Camping means different things to different people. I once had a business associate whose definition of "roughing it" was having to ring twice for room service so he wasn't much of a camper at all. I can't even imagine him sleeping in a tent or cooking over a campfire. Then there are those who find "survival" expeditions invigorating. You know, like Les Stroud (Survivorman), trying to survive in the wilderness for a week with just a pocket knife or multi-tool and a gum wrapper! Most of us fall somewhere in between and very much enjoy having at least some creature comforts even when we are in the great outdoors: at least a comfortable tent to shelter us from the elements, a warm, snug sleeping bag, a nice sleeping pad or mattress or even a luxury RV with literally all the comforts of home.
The ultimate in luxury camping is epitomized by the palacious bus-conversion motorhomes. With price tags running into the millions of dollars, these mansions on wheels make you wonder if their owners have any concept of what "camping" is all about. These rigs often include high-tech home theater systems as well as residential style appliances and literally all the amenities of home. I know for certain that some of those RVs are better equipped than my permanent residence. Those of us with more modest means "settle" for less luxurious motorhomes, trailers, and truck campers and yet still manage to bring a significant set of creature comforts with us. Heck! Just having a safe place that doesn't flap in every breeze to get in out of the weather is a good start. Most RVs offer comfortable sleeping, cooking, and sanitation facilities which add greatly to our comfort and convenience -- and even our health -- in remote locations. After having endured tent camping and camping out of the back of an old Suburban for many years, I don't feel bad about succumbing to the comforts of my motorhome and sharing them with my family. A hot shower and a warm, comfortable bed are a blessing after hours on the seat of dirt bike, soaking in your own sweat and being engulfed in dust from a half dozen or so other riders on the trail ahead. And when the weather turns bad, it is really nice to kick back in a warm and cozy RV and watch a favorite video or two and let Mother Nature rage outside. Likewise being able to escape hot desert summers in an air conditioned rig is nothing short of heavenly.
However, there is much to be said for tent camping too. There is often a greater sense of adventure setting up camp and sleeping in a tent. Of course sometimes Mother Nature deals a helping of adventure that is more than we bargained for, hence the proliferation of RVs. Tent camping has a lower start up cost and you can go just about anywhere. Scale it down to backpacking and you don't even need roads to get there. You can go tent camping many places you can't get to in an RV.
If you choose tent camping -- for the adventure, the novelty, or the lower cost -- here are some essentials to consider, many of which can be applied to all kinds of camping. Many of these suggestions can be adapted to RVing as well. Of course having an RV as your basic shelter means you don't have to worry about a tent and you will most likely have blankets and quilts or comforters instead of a sleeping bag.
There are several basic categories that should be considered essentials for camping. Here is the short list:
- Shelter (tent or RV)
- Sleeping (sleeping bags, blankets, bedroll)
- Food and water (enough to last your entire outing plus a reserve)
- Cooking facilities (RV range, camp stove, campfire, BBQ)
- Illumination (lanterns, flashlights, candles, torches)
- Sanitation (RV, portapotty, access to public toilets, latrines)
- Hygiene (Ways to keep clean -- soap and water, wet wipes, natural water source
- Camp tools (axe or hatchet, knife, etc)
- Miscellaneous camping supplies
Shelter: one of your most important concerns will be shelter. The kind of shelter you need depends on the climate and season. For summer afternoon beach trips all you may want is a sun shade, a canopy or an umbrella. For winter "snow camping" you're going to want a very sturdy 4-season tent and sub-zero sleeping bags -- that is, if you don't or can't opt for a cozy heated RV! For average summer weekend trips without an RV you will probably want a modest, light weight 3-season tent and sleeping bags. Tents provide shelter from sun, wind, rain, and many pests and offer a very welcome degree of privacy. They also take on a feeling of "home" that soothes our human psyche. When choosing a tent there are many things to consider. How many people will be sleeping in it? Do you need interior dividers for added privacy? What kind of weather will you be using it in? How much room to you have to transport it? How difficult is it to set up and take down? Does it include screened windows and doors? I've used everything from a tiny back-packing tent that is little more than a sleeping bag cover to a big 10x14 cabin tent my boy scout troop (I was the Scoutmaster) called "The Hotel". If you are car-camping where you don't have to carry your tent far, you can afford the luxury and convenience of larger, sturdier accommodations, but for hiking and back-packing you'll want something small and light weight -- just enough to keep dew and rain and any other precipitation off your sleeping bag. Color has little to do with the functionality of a tent, other than the obvious difference in how dark colors absorb sunlight and light colors reflect it, but it can have a psychological impact on the owner/user. Some people are lifted up by "happy" colors, like yellow and red. Others prefer soothing shades like green and blue. One of our favorite tents is blue (which happens to be my favorite color) and purple (my wife's favorite color).
