Tent camping and Safe
Campfires
Tent camping usually
attracts families with children because children are
primarily the ones that enjoy it the most and because
it's rugged and inexpensive.
Tent camping is often a fun part of family automobile
trips. Many established campgrounds offer full
amenities and allow direct car access.
Looking forward
to the next campground can add excitement to the end of
a day's leisurely vacation drive.
Here are some suggestions to make the overnight stay
more enjoyable:
1. Arrive at the campsite early. With still ample daylight
you can select a fine location to set up your tent
(without the need for flashlights).
2.
Find a flat and level ground in an area having shrubs or
trees to block unexpected strong winds.
3. Examine the area for possible dangers. Check for sharp
objects, broken glass, huge ant beds, branches, poison
ivy,
hazardous terrain and bees.
4. Stay away from areas with natural hazards like falling
branches. Inspect the land contour making sure that your
campsite is elevated so it doesn't flood in
case of rain.
5. Use a flame-resistant tent and set it up far from where
you will be setting your camp fire.
6. Be familiar with first aid basics and carry along a “first
aid kit” wherever you go. Keep everyone well hydrated.
7. Select a clear area for your
Camp Cookingwoodfire
8. Likewise,
clean the campsite making sure there are no foods left
over scattered so as not to attract wild animals; make
sure your food is well stored or securely packed so that
animals can not get to it.
9.Always clean after your mess and discard your trash in a trash
bag and secure it.
►
Build your campfire away from your tent. Also, never
use gas lamps or candles inside or near the
tent.
►
Keep bugs and smoke out by immediately closing your
tent flap every time you go in or out.
►
Always look after your campfire and clear the area of
leaves and twigs as well as keep the flame
controlled by creating a barrier around it
using rocks.
►
Before retiring to bed, make sure the campfire is
property put out by drowning it with water.
►
Find the right types of fuel for building and
maintaining your campfire. You will need
tinder. Tinder is easily combustible
materials that will burn quickly and
hopefully emit enough heat and gases to
start a fire with larger pieces of wood.
►
Ideal tinder includes dry sticks, bark, dry leaves, and
twigs. Use kindling to start the fire and to
help maintain it. But remember that you can
only successfully build a fire if the
larger, harder to burn pieces of wood will
burn.
Some common designs of campfires include:
Tepee – tepees are great for quick
fires, and last long into the night. It
makes use of a lot of tinder, so you will
need a good bunch of it. The longer burning
wood is placed, balanced against each other
vertically around the tinder. This makes
sure that the heat and the gases of the
tinder are generated in a way to help the
larger pieces of wood burn. It is the
perfect fire for boiling water and general
purpose campfires.
Pyramid – You build a ‘pyramid’ of
logs by laying the logs horizontally on the
ground together, then building another layer
on top of the next gradually forming a
pyramid. Although this type of campfire is a
little hard to start up, the advantage is
that it generates a lot of charcoal that
will be useful in the future. It burns pretty
well and is quite a stable fire.
Parallel – The parallel fire puts the
tinder in between two logs. This is an
efficient burning fire since the insides of
the logs burn too – having the fire and heat
going in a good, snug place between two
logs.
Star (Indian) – This is the type of
fire you usually see on those old Western
movies.
The logs are laid out like spokes of a
wheel. Tinder is placed in the middle. The
fire is easy to maintain, although you do
have to push each ‘spoke’ of the wheel
towards the middle as the fuel burns up.
Handy
Tips on Choosing the Best Camping Tent
There are a number of common factors to consider in
choosing the appropriate camping tent. In
general, if a higher quality camping tent is
needed then more dollars should be budgeted.
The first to consider is the number of people who will be
using the tent. This will generally
determine the size as well as the style.
There are different styles to choose from.
The dome style's round shape offers wind
resistance aside from its being small and
simple to set-up.
If there is a large number of people in the camping
group, (4 to 9),
family camping tents should
be selected. The umbrella style offers roomy
head room for many people and is
well-ventilated. Screen houses can also
accommodate a large group.
For the seasoned backpackers and campers, the A-frame
style tent and backpacking tent are the ones
to choose because of the lightweight and
set-up simplicity. The latter comes in
varying sizes for 2 to 4 people.
Also consider the sort of conditions the tent will need to
cope with. For those on a budget and those
who will be going to
fairly good camping
locations, the two-season tent is one of the
least expensive on the market. The
three-season tent is said to be the most
popular because it is sufficiently durable
to deal with rain throughout the seasons,
except winter. For extreme weather
conditions, consider the four-season tent.
It is intended for heavier winds and snow
and is made of a higher class of fabrics
with added poles for increased strength.
Using a Tarp for a Tent
while Backpacking with the Kids (Video) (Click
► at
bottom left of screen to start video)
RESOURCES: Buy Camping Equipment
Twilight
Camp Supply
has a
complete selection of
camping equipment for all of your outdoor adventures!
RichardPresents.com SHARING THE GOOD STUFF ONLINE
Old School Bldg, Rm D1
230 Centre Street
Langhorne, PA 19047 USA TO TOP