Simple 7: Camping Tutorial

Hey, I’m Jim Sexton with Bassmaster’s Go Out{side}. I’m going to show you the seven simple steps for going camping. You might ask why do I want to go camping? What are the benefits of camping? And I’ll tell you.

In this day and age, with so many screens, so much data, so much Internet everywhere we go– that getting out in nature for spells of time is great for your health. It’s great for your families and relationships. It’s great for bonding. It’s a great way to make memories, so I’m going to show you the easy ways to do it– and it really is easy — and it can be inexpensive.

We’re going to talk about tents now– and before you pick the spot to put your tent down, make sure it’s flat.

Make sure there are no roots– and literally get down on the ground and feel around because

getting a good night’s sleep is so dang important to having a good time. So, if there’s a there’s a root or a rock or something like that. You want to move it out of the way — so you want to get rid of all that stuff and make your tent situation really nice and flat..

I really like this spot.

It’s really nice.

Let’s talk a little bit about how you pick a camping site.

In a State Park or a place that has designated camping spots– That’s pretty easy. You know you’re going to camp in one of those spots, and they typically have a place for you to put your tent. They’ve got a picnic table. They’ve got a fire pit.. If you’re in a more wide open space and you have your choice of camping anywhere– and that’s what we are doing, that’s where we are today. We could camp anywhere in this area.

One thing you gotta think about is–

Don’t get in a place that’s soggy.

Or a place where a little stream or a River or water is going to get close to your tent. Put a piece of plastic on the ground before you put your tent down. And we’ve got here– just a simple piece of plastic. And what that does is it– It keeps moisture from coming up through the through the floor of the tent and making you colder and moister and also protects the tent a little bit.

You don’t want anything to poke through your tent.

You want to stake it down right down here. Put stakes in the ground. Tents come with stakes.

Put it in the ground.

It’s pretty Straight forward.

This is a three man tent. First thing – you need to decide is how many people do you want in that tent. If you’ve got two people, this is a great size tent. You got three? I’d go a little bigger, got 4 even bigger — and there are tents that will hold 6-7 people. Big giant tents. You could also get two small ones and split your family up that way.

What a tent does for you is–

It keeps you protected if there’s rain, so most tents are going to have a rain fly on top, so you’ve got two layers here, rainfly, and the inside of the tent.

And the surprising thing with people inside– is when you get all zipped up in there, the moisture in your breath can condense in the tent and get things kind of wet. You got two or three people sleeping together. So what this does? The moisture goes through the first layer, gets on the rain fly — and your tent stays nice and dry.

So most tents will also have the ability to– to have a screen and this one has a screen built in that you can unzip and open it up to let air flow through. That’s it for tents for now. Tents are key. They’re fun and let’s get out there and have fun with them.

I’m going to walk you through the setup for getting a great night’s sleep– and I’ll tell you one of the most important things for me camping– I gotta get a good night’s sleep. If I’m not– I’m not at my best. I’m not going to enjoy it as much. You’re going to be crabby with the kids. You gotta get a good night’s sleep, so make the extra effort. I’m going to show you how to do it.

You gotta start off with a sleeping pad of some kind. You just don’t want to lay your sleeping bag down on the ground. That may be comfortable for a few minutes, but after 10 minutes you’re like, oh, this is horrible.

So I brought a sleeping pad.. brought 2, actually three sleeping pads.

This is a big, thick one from Thermarest. My wife wanted the thickest one they had, so we got it and it’s got some foam in there and you can add air to it to make it as hard or as soft as you want.

Once you take the air out, you can roll this up really tight and it stores very nicely. I actually leave mine opened up when they’re stored, I just think it keeps them in a little better shape, but this is the first one.

First air mattress to go in the tent.

This is for my wife, the Queen of the tent.

I have a little slimmer one.

For me, which was originally bought for backpacking, it’s a little bit lighter, and but it too rolls up and you can store it really easy, so we’re going to slide this one in– same thing. You can adjust the hardness and softness of it.