Ground cloth: you'll almost always see ground cloths recommended whenever you are using a tent. Usually they suggest placing the ground cloth beneath the tent to protect the tent floor. My personal preference is to place it inside the tent when I have only one. Using both one inside and one underneath to me is ideal. On more than one occasion I found having the ground cloth under the tent simply funneled run-off from the tent underneath it, trapping it between the tent floor and the ground cloth, soaking through the floor and soaking our sleeping bags. Since then I put a light weight tarp inside my tent as an extra barrier between my sleeping bag and anything that might get under the tent floor and cause problems. It certainly wouldn't hurt to use two tarps, one under your tent and one inside on top of the floor. Just be sure the outside tarp doesn't become a catch-all for moisture running off the tent! If your ground cloth is larger than the base of your tent, fold it so it doesn't stick out to form a catch basin for precipitation dripping from the tent. Even if it doesn't rain, cool nights can cause enough dew to condense on your tent to generate a small deluge when movement shakes the walls and the droplets coalesce together and cascade to the ground. The condensation from your breath inside the tent is going to create a light rain inside when the tent is bumped or flutters in the breeze. That is one reason you should maintain at least some openings for ventilation. Outdoor moisture may collect from dew, mist, or light rain and will run off when the fabric moves. If your ground cloth protrudes beyond the edges of the tent, all that moisture will be trapped between the ground cloth and your tent floor, and guess which one is more waterproof! That is one reason I like to put ground cloth inside my tent too. Even if you start off with the ground cloth safely inside the perimeter of the tent, wind or just moving around in the tent can cause things to shift so that by morning an edge or two may be exposed and funneling moisture under your domicile.
The size and complexity of your shelter will be affected by how often you plan to move it. A large, sturdy, multi-room tent with plenty of stand-up headroom is excellent for semi-permanent Army camps and even for base camps for car-camping expeditions where you plan to stay in one place for a while. If you plan to move every day, you might want to consider a lighter, smaller tent, perhaps even one of the "pop up" styles. These "pop up" tents are spring loaded and self erecting, a nice advantage when you're tired and ready to hit the sack. It takes about 10 seconds to set one up. Just take it out of its bag and toss it in the air. Poof! Instant tent! All that's left is to stake it down. Getting it back into its bag is a different story and may take some serious effort and may provide a bit of entertainment for your fellow campers as you try. For back packing you may want a tiny little tent that is barely large enough to cover your sleeping bag. The one I use is not much more than a glorified sleeping bag cover but its enough to keep rain off and cut down the wind. For most camping, I suggest a tent that is sized for 1 more person than will be sleeping it. That gives you a little extra room for gear and dressing.
Tent materials: tents have been traditionally made of canvas for hundreds of years. Canvas, when properly treated, is waterproof and provides excellent protection against all but the worst weather. Canvas is sturdy and withstands a lot of use and even some abuse. About the only drawback is it tends to be heavy and stiff and sometimes the waterproofing gives it a peculiar smell. Old time canvas tents were held up by sturdy wooden poles and anchored with strong ropes and stakes, which are also rather heavy. These days you can choose from a wide selection of nylon tents with strong, light weight fiberglass or aluminum poles and plastic stakes. It is quite surprising how much protection even a thin nylon tent can provide from the elements. Consider the tents used by mountain climbers on peaks like Mt Everest. Keeping out the sun, rain, and wind is obvious, but even a light tent helps hold in a surprising amount of heat on cold nights. One of my sons and I shared a 3-man dome tent on a scout outing one night. We slept comfortably and when we woke up it was a little cool in the tent when we crawled out of our sleeping bags, but still warm enough to get dressed without freezing our fingers or other body parts. Then I unzipped the tent and stepped outside. Wow! What a difference! It had dropped below freezing that night and there was still frost in the shade. I definitely gained a real appreciation for how much shelter a simple tent can provide. It was truly surprising how much heat was generated overnight by two warm bodies and how much of it was retained in the tent. I've read that the average human being generates about as much heat as a 100 watt incandescent light bulb. Trap that inside a tent and you retain a lot of your hard earned heat that would otherwise slip away into the night.
