Camping Tips For Tennessee Camping

We have not tested all of these camping tips, use caution and common sense please.

Channel lock pliers or Vice grips make a good pot handle if no handle is on your cooking pot. Rub cat nip on your clothes and skin to repel mosquitos. Take a vitamin containing thiamin to repel mosquitos. Use health shop oils containing peppermint, chamomile, cedar wood or eucalyptus to repel mosquitos. Use a large zip lock plastic bag, filled with air, as a pillow. Prescription bottles make good match safes. Grills from old ovens can be used for fire grills, refrigerator shelves cannot be used as they will release toxic gasses when heated. A Frisbee will add support to paper plates when the plate is place inside the Frisbee. Make a camp washing machine from a five gallon bucket and a toilet plunger. Placing a plastic garbage bag over logs in a triangle will create a wash basin. Making a slit in a trash bag large enough to let your head through will make an emergency poncho. Cover the ice in a picnic cooler with foil to help it last longer. Keep the water in your canteen cooler by wrapping the canteen in foil. Before starting to sew a tough material like denim or canvas, stick the needle into a bar of soap. The coating will help the needle slide more easily through the fabric. Keep a dry bar of soap in your sleeping bag to combat musty odors which develop during damp-season camping. Ice cubes are handy when you have to remove a splinter from a hand or foot. Use the ice to numb the area around the splinter before operating. Make your own insect-repelling candle from an ordinary thick candle. Drill a 1" deep hole near the wick, fill the whole with citronella and cover it with melted wax. When handling evergreens or pine cones, they can remove the sticky sap from their hands easily if they use baking soda instead of soap to wash. Water proof matches by dipping them in nail polish. Keep your toilet roll dry by packing it in a coffee tine with a snap-on lid. Remember that mosquitoes and biting flies seem to like dark colored clothing and the perfumed scents of many grooming products (soaps, shampoos, colognes, etc.) Dress so that you won't attract the biters, and try using unscented grooming aids. Certain fibers can be damaged by insect repellents. Don't apply repellents to spandex (from which bathing suits are made), rayon, or Dynel fabrics. Tent fabrics, plastic and painted surfaces also can be damaged by insect repellents. It is easier to cut plastic containers if you soak them in very hot water immediately before cutting them. Wrap a wet washcloth in a foil package and put it into your pack. You'll have a handy 'wet-wipe' for cleaning hands and face after a satisfying camp meal. Waterproof matches by dipping them in shellac. To remove musty smell from canteen, put three teaspoons of baking soda into the canteen with a bit of water. Swish it around and let sit for an hour, then rinse out the canteen. Make a survival fishing kit out of an empty 35mm film canister. Wrap fishing line around a small empty thread spool. Tie the end to a fishhook, and place in the canister. When ready to use, take the spool of line out. Lay the line across the opening of the canister and snap the lid back on for use as a bobber. Make a fish scaler by nailing metal bottle caps to a wood block. Scrape against side of fish against direction of scales. A rope tied to a bleach bottle with an inch of water in it will make an effective water rescue throw line. Save inner cardboard tubes from kitchen and toilet rolls, stuff with waste paper and use as fire-lighters. Before leaving make sure you can set up your tent in the dark. The unexpected can happen. You might run into a 96 mile detour and arrive at your campsite much later than planned. A big spacious tent is a pleasure in the summer months but is not suitable for snow camping (it won't hold the heat in!) Saturate 3-4 cotton balls in Vaseline and put them in a 35mm film canister. They will stay dry and when you arrive at your campsite, simply pull a small amount up into a wick shape and light it. They will burn for about 15 minutes and maintain a 3-4 inch flame. At that rate, even damp wood is bound to burn! (For camp fire use only!) If you forgot or lose something to cook in, use a can. Make two holes in it, run a stick through it and place it in the coals to cook your food. Pack a pair of welding gloves on your next camping trip. You can use them to safely adjust the burning logs in your campfire. If it's going to be cold, insulate the ground under your sleeping bag with newspaper. Water can be warmed up by putting it in a large black trash bag and laying it in the sun. Save the cardboard tubes from paper towel rolls or toilet tissue. Stuff with waste paper or lint from the clothes drier filter and use as fire starters. Place a sheet of fabric-softener (like "Bounce") inside your sleeping bag before you roll it up. It'll help keep it smelling fresh and also tends to repel bugs. Slice a short length of garden hose lengthwise and use it as a small blade-sheath for your camp saw or ax. Carry some sanitary napkins in your first-aid kit. They are compact, sterile, inexpensive and very absorbent. Use them as compresses to stop bleeding. An effective way to repel mosquitoes is to rub the inside of an orange peel on your face, hands, legs and arms. A bar of soap rubbed along the length of a tent or sleeping bag zipper will make that zipper slide much more effectively. Pack some frozen ground meat or hot dogs (or both) in your cooler before you leave home. This will help keep your other food in the cooler cold, plus when they thaw (in a day or so) they will be ready to use! Keep a pot of hot water simmering on the fire, pour it in a hot water bottle and put it inside your sleeping bag. Use garlic on your food, it naturally repels mosquitos. Dome tents are more aerodynamic and stable, with a sleeker profile to shed weather and wind effectively. Fluff your sleeping bag before crawling inside. That act of fluffing creates more air space between the fibers or feathers and air space is easily warmed by your body. You can boost the efficiency of a sleeping bag in several ways. Buy wearing long underwear to bed (a fresh, dry pair), by doubling up sleeping bags, by using a sleeping bag liner, by sleeping wearing a parka and by sleeping in a tent. Try and avoid setting up camp next to stagnant water, which is home to biting insects. To freshen up plastic water containers before use, place two denture cleaning tablets inside and fill up with water. Leave overnight, then discard water. To keep boots dry and insect free, push sticks into ground and place boot over top of stick. Cut an orange in half and eat the flesh, leaving the peel complete. This can then be used to cook eggs in the ashes of a camp fire. If sleeping on an air bed, if you place a blanket on top of the mattress, between the air bed and the sleeping bag, it will be much warmer. Mittens are warmer than gloves, as they allow your fingers to touch each other and share body heat. To prevent your tarp from tearing at the eyelets from strong winds, attach a bungee cord between the tarp and the rope. Place a Tuba on your picnic table and no one will camp too close to you.