There are a lot of different pads these days that you can buy. There’s foam pads that roll up. There’s other inflatables. The market in sleeping mattresses for camping has really expanded. You can spend a lot or you can get something real simple. I’ll show you one of the simplest ones. This is one of the cheapest ways you can go to get a nice air mattress and.

Sleep well, these are basic– Been around for 100 years— Inflatable air mattress.

These are probably the cheapest way to go.

They’re also the heaviest, most cumbersome, but–

This will give you a good night’s sleep and–

I’ll tell you the one thing — if you — if you have this, use this kind of a mattress to sleep on–

You want to spend a couple extra dollars and get the little battery powered inflation device that you plug in — and this is what one of those looks like.

It’s got D batteries in it. You turn it on and it’s going to blow it up in 5 minutes.

If you got to blow this up by yourself, it’s torture. Take you an hour and your lungs will be hurting and you’ll be out of breath and you might pass out.

So, so that’s your inflatable air mattress. The next step is what are you going to sleep in? And there are a whole lot of different sleeping bags these days.

I brought two different ones.

This is your– really nice simple basic sleeping bag by Coleman. It’s rated at 40 degrees Fahrenheit and

Sleeping bags are designed that way.

They tell you what’s the lowest temperature? That you can– that you’re going to be comfortable in this bag.

So this is a 40 degree bag. In most places that would be great for summer and spring, fall. Not going to be a good sleeping bag for winter.

You know, even in the spring where it’s down, you know — going to be cooler at night. This bag may not be the best and you can always supplement it by throwing a blanket on top or wearing warm long underwear in it.

Simply pull it out.

This is made of a nice synthetic material, so it’s not going to hold moisture.

That’s the advancement that’s come in the last 10-20 years. These bags used to be cotton and they were very, very comfortable, but they did hang on to moisture, so we’re going to toss this bag in the tent.

This next bag is a higher end bag and it’s a down bag. There are synthetic downs that are made now and then. Your actual goose down– and this one is rated to go down to 10 degrees. Something like that.

It’s really really warm.

It’s really light, super light.

It’s a mummy shaped bag so that–

You know, if you’re really cold, you tuck your head right up into here.

Your face is looking out and that’s the only thing exposed to the world. It’s got a tapered bottom to it with extra down here. So this is a very warm bag.

You know, occasionally I’ve used it in temperatures that are a little warmer and you get hot. You know– you sleep with sleep with it unzipped.

But if you’re going to be doing cooler weather camping, you need to look at the ratings on the sleeping bags and buy what’s appropriate for your area.

With a down bag– One thing you want to do, fluff it up a little bit before you put it in, and you don’t want to store it completely tightened and wrapped down– that crushes the down and you hurt the warmth holding factor for it.

So we’re going to toss this one in now.

We’ve got 2 bags in here now, and you see– if you look into the tent–

We set this up for two people.

Alright, see how much room there is around the edges now?

We could we could get three people in there, but it would be tight. You’d be all over each other and so I like a three person tent for two people.

Next thing you need is a pillow. At least I do. I have to have a pillow and I have to have a decent pillow. I went several years with– like sleeping with rolled up jeans under my head and those kind of things and–

You know, like I said before, a good night’s sleep is so valuable and for me I gotta have a good pillow. So this is the one I use. This does roll up.

You can pack it away really easy, and when you open it– it’s a nice, nice soft pillow. My wife actually just uses an old pillow from our house.

And for her — sort of a memento value– it has a pillowcase on it from Troop 453 of her childhood in Michigan.

So this makes her feel warm and comfortable.

There’s her pillow. There’s mine.

And–

That’s your basic set up for a good night’s sleep.

Alright, so we’re talking cooking set up now. I told you this- that sleeping was the most important thing. Eating is the most important too, so they’re 1A and 1B.

So one of the things with camping is the more organized you are, the easier it is to just kind of pick up and go. And so we bought this kitchen organizing kit several years ago and it’s super simple.

Big plastic box.

You open it up, it’s got your stove in it. It’s got a pan in it and then in here it has cups– silver ware- your bowls– a cutting board.

We’ve got utensils in here–

For both cleaning and cooking.

And then over here we’ve got plastic plates.

Both the kind that you might throw away- and then the kind that you would keep and just clean off.

