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Hints:
1. Channel lock pliers make good pot holders.
2. Make an oven by lining a moving box with
aluminum foil and pushing coat hangers through both sides about
half way up the box to form your grill. Put coals in a pan and put
the pan on three stones on the bottom of the box. Close the doors
(lid) and bake away.
3. Canning rings can be use to cook your
eggs in for egg sandwiches. (Works well for English Muffins or Hamburger
buns).
4. Nylon rope can be used as shoe laces.
5. Use a large zip lock plastic bag, filled
with air, as a pillow.
6. Plastic butter tubs make good storage
containers for your camp kitchen. (Not a good idea to use in a backpack).
7. A plastic bottle makes a good latrine
for cold weather camping. (You don't have to 'go' very far from
your sleeping bag). Keep it just out side the tent flap.
8. An old closed cell foam exercise pad will
make a passable sleeping pad.
9. Plastic bottles can be used for canteens.
Make sure the lid does not leak before using in a backpack.
10. The pins which hold the backpack and
shoulder straps to the frame can be replaced with a small piece
of coat hanger threaded through the hole and twisted around itself.
11. Twist ties can be used to hold up another
tarp from your dining fly to form a wind screen.
12. A small automotive water hose clamp can
be used as a stop for your dining fly's upright poles.
13. Drill a hole in the bottom of nested
poles and put a screw in to stop inner poles from sliding out.
14. Short lengths of coat hanger or wire
can be threadd through the holes and springs of the summer camp
cots to replace the missing springs.
15. Carry several pieces of lumber cut into
2 inch squares to summer camp and use these to level platform, tent
and cot.
16. If for health reasons you must sleep
on a cot in cold weather insulate yourself from the cold air under
the cot with several layers of newspaper.
17. Old shower curtains make great ground
clothes.
18. Make a double boiler for melting paraffin
from a 1 lb. coffee can and a 2 lb. coffee can. Bend a coat hanger
so it will support the 1 lb. coffee can inside the 2 lb. can. Pour
some water in the 2 lb. can and put the paraffin in the 1 lb. can.
19.Waterproof matches by dipping in melted
paraffin.
20. Make fire starters by filling paper condiment
cups with saw dust and pouring paraffin into the cup.
21. Put matches in corrugated cardboard strips
(about every other hole) and dip into paraffin for fire starters.
Cut off what you need to start a fire.
22. If your hand warmer came without a bag
or the bag has been lost, replace the bag with a sock.
23. A length of chain and a piece of coat
hanger bent into an S-shape will allow you to hang your lantern
from a tree limb.
24. Use a cookie tin as a dutch oven.
25. Keep batteries in an appropriate size
prescription bottle to insure that they cannot run themselves down
by accident.
26. Prescription bottles make good match
safes.
27. Prescription bottles or 35mm file containers
make good storage places for small items.
28. Grills from old ovens can be used for
fire grills, refrigerator shelves cannot be used as they will release
toxic gasses when heated.
29. A frisbee will add support to paper plates
when the plate is place inside the frisbee.
30. Make a camp washing machine from a five
gallon bucket and a toilet plunger.
31. Placing a plastic garbage bag over logs
in a triangle will create a wash basin.
32. Making a slit in a trash bag large enough
to let your head through will make an emergency poncho.
33. Laundry lint makes good tinder.
34. Cutting slivers off scrap lumber and
heating in the oven to dry out the wood will produce some very dry
tinder. Remember to store in plastic bags for your next trip. Save
candle stubs for fire starters or to use as paraffin to make other
fire starters.
35. Insulate your backpacking stove from
the ground in cold weather with a 6" X 6" piece of plywood.
36. Cover the ice in a picnic cooler with
foil to help it last longer. Keep the water in your canteen cooler
by wrapping the canteen in foil.
37. Use foil ring dividers for frying eggs.
Put rings in the greased pan and drop eggs into each ring.
38. Find it hard to put patches on straight
? Tape them in place first with two-sided tape. When you are half-way
done sewing, remove the tape.
39. Save a handbook that's getting battered
looking by putting on a transparent contact paper cover.
40. Run candle stubs along the edge of a
saw to help it glide better.
41. When it comes time to pack up at the
end of a camp, a wet toothbrush, face cloth and bar of soap wrapped
in foil won't dampen the other things in your kit.
42. To prevent night accidents in camp, use
phosphorescent paint to mark the edges of latrines, the top of corner
pegs of tents, etc.
43. Before starting to sew a tough material
like denim or canvas, stick the needle into a bar of soap. The coating
will help the needle slide more easily through the fabric.
44. To make sure you don't sew a pocket together
while sewing a badge to the front, slip a jar lid, preferably plastic,
into the pocket, then fearlessly sew away.
45. To help shed burrs easily, rub the laces
of your hiking boots with paraffin before hitting the trail.
46. Keep a dry bar of soap in your sleeping
bag to combat musty odors which develop during damp-season camping.
47. Waxed milk cartons are an excellent source
of emergency kindling. Cut cartons into slivers, wrap a bundle of
them in plastic and carry them along in your pack.
