Ease In To First-Time Overnight Camping - Craig Macartney

Rating ***

Many people around the world go camping, but camping is only fun if the right preparations and precautions are made. This article talks about what kinds of things you need to do and bring in order for overnight camping to be the best experience it can, so it can develop into a regular activity for an individual.

The article starts by saying that it is best to start off with your first overnight trip to somewhere nearby and with good facilities like showers, driers, and toilets, so you can get used to camping. Next, it goes on to say that you should prepare for your trip by testing your equipment and methods of survival like fire starting at home first, to make sure it works. The article says that making a list will help you pack. When packing, prepare for rain, even if the weather station says there will be no rain, as it could be wrong. After that, the article states the necessities that need to be packed for overnight camping, like extra socks, a tuque, a knife, a sleeping mat, and a tarpaulin. It says to set the tarpaulin up right away, as weather can be unpredictable. Finally, the article finishes by saying to dig a rain trench around your tent, and fluff up your sleeping bag before you go to sleep because it holds body heat much better than a flattened one.

This article was a very good and interesting article, as it kept my attetion throughout with detail and necessary information, but it wasn't excelent, as it only gave the necessary, and didn't give any aditional information about optional activities and recomendations as to what time of year or what kind of terrain or even how many other people to start camping with. The article provided a lot of usefull information that I had never before heard of, like fluffing up the sleeping bag, and other information that any camper hit with the bad luck of rain before your tent is set up will agree is usefull, like setting up a tarpaulin right away. Next time I go camping, I will be sure to try some of these tips to try to make my camping experience that much more engaging.

Macartney, Craig. "Ease In To First-Time Overnight Camping." Ottawa Outdoors. Spring/Summer 2010: Page 9. Print.