Travel and Leisure

Travel and Leisure: Camping Article Category

Camping is all about taking a break from your routine and just relaxing and recharging in the great outdoors. Many campers right now want to try back country camping where there is no electricity - just you and the outdoors. It might seem overhwelming in the beginning, but when you know what to do and handle different situations, you'll find that camping without electricity is even more rewarding!

Be one with nature and truly relax at the backcountry with these beginner tips for camping without electricity!

Be Prepared

The key to achieving any successful trip is to come prepared. This is even more important if you're planning to camp traditionally. Make sure you do research about your chosen campsite. You know there's no electricity, but is there a source of water? Where's the nearest place you can ask for help in case of emergencies?

Also, make sure you pack right to cover everything - all the things you're going to need for sleeping, cooking, eating, bathing and entertainment. It would be helpful if you make a checklist and use it while packing.

Plan Your Meals

Plan your meals ahead and keep everything simple. Consider the lack of power so you'll be cooking over a campfire, a grill or an electric stove, depending on what you prefer. Plan your food per day throughout your trip and go for recipes that are easy to cook. If possible, do most of the preparation at home. Pack your cooler right and be sure that you cook perishables first.

If you plan to cook over a fire, be sure you have everything needed to create one.

Bring Drinking Water

In the backcountry, when there's no electricity, there's usually no source of drinking water, too. It's important to check if your chosen site has a water source. If there is, it's usually fine for bathing and washing dishes, but not for drinking.

Bring clean drinking water that will last throughout your entire trip. You can bring water in gallons or in smaller individual bottles.

Bring a source of light

You'll need a source of light to move around the campsite, especially at night. You can light a campfire, but you can't move it around or bring inside your tent. Be sure to bring a flashlight, a lantern, some candles and some extra batteries.

Keep warm

No matter what season you'll be camping, it's important to prepare for cold nights. Bring a wool sweater, wool socks, thick blankets, extra bedding, sleeping pads and a thermal sleeping bag.

Camping without electricity gets easier over time - just follow these simple but effective tips!

Daniel J. Smith is a survival expert. Having lived the outdoor life since he was very young, he loves sharing his expertise about camping, hiking, traveling, RV living and many more. He has also started his own company called OutBright, which will soon be selling products that cater to campers, hikers, travellers and all outdoor-loving adventurers.

Getting Prepared for a Long Hike

Physical Conditioning

There is little doubt that when you are preparing for a hike such as the Appalachian Trail that physical conditioning is a major concern. The physical condition for preparation for a simple 6-mile and difficult hike is not what most of us would consider when we think of being in shape. The major differences are:

-The weight of the loaded pack on your back. - Shorter multiple day hikes with a loaded pack will help immensely with your trail conditioning, the longer the better.

* Hiking days on end with that pack on your back. - I have yet to discover a means to duplicate the conditioning required for day after day 10 to 20 mile days carrying the loaded pack. (I found out the hard way what no real condition resulted in when starting a 9-day hike on the Appalachian Trail)

WHAT TO INCLUDE WHEN PLANNING YOUR LONG HIKE

The articles that you must include in your pack include, may be where the most weight resides. Such articles are:

- Your Backpack- a principle of nature is that if space is available it will be filled. That will be a truth with your backpack. So, determining what size pack you take is your choice. Again, from personal experience, I started with a 6,000 cubic inches capacity backpack. That pack went about 200 miles until I realized that the load was more than I wanted to handle. I look at backpacks and purchased a pack with a capacity of 3,850 cubic inches. I have never looked back and have used that pack for many 9 day trips on the AT.

- The Tent Size - greatly depends on how many hikers are on the trip. With two hikers a two-person tent would work nicely if the configuration of the tent lent itself to be able to nearly equally split the weight. If not two tents become the answer. How the question turns to how little space do I need. D I need to be able to set up straight in the tent. All of the answers to these questions will greatly determine how much the tent will weigh. The decision is a personal one.

- The Sleeping Bag - The main factor to determine is how low will the temperature reach? The next factor is the type filling. Synthetics are typically heavier. Down filled sleeping bags are lighter. I have heard some complaints about wet down sleeping bags. I carried a 20-degree down-filled sleeping bag for over a hundred mile and in 7 days of continuous rain. I still carry that sleeping bag.

-The Stove and Utensils - The weight of the stove is generally how much the fuel weighs. Propane stoves are great and I have always carried a very light stove and a propane canister. Alcohol and solid fuel stoves are lighter. I have seen through-hikers on the AT using a pop can cut in half and alcohol. This again is a personal question. The current dried foods allow for eating from the container. I have found that a small titanium pot with a lid works well and acts as a convenient place to pack stove and cleanup towel.

After these decisions are made the decisions are then what else do I want to take.

The author, Bob Powell, who would still like to thru-hike the AT, helps operate the website: blueridgecampingandhiking.com Please take a look.