Practice, Practice, Practice

In my opinion it's a good idea to practice with your camping gear and how to propler use it. Also you need to check the status of it being operational or not. Just because you buy something new and then you take it out of the box while on your camping trip just to find out it doesn't even work or it's missing something. People buy fancy utility tools and other gear and don't even know how the stuff works or how to apply it to use.

 

Oh I definitely agree. Having all sorts of equipment doesn't do you any good if you have no idea how to use it.

It makes me think of those movies where various people go camping and then one group or person always struggles with their tent because they have no idea what they're doing. At least set it up in your backyard or your own living room first before expecting to have it out in the wild.

 

That's exacting what I'm talking about. Even if you bought a brand new tent and take it out camping with you just to find a part of the tent wasn't in the box. Now you got to pull a "Macgyver" on the tent to set it up properly so it will stand. Better make sure to pack the Swiss Army Knife with your camping gear.

 

reply: That's a good idea and also it gives you the chance to evaluate your equipment. It is always a good idea to check to see if your tent needs repairs.

 

I am a persistant jury-rigger of things, so what happens is that I tend to just pack everything up and go. As long as I remember the duct tape I tend not to worry too much. However, there have been occasions where I ran through my vocabulary of profanity - mostly. It's a fairly large word bank.

 

... If you're a novice then you're a novice and all the practice in the world won't stand in for actual conditions. When I learned to hunt I needed help and the person I was with taught me how because they wanted to. No one is going to invited a novice along unless they honestly want to. As for the rest that's what proper post-care is for. You come home and you sharpen your tools before oiling and packing them away. You check over your tent and make repairs. You clean what needs cleaning and replace what's broken. You do not wait until and then do it. At least I don't. Too much trouble I would think.

 

reply: If you are going to practice on being "MacGyver" you got the duct tape part right. You'll need to bring with you the good old Swiss Army knife as well. He can fix any problem in or out of the bush with those two items.
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reply: What I like to do before I go buy a outdoors product is to do a review of that product on youtube. Youtube users buy these outdoor product and conduct a review video on it. They talk and show you the pros and cons of that product and I use that information as my foundation on if I will make a purchase of that product or not.

 

This is definetly a great rule of thumb. I do try to know exactely how to assemble the tent. And I do try out any new gadgets that we may buy for the trip. I also make out a list of everything we need for our trip. I double check it and make sure to mark everything off as we pack it into the van. Nothing can spoil a trip faster than being ill prepared. Or forgetting an essential item. believe me, I have learned my lesson on this one.

 

I'm not MacGyvering so much as I'm dealing with things as they come. Like I said a bit later I do all my prep when I come home versus doing this big brouhaha just before hand.

 

I agree as well. You don't want one of your first few times out there to be a trial. The survival education/skills is all over, so get it first.