While we're on the subject of tents, choose carefully where you set it up. First consideration is finding a place that is generally level and fairly smooth -- free from rocks, twigs, and debris. If you must set up your tent on a slope, do it so when you roll out your sleeping bags, your head will be uphill. If your head is downhill, your stomach contents are likely to start making their way up your throat before morning and that is VERY unpleasant. If you lie sideways across the slope you will most likely roll downhill during the night. The only negative result I've ever experience sleeping with my head uphill was by morning my feet were sticking out of my tent! A second consideration is overhead threats. In warm weather it is tempting and even usually a good idea to set up your tent in the shade. However, if it is windy, you could be the target of branches blow out of the foliage above you. In winter you may risk having snow that accumulated in the branches fall due to wind or even rising heat from your tent -- even it is only your own body heat.
Sleeping bags: next to your basic shelter, having comfortable sleeping accommodations may be the next biggest factor in comfortable camping. If you're in a an RV, you may have the luxury of a real bed, with sheets, blankets, quilts, and comforters. Sleeping bags may be useful even in an RV but are even more important when tent camping. Sleeping bags come in a variety of configurations to fit a number of uses and climates. They are rated by how cold the outside temperature can drop to before you get cold inside the bag. It is pretty obvious you will freeze sleeping in a 20 degree bag at zero degrees, but using a sub-zero sleeping bag in significantly warmer temperatures will cause you to sweat, greatly reducing your comfort and possibly even leading to getting chilled. So choose a sleeping bag that fits the climate you will be using it in. If you anticipate varying temperatures, use a layered sleep system just as you would dress in layers. Adding a liner and/or cover or having a second sleeping bag or some blankets are some ways of building a layered sleep system. Some sleeping bags are made so they can be unzipped to lie completely flat or be zipped together with a second bag, allowing couples to sleep together and share body warmth.
Since you will often be sleeping on the ground you will want to consider a sleeping pad or air mattress. They are not just a luxury for a softer sleeping surface. They are essential for insulating you from the cold ground. Sleeping pads are light weight and easy to use. They typically offer about 1/2" of foam between you and the ground. Even that provides an amazing level of comfort and insulation. If you, like the Princess and the Pea, are more sensitive, you may want to get an air mattress. When deflated, they take up little room. You can inflate them to your personal level of comfort and they provide 2-3" between you and the ground. Avoid cheap plastic air mattresses, often used as swimming pool toys, as they tend to be easily punctured and often leak, leaving you, quite literally, cold and flat by morning. Always clear the ground where you place your tent and sleeping bag of as much debris as you can. Sticks and stones beneath you will become excruciating by morning and can make holes in your tent floor. For added protection and extra sleeping comfort, you can line your tent floor with foam tiles, the kind that are used as anti-fatigue mats at workbenches and other places workers stand.
Camp cots are a comfortable alternative to sleeping on the ground, but are too heavy for just about anything but car-camping where they only have to be carried a short distance. Being off the ground helps keep unwanted critters out of your sleeping bag as well as being more comfortable than lying on rocks, twigs, and uneven ground. You'll still probably want need a sleeping pad for insulation and additional padded comfort beneath your body.
Food safety and preparation: Your next priority will be proper nutrition. One of the most important considerations is hydration. It is very easy to become dehydrated during many outdoor activities (OHV riding, hiking, biking, swimming, or even just sunbathing). If you are camping in remote areas without a safe drinking water source you will need to bring enough water with you to sustain you and your party throughout your trip. In addition to water, your body needs electrolytes. These are chemicals that are lost through sweat and urine but are essential to health and energy. Sports drinks, such as Gatorade and Powerade, are formulated to replenish lost electrolytes so make them part of your provisions. The Union Pacific Railroad used to provide salt tablets for their employees who were working outside in hot weather. As I recall, not taking your daily ration of salt tablets was grounds for dismissal. Salt is the main mineral that is lost through perspiration, but certainly not the only one.