You know the ultimate thing–

Sometimes for camping, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. Rather than buying those plates, you know- if you’re just getting started–

Take paper plates. They’re great and you got less cleanup. You can throw them in the fire or the garbage can.

And before you invest in these nice plastic utensils, just take some some of the disposable type type utensils, making it convenient.

And the more convenient you can make it, the easier you can make it– The happier mom and dad are.

So mom and dad are all stressed out from the 400 things they gotta do – then it’s not as fun for the kids.

So this is my cooking setup.

The next thing we’re going to do is fire up the stove and this is your basic, old school camping stove. I think they’re probably 40 or 50 dollars now.

We’re going to take this down here.

They run off of a small tank of propane fuel, so it’s–

Once you fire these up, it’s like cooking on a gas stove at home. You can see this one’s been used a little bit over the years.

You just plug it in.

Right here.

And then tighten it down.

We gotta make sure you get it real tight.

So that gas isn’t–

Isn’t leaking out.

Sometimes you gotta give that a little bit of–

Elbow grease or adjust it — just a little bit to get it–

Get it to go in there.

And we are all set.

Once it’s nice and tight in there- you got a two burner setup. This is like cooking at home. It’s really– it’s really no different.

So turn it on.

You hear a little little, hiss typically–

And–

There you go. We’re cooking with gas, so to speak.

I’m going to go ahead and set a pan on there and get that heated up because–

We’re all hungry.

And– We’re going to let that heat up for just a minute.

Terms of the type of food to take camping, it’s really just up to you in terms of how much you want to be super convenient and easy with pre packaged foods.

Once you’ve camped a little while — you might want to get a little bit more adventurous and cook some one pot meals or–

You know– you can always heat up stews and soups and that kind of thing.

One little trick that we have done occasionally is make a one pot stew of some kind at home– put it in the cooler — and then all you gotta do on the campsite is set it on the stove and heat it up –so your time for enjoyment is increased and you spend less time cooking.

So let’s grab, grab something to eat here.

These windscreens are kind of important. We’ve got a breeze today and the windscreens keep the flame from rolling around too much, and if you’re cooking two things at once–

Just fire up the burner-

And–

There you go..

Put a coffee pot on over here or something like that.

Some people ask the question– should you do coffee or not while you’re camping?

And for me that’s 1000 percent yes. I have to have coffee every day.

You can brew coffee. I’ll show you a really old school way to brew coffee and–

this is kind of a fun story– in my family, this coffee pot was the first coffee pot my parents ever had when they got married– and it’s a percolating coffee pot.

You put the– Put the coffee grounds in here. Put the lid on.

And when it starts percolating up to the top. You gotta pot of coffee.

Me- honestly–

Sometimes all I want to do — it’s freezing cold. You may not want to do that.

I bring instant coffee.

I got one that I like. It’s the Starbucks Pike place.

These just come in nice little packets– and heat up your water, empty it in and you got a pretty nice cup of coffee. But there’s cheaper ones as well. All kinds of instant coffee, but those are good.

They work for me. They’re important for me. Get a good night’s sleep and then you gotta have something to wake up.

So we’re going to talk storage– food storage– as well as other things that you’re going to need storage for

— and one of the great inventions of modern times are these giant Tupperware containers.

This is kind of my catch-all storage container.

We’ve got paper towels in here. Those are so helpful when you’re cooking or cleaning up –that kind of thing. We’ve got a tarp in here, a couple of tarps. You got some games and an extra flashlight. These are the bean bags for playing cornhole.

Got some cards and some rope. You know– if you had wet clothing or anything like that that you want to hang up– a rope is handy to have.

This is a rain poncho.

That is my toiletries kit.

Two things you always want to bring sunscreen– bug repellent.

Two other things that are really handy to have– an all purpose knife of some kind and a multi-purpose tool. These things are great. You never know when you’re going to need one.

And it’s got a pair of pliers.

It’s got a screwdriver–

Can opener– bottle opener– knife –a file– It’s got it all.

So when I’m preparing for a camping trip, I go to this container and throw stuff in and it’s kind of like anything you might need. It keeps it nice and organized and you can pack it in your vehicle.

