The Camping Gear Connection

A Properly Guyed Out Tent Will Hold Up in High Winds

A lot of us have heard about using guy-lines but, aren’t really sure how to use them or the best way to place them to be effective. Protect your tent from high winds and storms by following some simple guidelines. I personally like the guidelines and illustrations presented by Eureka Tents, these are the guidelines I follow and I would like to share them with you.

When high winds or storms are predicted, do not count on staking alone to keep your tent secure. Depending on the model, your tent rainfly has built-in loops or rings at optimal guyout locations. It’s important to put in the extra time guying out your tent. Correctly done, it can save your tent during harsh weather.

1. Attach parachute cord to the loop/rings and stake them in the ground three or four feet from the edge of the tent. If staked too close to the tent, wind can cause an upward pull that could dislodge the tent stakes.
2. Make sure that the top rainfly is securely attached to the framework underneath. Ties, hook and loop closures, or dog-bones and elastic loops are typical fasteners sewn to the underside of the fly for this purpose.

If your tent does not have loops or rings for guy outs, attach guy lines 1/3 or 1/2 of the way up the framework on the main sidewalls. This enables the guy line to support the lower section of the pole, while the upper pole can flex the side of the guyout. This will prevent all movement except toward the anchor. The idea is to get the guy lines to work together through opposition. See illustrations below:

A Quick Tasty Camping Meal

I got excited when I first tried the Madras Lentils by Tasty Bite, not only because it tastes great but that I could take this product camping with me for a quick hot meal. I wanted to share this tasty little product with my readers because, I don’t know about you but I’m always looking for quick and delicious foods to take camping.

Tasty Bite refers to this product as an entree but, I like it as a meal. I like to crumble Tostitos Scoops in my Madras Lentils I think they go great together. To me, the Madras Lentils tastes a little like chili, you’ll have to try it for yourself and see what you think. Whether you’re camping, hiking, hunting or even kayaking, for a quick hot meal, just put Madras Lentils in a pan and heat it up on your camp stove, canister stove or liquid fuel stove and enjoy! I hope you enjoy this product as much as I do.

Ice in a Jug Has Two Purposes

I am a huge fan of saving money when I go camping so I like to fill several plastic jugs with water and freeze them, you can use 1 gallon or even half gallon size jugs. The neat thing is they stay frozen longer than bag ice and as the ice melts you will have extra drinking water. If you are going to be camping for longer than a few days the extra drinking water will definitely come in handy.

Have camping tips you would like to share, just fill out the comment box, we’ll take a look, if your tip is approved we will post it with your name included.

Sitting Around a Campfire is so Relaxing

My fondest memories are sitting around a campfire, trying to stay warm, telling campfire stories or being told stories by friends and family. Just staring into the bright red coals with the flames flickering around them is so relaxing to me. With that said lets talk about building a fire.

Pick out a spot in the open away from dried grass, brush, trees and other campers. Don’t build a fire close to your tent, sparks from the fire will fly up in the air if there is a breeze, it could catch your tent on fire. Set up a fire ring, if one is not provided where you are camping, then you can make one out of large rocks. The fire ring will hold the ashes, contain the fire, to keep it from spreading to far out on the ground. I like to bring along my own cut wood, just encase the area I am camping in is scarce for firewood.

To start a fire you will some small tender like-loose bark, small sticks, pine needles, dry leaves, newspaper or anything that will catch fire easily. After you have a small fire going, start gradually adding larger sticks of wood. A folding saw or axe works great for cutting some of the larger sticks. As your fire gets larger and hotter you can add large cuts of wood. There is no certain way you need to place the larger cuts of wood on the fire as long as you have air flow from hot coals to the top of the fire this will keep the large pieces burning. Keep adding wood until you have achieved a nice controllable size campfire.

Raging, blazing campfires are not safe and could cause flying embers to set a neighboring tent or camper on fire or even start a forest fire.

Building a campfire is common sense, once you have built your first campfire you will be well on your way to becoming an expert fire builder. Use common sense, be aware of your surroundings and be safe.

Share with us, your experience building your first campfire.

Is Your Campfire Out?

Campfires are great! I don’t know one camper that doesn’t like a good campfire to cook in, tell stories around or just spend some quality time with family and friends roasting some marshmallows over the campfire. With all the pleasure we get from our campfire we want to remember some good safety rules, always make sure your campfire is out before laying down to sleep at night and before breaking camp when it’s time to head home. You’ll want to bring extra water to pour on the fire and a shovel to help stir the dowsed coals. Checkout the video below for great tips on putting out a campfire.