Read This Article Before Your Next Camping Excursion

You can enjoy camping with all of your family and friends. Everyone should give this exciting experience a try if they can. Camping does need preparation and research. Check out the insights in this article to prepare you for a great camping trip.

Always find your shelter before it gets dark when you go camping. After night falls, it becomes harder to prepare your camp ground and set up the tent. This is particularly true for those city-dwellers that are not used to pitch-black darkness. Avoid being in that position; find good shelter before the sun goes down.

Figure out your new gear before you go camping. The practice does really help. No one wants to get to the campground, only to find out that they don't know how to use something or set up their own tent. Practice with your new gear before you ever set foot on the campground.

If your canteen is beginning to smell musty, you can give it a good cleaning with baking soda. Place a little bit of water in your canteen, and then add three tablespoons of baking soda. Shake gently, let it sit for sixty minutes, and then rinse with water. Your canteen will be refreshingly clean!

Those big, colorful plastic storage bins make excellent places to store and organize all of your camping gear. While at home, keep it in a closet or the garage and right before you leave for your camping trip, pop it in the trunk. It should keep everything air-tight, dry and easily accessible.

Bring supplies for 'Smores. 'Smores are an integral part of any camping trip. Simply pack graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. Toast the marshmallows, then make it the filling to a graham cracker/chocolate sandwich. When you have a 'Smore, you will want 'some more'--bring enough for everyone to have at least two of them!

Bring supplies for 'Smores. 'Smores are an integral part of any camping trip. Simply pack graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. Toast the marshmallows, then make it the filling to a graham cracker/chocolate sandwich. When you have a 'Smore, you will want 'some more'--bring enough for everyone to have at least two of them!

Any time you go camping, do not forget to bring a first-aid kit along with you. Since accidents can happen at any time, a first-aid kit is a very valuable asset to possess. Be sure to include topical creams for bug bites, sun burns and poison ivy when putting your kit together.

When you bring your dog on a camping trip, make certain he has adequate tick protection. Bugs thrive in forests, and many flea treatments do not extend protection to include ticks, so ask your vet before departing if your dog has everything he needs and what you should do for proper tick 7m bell tent prevention and removal.

Set your campsite, tent and sleeping bags up before it gets dark. Figure out where you can park if you are driving an RV. When pitching a tent, a level, dry area is needed. Getting your camp set up before dark will give you time to get to know your campsite and surrounding area. It will also make it easier to see what you're doing, saving you a lot of frustration.

Talk to your kids about common dangers before taking them on a camping trip. It's easy to look at photos online of harmful plants like poison ivy so that they are aware that they should not touch them when they're camping.

Collect more wood than you think you are going ot need. Unless you go camping every day, you probably don't have an accurate idea of what "enough wood" actually looks like. You can always leave the extra wood in a pile as a gift for anyone that uses the campsite after you.

When selecting an area for your tent, look for the area of the campsite with the flattest and softest ground. Choosing a slanted or rocky site will make your stay quite uncomfortable. Always lay a tarp down first to prevent water from entering or damaging the tent.

While camping seems synonymous with a campfire, that campfire doesn't necessarily have to be made from wood. In fact, it might be safer and easier to use a portable campfire unit powered by propane. For the most part, these units are permitted unless there is a fire ban in place. Marshmallows taste just as good from these units as they do over an open, wood-burning fire, too.

Recreational camping is not just for warm weather. If you are feeling especially adventurous, you can go camping in early spring and late fall at most camping grounds. You can even camp in the snow if you have the right gear. Make sure your sleeping bags are suitable for whatever weather you are camping in.

When setting up the tent, know how to seal every seam. You can get a tube of sealant at a sporting goods store if you didn't get any with your tent. This helps to prevent bugs, as well as rainwater, from coming in your tent.

It is perfectly normal to set a budget for your overall camping trip. Sit down and make a plan of what you must spend on your entire trip. Make sure you factor in the campground costs, gasoline prices as well as food and any other materials you will need to purchase. This will ensure that you don't spend more than you have on your trip.

When setting up a tent, be sure its seams are all sealed. If you tent did not include a tube of sealer, you can find it at sporting goods stores. This helps to prevent bugs, as well as rainwater, from coming in your tent.

Getting to know what there is to know about camping is a good thing to have in your head. Even if you aren't going to plan out a camping trip any time soon, it is at least a good idea to make sure that you know what it does take to go camping for future advice.