40 genius camping hacks

Planning your next camping trip?

We've searched out some handy hints and useful hacks, all designed to improve your camping life whether you’re out on the trail or family camping.

Try them out and make your camping easier.

And if you've got any brilliant hacks of your own, let us know – email us at [email protected] or share them on Facebook or Twitter

3. For early or late season camping, place a couple of foil survival blankets on the bedroom groundsheet before putting your airbed on top to stop the cold from the ground chilling the air in the airbed

4. Get to know your neighbours as they will be the ones watching your stuff when you are out

6. Take a few bits of cardboard for levelling tables and cooking stands etc

8. If you feel the cold easily, change into your pyjamas early and put on some loose trousers and a nice thick jumper over the top. The extra layers will keep you warm through the rest of the evening, and at bedtime slip out of your top layer and go straight into your sleeping bag.

9. Cook your first night’s meal at home, freeze it and let it defrost in a cool box during the journey. It’ll act as an ice pack and be ready to heat once you’re set up

11. Add bundles of sage to a campfire to keep mosquitoes away

12. To clean dirty or oily hands,  just wash them in washing up liquid and sugar. Don’t wet it and the abrasive action of the paste will get the dirt out of the grooves in your skin. Once clean, simply rinse the mixture off (the sugar will dissolve)

15. If the fridge is full and you want to cool a can quickly, soak a thick sock in water, insert the can and hang it out in the breeze. The latent heat of evaporation will cool the can in just a few minutes

19. Cut up a straw and fill the pieces up with antibiotic ointment or toothpaste for single-use packets. Use a lighter to seal up the ends

20. Place a scoop of coffee grounds into a coffee filter and tie it up with dental floss. When you're ready to brew, just make it like you would make tea in a teabag

21. Make an easy-to-carry fire starter with a cardboard-only egg carton and match light charcoal. You just have to light the carton and the fire will catch on to the charcoal

24. Pre-mix pancake batter and pour into an old ketchup bottle for instant breakfasts

25. A shoe hanger makes good as a kitchen tool organiser

26. Too cold to take your muddy boots off in the tent? Wrap a plastic bag round each shoe to make sure the inside of your tent doesn’t get filthy

28. Old pill bottles are perfect for carrying small quantities of cooking ingredients like oil or spices

30. Create a chocolate orange brownie with mix and a hollowed out orange

31. Soak pasta in cold water before cooking to soften it and save gas

32. Rub soap or roll-on deodorant on mosquito bites to stop the itching

34. Cover the tops of toiletry bottles with cling film before putting on the lid to stop leaking in transit

35. Create a shower/water can/tap by piercing holes in a milk bottle lid

38. Use bungee cords to create a kitchen roll dispenser

40. Finally, one for the Bear Grylls wannabes. Make some pinholes in the bottom of a plastic bag, half fill it with layers of grass, then add two inches of sand. Pour in dirty water from a stream and let it escape through the holes into a container. You’ll still need to purify it, but it’ll be much cleaner and easier