Whether it’s your first trip or you’re a veteran camper, camping done right is the perfect vacation. In order to help anyone that needs some help figuring it out, I’ve written this article to help you out. This article will have affiliate links in it, as few as possible to be honest. I’ll ask that you view our products here only once in this article, since we need to keep the lights on somehow. With all of that out of the way, let’s begin with the article proper!

Pick a Date

The first thing to do is picking a day that you are going to be at a camping spot. This gives you a deadline as well as a day or two that you can tell anyone making requests that you are busy. If you need to, set your email to auto-reply during those days. The process for that is quite simple, but if you need help, here’s a link from google that tells you exactly how to do it for gmail. I personally think the deadline is the most important part though.

Pick a Spot

We actually wrote an article on how to do this earlier this year, the link being right here. This should be carefully considered. Do you have a truck? Are you going to be camping with a trailer? Another consideration is how far are you willing to go for a great camping spot? The Bureau of Land Management has to be one of the best resources I have come across for great camping spots. They list the sites available throughout your state, then even give you the option to book it then and there. I would suggest doing this at this point. You don’t want to plan your trip around a spot, only to find you missed reserving it.

List all Gear Needed

This has to be the most vital part of camping preparation. There are so many things if you are going for more than 1 day that you will need to bring and think of. So many things that I doubt anyone would be able to list them off from memory. Paper and pen is required at this point. I’ve provided a list to help you out with any gear necessary for a 3-day trip. You can help me expand this list in the comment if you feel so inclined.

• Tent, Sleeping bag and/or sleeping pad
• Fire starter, tinder, emergency blanket, emergency whistle
• Backpack with food and water for those 3 days
• Clothes and 1 extra pair of socks
• Camping mess kit and water purifier
• I personally also bring about 3 meters of paracord and a hatchet every camping trip

Plan for the Absolute Worst

If you noticed, I included an emergency blanket and an emergency whistle, which I believe everyone should have in their camping kits. You have to consider what you would do if someone was to say break a leg, or lose a finger. People that have allergies to bees usually always carry an EpiPen on them, just to be prepared in the same way. I would seriously recommend to anyone that carrying a tourniquet on you at all times is a good idea while camping. I’m certain enough people heard about the man that cut his arm off in order to free himself from a boulder. 

Plan Your Meals

There’s another thing you have to consider, you need to carry all your food in and the packaging for the food out. This part might be some of the heaviest you’ll pack in if you’re going for 3 days. You need to think in terms of heavy meals equaling 2,500 calories because you will be burning most of those just hiking and doing things.

Also think about a water purifier since carrying a gallon per day is pretty unrealistic. Just make sure there are water sources to pull from or you are going to have to ration and pack in all the water needed. Freeze dried meals will help with the weight you have to pack in so here’s a tasty one to do. Just try to make your packaging as light as possible.

Gather Your Gear and Food

This can be done a few days before leaving, just make sure to have a day or two before you need to leave. You want to get the food you need and all the items on your list that you can realistically bring with you. Get all of it into a backpack setup that you can work with. Get creative on this too. I’ve used a messenger bag below my backpack and had my personal items and mess kit in that messenger bag. Just make certain that you can carry all of this to your site, whether that is by car or by hike. Make sure to check out our Lighter Sleeves to make it easier to have your fire going in an instant! Just click this link to check out the store

Condense the Size

There’s always a few ways to condense all your needed things you will be packing in after you’ve gotten them all in one place. You can use duffle bags and backpacks for a lot of things. A messenger bag is really only comfortable to use when it’s less than half packed. Like I have said previously, get creative with this. The only objective right now is condensing everything.

Pack it All in

Just get to your camping spot and be safe!

Enjoy Camping

Pack it ALL Out

I CANNOT emphasize this part enough. I absolutely hate when I go camping and the spot is left a gigantic mess by whoever was there before. Make sure you are packing everything out that you brought in. I personally pick up some extra trash, or I’ll burn some of the trash I can while I’m out camping myself. It’s a great feeling to arrive at a beautiful camping spot and be ready to enjoy a weekend. It’s a feeling I believe everyone should have the option to enjoy. Because I believe that, it’s my job to help clean up around myself.