This is a smaller one.

And I’ve got cooking utensils in here.

These are pots and pans that we use for camping and got a couple of different sizes.

Got a pot Holder for when it’s hot–

And–

Even got–

It’s even got an egg container in here, which is a handy dandy little thing occasionally. Two eggs isn’t very much but-

This little– these little Tupper Ware containers or whatever brand you choose– are great.

Coolers –really important.

We typically bring more than one.

If it’s just one night, we might bring this big one and in here you can pack ice or you can pack these freezer packs. I like these freezer packs because when the ice starts to melt you gotta water full of cool — or you got a cooler full of water.. With the cooler packs– I think they last a little longer and–

You don’t have all the water in your cooler, so.

Drinks in here.

This might be the drinks for the kids. This might be the drinks for the adults.

This one–

These Yeti style bags really keep things cold for a long time, and then we might have this one for fruits and vegetables. Things like that.

But as with most families, overtime you collect a few coolers and that works out really, really great for us.

So one key thing at your campsite – to make it really convenient and simple — it is bring some kind of a container to put water in. This is the one that I use. Lid comes off– you walk to your water source in the campground and fill it up and bring it back to your campsite– ’cause you always need water for something — drinking or cooking or washing things off or even brushing your teeth — so you can get giant ones that you see at soccer games and things like that–

You can take a gallon milk jug, wash it out and use those for your water. But you do want something to put water in — that keeps it simple and easy for you at the campsite.

Do not bring any candles into the tent.

Any kind of flame.

This is nylon — nylon catches fire — you melt it really fast, so there’s battery powered lanterns– flashlights, you can use– headlamps — we will show you a few of those things.

We’re going to pick a few things to go in the tent, and a few of these items you may use on your picnic table as well–

but a battery powered Lantern–

It’s really nice in the tent for getting dressed or reading a book or anything of that nature.

I brought a book– I like to read a little bit when I’m camping. Get some quiet time.

So we got a book. We got a lantern.

We’ve got a giant flashlight. This is an industrial strength flashlight. It’s nice to have, but–

You don’t necessarily need something this heavy duty.

These headlamps are fantastic– and they tend to be really efficient to use. They keep the battery for a long time.

You put it on your head just like this.

And great thing about these is–

You’re brushing your teeth– You’re preparing dinner– You’re getting up in the middle of night and you gotta go to the bathroom– and put this on and your hands are free for whatever you need to be doing. If you’re reading, it’s great for that too.

So I’m going to go ahead and put all of these in the tent, and I’m also going to put a bottle of water in the tent.

In case you get thirsty during the night – a bottle of water– or you’ve got some medicine you need to take before you go to bed.

So we’re going to put all these in here..

And gosh, you can fix up your tent anyway you want. If you’re going to be there for awhile, you might put several things in there that just make you happy, or that are convenient for you.

Don’t store food in your tent, doesn’t matter if it’s packaged up or anything, animals will smell it and you don’t want them visiting you at night.

I’m going to stop right there….

So the ultimate goal of going camping is fun and relaxation. We’ve shown you a lot of things about how to prepare and the right things to do, but ultimately, once you’ve done all that– now it’s time to chill or have some adventures, or just have some fun things to do with your kids or your spouse – significant other..

One thing you gotta bring, you gotta bring some chairs. I’ve made the mistake of thinking, yeah, I don’t need a chair.

And sitting on the ground or only sitting at the picnic table? That’s not really as nice. So a nice, comfortable chair.

You can get your basic folding chairs that you take to sporting events or you sit in at the backyard barbecue. You can get really nice ones that prop your feet up.

Or you can get really cheap ones that are your basic woven, old school chairs, but you need chairs, so we’ll start there.

And you may use that to sit around and drink coffee or an evening beverage. You may sit there and read the book, or you may just look at nature.

We’re at a lovely spot looking at a Big Creek.

After that with kids, one of the great things about kids going camping is it typically takes them away from their screens, TV, iPads, phones, the whole thing– so they may be a little less inclined just to sit around and relax and take a deep breath. They want to be doing activities– so we always try to bring games– and it’s amazing– the difference between games out in the woods versus games at home where they have a lot of distractions. Kids really tend to get into the games in the woods.