One of the biggest food safety concerns while camping is keeping perishable foods at safe temperatures. This is usually not a major problem in RVs equipped with refrigerators, although RV fridges are subject to being properly leveled and sometimes fail during high outside temperatures. Some smaller travel trailers and truck campers often have "ice boxes" instead of refrigerators. These look like RV refrigerators but functionally they are no more than vertical ice chests. You will need at least one ice chest, more if you have a large group and you are car camping so you can transport them. No matter which type of cooler or fridge you have, open it sparingly. Try to combine accesses to minimize how often you open the door or lid. And always monitor the temperature inside. If food is left above 40 degrees in an RV refrigerator or ice chest too long (more than a couple of hours) it will begin to spoil and you may end up with food poisoning and/or diarrhea or, at the very least, developing some interesting odors and science experiments and having to toss out valuable provisions. Refrigerator thermometers are available at camping stores for use in coolers and RV refrigerators. When all the ice has melted in an ice chest, seek to replace it as soon as possible or write off and toss out the contents before they make you sick -- or kill you! There are chest-type coolers available that can be plugged into a 12-volt receptacle (cigarette lighter) to extend their effectiveness. If you use one of these, be sure to monitor your vehicles batteries. You don't want to run your batteries down and not be able to start your vehicle when it comes time to go home or move on. You may have to plan on running the vehicle engine for an hour or so every day to recharge the battery. These coolers usually use a thermoelectric process that can either heat or cool the interior, so always make sure the switch is in the right position and check it often to make sure it didn't get bumped the wrong way! You don't want to find your pizza cold or your beer warm!
Restrict opening ice chests and refrigerators. Regardless of whether you are using an ice chest or a refrigerator, you will want to limit how often and how long you open them. You need to conserve the cold air inside as much as possible. Try to plan ahead so you can take advantage of opening your cooler to do more than one thing: get out drinks for the whole group all at once instead of one at a time; remove all the refrigerated ingredients and condiments for a meal in one pass; wait until you have collected several items to put back inside instead of opening it separately for each item.
What provisions to bring along depends on where you're going, how long, how many in your party, and what you like to eat. You want to strike a balance between having enough and not adding too much to the weight you and/or your RV is carrying. Keep in mind that most outdoor activities burn calories and stimulate appetite so you'll likely eat more than you do at home. Check out camping recipe books and on-line for suggestions for menus. These often take advantage of shared ingredients to minimize the space and weight provisions take up. And keep your meals simple. Whether you're cooking on an RV range, a Coleman stove, a BBQ, or a campfire, you won't want to generate tons of dishes to be washed, consume large amounts of fuel, or waste time. Paper or plastic dinnerware can usually be burned in your campfire, saving time, fuel, and water.
Cooking facilities: Most RVs come with built in stoves. In large motorhomes and trailers these may have multiple burners and even ovens that come close to matching residential functionality , but usually with a smaller capacity (a little more than half). Some smaller trailers and truck campers may have a only single burner, portable propane or butane stove or one can be added. When using any of these devices in an enclosed RV, be sure to allow for proper ventilation. They do give off combustion by-products and consume oxygen. For tent camping, the old stand-by is the Coleman stove. These are powered by Coleman fuel ("white gas") or propane. They are relatively inexpensive, fairly portable (unless you're back packing), easy to use, and economical to run. Be sure to use only the proper fuel in your stove. There are some stoves specially designed to run on regular unleaded gasoline as well as "white gas" but using regular unleaded gasoline in a "white" gas stove will ruin it quickly. Propane is a convenient fuel. It is usually a little more expensive than "white gas" or Coleman fuel but it is easy to transport and store and doesn't spill. Propane is pressurized so you don't have to pump propane stoves and lanterns like you gasoline fueled models. Use your gasoline or propane stove outdoors only,not inside an RV, tent, or building. If you are back-packing you'll want to look into light weight back-packing stoves. The veritable Coleman camping stove typically has two or three burners and can support cooking for average sized families. If you have a larger group you may need more than one stove. With a family of 8, we found it useful to heat water for hot chocolate and later doing dishes on one stove while cooking on a second unit. Once again, keep in mind the Coleman stoves are designed for outdoor use. Using them inside a vehicle or in a tent or other enclosed area is highly discouraged and can be VERY dangerous.
