Camping Hacks Every Backpacker Should Know

My Favorite Camp Hacks I've learned over 8 Years & 14K Miles of Backpacking!

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[krasht]

You can use a clear water bottle as a level to check your tent site !

[BareYoga]

These are great tips. For me, I get up at the crack of dawn, pack up, get my food bag, and eat a coffee gel while I start hiking. Once the sun is bright and warm and I’m ready to de-layer, I stop for breakfast. Then I’m not shivering trying to heat water and I’m never very cold in the morning.

[Karen-dqnw]

Biggest tip of all - no matter how much experience you have, never close yourself off to new ideas. You never know when someone has a great hack for packing, camping, cooking, eating, hiking, or even first aid. They may be a newbie even, but may have something great to contribute.

[KrizAkoni]

When I know my water will freeze overnight, I pre-fill my cook pot so the water is where it needs to be in the AM for my coffee.

[AijazAnsari]

I realized I need to do this after my last hike in the snow: Carry about 6-12 feet of paracord and small toggle somewhere I can access it without taking off my pack. Then if I need to stop for a snack, or a bathroom break, if there's a tree nearby I tie the cord around the tree, take my backpack off, and hang it off the toggle. This way I don't need to put the bag down on the snow just to reach into it to take out one thing.

[WAndrewHarper]

Dude that tent tip rolling it up with 1 stake is going to make my life a lot easier. Thanks Darwin!

[XwaYdesu]

1) I wear earplugs to sleep. Otherwise Im too hyper-alert to the sounds around me. 2) I pack up the inside of my tent before I get out of it in the morning. It just makes that part go faster and feel like less of a chore. 3) When I take breaks in dry weather, even short ones, I take off my socks to let some of the sweat evaporate. It's reduced my blister rate.

[jacobgarland]

I've been laying on my tent before setting it up since I was a kid. Once, while making sure my sleeping spot was as flat and level as possible, I saw the largest and brightest meteorite that I've ever seen. A huge ball of orange fire with a long, flaming tail, it surely impacted within two miles of my campsite near the Indian Heaven Wilderness in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, back around 2000. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed.

[Nunyabizniz_BHL]

When I start hiking on a cold morning. I will put my backpack on and then put my jacket on backwards (back side on my chest and zipper toward the back). I then tuck it in behind my back. This way when I warm up….i don’t have to take my back pack off to take off the jacket. I can just take off the jacket and shove it in a side pocket or have a buddy shove it in the bag itself.

[jimmartins]

As an ex Overland Expedition Leader on Trans Africa and other journeys, One little thing that helps if you cook over open fires is to smear a tiny amount of washing up liquid all around the outside of your cooking pot. This goes black as usual with soot from the fire but when it comes to clean, it just wipes away with a bit of water back to nearly shiny. This REALLY works and I have used this hundreds of times but am always surprised that it doesn't come up on any camp advice videos. Trust me, try it and you will always do it. It saves on scrubbing a pot or leaving it crusted in soot.

[RoyADane]

I like the "put the glasses on the zipper pull trick" . Very cool.

[steveh]

Using a small PVC cap, to push stakes into the ground. I drilled a small hole in it and ran a string through it and clip it on a small carabiner

[GarryCollins-ecyo]

On windy days I take my spare carabiner and clip the up wind corner of my ground cloth to my backpack until I get my tent stacked.

[scottgephart]

One tip that I can give is to set up your quilt & sleeping pad at home (nice, comfortable environment). Once you have your quilt's straps where you want them, take a permanent marker and put a dot or line or line near the edge of the pad. That way, you know where to put them every time without guessing.

[murillomr]

That’s why you “can’t stop” doing YouTube videos! Man, it’s such a cool tips, I’ve been backpacking for years and I’ve learned so much with your content. And you know there is a lot of information out there, But you do it in an amazing way! Thank you very much!

[scottbates]

I like to use an extra T-shirt, Sun shirt, etc. I have with me to slip over the top of my air mattress so I can slip my pillow underneath it to hold it in place so I doesn’t move around during the night. Also on hot nights, if I’m shirtless then having that T-shirt over the air mattress feels much better than it sticking to my bare skin.

[alyishiking]

Some of these hacks are things I figured out after a few thousand miles of backpacking, like laying down on a potential tent spot, ziplocking my filter, etc but the most genius thing you mentioned never would've occurred to me HANGING GLASSES FROM THE ZIPPER PULL WHAT IS THIS MAGIC??!!

[EricSchwartz-skid]

I put little dots of silicone on the bottom of my sleeping pad. That keeps it from sliding as well. Great tips once again! Thanks.

[jamesedwards]

As a hammock camper with a hip replacement and back issues, I take two inflatable pillows from Alps gear and put them under my knees in the hammock and I sleep so comfortably, if I don’t use them I can’t get comfortable and my sleep sucks.

[danielflaherty]

I have followed you since you first started doing videos on YouTube and love your common sense approach. I have been backpacking since the 60s when your sleeping bag except military was 6+ pounds, your tent was a shelter half that weighed 10 pounds and your backpack weighed 6-10 pounds and that was as close as we got to ultralight. Equipment has evolved, which is a plus as it lets an almost 70 year old the opportunity to continue to do what I love to do and that is hike and camp. Glad to see you back.