World Observer has a series of pictures which concisely show some tricks to make you look like a seasoned camper. Many of the tricks reduce the weight of things to carry, such as making your own single-serving soaps and toothpastes. Other tricks make camping more enjoyable or have everyday utility. Unfortunately, one suggestion is somewhat dubious.
Some of the hacks are more trouble than they are worth, but there were a few good ones on that page, and some may make fun projects with the kids.
Any SN readers campers?
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by Kilo110 on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:22PM
Am I the only one that hates how this word is being used these days?
Also the word "porn". As in "earthporn".
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:34PM
(Score: 3) by tynin on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:37PM
It is a natural progression of the language. Much to the derision of my English teachers, it has always seemed to me that language is more of an art than a science. Hopefully we won't end up like the movie Idiocracy, but I don't think there is anything that can be done to fight it. Embrace it or continue to waste cycles being irritated by it, the world will keep on moving.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:53PM
http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr06/2013/6/5/12/enhanced-buzz-6424-1370450164-1.jpg [buzzfed.com]
This is a 'hack' 'buy this'. geeeze. Thats not a hack. That is a 'here is something neato to buy'. Which is sort of funny. Everything else is about 'make it small and light'. Then for the last one here carry this heavy cast iron thing around.
I usually expect at least some sort of 'trick' out of these 'hack' lists. Also as pointed out one of them is a hoax. The shaved soap is 'neat' unless you want to stay an extra day or two out. Woops no more slivers.
(Score: 1) by looorg on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:08PM
Earthporn? What is that? Pictures of filthy dirt? Dirt on dirt action? Or is it just pictures of sunsets and waterfalls etc? Must be one of the siliest terms I have ever heard.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 22 2014, @07:47PM
Earthporn: pictures of nature scenes. Carporn, pictures of cars. Sportporn, pictures of sporting events or players. Battleporn pictures of combat. Or computer game combat. Fooporn is not sexually explicit pictures of foo, but rather just pictures of foo, very often staged, artificially lit, and airbrushed to the point where they bear little relation to a foo you would ever see in person.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:20PM
It's really not much of a stretch. It already applied in exactly the same manner to all things hardware/software. Quick, homemade, possibly brilliant modification = hack.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Informative) by egcagrac0 on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:40PM
It would logically follow that a hack is a creative solution to a problem.
As for the "porn" issue, you're right - it should be called erotica.
(Score: 2) by AnonTechie on Tuesday July 22 2014, @07:58PM
Why 41 hacks ?? Why not 42 ?? That would be the answer to all our questions ...
Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:37PM
Yeah, it does seem like before long, it's just a matter of time before we just over-hack hack until before much longer we're hacking that hack hack, which won't work hack for society, so hopefully hack hack hack hack hack.
I enjoy camping, but most of those things don't sound worth it to me. I'm not going to carry around a bag full of foam tiles to line my tent with, and most of those other ideas were things I've known about since boy scouts.
The belt and hooks around the tree are a cool idea though, so long as you don't mar up the tree with the metal.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by Blackmoore on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:45PM
*sigh* fine, I've got both an Axe and a hatchet, what do we need to hack?
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:53PM
Let's start with people who say stuff like "growth hacker".
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 22 2014, @08:35PM
Too late. Scott Adams has already made sure it's in the zeitgeist.
http://dilbert.com/fast/2014-07-10/ [dilbert.com]
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday July 22 2014, @10:18PM
Lizzie? Lizzie Borden? Is that you?
(Score: 3, Funny) by Blackmoore on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:37PM
travel-size or hotel toiletry shampoo bottles filled with lamp oil and lit are a great way to start your camp on fire.
This is perfect, because once the tent is on fire, you'll have plenty of light.
(Score: 5, Funny) by dyingtolive on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:39PM
Well, you know what they say.... light a man a fire and he'll be warm for the night, set a man ON fire, and he's warm the rest of his life.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by CoolHand on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:43PM
just got back from a week in the wilderness.. (no civilization at all).
Most of these ideas suck, are questionable, or are impractical. there are about two that are "okay".
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 3, Interesting) by egcagrac0 on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:43PM
I, for one, am not.
I went to all the trouble of accumulating stuff and finding a place to put it; I don't see an advantage in spending my recreational time elsewhere, away from my stuff, or of packing up my stuff to take with me.
