want to be truly gourmet about it look up "Barbe de Capucin"