Use foam floor tiles for a softer, more comfortable tent floor.
Point a head lamp into a jug of water for an instant lantern.
Also: Mountain Dew + baking soda + peroxide = lantern.
Make tin-can sandwich bread as a portable food option.
Get the recipe here.
Familiarize yourself with what the poisonous plants look like.
Bring a tick deterrent.
Glue sandpaper to the top of your match holder.
Repurpose a coffee can to hold and protect TP.
Make crescent rolls over the campfire.
Get the directions here.
Use Tic-Tac boxes to store spices.
Invest in a two-person sleeping bag.
Get these seat hammocks for car camping.
Buy ‘em here.
Cut up a straw and fill the pieces up with antibiotic ointment or toothpaste for single-use packets.
Make travel coffee bags out of coffee filters and dental floss.
Need your coffee? Bring a few of these.
Make candle stakes for romantic nighttime lighting.
Get the directions here.
Make single-use soap leaves from a bar of soap and a vegetable peeler.
Use an empty laundry detergent dispenser as a hand-washing station.
Use a belt and hooks to hang up pots and pans.
Make campfire cones!
Pack a mini first-aid kit into an old prescription bottle or Altoids tin.
Make pancakes with pre-made pancake mix using shortening and dry milk, which don’t need to be refrigerated.
Get the full recipe here.
Put a battery-powered votive candle into an empty peanut butter container to make portable lanterns.
Make a portable washing machine with a plunger and a bucket.
Get the directions here.
Make an easy-to-carry fire starter with a cardboard-only egg carton and match light charcoal.
Doritos make great kindling.
Make pocket-sized oil lamps out of travel-size or hotel toiletry shampoo bottles.
Get the directions here.
Forgo the meat marinade and put the rosemary right on the coals.
Bring cheeses in waxed packaging as well as hard cheeses.
Add bundles of sage to a campfire to keep mosquitoes away.
Try roasting Starburst.
Forgo pasta for a quick-cooking alternatives like polenta, quinoa, or couscous.
Get a recipe for grilled polenta cakes.
Cook cinnabuns (the canned kind) in a hollowed-out orange over a campfire.
If you’re going to be hiking, use this biodegradable trail-marking tape.
Buy it here.
Keep the kids busy with a scavenger hunt.
Use a bucket and a milk crate as an emergency toilet.
Get the directions here.
Cotton pads dipped in wax are a crazy easy way to make portable fire starters.
Bring microfiber towels — they’re super absorbent and lightweight.
Freeze gallon jugs of water and place them in your cooler.
Make emergency light sources out of an Altoids tin, cardboard, and wax.
Get the instructions here.
Make sandwiches with this campfire panini press.