I don't particularly like hotels, either, but at least they're usually air conditioned and have WiFi.
This doesn't mean I don't have a tent and sleeping bags. As for the two person sleeping bag, I think that's dumb - get the kind of sleeping bags that can zip together. (I don't go camping by choice, but I'm prepared if I am called upon by the extended family to go out and feed the mosquitoes - they think it's fun for some reason.)
The foam floor tiles - that seems like a lot of extra weight. Fine for car (well, SUV) camping, but if you're hiking in, a rolled pad is better. (You'll want the extra weight capacity in the form of water.)
These are good tricks for other reasons, however. Carrying a gallon jug of water and a flashlight in the car is generally a good idea, and would be useful for changing a tire in the dark. If you're baking bread, baking it in a can means you can make a can-sized hoagie, which - conveniently - is fairly crush-proof, if packed back into the can. You may be able to find a plastic lid that will snap on the can (chocolate syrup in a can?), to keep the mayonnaise in and the paperclips out, for throwing it in your bag. The straw-pillow trick for various medical and hygienic goos is brilliant, and probably a good use for that as-seen-on-TV bag reasealer that you got for Holiday 6 years back.
TLDR: all the stuff that's good for EDC [wikipedia.org] is good, the other stuff is questionable, IMO, YMMV, IANACamper.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:53PM
"as-seen-on-TV bag reasealer"
I have one of those vacuum pack bag sealer things and I seal all kinds of stuff for camping / emergency use.
Even tools with dessicant packs for emergency repair.
Lame semi-disposable first aid kits, pre-measured pre-packed side dishes, stuff like that.
They're tough and waterproof till you open them, all kinds of fun emergency gear purposes. And you should be rotating your emergency gear so take the old kits camping.
(Score: 3, Informative) by egcagrac0 on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:28PM
Buying envelopes of instant oatmeal is expensive. Fortunately, you can buy the big cardboard can of quick oats and weigh out your own doses, then bagseal. I keep a handful of those at the office. Probably more wholesome than other instant-microwave food (like ramen).
I imagine that pre-measuring/packing potato flakes, pancake mix, biscuit mix, etc is pretty good. The jars they suggest are convenient, but bulky - no advantage to packing three jars of pancake mix, when you could pack three baggies and one jar for mixing (unless you don't have a bagsealer, in which case, you should get a bagsealer). Besides - you want to use an old ketchup bottle for pancakes [realsimple.com], anyway. Doesn't break like glass, weighs less. (I'd suggest using a wide-mouth funnel if you're not mixing in the bottle; should be trivial to make one from a 500mL water bottle (disposable) and a scissors.)
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday July 22 2014, @07:42PM
I don't just repackage, but also do all the measuring and mixing at home.
So you take a pile of carrots and wash and cut them and mix in some herbs and spices and maybe a pat of butter (or more LOL) and seal it in a bag and then boil the whole bag onsite (most of those bags will tolerate boiling) If you're not going to eat the ends of the carrots anyway, don't bother hauling them to the campsite...
You can do all your prep work and measuring at home on the countertop and on site its just heat -n- eat.
I mix my own trail mix too, kinda fun. Unlike the commercial mixes I don't cheap out on the nuts or load up with carbs (M+Ms and the like)
Gotta be careful with some meats and marinades, longer is not necessarily better.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 23 2014, @12:53PM
> then boil the whole bag onsite
With all the estrogen-like chemicals in modern plastic (even the "BPA-free" stuff) I would be paranoid as hell about cooking in a plastic bag, especially if I was feeding one of my kids. It is the heat that really leaches the chemicals out of the plastic and into your food.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by VLM on Tuesday July 22 2014, @05:48PM
foam floor tiles, good idea. Will probably steal that good idea next time I go. Starburst candy thing looks like fun experiment. I would imagine any weird sugar candy on a stick tastes good melted, even a snickers bar sandwiched between two oreos as a smore. I don't like that much sugar.