Thank you for getting to the end of this article! If you have any other suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below!

The post Camping in 10 Easy Steps first appeared on Lighter Sleeves.

That’s a far more complex question than it appears. First off I’m going to presume we’re talking general-use tents but there’s a number of various sizes that are available. Most are in the 2-person range, but there is a 1-person tent an old acquaintance of mine used that I would recommend to anyone. Another thought for the solo camper is a hunting hammock, if there’s trees nearby to use at your campsite. Regardless, this article is meant to give you a thorough break-down of the tents you should look at, regardless of how big your friend group is.

For any tent I mention, make sure to click the image to go buy the tent if it sounds like your kind of tent. They are affiliate links and Lighter Sleeves will make profits from any purchase.

The most common pop up tent, 2 person

I’ve personally slept in a green one of these. That tent’s floor was just as thick as any regular Coleman and that whole pop up tent was up in about 10 minutes total. I mean from picking the spot and pulling the tent out of the bag to up and checking the inside, 10 minutes.Then again, I think he had been camping with that quite often. Regardless, the rain catch worked perfectly because there was a light drizzle while we were sleeping. I was truly surprised when he told me the price of that tent. I was honestly a little angry I hadn’t found this first. I really think Wakeman is going places with their products on this one.

That ‘One Gigantic Pop up Tent’

I’m certain everyone reading this can relate to seeing a friend, family member or a neighbor at the campgrounds with a gigantic tent. Well, my uncle was one of those people and he had a CORE pop up tent that my uncle’s entire family of 6, my mother and myself slept in once when I was a kid. He still swears by that brand and model in particular.

It’s a huge pop up tent to say the least, with two separate rooms. Okay, it has a divider that can get zipped up in the middle of the tent so it’s not exactly two ‘rooms’. Regardless, it comes with a rain fly as normal but also has a flap for an extension cord from a generator. I’ll be entirely honest and say I don’t remember how fast the tent went up back then. I do remember my aunt and mom laughing about how easy it was, so take that as you will.

The Solo Pop Up Tent

So if you’re like me, you want to get away from society to get away from everyone. Camping at that point is more of a necessity for your mental health. If you’re going solo camping, then try out this little behemoth. I’ve had another friend that swears by this kind of tent. Just make sure you get a waterproof sleeping bag as well, since the mosquito net is the only thing covering you for most of this single sleeper.

I personally prefer a hunting hammock since I usually will go camping out in wooded areas by myself. So this one makes for a good hike to the top of a mountain, sleep out in the woods and go back down in the morning. It subtracts the weight for a sleeping bag, I think is far more comfortable and still protects from mosquitos. I’m going to have to buy a new one soon as of the writing of this article. My hammock has started to show signs of wearing through after 2 years and about 12 set ups.

Last shelter special, the Beach Pop Up Tent

So I originally wasn’t planning on bringing up anything for the beach, but I think this one deserves a special shout out. I love this design. I’ve always worried about the umbrella at the beach and never even thought of bringing a tent. Then again I don’t really live near any beaches being land-locked. Regardless of that, I found this beach shelter that I have not tried but that has a 1k reviews and 4.3 star rating as of the writing of this article. I might buy this, but that’s really dependent on whether I’ll go to a coast sometime soon.

Thanks for getting to the end of this HUGE article! I hope you found the pop up tent you were looking for, but don’t forget to protect your lighter and strap it to you! Us at Lighter Sleeves can help you with that! Check out our store at this link to see what we can make for you on your next camping trip.

The post Which Pop up Tent is the Best? first appeared on Lighter Sleeves.

Every camping enthusiast is probably going through their list of items that they’ll need this upcoming trip. We’re here to make the task a little easier and help you put together an entire fire starter kit for yourself. There’s a few things to consider for your kit, like if you want the contents waterproofed or the bag itself to be waterproofed. Regardless of which you’ll be doing or what you’ll be including, we’re here to help make your next fire starter kit be the best one.

