In the late 90s and early 2000s I was a boy scout. I learned how to tie knots, build lean-tos, cook over an open fire, and dress like a total goober. Some of those lessons have stuck with me and even come in handy once in a while as I’m camping as an adult. A couple of these may seem obvious, others may seem bizarre, but all of them are to some degree useful.

8) Make a box oven

Take a small cardboard box, cover it in aluminum foil, and set up a toaster oven grill held up with pop cans above a few charcoal briquettes inside the box. Here are some detailed directions with pictures. These directions came from the girl scouts, but I saw one like this when I was in boy scouts. They are cheap, simple, lightweight, and you can bake just about anything that isn’t too huge in one of these.

7) Dryer Lint Makes a Great Fire Starter

Don’t throw away that dryer lint! Collect it in a big plastic bag like a weirdo like me, and use it to start campfires! Seriously, this stuff is the best tinder I’ve used that wasn’t made in a factory. Lint is free and lightweight, which you may start to see are two important themes in many of these boy scout tips.  

6) Dirt Destroys Grease

If you cook like my boy scout troop did, your pots and pans will occasionally get pretty greasy. To reduce the amount of soap and hot water you have to use to get them clean, you can try this old-timey boy scouting trick: dirt! Seriously, just get a wettish clump of soil and rub it into the greasy areas of your pots and pans, it will do a pretty good job of getting most of it off of there and make clean up that much more efficient. Mother nature is gross sometimes, but she provides. Note, I’ve only ever used this trick with stainless steel, it shouldn’t be necessary for cast iron and I don’t cook with nonstick pans any more, so I can’t promise it will work well on those.

5) Hobo Dinners

Another aluminum foil trick I learned was to pile meat, potatoes, and carrots in a sheet of aluminum foil, seal it into a pouch, and throw the whole thing into a fire to cook. The trick is to get some good warm embers without too many flames, and to make sure it’s getting heat from all sides so you don’t have to move it around to cook everything. In my troop we liked to throw in half a can of cream of mushroom soup along with some pepper, but there are infinite variations on this particular recipe. Get creative! It’s cheap and requires only aluminum foil and a poking stick to prepare. Here is a version that uses onions, garlic powder, and butter.

4) FAT Fires

FAT stands for fuel, air, and heat, the three building blocks of any good campfire. You need all three elements in balance to create a successful fire. Start with a heap of tinder in the middle of a fire ring, then place some kindling over it. Not too much, or air flow will be impeded. Light your tinder and wait for your kindling to catch fire. Add more kindling once it does. Seeing too much smoke is an early indicator that your fire may not be getting enough air to breathe, and you should give the fire less kindling until its heat can catch up to the available fuel. Once your fire is consuming kindling at a fairly rapid rate you can add some fuel. Again, be careful not to smother it. There are many ways to organize the fuel of your fire, from a classic log cabin or lean-to setup to more exotic designs.

3) Pitch your Tent on a Slope

    If you’ve ever woken up to a wet sleeping bag, you know the horror of an ill-placed tent. I strongly recommend setting your tent up on a tarp and on a slight incline to avoid the build up of water under your tent. This is pretty basic outdoorsmanship, but it never hurts to be reminded of conventional wisdom. Also, pitch your tent near some trees or bushes to help break any strong winds that might shake your tent and wake you up in the middle of the night.

2) Rocks in your Socks

Wet socks are a fact of life on many camping trips. To dry them more quickly, heat a pair of fist-sized rocks in your campfire and place them inside your wet socks. Wrap your wet sock around them and let it sit for half an hour. You may be surprised how quickly they dry out! Pro-tip: Don’t gather river rocks for this purpose, or the moisture trapped inside will rapidly turn to steam and may cause the rock to explode.

1) Little Baggies

One gallon plastic baggies are the heart and soul of many boy scout packing methods. Why? They are cheap and lightweight! They also help you organize the cavernous space of a full-size backpack and provide a significant level of water resistance to your stuff. Nothing is worse than getting into clean but cold and damp underwear on the third day of a camping trip because a bit of moisture got into your pack.