48. If a Scout has to take medicine, give
him a break by letting him suck on an ice cube to numb his tongue
before swallowing the vile stuff.
49. Ice cubes are handy when you have to
remove a splinter from a hand or foot. Use the ice to numb the area
around the splinter before operating.
50. Make your own insect-repelling candle
from an ordinary thick candle. Drill a 1" deep hole near the
wick, fill the whole with citronella and cover it with melted wax.
51. When handling evergreens or pine cones,
they can remove the sticky sap from their hands easily if they use
baking soda instead of soap to wash.
52. Water proof matches by dipping them in
nail polish.
53. To prevent batteries from wearing down
if a flashlight is accidently nudged on while you're traveling,
put the flashlight batteries in backwards.
54. Kitchen foil can add extra warmth to
your boots. Trace each foot on a piece of foil and add a 5 cm border.
Place the foil inside your boots, shiny side up so you benefit from
radiant heat.
55. The little plastic tags from bread and
bun packages are great for pinning up wet bathing suits and towels
at camp, and they take up a lot less packing space than clothespins.
56. To protect your feet from blisters, smear
soap on the inside of your inner sock at the heel and underneath
the toes. Carry along a bar of soap and, when you feel your feet
become tender, give it a try.
57. Wear nylon footies next to your feet
to help prevent blisters.
58. To keep mosquitoes away rub the inside
of an orange peel on face, arms and legs.
59. Waxed-paper milk cartons have several
lives left in them after the milk is gone:
- make a drinking cup by cutting off the
carton about three inches from the bottom.
- make a water scoop by cutting off the top.
- cut a container into slivers, wrap them
in plastic and put them in your pocket for emergency kindling on
a camping or hiking trip.
- make a leak-proof mini-garbage can by opening
up the top of the container and putting in your scraps.
60. Discarded roll on deodorant bottles make
an excellent insect repellent applicator because it enables you
to keep 'bug dope' off your hands and out of your eyes. Snap off
the plastic top or snap out the ball, rinse out the bottle and refill
with your favourite liquid repellant.
61. Make handy fire-starters by filling egg
carton cups with lint from the dryer and pouring melted paraffin
over the lint. Break the cup off to start each fire.
62. Keep your toilet roll dry by packing
it in a coffee tine with a snap-on lid.
63. Remember that mosquitoes and biting flies
seem to like dark coloured clothing and the perfumed scents of many
grooming products (soaps, shampoos, colognes, etc.) Dress so that
you won't attract the biters, and try using unscented grooming aids.
64. Certain fibers can be damaged by insect
repellants. Don't apply repellants to spandex (from which bathing
suits are made), rayon, or Dynel fabrics. Tent fabrics, plastic
and painted surfaces also can be damaged by insect repellents.
65. An insect repellant will not keep bees,
wasps, or hornets from stinging you. Your wisest move is one away
from stinging pests.
66. Try using a 35mm film cannister when
collecting insect specimens. A drop of alcohol makes the canister
a fine killing jar. Label the cannister with tape and keep the specimen
in it.
67. It is easier to cut plastic containers
if you soak them in very hot water immediately before cutting them.
68. Wrap fishing gear in foil to keep line
from tangling and hooks from rusting. By lining the compartments
of a tackle box with foil, you can prevent rust damage to plugs
and other equipment.
69. Wrap a wet washcloth in a foil package
and put it into your pack. You'll have a handy 'wet-wipe' for cleaning
hands and face after a satisfying camp meal.
70. Foil provides good packaging material
for a campers personal toilet articles.
71. Waterproof matches by dipping them in
shellac.
72. Tor remove musty smell from canteen,
put three teaspoons of baking soda into the canteen with a bit of
water. Swish it around and let sit for an hour, then rinse out the
canteen.
73. An empty plastic soda bottle, cut off
to a convenient height, will work as a camp bowl. You may want to
sandpaper the cut to smooth the edge.
74. Make a survival fishing kit out of an
empty 35mm film cannister. Wrap fishing line around a small empty
thread spool. Tie the end to a fishhook, and place in the cannister.
When ready to use, take the spool of line out. Lay the line across
the opening of the cannister and snap the lid back on for use as
a bobber.
75. Make a fish scaler by nailing metal bottle
caps to a wood block. Scrape against side of fish against direction
of scales.
76. Make a flag stand using a 2 pound coffee
can filled with cement. To make hold, wrap flag pole in wax paper.
77. To conserve rope, mark each length of
rope with a distinctive colour and make a rule that the rope is
never cut.
78. A rope tied to a bleach bottle with an
inch of water in it will make an effective water rescue throw line.
79. Save inner cardboard tubes from kitchen
and toilet rolls, stuff with waste paper and use as fire-lighters.
80. Cut a rubber glove, when discarded, into
thin strips to create varied rubber bands.
81. Did you know that the egg whites left
in empty egg shells makes good glue ? Use it for scrapbooks, etc.
82. When using a bucket for a messy job,
line it with a plastic bag which can be thrown away afterwards.
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