The mt dew idea is idiotic not genius. Ditto using fake tick spray, unless you like lyme disease, use the real stuff. Candles on a stake start fires nicely, unclear on if this is "do anything to save an ounce when backpacking or who cares you've got a whole car to fill up". Ditto the "sage is a mosquito repellent" BS, no DEET is a mosquito repellent. I was unaware as a cook that pasta only cooks at a rolling boil and 211 F won't cook it and you can't afford a few minutes of simmering on the campfire instead of stove, that whole concept is weird, if you like polenta, then eat it, although I like to fry disks of it which takes longer and more fuel than pasta... The homemade single use medical packets sound unwise, ask your local first aid guy for "real" single use packets. I have a pretty good first aid kit.
Hard core hacking = reading what plants are poisonous... really? Sandpaper already glued on my match holder and ask a chemist because non-strike anywhere matches need something different (which is also glued on my match holder container in a different spot). Another WTF is "you can cook over a campfire". And "instant coffee, it exists" Another hard core hack = kids can keep busy doing scavenger hunts, WTF, next thing you know they'll discover kids like chemlights at night. WTF "good towels are good towels". Homemade frozen jugs of drink and food are only cool till the first time they break and leak and the bugs are attracted and everything is soaked and stick and gross and just ugh. Another WTF is "pie irons exist", well, yeah, that they do, since my grandpa was a kid or so. You can cook eggs in an extremely well seasoned pie iron although it takes a steady hand and trust that its very well seasoned.
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:07PM
Yup, these are geared to Drive-up-camping which is considered by some to not count as camping. Camping within sight of your car should have a different name. Many of them were just quaint. Not stuff I would need or want to do. To each his own. If I was a drive-up-camper I would find these very useful.
DEET is just awesome (get the 90+% stuff not the watered down 15% crap), now if I can just get back my DDT ;-)
(Score: 2) by tomtomtom on Wednesday July 23 2014, @11:33AM
Agreed DEET is what you really need for mosquito/insect repellent. The tip they should have included is that you should be careful not to let DEET get anywhere near any plastics (think cameras, laptops, etc and even some synthetic fibres) as it is a rather effective solvent and will melt them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 12 2014, @03:53PM
BKikGU kyhaukhwonpr [kyhaukhwonpr.com], [url=http://ejxppcvwabut.com/]ejxppcvwabut[/url], [link=http://iwwzvxjwnfed.com/]iwwzvxjwnfed[/link], http://igxhgdnalkzb.com/ [igxhgdnalkzb.com]
(Score: 5, Informative) by DrMag on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:45PM
Meh.. seems like a lot of weight and volume to carry around. A better idea is to get a good hammock. Once you've tried hammock camping, it's difficult to imagine doing it any other way. =)
As for the rest, and speaking as a well-seasoned camper, I am not impressed. As you say, most of these are not "hacks", even when you use the watered-down definition of "repurposing an item for an unintended use". Most of the list would only be considered a good idea by metropolitanites who wouldn't know a beaver from a bear, and many on the list are just downright ridiculous fables.
(Score: 2) by egcagrac0 on Wednesday July 23 2014, @08:28PM
I like this. Hammocks should weigh almost nothing - after all, a hole weighs almost nothing, and most hammocks are just a bunch of holes, sewn together [youtube.com].
(Score: 1) by cyrano on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:45PM
It's not an article. It's a haphazard collection of borrowed pics from other sites, with some sales links thrown in.
Nothing new there. It's almost spam.
And keeping your spices in Tic-Tac containers is stupid. You can't get the menthol stench out of the plastic.
The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear. - Kali [kali.org]
(Score: 2) by egcagrac0 on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:53PM
If you were going to do this, you'd surely do it by securing a nail (pointy side up) to the top of a stake, poking it through a hole in a tuna can, and then sticking the candle on top of that.
If you've gotten this far, you probably realize that using citronella candles may help repel insects.
(Score: 1) by egcagrac0 on Tuesday July 22 2014, @07:03PM
Just realized that you could, in fact, just use a finish nail, pointy-side-in - the candle should be malleable enough to accept that (or, drill a hole in your candle).
And, if it's modestly windy, a can-lantern instead of a tuna can.
Apologies for the poor form of self-reply.
(Score: 5, Informative) by tynin on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:08PM
Many of these that are trying to save space / weight are far better ideas for hiking. The last thing I'm concerned with when camping is how heavy everything is. Camping is when you want to be living luxuriously in the woods, and who cares if you have to tow in all your gear.