Campfire cooking can be a fun activity for the whole family. There are several ways to cook on a campfire. "Hobo Stew" is a very easy meal. Each person combines meat (stewing beef, burger, chicken, even hot dogs), potatoes, carrots, onions (if you like them) and seasoning in an aluminum foil wrapper and stuffs it into the coals. Sometimes when we plan ahead we microwave our Hobo Stew at home (before putting in the aluminum foil) so it cooks faster in the campfire. You can cook conventional soups and stews, make coffee, and heat water for hot chocolate and doing dishes directly over the campfire. While some pots and pans, especially cast iron construction, can be placed directly on the fire, using a grill or grid over the fire is more convenient and makes clean up a lot easier. You may be able to use the same grill for cooking hamburgers or steaks. Of course, hot dogs and marshmallows cooked on sticks or wires are a campfire staple. Just for fun, we sometimes use a cast iron "witches pot" that hangs on a metal tripod over the fire. It gives mealtime a true old-fashioned feeling. We've found it especially suitable for serving stew or chili on chilly days. Keep an eye on what you're cooking. It is said that a potato, wrapped in foil and baked in the coals for 1 hours make an excellent side dish. One baked for three hours makes an excellent hockey puck!
If you have a pioneering spirit, you might also like to try "ash cakes". These are simple flour and baking soda biscuits cooked directly on the coals. It is surprising how little ash ends up on the cakes when you retrieve them for consumption. What does stick can usually be just brushed off. They are especially delicious while hot and filled with butter and/or honey or jam. Another easy campfire bread is Twist Bread. Mix the dough so it is thick and sticky, cut or roll it into strips 1/2-3/4" wide, and wrap (twist) it around a stick. Bake it over glowing coals. Cooking it over open flames will likely blacken the outside before the inside is cooked. You can also make Twist Bread from canned (frozen) rolls.
Another fun campfire cooking experience can be had using pie-makers. These are metal clam shell devices with long handles. You simply put a slice of white bread in each side of the clam shell, add pie filling of your choice, close the clam shell, and cook directly in the coals or over the fire. Makes a very fun, easy, and tasty campfire dessert. It is surprising how much the toasted bread tastes like pie crust. Fresh hot pies are particularly fun and satisfying on cold days. On warmer evenings you may want to have your pie a la mode if you can. You can also use campfire pie makers to make hot sandwiches to warm you up on a chilly day. Put a spoonful of Sloppy Joe filling or chili in a hamburger bun and warm it up in your pie cooker. To borrow a phrase from a popular soup commercial its "Mm-mmmm good." It would also be an easy way to make campfire grilled cheese sandwiches.
Dutch oven cooking: this is a popular form of camp cooking. It involves the use of a heavy cast iron dutch oven pot with a lid. Dutch oven cooking can be done using charcoal briquettes or the coals of a campfire. Charcoal gives you the best control of temperatures and cooking times. There are many dutch oven cook books and you can find recipes on the Internet. Dutch oven cooking takes some time, so plan ahead. The food is delicious and, if you have the time and the patience, preparation is fun and educational. I like to thing of my dutch oven as a pioneer crock pot. You can pretty much toss in the ingredients, arrange the charcoal, and don't have to think about it again until its time to eat. A rule of thumb for Dutch ovens is to cover the lid with a number of lighted briquettes equal to the diameter of the oven in inches. For example, 9 briquettes on a 9" oven. This is in addition to setting the oven on a bed of charcoal. You can find charts online that tell you how many briquettes to use according the the temperature you want to achieve.
Hot dog and marshmallow cookers. You'll find several options for these at most camping supply stores and departments, including telescoping devices and devices for cooking multiple hot dogs at once, but you don't need a store-bought cooker. I've seen a steel spring rake used as a "redneck hot dog cooker" to cook a whole bunch of hot dogs at once. I suggest you burn the paint off and thoroughly clean the tines before trying this. Thousands upon thousands of hot dogs and marshmallows have been cooked on straightened out wire coat hangers and green willow sticks. I mostly use wire coat hangers. If using wooden sticks, do try to use only fresh green sticks as dry ones will be likely to catch fire but check with appropriate local authorities (such as park rangers) before cutting ANY living plant. And always (ALWAYS!) use caution to avoid someone getting stuck in the eye or burned by the "business end" of a cooker. A trick I use to keep my coat-hanger wire hot-dog cookers organized in the storage cabinet on my RV is to slide them into a 24-30" length of 3/4" PVC pipe. That way they don't dirty or get all tangled with or leave marshmallow residue or grease on other items in the cabinet. And they're easy to locate and retrieve for the next campfire.
