How to prepare for successful camping?
Camping is a beautiful activity in the mountains.
Prepared camping is "enjoyment", and unprepared camping is "uncomfortable".
Camping is a fun outdoor activity. You can bring your equipment, find a quiet place to camp in the mountains, and enjoy the tranquility and happiness of nature.
Camping is beautiful, but it's all about being prepared. If the camping is a failure, your experience will be significantly reduced, and you may swear never to go again when you come back.
IFAST summarizes the 5 factors that determine the success of camping: preparation, clothing, gear, meals, trash
Preparation before the camping, 15% success
If successful camping is 100%, it is 15% successful if you prepare well before you set off.
Companion
Camping is best done in groups, which increases the chance of success. There are many capable camping partners, you can make an appointment and find a five-star chef, so you don't have to worry about what to eat.
Find an experienced partner.
Time
There are always a few days of camping every month. Camping can take up a little bit of time. One weekend is enough.
Route
Choose a mature and standard route before camping, don't decide on the map out of thin air, otherwise, it is easy to get lost. Before camping, choose a simple route.
Weather
The weather outside is changeable, with different days for ten miles. We check the weather forecast before camping and cancel the activity in time if the weather is terrible.
Pick good weather to go camping. All of the above are macro strategies.
The above are all macro strategies. You have achieved a 15% success rate. Micro equipment is also a guarantee of success.
The first is the clothes you wear.
Dress correctly, 30% success
Correctly dressed and wearing unique outdoor clothing and shoes can increase the camping success index to 30%.
Underwear
Underwear is used to wick away sweat. Wearing the wrong underwear will make your body soaked, so choose a special outdoor sweat-wicking underwear, which can effectively conduct sweat from your body and keep you dry.
Everyday intimate clothing is mainly cotton, which absorbs moisture and removes body heat as it evaporates. Once sweating a lot, it is easy to cause a cold, fever, and even hypothermia outdoors.
When camping, refrain from everyday intimate clothing made of pure cotton. Outdoors, choose specialized sweat-wicking clothing as underwear.
Warm clothes
The temperature difference in the mountains is significant. Even if the temperature in the city is high, the temperature in the hills may make you feel cold. It is a wise choice to bring more clothes; otherwise, you will "basically rely on heating".
Coat
The outerwear is the clothes to resist the wind and rain. Without outerwear, you will shiver in the wind and rain. Outdoor outerwear includes soft shells and hard shell, which can meet the requirements of mountain warmth, wind and water resistance.
Raincoat
A raincoat is a backup raincoat, if you don't have a raincoat, you'll be drenched in the mountains.
Even if the sky is evident when you set out, it can rain in the mountains. You can keep a raincoat in your bag just in case. Because the raincoat has no moisture permeability, it can also play a role in keeping warm in the wind and rain.
Hiking shoes
Footwear and socks specially designed for hiking are made for mountain grounds. Professional hiking shoes and socks can protect the feet and prevent blisters.
If you wear your everyday sneakers and cotton socks, you will end up with blisters after a short walk in the wild.
Dressed correctly, your camping success index has risen to 30%, and you need to get the remaining 70%.
If you are already tired when approaching the campsite, the camping is almost a failure. It usually takes a long walk before arriving at the camping site. So, next you need to prepare some necessary equipment.
Camping gear, 45% success
Prepare sunscreen, backpacks, headlamps, trekking poles, water bags and other necessary equipment for the mountains and fields, pushing the camping success index up by another 15%. This 15% is all about your outdoor experience.
Sunscreen
Sunscreen is a piece of equipment that is applied to bare skin. If you don't use sunscreen, it may be just a camping trip, and when you get home, it will look like this:
Backpack
Heading out for a camping trip involves a lot of stuff, so a specially designed backpack is needed. If you need a hiking backpack, you may only be able to carry things in small bags. For example, you were having two schoolbags back and forth, or holding something in your hand.
When camping, you should carry an outdoor backpack.