But for hiking, every ounce you can shed helps. In no particular order, and likely more of a mental ramble...
- I bring a paperback book in whenever I go hiking and as I read it, those pages become the kindling I need to get my next fire started.
- My toothbrush has a short brush on it and most of the handle cut off, sanded smooth, and holes drilled into the remaining handle.
- Tooth powered weights less than tooth paste.
- Know your trip and carry only enough water to get you to the next water hole, bring water filtration system to top off your water cans.
- Don't bring a pillow, use your clothing (shirts are softer than pants) in a sack as a pillow.
- Titanium, anything you can get in titanium, do so.
- Cut off everything that isn't needed, be it excess straps, boot laces, any and all logos (water seal where you removed them), map edges, etc.
- Blacken your cooking pots as black pots heat faster.
- Know exactly how much stove fuel you need to cook a meal, and bring just enough.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something... but the lighter you are, the happy you'll be after hiking for days, ESPECIALLY during the hike out.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DrMag on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:49PM
I've hiked in carrying cast iron. And I bet I had just as much fun, and likely a better meal.
If you think shortening your shoe-laces will make the difference for your enjoyment, then I suggest you start looking around you while you hike instead.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tynin on Tuesday July 22 2014, @07:04PM
More power to you with the cast iron.
Shortening your shoelaces is also a means of avoiding tripping and having a medical issue in a place that it is best to be avoided. Minimalism in hiking is a frame of mind you have to take when you evaluate what you are carrying, what its functions are, and how you can make it better. And while I'm a minimalist hiker, I'm no where near as neurotic about it as some. I find if I'm carrying extra weight, it kicks my ass more, thus doesn't allow me to enjoy nature as much as I could. Generally, when I go hiking it is a two week trek to go forget about the world, and embrace nature. You can trust me when I tell you I'm getting my enjoyment out of it.
(Score: 2) by DrMag on Tuesday July 22 2014, @08:06PM
Fair enough! Sorry for sounding a little overly snarky in my reply; I find too often that "enthusiasts" often get so focused on the technique that they forget the purpose. Personally, I appreciate the added weight for better exercise, but only to a point. I once went on a backpacking trip with some scouts where we had to stop on the first day and distribute one of the boys' gear among the leaders to help him out. Turned out he was packing 2 gallons of water, which was quickly donated to the feeding of local plant life.
Pack light, but you* can have your freeze-dried cardboard while I enjoy my sausage and eggs, thank you very much.
*for values of you that are unspecific and not directed at any particular individual.
(Score: 2) by CoolHand on Tuesday July 22 2014, @08:21PM
My shoe laces are 550 cord in case of a survival situation. I'd rather have as much as I can - they don't weight much..
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday July 22 2014, @07:49PM
Sounds like you might be camping in the middle of your hike then? Some of your tips are a little on the extreme end, i'd say. No offense, honestly. It's probably something south-west or appalachian hikers are really into. I just bring my ebook, it's lighter than a real book. Though it would be difficult to use as a fire starter : ) No stove & fuel, just a cheap plastic lighter. I usually pack between 30-40 lbs depending on how much food & water is needed. That'll take me five miles a day if i'm lazy or ten if i'm motivated. Not many people can pack more than 25 lbs comfortably.
I'm in total agreement with you about the water filtration system, pillow, and titanium (though it is not starter gear, $$$).
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by tynin on Wednesday July 23 2014, @12:04PM
I'm not camping in the middle but I can see why you might think that. I've just learned that unless it is summer (and even then), few things suck more than not being able to cook your food. It only took one trip where we were starting on day 3 when it started raining, and kept raining for 2 more days. Being able to keep warm and fed in adverse conditions makes me happy to carry a small stove with some fuel.
With regards to pack weight, generally 25% of your body weight is going to be about the max someone can carry, and likely less if they want to do it comfortably. It makes sense to eat your heaviest foods first for that reason.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 22 2014, @09:44PM
Don't bring a pillow, use your clothing
For use (in the small of my back) on airliners, I bought an inflatable ~1' x 1' plastic cushion at the 99c store.
It weighs practically zero. I can easily adjust its volume (to near zero for packing away).
Placed inside a sweatshirt, it makes a good pillow for my head.
I'll bet a good camping store has the real deal.