Illumination: If you're camping, you're most likely going to be involved in after dark activities: setting up camp, cooking dinner, cleaning up after dinner, building a campfire, or just sitting around socializing. All these activities generally need light. The gasoline powered ("white gas") Coleman lantern has been the standard for years and years and years and is still preferred by many campers (including me). But today there are many alternatives, including propane lanterns and battery-powered lighting devices. I carry simple, inexpensive flashlights for each individual in my group. That way they have their own lights if they need to find something in the tent, or find their way to restrooms (or convenient bushes when camping in truly primitive areas). I have bright exterior lights on the side of my RV I can use for campground illumination when desired -- both 120-volt I use when the generator is running and 12-volt lights to avoid the noise pollution of running the generator. For direct lighting over picnic tables etc I still rely on the good old Coleman gas lantern. These produce a bright, white light, almost like an electric bulb. As with most appliances, take care and follow instructions when using gasoline or propane fired lanterns. An old fashioned alternative is the kerosene lantern. These are usually inexpensive and economical to operate but give off a yellowish light and a fairly strong odor unless you run them on liquid parafin instead of kerosene. All of these devices are generally safe but improper lighting techniques can result in fires or explosions and the globes and metal parts of the upper part of the lantern become VERY hot when in use so take care when handling them. Modern battery powered LED lanterns are getting more affordable and they are safe to use in tents and RVs. LEDs use a fraction of the power of ordinary incandescent bulbs so they greatly extend battery life. I once accidentally left a 17 LED lantern on all night in my barn and it was still worked great for months afterwards!
Sanitation needs will depend on your camping style and location. If you are camping in a self contained RV you will bring your sanitation facilities with you. If you are camping in a full service campground they will be provided for you. But if your RV isn't self-conained or your are tent camping and in a primitive camp site you will have to provide for your own needs. A portapotty is one, quite civilized solution. Digging your own latrines is another option. Take care to dig them at least 200' away from any lake, stream, well, or spring and make sure you dig deep enough so you can cover it safely. And don't forget the toilet paper!
Hygiene is necessary for both comfort and health. Bring along enough water to accomodate necessary cleaning, like dishes, pots and pans, and washing your hands and face. Personal needs can sometime be met using wet wipes, which are easier to carry. Unless you are on an extended trip or in survival mode you will usually just collect your soiled clothing and wash it when you get home but if you do need to wash clothes in camp you will need sufficient water from your supply or access to a source of water (campground faucet, lake, stream, etc). Take care not to pollute natural water sources with toxic detergents.
Camp tools: Like most other activities, there are certain basic tools you will find necessary for successful and comfortable camping. One of the most useful is an axe or hatchet. If space and weight are a factor, get a framer's hammer that has a hammer head on one side and an axe blade on the other. That way you both a hatchet and a hammer in a single tool. If you have plenty of room, a 30" axe is a convenient size for most camping activities. Larger axes are powerful tools for lumberjacks, but are usually overkill for camping. Before using an axe or hatchet or even a hammer, always hold the tool by the head and swing it 360 degrees around you to make sure there are no people, pets, or obstacles you may accidentally strike while swinging the tool to chop wood or drive tent pegs. Be sure to check over head as well as all around. Keep your axe sharp. When you're cutting wood, you want it to cut, not bludgeon its way through. If it is dull, you might almost as well try pounding with a rock and you will be less likely to injure yourself or an innocent bystander than you will when a dull axe bounces back. You are far more likely to be injured by a dull axe or knife than by a sharp one. Dull edges cause you to use more force than necessary and can result it the tool being diverted in directions you don't want it to go with a force that is difficult to control.