So we’re going to show you a few we love to play with.

This one is called Pong– and the buckets stack.

You throw at the bucket– you throw the ball– whoah boy.

I’m not very good at this game it looks like.

Alright. Well, you can improve on that.

There’s corn hole.

Which you used to play in a backyard or in football stadiums– And that kind of thing.

I’m gonna stop right there.

OK, so that’s corn hole.

You get over here. You’re sitting down games. Here’s a great outdoor version of checkers.

Checkers is so easy– I can even remember how to do it so.

Start playing checkers with your kids and have some great one on one time.

You know for a group, there’s go fish. There’s a fun game based on the show Friends- You can bring it — or just your basic playing cards– or you can go into things like Pictionary that are going to be a longer form game.

But bringing some things to have fun with– that’s where the memories can really get made.

Of course, when you’re going out and taking hikes or swimming or fishing, those are fantastic as well, but the game kind of things — kids tend to remember it.

And they tend to love it.

OK, we’re going to talk about personal care, taking care of yourself while you’re in the woods, and if you haven’t camped before, you’re fairly new to it– You know that’s one thing that people are typically a little worried about, ’cause you’re used to the creature comforts of home.

What I do — and I travel some for my work — I just take along my toiletries kit that I go to hotels with. It’s the same kind of approach.

And you– you know – this is the one I use for travel and in it — I’ve got any medication. I’ve got some band aids and some polysporin just in case I get a cut.

I actually always pack ear plugs — and honestly in the woods– you think I’m not going to use earplugs, but if you’re with snoring people– or I put in earplugs, even in the woods.

These wipes that you can get are just fantastic for wiping off kids faces and sunscreen and those kind of things.

I always put in some soap and a washcloth of course. You get your toothbrush and your toothpaste.

I’ve got some hand cream in here and deodorant– and I even have a razor, although I’m really not going to ever use that on a camping trip.

But toiletries kits the way to go– shampoo, that kind of thing. Just pack up like you’re taking a weekend trip.

State parks, national parks– Those kind of things — they have bathrooms with showers and so you can choose to go and take a shower and bring towels. Or if you didn’t really get grimy and your kids don’t want to take showers, you can just wipe down a little bit with a washcloth or–

Or one of these wipes and really taking care of those things increases your enjoyment a lot. You sleep better, you feel better during the day if you can clean up after yourself a little bit.

So that’s toiletries.

Clothing.

An easy way to do it– is to take one of your backpacks or any kind of a bag really, and just put in whatever extra clothing you want to bring.

You want to pack for some different temperatures.

I’ve got a different pair of pants in here.

Got kind of a heavy flannel shirt when it gets cold tonight–

And–

Socks and underwear, that kind of stuff. If you’re going to go swimming of course, you want a swimsuit — and one key thing to always bring is some kind of rain gear. You never know when you’re going to get a little bit of rain– and with a raincoat– you can get out of your tent and move around, so rain gear is really important.

But think through this kind of stuff — just like any little travel trip you’re taking and bring what you need. You can bring a duffel bag, a backpack, toiletries kit, you’re all set to go and get out and enjoy it now.

So one of the key things with camping is a philosophy called “Leave No Trace” and the deal there is– You’re in nature. You’re in the outdoors, you’re in wild country really, so to speak. And so I think John Muir said–

Take only pictures. Leave only footsteps. And that’s really key. So when you, when you’ve packed up your campsite and put everything back in your vehicle–

Go around the campsite and pick up any trash, even if that stuff you didn’t bring in. Just make it better than you found it, that’s–

That’s kind of the idea– make it better than you found it.

Leave it better for the next person. And if everybody does that– our natural resources stay in good shape.

Definitely bring a few trash bags with you– and we’ve got our trash in here, but we found a few things that other people left behind too, so we’re gonna add those to our trash.

Leave it better than we found it–

So that the next group that comes in here gets to really enjoy their time out in nature.

Out in the beauty of the wild world.

The place is as God intended it for us.