Headlamp
Headlights are equipment that can illuminate while walking. If there is no headlight, you can only hold the mobile phone in one hand when walking, which is very inconvenient.
The headlights are lightweight and can be used when both hands are occupied, such as finding ingredients while cooking or walking with trekking poles while seeing the road ahead.
Trekking poles
Trekking poles provide support and balance.
Trekking poles are a kind of equipment to help you walk outdoors. If you don't have trekking poles, you will stumble. It would help if you used your arms to keep your balance when you travel long distances outdoors.
Some mountain friends will use branches instead of trekking poles. This is a wrong approach, which destroys the vegetation and cannot replace it.
Breaking branches is environmentally damaging and is not a substitute for trekking poles.
Trekking poles are designed for shock absorption and support, thereby reducing the knee joint's stress, which is impossible with tree branches.
Water bag
The water bag is a convenient tool for drinking water, which can realize drinking water while walking and keep the body hydrated at any time. If you bring a water bag, you can continue looking for a water bottle every time you drink water, saving your energy.
With the necessary mountain equipment, your camping success index has soared to 45%. You will avoid any setbacks before arriving at the campsite.
Next, camp meals are an essential part of successful camping and determine the next 15%.
Learn More: Camping Checklist For You
Camp cooking, 60% successful
Camp meals can significantly increase the camp success index to 60%, and can also gain happiness. But the necessary equipment is also indispensable.
Stove
A stove is a utensil you use for cooking outdoors, and it will give you a good meal after a tiring day. Without a stove, you'd be left with chewing on compressed biscuits while camping.
With a stove, you can eat at home and outdoors. You can also eat stir-fried vegetables and hot pot outdoors and enjoy cooking fun.
Cookware
A set of pots can perform various frying, cooking, and stewing functions. With the pot, food can only be in full bloom.
Tableware
Remember to bring tableware when camping. Use branches as something other than tableware. Branches are not hygienic and environmentally friendly.
If you have enough food and drink, your camping success index has floated to 60%, but you still need to become a successful person in outdoor camping.
After eating, have a good night's sleep.
Camping sleeps peacefully, 75% successful
A good night's sleep in the mountains can boost the camping success index by another 15%, reaching 75%. Achieving a good night's sleep requires an essential sleep "three-piece".
Tent
A camping tent is your home outdoors, a tent can provide shelter for climbers in lousy weather, and you need an excellent tent to have trouble sleeping through the night.
Sleeping pad
The sleeping pad is called the Simmons of the outdoors. It is something that is placed under the body when camping. The sleeping pad can effectively block the cold ground. If you don't have a sleeping pad, your body will lose heat, and you may be woken up at night.
Sleeping bag
When sleeping outdoors, the solution to the problem of keeping warm is the sleeping bag, besides the sleeping pad, because the sleeping bag is the thermal equipment that covers the body when camping.
The sleeping bag itself does not produce heat; the body produces heat, and the sleeping bag only reduces heat loss. So the thicker and puffier the sleeping bag, the more calories it can retain. But for weight considerations, we recommend choosing a lightweight and warm-down sleeping bag.
Have a great meal at camp and get a good night's sleep. The camping success index has risen to 75%, you think this camping has been a success.
But a perfect camp should have a beginning and an end, and the last 25% should be pocketed before the camp is over.
Take away the trash, 100% success
The last and most important 25% of successful camping is to take away the garbage in the mountains. Take away the rubbish and you are the successful people in camping.
The things you use when you enter the mountain should also be taken with you when you leave the mountain. For example, waste gas cans, plastic bottles, cans, wrapping paper, etc., are not only visual pollution in mountainous areas but also destroy nature.
Conclusion
The most intuitive feeling of camping is freedom and fun: sleeping in the mountain wind and waking up to the sound of birds. To successfully camp, you need to do the following:
Prepare ahead of time and plan.
Dress correctly and be prepared.
Pack your gear and be comfortable and safe.
Camp cooking, enjoy life.
Camping sleeps peacefully and falls asleep freely.
Civilize the outdoors, and take away the trash.