7 Camp Gadgets that SHOULD be Expensive, but COST Very Little

From ingenious DIY hacks to ready-to-use camp tools, we showcase how these budget-friendly small camper essentials can enhance your outdoor experience immediately after purchase. Worried about sacrificing quality for affordability? Fear not! Our community-tested gear proves that you can have the best of both worlds. Discover how these camping tools, designed to pack down small, will not only save you precious cargo space but also elevate your camping game.

🟢Looking for an Affordable Small Camper Trailer to store this gear? Checkout this Playlist:

If you want the actual Coleman Stool you can find them on ebay and other places under the name Coleman Event Stool. Unfortunately they do not make them anymore. BUT, there are great alternatives. Probably same manufacture, just different brand.

Flat Pack tables:

Instructions for making Portable Chair That Stores within itself
🟡Video instructions: Make a Portable Deck Chair

By purchasing items through these Playing with Sticks links there is no additional cost to you. Our family gets a small kickback from amazon for any purchases you make using these affiliate links.

[MidnightMaker]

Hey, I was just watching the video and checked out the flat-pack table links and my Instructable was the first to pop up! How cool! I won the Flat-Pack contest and got a very nice Dewalt router set.

[CarolHewett-ugcw]

I was quarantined and hospitalized for 12 days in the 1950s.There were no private bathrooms or private rooms in hospitals in the 50s, or 60s. In fact showers were not always present in houses; bathtubs ruled the day. So bedside sponge baths or "bird baths" were quite commonplace in hospital settings. At home we washed our hair separately in the kitchen sink. Consequently when I started camping in the 70s I felt no need for showers. I even found them miserably uncomfortable if no hot water was available. Thus I relied on sponge baths.The advantage was only one portion of the body at a time was exposed to overcome cold temperatures or to deal with modesty in a public setting. I mention this in case someone wants to avoid shower contraptions while camping. Also there are small portable fold up Japanese bathtubs available on line that can be used in a public park wearing a swimsuit or nude in the privacy of your tent or trailer. Just saying ...

[kathleenhudson]

My camping buddy and I are both senior women, and we have found it harder to carry the 5-gallon collapsible jug to our campsite, lift it to the table, and turn it on its side so the spigot is facing down. I bought a battery-operated pump that fits on a bottle, replaced the tubing with a longer one, and built a holder for the pump from scrap wood. At camp, we put the filled water jug on my collapsible dolly and wheel it to our site. The jug stays on the ground, and I thread the hosing through to the bottom of the jug. For water, I only have to press the button on the pump.

[bonnieviolette]

Wow, I'm super impressed with the foldable chair Paul built, 25 years ago, and it still looks brand new. It is a wonderful design!

[tomaram]

The man in the red hoodie is a true engineer! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 His inventions are incredible! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[nancyst.john-smith]

I reused a laundry detergent jug with a push button dispenser for hand washing. I painted it black and can set it in the sun. I have them under my bathroom sinks for access to handwashing water during power outages.

[dquangt]

The last guy that built the table and THAT CHAIR! Awesome.

[ArtCFartC]

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but a pump sprayer for the garden with a veggie sprayer nozzle for a kitchen sink makes a great shower for little money. I've used one for several years.

[cgillit]

The collective ingenuity of the teardrop community never ceases to amaze and I'm always thankful for the opportunity to tap into it.

[justjoanish]

Geez When I was a kid in Girl Scouts we would take an empty milk jug, tie a piece of women's hose to it with a small/piece of bar of soap inside it, poke a hole in the jug near the bottom, but then put a golf tee in it to plug it back up. Then if you want to wash your hands you remove the golf tee, it sprinkled out water to wet your hands, you rubbed your hands on the nylon stocking to get soapy, then rinsed them again under the small sprinkle of water. Whole thing probably costs 5 cents of discarded items. I am def behind the times. 😅

[richavic]

Genius idea, interviewing campers, while camping, about how they've improved their camping experience.
Lots of cool stuff from the mothers of invention.

[coalsparks]

I’m not a camper but the ingenuity of these folks is so awesome. “I had this problem and here’s how I solved it.”

[alnerinranfam]

I love the DIY hand washing container. If you use foam soap it doesn’t take as much water since you don’t need to wet the soap to foam and a lot less water to rinse.

[coralieofjumpwithnofear]

I love seeing all the options here (and some of them are so CLEVER!!) for smaller campers. There are _heaps_ of videos around that cover items for giant caravans and RVs, so it’s great to see smaller items for people camping in smaller vehicles. 😊

[Eekamouse]

Used my Biolite CampStove @Death Valley rest area, using hickory smoking chips as fuel & vaseline/cotton for initial startup. Electropiezo generated power from the heat recharges the onboard battery sys which uses a tornado blast to make fire smokefree. Cleanup is a breeze. Use the coals to clean the cookware. Elevated/self-contained so USFS apv'd. Their coffee pot is similar to a Jetboil & is an outer armor for my stove packed within. 52oz w/stove+KettlePot+CoffeePress (French). Provides USB power/Light/smokefree environ using biodegradeables or hardwoods so fuel is readily available in most loc's, hence my woodchips & vaseline/cotton igniter (fits in a medicine bottle for less mess) mix in the scarce desert. The Park Rangers ordered themselves nearly a dozen after observing me charge my phone & BTSpeaker, then boil water & make coffee while cooking marinated diced beef w/mushrooms served over scrambled eggs and clean up with the ashes, ensuring all embers are out while providing enough grit to scour cast iron. Neat channel. Just sub'd

[ninyeiw]

I USE A TANK SPRAYER FOR LAWNS TO MAKE IT A SELF PUMPING SHOWER !, JUST ADD WARM WATER AND PUMP YOU HAVE A RELIABLE SHOWER NO POWER NEEDED !!. 25 BUCKS AND GOOD TO GO !!!.

[jennstuart]

Thank you Drew!
I just grinned through that whole video. Resourcefulness is the quality that rose to the top . I think the metal fire pit is going on my list. And the inside fire place...wow!

[GunNut]

The table was brilliant! I loved that chair that slides inside itself best of all.

[jayburke]

I don't have a teardrop I camp out of my minivan with a no build concept I definitely feel like I'm part of this community though because there's so much overlap with the type of camping I am doing using hasika awnings and clam quickset pop shelters and got all the same gadgets you all got

[annseabolt]

We used to camp on my dad’s land in deep east Texas & I would heat up a pan of water and stand in a tub like you bus tables with and just have a bath with soap & a wash cloth. I would kneel down and wash my hair over the tub & then wash my body with the warm soapy water and rinse off with clear water. It always felt so good to get clean. In warmer weather we would hang up a solar shower.