"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."H. L. Mencken
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Buying Tips When You're Camping
Whether you are an experienced camping enthusiast or you are starting off on your first camping experience, it is important to have the proper gear and equipment. Many of the supplies can be expensive and some items may be hard to find. To get the most ...
Camping Tents - What the Tent Ratings Mean
Been shopping for a new camping tent? Wonder what 3-season or 4-season means? Confused about what a family tent or convertible tent classification means? Let’s try to cut through all the marketing lingo and get down to what you should really look for when ...
Important information about camping stoves...
What type of camping, hiking, or backpacking do you do? Do you camp at parks, out of your car, or do you carry everything on your back? Do you camp only in North America?Do you need a camping burner for winter camping or do you mostly camp during the ...
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Camping with kids when they are happy is a fantastic family experience. Camping with unhappy kids could put a very quick end to your family adventures in the great outdoors. There are plenty of ways to have avoid bad camping experiences, but here are my picks for the three most important.
Don't take over. We spend most of our lives "organizing" our kids, making sure they get up, dressed, off to school, to weekly activities and play dates. It's an easy trap to try to organize their camping experience too. This is especially easy to do when it looks like their first choices of activities involve sleeping in the tent all day or throwing rocks at one another across the firepit.
However, one of the most fundamental lessons camping can teach is that you are responsible for your own experience. Mother Nature is a great provider of natural consequences. Don't put up your tent right, you'll get wet. Don't collect firewood, you won't eat hot food. Do collect firewood, and discover the mesmerizing dance of a night campfire. Get up the energy to paddle to the middle of the lake in the middle of the night, and see stars like they were meant to be seen. Step back, and let your kids learn from their own experiences. You might just pick up a little something too.
Avoid constipation. Think I'm kidding? I used to take city kids on month long canoe trips, and several of them showed insane talent for "poop in the woods" avoidance. Some made it as long as a week before they gave in and took Mr. Trowel off to dig a hole. Kids like routine and predictability, some kids a lot more than others. When that routine is turned upside down, even by fun activities like camping, it can cause system backup. That can lead to stomach troubles, cramps, and really stinky farts (amongst the 2-12 year old set, this is serious business, and might be for you too, if you're sharing a tent).
Fortunately, there's a really easy fix for camping constipation. Eat beans. I used to serve chili the first night out on trail. Vegetarian chili with 5 kinds of beans. Sometimes it took a day or two, but no kid could hold out a week against my 5 bean chili. Other forms of fiber help too - oatmeal for breakfast, dried fruit in your gorp. Also have your kids drink lots of water, especially if fiber isn't a really common part of their diet.
Keep the sleeping bag dry. Let's face it, sleeping comfortably is pretty important to all of us, but a wet sleeping bag can make a kid totally miserable. This is especially true if your child's sleeping bag is one of the big box store $20 variety. You know, the ones that weigh 15 pounds (dry!) and are made of cotton. Get one of those wet, and your camping trip is over, it will take until next year to dry. Even a good kids sleeping bag can get wet, however, and it's not easy to convince a kid to climb into a soggy bag to sleep.
The key to keeping a sleeping bag dry is to keep its surroundings dry. If you're going to be in wet conditions (rainy season, or paddling on a lake), prepare your gear. Put kids sleeping bags, and any other gear you treasure into dry bags, garbage bags, or some other water barrier. Put a tent cloth under your tent (properly!) so you keep water out of the tent. Teach your kids good tent etiquette so they don't crawl all over the tent in their wet boots, or dump a mug of hot chocolate over their sleeping bag.
About the author:
Debora Geary is the owner of an online store carrying a wide selection of quality outdoor kids sleeping bags.
Written By: Debora Geary
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Winter camping: And you think you're cold...The IndependentWhose idea was it to go camping in January anyway? As a family we'd been used to the balmy delights of summers under canvas. So my proposal to embrace the first frosty weekend of the year by going camping was greeted with some surprise. |
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LeBlanc: Camping and dealing with a campfire and mosquitoesYour Houston NewsAnd since deer hunting season has expired for another year, you can camp just about anywhere you want to in the national forests — not just the designated camping areas. I guess when we think happy thoughts of camping in our youth, the one major image ... |
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