A good knife is second on my list. I usually carry a Swiss-army style knife or a Leatherman style multi-tool because they provides multiple functions in a sturdy and compact package. A multi-tool is usually the one modern convenience Les Stroud allows himself on Survivorman. I prefer a knife with a fixed or locking blade, for added safety. Like your axe, keep your knife sharp. What real use is a dull knife anyway? And, you are more likely to injure yourself or someone nearby trying to force a dull knife to cut something than you are if the knife is sharp and properly doing its job. The best knife recommended for survival situations is a modest size, fixed-blade knife like a 4-5" hunting knife, not those huge, Rambo-style "survival" knives. You'll find more carving than hacking applications around camp. An old saying admonishes us that "a knifeless man is a lifeless man", and that would be especially applicable in a survival situation.
Campfire cooking utensils: the spatulas, forks, spoon, etc you use at home or even on your RV stove, are probably not appropriate for campfire cooking. For campfire use you will probably want items with longer handles and with wooden or synthetic grips. Avoid plastic utensils as they will melt. A good spatula will be needed for turning hamburgers, steaks, and hot cakes. A long spoon is needed for stirring soups, stews, chili, etc. A long, wooden-handled fork may be used for grilling steaks, hot dogs, and corn on the cob. Tongs are useful for inserting and removing foil-wrapped items such as hobo stews, potatoes and corn on the cob. If space and weight is a significant factor you may want to opt to use your campfire utensils in your RV instead of bringing along two sets.
Camping supplies: You will quickly figure out what kinds of supplies you need to bring along, but here are some basic ideas to get you started. You will need toiletries for your personal hygiene (washing hands, brushing teeth, shaving [optional when camping!]), along with towels. You will need dish washing detergent and a sponge or dish rag and a dish towel. You will need matches and/or lighters and perhaps extra fuel for your stoves and lanterns. Repair kits for various pieces of equipment (tents, sleeping bags, stoves, lanterns,etc) are nice to have is something breaks down or gets damaged. Your provisions should include basic cooking ingredients and common spices to give you the option to make a variety of meals.
Camp projects: There are a number of camp projects you can do for fun or to make your stay more comfortable. Here are some items I've found useful for camp projects over the years.
Tarps. Light weight tarps can be used in a variety of ways. They can serve as emergency shelters for equipment and people, sun-shades, and ground-cloths. In a medical emergency they can be used with or without poles to make a temporary litter for transporting an injured person. You might use one (along with some duct tape) to cover a broken RV window. Tie them over your tent for extra protection in particularly bad weather.
Binders' twine: This simple material has dozens of uses around camp. I've used it to tie sticks together to make tripods to hang lanterns and other camp items. You can use it to hoist food up into a tree, out of the reach of marauding animals. It can be used to anchor tarps to make shelters or sun-shades or simply secure them around equipment. It can be used to hold down awnings and anchor camp chairs in windy conditions. You can use it to lash sticks together to make a variety of camp furniture. It can be used to stitch up holes in a tent. And, in the spirit of a parody of Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line", it can be used as an emergency belt to hold you your pants ("I Hold My Pants Up With a Piece of Twine").
Duct tape: Anyone who's ever seen the TV show McGuyver, knows the value of duct tape. It can be used for just about anything, from sealing holes in tents to keeping errant tent poles from banging around in your RV or tow vehicle to holding a sole back on your shoe and slowing down the leak in a rubber boot. It is also a good way to secure splints on a broken arm or leg to prevent additional injuries while transporting a victim to receive formal medical attention. It can be used as a bandage to hold a dressing in place on a wound. It can even be used to secure out-of-control victims or intruders in a disaster situation. It has been used to make a eye-shield when a sherpa lost his goggles on a Tibetan mountain climbing expedition. I recently saw photos of a private plane in Alaska (check it out at Best Duct Tape Story Ever) that had been attacked by bears. The pilot had a lot of plastic sheeting and duct tape flown in and dropped and he repaired the fuselage and wings enough to fly the plane home! That plane all wrapped in duct tape was quite a sight! I think I mentioned in my post on Emergency RV Repairs that duct tape can be used to temporarily secure loose siding on RVs and minimize further damage while getting you home where you can make permanent repairs. It can be used to secure unruly victims or others in a disaster situation. I've heard it said that duct tape works on just about everything but ducts! Anyone who has tried to apply duct tape to a duct in a dusty attic knows what I'm talking about.
Happy camping and like a good Boy Scout, Be Prepared!
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