Camping tips for novices and experts
BY CHANTAL ROGERS
No matter how experienced you are in wilderness travel, it’s always help- ful to find out how others thrive in the bush. Here are some of my favourites. They deal with hiking, starting a camp- fire quickly, and using film canisters. Enjoy.
JUMPSTART YOUR CAMPFIRE Hikers must find ultra-light solutions
to everything. Here’s how to make effective fire-starters that weigh almost nothing. Wipe Vaseline™ petroleum jelly on 30 to 40 cotton balls, then put them into a plastic film canister. To start a fire, place one jellied cotton ball under your kindling. The petroleum-jelly-saturated cotton ball will ignite immediately and burn for at least 10 minutes. To light damp kindling, use two or three of these fire-starters. Car or canoe campers can make easy and inexpensive fire-starters by filling small paper cups with sawdust and standing a wick up through the middle. Finish by carefully pouring paraffin wax over the sawdust. Be sure to let the hot wax cool before touching the container. Another great fire-starter for car or canoe campers is a charcoal briquette soaked in paraffin. It’s easy to make and use.
FILM CANISTERS Waterproof film canisters are
great for camping, canoe- ing or hiking trips, if you can find one anymore. You can make an emergency fishing kit by twisting fishing line around a small popsicle stick, then sliding it into a film canister. Be sure to
40 ottawaoutdoors
leave extra space so you can add sev- eral small hooks and weights. What can you use for lures? Find a worm or slug under a rock, or skewer a horse fly and feed it to the fish. A film canister makes an excellent
waterproof match container. Simply glue a small piece of sandpaper inside the lid of the film canister. Strike your match against the sandpaper – perfect in wet weather when rocks are damp. Make sure to place your matches head-down inside the container, point- ing away from the sandpaper. Other- wise, the heads might rub against it and ignite. To make a camp sew- ing kit, wrap a two-metre length of thread around a small strip of cereal box cardboard, then slide it in-
side a film canister. Add an assortment of sewing needles and safety pins. Popular wisdom says you shouldn’t
store food in plastic film canisters. But Kodak and other film companies main- tain that no trace chemicals from the film will get into your spices, condi- ments, or medicines. Alternatively, you could ask your pharmacist for clean, unused, screw-top pill containers as they come in different sizes as well.
DISAPPEARING ICE PACKS When packing for a hiking or canoe
trip, freeze factory-packed and sealed foods (such as sausages or hotdogs) several days before leaving. These make great ice packs and they’ll stay frozen for a few days. Placed next to perishable foods, they keep
the foods cold. Better yet, your ice pack is edible!
PACK BAKING SODA Never head out on the trail with-
out a small container of baking soda. Mix your baking soda with cinnamon to make toothpaste. Or, add 10 mL baking soda to a cup of water to ease back-country heartburn. Or, gargle with a solution of 10mL baking soda and 125 mL of water to freshen your breath. Garlic odours from last night’s dinner will disappear. Are mosquito and black fly bites
bothering you? Try adding a little water to baking soda, making a watery paste. Rub the paste over the bite; the baking soda will ease the itch. This method also works with minor burns and poi- son ivy.
Is odour from your hiking boots scaring away your hiking mates? Here’s a solution. Pour a small amount of baking soda into your boots, shake it around, and leave the boots to sit overnight. In the morning your shoes should be odour-free, ready for the trail again.
When collecting wood or stringing
a clothesline or tarp for your camping adventure, have you ever covered your fingers with sticky sap? Soap won’t help you here. Instead, wash your hands with water and baking soda. It works every time.
HIKING TIPS When hiking, plan to walk at the speed of your slowest hiker. This benefits everyone. Fast walkers will have extra time to explore the area, and slower hikers will not feel pressed by others. Take rests during a long hike; you’ll
enjoy your excursion more and ev- eryone will maintain a higher, steadier pace. But don’t stop for more than five minutes. Longer stops will give your legs time to stiffen up. When backpacking, never carry
more than 25-30 percent of your body weight. Any more weight can dam- age your back (this warning applies especially to children carrying packs.) Over-burdened hikers are also prone to falls and injuries. /OO
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca
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