Waterproofing you fire starter kit

The first thing you want to consider, in my opinion, is how you want to waterproof your kindling. I personally used the bag seen in the picture (I am NOT a veteran, I just prefer tactical bags like these) and some ziploc bags for the different pieces of my fire starter kit for years. It’s a very thrifty and cost-effective option to getting a waterproof bag but a lot of time that just isn’t enough or the kindling pokes through the baggies. I’m personally going for this HEETA bag and I feel fairly confident about this purchase.

I went for the 5L bag and that should be plenty of room for the fire starter kit we’re needing this for.

Kindling

The next part is getting the kindling. This can usually be done around where you live. Just get some dry grass, pine cones, small twigs and even pine needles are all awesome kindling to have on you during a camping trip. I would almost say that having pine needles in your fire starter kit is a necessity, considering how easily they ignite.

The next necessity is usually either a lighter or a flint and steel set. I would honestly suggest checking out our shop for a Lighter Sleeve to protect your lighter and a flint and steel set. You could just find the flint out in nature and use a knife if you want. Those do tend to require some prior knowledge on what kind of rock features to look for and where though. So if you would rather purchase a flint and steel set, here’s this one from Amazon that my friend used for a good two years before needing to replace it.

Another part that you might want to consider for your fire starter kit is rope or a wad of twine possibly. Something to give the fire a bit more easily processed fuel while you’re trying to get it fully ignited on the wood you’ve selected. You could also purchase a hatchet or include a hatchet in the fire starter kit too. The reason I bring up a hatchet is because you can make a kindling log to make the fire ignite a good bit easier. Just take the wood piece you are working with, lay it down on the wood chopping surface where your hand is holding the opposite end of what you are chopping into. Once the hatchet is lodged enough in the wood, grab both the hatchet and the wood and slam them onto the wood chopping surface. For a better idea, the video below provides more insight into this.

Ignition

If you just need one that is all put together already without getting any extra pieces, I would suggest this one with a natural piece of flint and a nice steel striker. If this article produces enough, I’m going to buy this steel striker kit and include it in my fire starter kit. Regardless of which methods of ignition you choose, you are going to need at least two separate ones, possibly three if you want to be safe.

I hope you found this article insightful and if you have any thoughts about this, please feel free to leave a comment below or sign up for our newsletter to see more articles like this. We usually post an article every 2 weeks about camping in general. Please also check out our shop as we are a new company trying to make it in this world.

Again, thank you for reading though.

Written by Jake Cannon from Valhalla Computers

The post Making your own fire starter kit first appeared on Lighter Sleeves.

The Bureau of Land Management

The first thing I suggest for anyone wanting a REAL camping experience would be BLM campgrounds. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has land that is reserved for nature and disallows any land improvements. So if you want to experience a night out in nature, these campgrounds are perfect. They list the campsites online and the fees for every state usually. It is possibly my favorite way of finding a good camping spot regardless of where I am or the season.

Your favorite shop

Another location that is a great asset is your town’s best coffee shop. Go there on a Friday morning and you’ll find out about a number of different camping spots from the shops’ patrons. People that stick around coffee shops usually tend to be locals or friends of the owners. The owners might be another good resource to ask for finding a good camping spot this year.

Then again, Online

Another place to check is on YouTube! There’s a ton of channels that just find different camping spots in different states. I can promise you that finding your state and a few spots to check out will be simple. I’ve personally discovered a watering hole camping site that way!
There’s a number of ways for finding a good camping site for your next trip. Coffee shops, online, the Bureau of Land Management and if you think of any others, leave a comment below and we’ll feature it!

Please feel free to peruse our shop of Lighter Sleeves as well!

If you’re in the mood for tips like this every month straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter too!

The post Finding a Good Camping Spot for Your Next Trip first appeared on Lighter Sleeves.