Go on ..Share Your Best Camping Hack!

[winewellies]

I would start ...but I don't have any

Not mine but if you line your bedroom areas with foil backed picnic blanket it insultes and keeps you warmer

IKEA's clear plastic shoe holder (back of door). I have 2. 1 for kitchen stuff and 1 for actual tent and the family have a row each (toiletries, underwear, books and general 'stuff').

Duct tape - mends rips, leaks in air beds, fastens broken seams etc. Cheap as chips and an essential
Item.

Empty tins of beans and soup - wash and de-label and filled with cake mix (buy in packs). Cover with foil, bung on fire/BBQ for half hour for warm cake! Yum.

SIMs instead of blow up mattresses. Warmer, comfier and avoid you bouncing around every time your partner moves.

Duvets instead of sleeping bags. Much cosier and more comfortable. Put one under you on top of the Sim and the other one over.

Get EHU and take a little fan heater. Keeps the tent toasty.

We have a large tent and use the side porch as our tent toilet area - we have a fold-down camping loo, can't remember the brand but basically you sit on a toilet seat over a box, which you line with a heavy-duty bag with water-absorbing crystals in (it comes with a supply). We don't use it for number 2s(!) but it's invaluable for middle of the night wees. Nothing worse than the 3am trek to the site toilets!

Blow up sofa makes life comfier in the evenings.

Vacuum pack your clothes, duvets, blankets etc in those special bags to save loads of space in the car.

The big blue IKEA bags are brill tent storage. I use one for each of our clothes and have one on the go for washing.

Camping towels seem like a gimmick but are actually brilliant. They're microfibre, dry you really quickly and are dry themselves in less than an hour. Saves having wet towels draped everywhere in the tent.

Crocs are better than wellies on campsites.

And we have a trailer to put it all in!

We cook and freeze a few meals so they slowly defrost (eg. curry and Bolognese), then only need to cook the rice or pasta when there.

Also do a menu plan so you can bring the right cans, herbs, spices etc.

We always take the Turkish hammam towels as they dry really quick and fold down to nothing despite being huge when folded out.

I would second loads of these especially the vital nature of duct tape. Also someone on here had a good one I will re share. Carry an S hook in your pocket/bag. Then if there is no hook on the campsite shower/loo door (v common) you can hook it over the top of the door and hang your wash bag, towel and clothes on it.

Boxes like this (35 litre really useful box). Dry, critter proof storage. Wine table. Untippable chair. You can wash up in it. You can keep your camping gear in it. We take 2 or 3 every time.

The other hack is literally a hack. Saw few inches off legs of roll up slat table. So it is better height for camping armchairs!

Aarigh picture

nets with suction cups, like the ones for bath toys.
you can either stick them on the wall or hang them on a hook with your toothbrush/shampoo etc in it.

Head torches

Get yourself a solar phone charger power pack, works brilliantly with minimal sunlight, and means you can still bore all your social media mates with camping selfies like me

These are all supremely useful as we are off to a festival tomorrow for 4 nights. ❤❤

Pinterest has loads of camping hacks

"line your bedroom areas with foil backed picnic blankets"

This sounds like a euphemism for a dubious sexual practice

Get a hotel

Butter(yellow spread) might melt in a hot tent. Put it in a shallow bowl of water with some kitchen towel round it. The water on the wet towel will evaporate and the butter will stay cool. Well, cooler than it would do otherwise.

Pack the tent last so you can get it out first!

A mat just inside tent for wiping off and removing wet boots.

Instead of double airbed, 2 singles with a king sized sheet holding them together is more comfy. Means if DH gets up, I don't bounce off my side.

Wooly hat, earplugs and eye mask. Tents get v cold at night, and bright v early! Earplugs, self explanatory!

I normally wear a warm base layer and leggings all day under my jeans/top. Then I put jammies over them at night. Keeps me warmer. New/clean set put on next morning.

Little clip on book lights, very handy for reading in the dusk.

Mozzie spray!

Agree re storage boxes above, best thing we ever did. Stuff in hold all get wet too easily.

For festivals- pocket packs of tissues and anti bac wipes- portaloos get grim! We also have our own loo in the tent. Hand gel.

We take chair cushions from patio furniture- we have folding chairs for the tent, but when in the Festival area, we found the ground really uncomfortable to sit on after a while. So picnic blanket on ground first, to keep them dry, then a cushion each.

Whoever mentioned on here about camp beds (the old pole and canvas ones) with a sim on top, you are a genius and have turned my little camping world upside down. Such a good sleep. And at a festival!

Pegs or even better plastic clips. Can peg out teatowels/ tea towels/ fairy lights or use to seal food bags

Oh, I'm going to have to try that cake one. I can't really think of any either. A friend of mine boils hot water on the stove in the morning, then puts it in a Thermos so she can make a second cup of tea/coffee later on.

Next time I'm getting a really good thermos and making my morning cup of tea the night before. I got the S hook hack from MN and I'm S hooking away on trips now. We pack cooking stuff in a plastic box and the rest in bags for life.

One bag for life spare to take clean clothes and shower stuff to the shower block.

Got a collapsing roof box since seeing that tip on here, that has really helped. We put all the light but bulky stuff in there and now I can put my feet in the passenger footwell.

I fill the kettle with the exact amount of water I need, i.e. measure out the number of mugs. Saves kettle boiling time and gas cylinders. I thought this was obvious but we went away with friends lately and he overfilled the kettle every time. Made me itch.

Load the mocha pot before bed so if it's been a truely grim night night at lest there will be coffee quickly. Many many packets of wet wipes .

Frozen carton(s) of juice in your cool box rather than ice blocks

I always take at least 2 of those 40l colourful flexible tub things. Great for washing up and you can fill them with water and ice and use them as a beer fridge.
Not really a hack but the Coleman event shelters are great if your going with a group. Especially if you add plastic bunting and fairy lights!