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Summertime Camping Hacks

Dream of sleeping under the stars after a day of catching fish? Here are a few tips we’ve curated and tested over the years.

They should help you stay sane when out on your next wilderness adventure.

1. Insects hide from the wind just like we do. If small stinging and flying insects aren’t your thing, pitch your tent with the door facing the breeze, as critters like mosquitoes take shelter in the lee of the tent. You’ll have a far smaller resident population inside, if done correctly.

2. Make a doormat for your tent. A thin 2’ x 2’ piece of nylon works wonders keeping excess dirt and sand outside. Even better, buy a “sand-free mat.” They were designed for this very thing.

3. Store sleeping bags (hanging) in the closet, or on the back of a door. Keeping them in stuff/compression sacks robs them of insulating fluffiness.

4. Use the dryer to “reset” the waterproofing on your rain jacket. It works better than any spray-on stuff. Wash gently with no-fabric softeners, using dry cycle on low-low heat. You’ll be amazed with the results.

5. Lastly, a useful tidbit: You can use an Aquaseal wader repair kit to fix a ripped fishing net. Take a small wader patch to make a backing material, then spread Aquaseal on the other side (adhering the broken net and sealant). After 24 hours, remove the patch and the Aquaseal is secure and slippery, making it safe for fish, and you’ve got your net back in business.

6. Keep your campsite clean and free of excess, or half-eaten, food–it’s a dinner bell for larger critters. And never bring food in a tent at night, unless you want unwelcome visitors.

How to Remove a Fish Hook

If you fish long enough, you’re bound to get hooked.

Clearly, I must have fished long enough, because I’ve done it a number of times, and not always to myself. Once, I put a streamer in my wife’s neck. I won’t bother sharing the details of that story, however…

Not only does this video (and oldie, but goodie) tell us how to “remove a fish hook without a trip to the doctor,” but it actually shows a guy sticking himself in the leg with a barbed #2 hook and shooting the whole process at 1500 frames a second (super slow-mo video). As he says, “you won’t miss a thing.”

Trigger Warning: If you have an aversion to blood, or sharp objects being stuck into living flesh, I recommend not watching.

Otherwise, enjoy the show and learn something useful about hook removal and being prepared on the water.

Boat Hack: 2x4s For a Drift Boat Trailer Stand

Raft-folk, you’ll have no idea what I’m talking about, but if you own a drift boat and store it outside for any length of time, you understand what a problem snow and rain can pose, no matter the material of your boat.

I learned long ago that raising your bow in the air, chocking the wheels and leaving your drain plug out can save your butt. Basically, storing your boat like this won’t allow errant water, or melted snow, to accumulate in your hull. It’s a boat, I know, but standing water in anything isn’t good, especially a wooden boat.

I almost destroyed a newly refurbished wooden drift boat years ago by not checking on it for a couple of weeks. After a stretch of storms, inches of standing water accumulated in the hull, seeping into the wood, expanding and, eventually, breaking the chines. She was stored flat on the trailer. That was a heart breaker…

Putting the bow in the air lets your boat drain, while you do almost nothing. Truth be told, I do own one of those fancy kickstands with a quick-release for easy storage and travel. But all you really need is a couple of 2x4s and a couple of screws (see the photo above).

It takes up a bit more room and you’d better make sure your wheels are chocked really well, but it works. It’s also cheap and easy to put together.

Rock Salt to Lower the Temperature of Your Cooler

It’s June, but many parts of the country are already heating up and much of the country will soon be sweltering.

This tip is simple. If you add rock salt to your ice, it lowers the temperature of the cooler (a lot) and quickly.

The salt does melt a little of the ice, but in turn, creates a slurry. Many times, this slurry is actually quite a bit colder than the freezing point. The slurry acts in two ways. One, it envelopes the contents of your cooler, covering more surface area. Second, it achieves an even lower temperature than melted ice alone.

So, the next time you think about prepping your cooler for a day fishing on the boat, get a decent-sized bag of rock salt and add to the first layer of ice–then add more ice before topping it off with more rock salt.

More rock salt, cooler information from the boys at Out The Smoke:

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