All you really need to have a great time camping is good friends, a sweet campsite, and plenty of聽. But if you鈥檙e looking to impress your friends on your next outing, here are a few of our favorite little camp hacks.
Turn Your Headlamp into a Lantern
All you need is a Nalgene or an empty translucent bottle, like a gallon water jug. Simply strap your headlamp around it, turn on, and voil脿. Extra credit: add a carabiner or bit of string to hang it from a tree or inside your tent.
Make the Most of your Nalgene Bottle
Speaking of Nalgene bottles, drinking your favorite beverages out of them is just the start. Fill one with piping hot water, stash it in the bottom of your sleeping bag, and you鈥檝e got a makeshift heater. Use it as a roller to soothe your sore calves or throw in some ice to make an icepack. Or leave the eggs at home, and instead crack them into the bottle, whisk, and you鈥檒l have scrambled eggs in a bottle. Bonus: whatever you do, wrap a few feet of duct tape around it for quick access to everyone鈥檚 favorite adhesive for field repairs.
Keep Your Beer Cold
No room in your fancy cooler for all your beer? Don鈥檛 fret. If you鈥檙e camping near water, throw them in a bag, add something heavy to weigh it down, and then leave it a few feet below the surface. If you鈥檙e really desperate, consider burying them鈥攐r at least stashing them under a shady shrub or tree. However you cool down your , be sure to practice Leave No Trace principles and leave your campsite just clean as you found it or even cleaner and less disturbed.
Start the Campfire Quickly
This is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.聽 Dryer lint stuffed into a toilet-paper tube and cotton balls coated with Vaseline both work well. So do those tricky can鈥檛-blow-them-out birthday candles floating around in your junk drawer. Don鈥檛 have any of those? A bit of hand sanitizer will also get things going, and Doritos make great kindling.聽
Turn a Beer Can into a Stove
Alcohol stoves have long been a favorite of ultralight backpackers. Using aluminum cans for the stove and alcohol for fuel, they鈥檙e cheap to make, easy to operate, and featherweight at less than two ounces. All you need is a few simple tools, some rubbing alcohol, and a little know-how. Here鈥檚 how you do it.
Supplies:
- Two empty 12-ounce Sierra Nevada Beer cans
- Pocketknife or multitool
- Rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol, 90 percent solution or stronger
- Toilet paper or cotton balls
Step 1: Prep the Cans
Take an empty 12-ounce can and, using a box cutter or pocketknife, cut away all but the bottom 2 or 3 inches of the first can, preserving the base. (Slicing away the top and then cutting down the side to the desired height is an easy way.) Next, do the same thing with the second can. Then place some cotton balls in the bottom of one stove and nest one can-butt inside the other, top inside bottom.
Step 2: Make the Burner Holes
Using the knife on your multitool or an awl, make a series of pinholes around the upper rim of the stove and one larger one right in the middle of the top.
Step 3: Prime the Stove
Pour a small amount of the alcohol through the big upper hole鈥攁n ounce will burn for about 10 minutes, depending on wind, temperature, and other factors. Stuff a piece of cotton ball or toilet paper down the center hole, pour a tiny bit more fuel on top of the stove, and light, allowing the stove to 鈥減rime鈥 or warm up.
Step 4: Get Cooking
Use a pot-stand or assemble a few rocks to support your cooking pot. When the stove is warm, place a rock or penny over the center hole (so the flames will rise through your ring of pinholes), and you鈥檙e cooking! Once your meal is hot or your water is boiling, simply snuff the stove with an overturned pot to extinguish the flame.
Important Safety Reminders
Anytime you鈥檙e cooking with fire or a stove, choose a safe spot that鈥檚 free of brush and other flammable material. Also, remember to check the regulations of your destination before using your new stove. Because they don鈥檛 have an 鈥渙ff鈥 switch, alcohol stoves are included in burn bans, and some recreation areas prohibit their use altogether.
This summer,聽聽wants you to Enjoy Outdoors with car camping, a backcountry overnight, or just by pitching a tent in your backyard. However you decide to enjoy it, make sure you stock up with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale鈥攖he Official Beer of Camping鈥 for the adventure.