Cut off[...]boot laces
What's your trick for replacing the aglets? [google.com]
Tooth [power weighs] less than tooth paste
FTFY
Some baking powder, some salt, a bit of carbon from your campfire, plus a little dried mint to add flavor and sweeten your breath and you have near-zero-cost tooth powder.
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 22 2014, @09:57PM
powder [wikipedia.org]
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by tynin on Wednesday July 23 2014, @12:10PM
I'm loving the 1' x 1' plastic cushion idea! Thanks.
For the cut off boot laces, I singe the frayed edge with a lighter. I carry enough paracord I can replace my laces if need be.
Interesting tooth powder idea.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by goodie on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:18PM
These look more like the "I stay within 50 meters of my loaded up SUV" tricks rather than camping the way I envision it when I think of it. In other words, you're probably not that far from a grocery store or a gas station in those settings either way ;).
The bread in a can trick is actually not a bad idea and reminded me of Kulich, a traditional bread eaten for Easter in Russian households. When I asked my mother in law for her recipe the told me the first thing was to look for a tall tin can where the bread would be baked.
Anyway, some of these things in that list didn't look too bright to me...
(Score: 2) by egcagrac0 on Tuesday July 22 2014, @07:34PM
Exactly. Driving to an improved campsite, sleeping in a tent, and cooking on a grill does not camping make.
One of the old (circa 1955) camping books I have derisively called this "car camping", and even said something like "If you're bringing a brass bed and mattress with you, it's not what I call camping."
The former in-laws liked to do this as a weekend amusement. "We're going camping!", they'd say. What they meant was one of them would load the truck camper [lancecamper.com] onto his pickup, another would sleep in the back of her station wagon with her dog, and a few others might pitch tents. Cooking was generally not done on the campfire, but on a white-gas stove. Not to any exotic destination, but to a county park less than a 45 minute drive away (15 minute drive for most of them).
They seemed to get offended when I said that it wasn't camping. ("Tenting" was the replacement term I suggested.)
Fortunately, they're former in-laws. </rant>
The new extended family at least makes no pretenses about "camping" - they're going up to the campground, yes, but most of what they're doing is sitting outside and drinking around a fire, or going into town to the tourist bar, or drinking while riding around the lake on a friend's boat.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:35PM
Am I the only one that thought the article was going to be about spawn camping?
(Score: 2) by clone141166 on Wednesday July 23 2014, @02:06AM
Obligatory camper song link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bv4Q0vXtmY/ [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by present_arms on Tuesday July 22 2014, @06:45PM
I see that some here camp, and others just are :P
http://trinity.mypclinuxos.com/
(Score: 1) by maxim on Tuesday July 22 2014, @07:00PM
Got shot by one again.
(Score: 2, Informative) by rufty on Tuesday July 22 2014, @08:16PM
The site BackpackingLight [backpackinglight.com] has a lot of interesting stuff. Particularly analysis and reviews of gear and lots of "make your own" stuff. Thanks to reading there I've now got a sewing maching and am thinking bad things [hackedgadgets.com]. (Paid subscription, though.)
Everything you could wish to know about backpackable buring things [zenstoves.net].
Save the planet! Break safety regs! Refill your own gas canisters! [auttermall.com] Helps prevent those bushy eyebrows, too! (I always seem to end a season with a collection of gas cartridges that are about a quarter full. Too little to use, too much to chuck.)
Fed up with stoves that only weigh ounces and just work? Meet fellow geriatric pyromaniacs here [spiritburner.com].
Waterproof that works for this sweatmonster, even if it does make me look like Quasimodo - here [thepacka.com]. Works OK as a pillow, too. If not too wet...
I haven't put in enough links to burning things yet? Ok, here's another one I like [theboilerwerks.com], but that I don't get to use nearly as much as I'd like, 'coz of some official fear of setting the entire countryside on fire.
Another good forum for lightweight tips and crazy hikers [whiteblaze.net].
Want to go outside but can't live without internet? Get one of these [iridium.com]. (Not personally tested - the used kidney guys wouldn't offer me enough, even for both of them.)
Want to camp but afraid of having to mingle with non-geeks? Might see you here [emfcamp.org], if I can get away.
Or why not save all the bother of hiking yourself and just read a blog of someone else doing all the hard work [walkingwithwired.com].