Wet matches won't do you a lot of good. Luckily, it isn't hard to waterproof wooden matches. Simply dip the heads of them in melted parafin. When ready for use, if you wish, you can gently scrape the wax off the phosphorus tip prior to striking. This isn't absolutely necessary, but the wax can gum up the surface of the striker if you are using the one that comes with the box of matches.

Okay, most people who go camping in the woods and hike to get there, don't bring their mattresses along with them. Yet when we start getting older, those comforts can be greatly missed. Thankfully, the forest supplies the makings for a mattress.

If you are in a pine forest or deciduous forest, usually there will be plenty of dried pine needles or leaves on the forest floor. Simply rake or scoop these up into a fairly even pile and make your bed over them. (You can even pitch a tent over them.) In a fir forest, green fir boughs can be used the same way, but be sure to place them carefully so that the branch end is facing down, otherwise it will be quite uncomfortably poking you all night.

Note that besides the comfort, the needles, leaves, or boughs also will keep you off the ground so that you won't lose body heat as fast, so you will sleep more warmly. If you are using damp leaves or needles, be SURE to put a sheet of plastic, such as a tarp, between you and the home made mattress.

Soups that are in packets, such as Lipton's soups weigh less and don't take up as much room as canned soups, so they make a better choice for camping. They also don't leave you with as much garbage to remove.

French Onion soup mix in a packet makes an excellent all purpose seasoning for main dishes, meats, and fish.

This is one of my peeves. I get quite angry when I go out into the beauty of the woods, only to find paper, cans, and plastic strewn about. As a general rule, if you take something out into the woods, take it back with you when you are finished. That is morally right, and it is your responsibility. I always carry extra plastic bags for that specific purpose, and it is quite common for me to take back more than I took out. If someone was a total slob and left garbage when you get there, you can prove that you are wiser than they are by removing that garbage with your own.

Remember that plastics and styrafoam take an enormous amount of time to break down. These, and other garbages, do more than take away from the natural beauty of our lands. They can also harm wildlife and wild plants. So PLEASE clean up after yourself.

Incidentally, if they are cleaned out, a can can make a pretty fair, though small, pot. It can even double as a glass. Hey, if your going to pack it out there, you might as well get your use out of it, right?

When it comes to storage containers for camping supplies, use your imagination. The idea is to get as much use out of everything, pound for pound, as you can. So storing flour, sugar, and other dried foods in coffee cans is a good idea...they hold out the moisture, and in a pinch, the can can be used for a medium sized pot. Margarine tubs with tight fitting lids also make good containers (NEVER use them in a microwave oven in the home, by the way). An empty pill bottle will hold small safety matches. And more and more products are now being sold in clear plastic containers with screw top lids. When washed out, these make good storage containers. For instance, a large plastic peanut butter container is perfect for a roll of toilet paper, and it isn't breakable (at least, without some effort.)

This is a very simple trick, but it works. Lets say that you are hiking along, no water anywhere, and you are very thirsty. What can you do about it?

The answer is to find a small stone, preferrably a smooth one. Wipe it off so it is fairly clean, and pop it in your mouth, and just suck on it. This will produce saliva, and though you can still dehydrate, you won't feel as thirsty.

It is a very good idea when you go out in the woods to be sure that you have a pair of sunglasses, especially if there is snow on the ground. The glare of the sun can give you a headache or cause temporary blindness. But if you find yourself in a situation where there is glare, and you don't have any sunglasses, you can fashing a substitue, by taking a piece of cardboard, cutting two slits in it, and tie this around your head so you are looking through those slits. This will cut the glare.

There have been times that I've been caught in an area with a steady downpour, where building a fire would be a very time consuming idea, and I want something warm in my belly. Well, here is a very easy to make minature stove that will work with the small voitive candles.

What you need is a tin can, about the size that soup comes in, though it can be larger...just not a lot larger (no large juice cans, for instance). One end should be removed from the can, the other end shouldn't be. You'll also need a bottle opener/can opener...the kind that have the pointed triangular end.

Using the can opener, open slots around the bottom and top of the can, all the way around, so there is good air flow. That is all there is to it! Light the candle and place the can over it. The candle will produce a surprising amount of heat, enough to warm up a can of soup or something warm to drink.

I don't know if that many people know it or not, but if you take a paper cup (NOT a waxed cup or cardboard cup, it must be paper, like paper "dixie" cups) and fill it to the brim with water, you CAN boil water in it, over an open flame. (The open flame part is also important.) The reason that this works is that the water absorbs the heat faster than the paper, so the paper never gets hot enough to burn.

Here is a really cool trick that works well.

Before going out camping, prepare some simple meals in ziplock bags. Examples are:

Stew (2 cups stew)
French Toast breakfast (2 slices french toast, 2 strips bacon)
Franks and chili (2 cups chili and 2 hot dogs)
Pork Chops (2 pork chops with sauce of choice)

The idea is that these should all be pre-cooked. Once they are in the bags, close the bag to within about 1/2 inch, then freeze. Take them out camping in a frozen state. when you are hungry, heat some water to boiling, and put one of the bags in the hot water, taking care to leave the top above the water (you can also unzip it), and let the water heat it. You will have a quick, warm, and good meal in minutes, and these don't take as much space as the makings for the comparable meal would take.