TheCampingGuy.com Blog | Camping Tips

Thinking of bringing your own firewood to your campout? Hold on…and read this. The U.S. Forest Service is encouraging campers not to bring their own firewood. Why? Because insect infested firewood is causing billions of dollars in forest damage.

Many campers travel hundreds of miles or across state lines to go camping and they bring their own firewood and the insects with them. The spread of insects is so harmful that several Midwestern states are banning firewood from out of state. Parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Maryland are covered by federal and state quarantines to try to prevent infested lumber or wood products from being shipped out. Forest Service officials advise campers to get their firewood at or near their campsite. So, pass on this information to your fellow campers!

Go to the Utah Desert News for the full story.

When I was a beginner camper I would try to remember to pack everything I needed, but I’d always show up late at a campsite and forget some thing like a frying pan for the scrambled eggs! Not to mention, my wife used to get upset when some of her kitchenware was missing for the weekend! So, I eventually got my own camping kitchenware, some checklists and “kits”to help me remember what to bring.

Over the years camping I’ve put together a couple of Camping Kits that make packing and camping a whole lot easier. I can load the truck quickly and know that I have everything I’m gonna need in those few kits - along with tent, stove, sleeping bag and food! There are many kits that you can make to simplify your campout. In fact, I’ve even run across some “Rainy Day Kits” that include games, books, puzzles, etc. But, you can decide what works best for you. Let me show you a couple that I use and see if they’re useful or maybe they’ll give you some ideas for something better.

My kits cover the essentials - Eating and Cleaning! First of all, I always bring my Cook Kit, which has all the pots, pans, cutting board, and all the cooking utensils I’ll need to whip up a tasty camp meal. Here’s a full list of what’s in my Cook Kit.

Next is my Cleanup Kit. Ya, you guessed it, all the stuff you need for cleaning up. A full description and pictures await you at Cleanup Kit.

If you are really ambitious you can create a Camp Box, like the ones we use on Scout campouts. This box has hinged sides that fold down to create two working/cooking surfaces with all cooking and cleaning items in one spot. We drilled four holes in the bottom for legs and got some 3 ft. sections of aluminum pipe for legs.

As you see there’s a couple of ways you can go with your Camping Kits - from small to large. Just get one or two and make your camping easier.