Last updated: May 2018
Camping is for everyone, whether you are heading out on an impulse for a night under the stars, or planning a family trip across the country. It is an exciting, healthy and personal way to spend your holiday time.
Read more: 25 Hike Hacks Every Hiker Needs To Know
However, a full-on camping trip can be intimidating if you haven’t done it before. So here are a few of our best camping hacks to help you get started.
Invest in a battery pack which will boost your phone’s power once the battery runs low.
Drink purified water from a nearby stream instead of being weighed down with water bottles. You can buy water purification tablets right here.
Ants can be a real pain at meal times, and if you're not careful then before you know it, you can become overwhelmed by them. Even if you eat at a table, they can quickly crawl up the table legs and become a nuisance.
A good way of combating this is to put a small tray of water under each table leg. The ants won't be able to navigate the water and will leave you to worry about the wasps instead.
You can cook practically anything in a campfire, as long as you wrap it in tinfoil. Stuff a baked potato with cheese and beans, or season a nice piece of fish, then wrap them up in tinfoil and throw them into the middle of the fire to cook.
Emergency blankets are designed to keep you warm, but because of their silver coating, they're great for reflecting the sunlight if put on top of your tent. Tents can get pretty warm in the summer, so this could help you get a better night's sleep.
Duct tape can be used to patch up holes in your tent, treat blisters and even to make a soft arm cast. Embrace the wonders of duct tape!
Remove the middle bit of an orange, carve a hole at the top and pop a tealight in the middle of the peel for a moody, sweet-smelling DIY scented candle.
Coat your shoes in beeswax or a waterproof spray to avoid watermarks and leaks.
Matches aren’t much use to you when they’re wet. Keep them in plastic containers, rather than matchboxes, and have a few spares.
If you plan on doing a bit of foraging while you camp, make sure you know which plants are safe and which ones aren’t. Some edible plants have poisonous doppelgängers so make sure you are 110% sure before eating them.
If you can't start the day without a proper cup of coffee, just fill a coffee filter with a couple of spoons of your favourite coffee grounds and tie the top securely. When you want a coffee, just pop the ‘coffee bag’ into a cup and add hot water.
Keep clutter to a minimum by packing a clever first aid kit. Aspirin can be used to treat bee stings, and tea tree oil acts as a great bug repellent.
Remove the cardboard centre from your toilet paper, flatten it and wrap it in a plastic bag to save space.
If you're being pestered by mosquitoes then pop some sage on your BBQ. Mossies don't like it so will hopefully leave you alone.
If you have an adaptor plug for the cigarette lighter in your car, you can use your car battery to power all your electrical camping equipment.
Clean your car bonnet well, then crack an egg over it and watch it fry in the sun.
Battery-power torches, LED lights, candles and oil lamps - just in case one or two don’t work properly. See our full range of camping lighting and torches.
A big piece of waxed tarpaulin can be a groundsheet, a waterproof blanket or a tent cover.
People tripping over your guy ropes is a hazard of camping, particularly at night time or if you're at a music festival. However, you can make them more noticeable by wrapping some foam tubes around them.
Trust me, you’ll never regret it. See our range of portable camping toilets.
A washing machine isn't really something you'd think of taking with you when you go camping but you can actually make your own. Get a large bucket or container with lid, make a hole in the top and put a plunger through it.
If you don't fancy the thought of sleeping on the ground, or you want something that covers a little more room than a roll mat, then try using foam floor tiles. Yep, those jigsaw-like tiles that young children have. They can cover the whole of your tent and will make sleeping much more comfortable.
Soap can be a faff to pack as you then need to store it once you've used it, so make your own single-use soap. Simply get a normal bar of soap and then cut off small lumps or scrap off slivers with a razor.
The camper’s favourite hack; use these to wipe down equipment or give yourself a quick freshen up.
Do you have any hiking hacks you’d like to tell us about? Let us know in the comments or get in touch on Facebook or Twitter.
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