Campfires Allowed – Top 10 Camping Tips

It’s camping season and we could all do with some top tips to make the next camping trip that bit easier!  Take a look at the Campfires-Allowed.co.uk top 10 camping tips below for all sorts of handy hints to make the simple life simpler.  You could even go to the Campfires-Allowed.co.uk Directory to find your next campsite to use them on, and don’t forget to get your outdoor gear at the campfires-Allowed online store.

1. Make a ‘Key’ shaped fire – with a cake cooling rack
2. Skewer everything
3. Latex Gloves
4. Cheap frying pan
5. Tumble dryer lint
6. Wet wipes
7. Alcohol gel (not for when the beer runs out though please people – very dangerous!!)
8. Hair dryer car heater
9. Flip flops in the shower
10. Chop Food beforehand

1.  Key Shaped fire

When camping in a field, the key (no pun intended) to a really useful campfire is in its shape.

Using your spade dig a circular hole about 4 or 5 inches deep, then cut out a rectangular section coming off from the hole, again at the same depth.  Make sure that you keep the top-soil/grass intact as this will be used later.  I find that I sometimes have to cut the circular piece into what I can only call a pie chart so that I can lift the pieces out.

This allows you to have your main fire burning away in the circular section which in turn will generate you some red hot embers.  You can then drag the red hot embers into the rectangular area to cook on.

I use  a cake cooling rack to span the gap.  You can then cook things on this as you would a normal BBQ.

When you camping trip is over you can now replace the grass that you dug out leaving virtually no trace that you were ever there.

2. Skewer Everything

This is a simple one!  Using bamboo skewers, skewer any meats or vegetables that you will be cooking.  this makes turning them so much easier when they are on the BBQ or fire.

Sausages are particularly good skewered as they 1. stay straight and 2. become a really tasty snack on a stick!

3. Latex Gloves

Latex gloves are a great addition to your camping bag.  They are small and light and can be useful for so many things:

• Chopping chili’s and onions
• Keeping things dry such as electronic devices & tinder
• Marinating ingredients
• Keeping your hands clean on the inevitable cleanup operation when packing away

4. Buy a cheap frying pan

I have a frying pan that I purchased from a generic supermarket for about £4.00.  I made sure that it had the following:

• A handle that can be unscrewed
• Very thin metal
• Very light
• Very cheap

I then took the handle off as it would melt in a campfire and wasn’t necessary as I could use my camping pan handle instead.  This also makes it fit much better in any box or bag.

It works great for cooking a whole host of items, but it is awesome for frying eggs as you hardly need any butter with it.

I’m sure that it won’t last forever, but at £4.00 it can be replaced every couple of years for next to nothing!

5. Tumble dryer lint

The quickest way of getting any campfire started is to use tumble dryer lint.

You will find it built up on the filter of your tumble dryer.  scoop it out and put it in a plastic bag or weatherproof tin.

When lighting a fire, use this as the tinder.  It works a treat.

6. Wet Wipes

It almost goes without saying that wet wipes are a great addition to any camping trip.  They can be used for a whole manner of things, but are great for freshening yourself up.

7. Alcohol gel

(not for when the beer runs out though please people – very dangerous!!)

Just a very good thing to have for cleaning your hands.  It can also be used to clean chopping boards too.

8. Hair dryer car heater

If you or your one of your camping party has long hair, you will no doubt know the misery of wet hair when it is cold.

The quickest way to get it dry is to jump in the car for 10 minutes with the heaters on full blast and your head in front of them!

9. Flip Flops in the shower

Some campsite showers can be pretty manky!  A pair of flipflops are a great idea so that you don’t have to stand on the cold floor.

10. Chop food beforehand

Chopping food before you camp makes life much quicker!

By chopping up the ingredients you can put them in sandwich bags/clingfilm/foil which will also fit in the nooks and crannies of your bags and coolbox.

If you are using chilies in your recipe, this also prevents the chili getting on your hands

Don’t forget that you can find  some great campsites at Campfires-Allowed.co.uk

You can also purchase all the outdoor gear that you will need at the Campfires-Allowed.co.uk online shop.

Happy Camping!