What are the amazing items you can’t live without? Coffee? Your favorite slippers? Your iPhone?
We can’t really speak to your favorite civilization items – we all have them and they’re probably not the same – but in researching ways to save money for Ocean Canyon’s resolution series, we came up with three inexpensive everyday items we consider might just be worth their weight in camping gold.
And we’re not even talking about duct tape.
What are these three miracles of campground maintenance, the wonders of the RV world? We’ll cover the first one today:
Aluminum foil
Yes, aluminum foil – or tin foil, as it is affectionately known – is a thing of beauty. An entire roll of it in generic form can be obtained at your local dollar store for – you guessed it – one dollar. If you want to splurge and get the gold standard of foil, Reynold’s Wrap can be had for around $4.
Here are some money-, time- and space-saving uses for aluminum foil while camping:
- Wrapped around your canteen, it will keep your water colder.
- Wrapped around your wet toothbrush, soap and washcloth, it will keep your remaining backpack items drier.
- Wrapped around your fishing line and tackle, it will keep the line from knotting and the tackle from rusting. You can even line your tackle box with it to keep it clean and dry.
- Wrapped snugly burrito-style around your potato or your meat and veggies (add some oil or butter and your favorite seasonings) and set in the hot coals of your campfire, it will furnish you with a culinary repast that would make a gourmet chef weep in ecstasy. Just don’t leave it too long or put it on open flames, or the charred mess will make you weep. But not with ecstasy.
- Wadded tin foil removes light rust from just about anything from tent stakes to the lantern handle. Don’t scrub too hard though, or you can scrub a hole into that previously rusty item. A ball of tin foil operates a bit like steel wool and is great for cleaning the barbecue grill or scrubbing the cast iron cook pan clean with a minimum of effort.
- With a few folded layers of tin foil you can sharpen scissor blades by simply cutting through the layers a few times.
- When you’re finished with it, aluminum foil is easily recyclable. As folks who appreciate the beauty of the outdoors, that’s important.
These are just a few of the uses we found for tin foil. More can be found at http://www.rd.com/home/over-40-new-uses-for-aluminum-foil/2/. And the great thing is it takes up very little space, takes the place of a multitude of single-use items and costs very little. Odds are you have a roll lying around right now.
Next time we’ll talk about the second amazingly useful item to have in your camping repertoire. Meanwhile, what uses have you found for aluminum foil – or for anything else that makes camping easier? Please write and let us know. Better yet, head out to Tres Rios and tell us in person! Don’t forget to pack some aluminum foil.