I Tested Your Best Camping Hacks And This Is What Happened

There was ~some~ food on fire.

We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the best camping hacks they know. So I went off to a lovely campsite and tested some of them out! Here's what happened:

Doritos fire starters

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

(Doritos mixed with dried leaves under the kindling).

The Method: “Doritos are the BEST fire starter! If you hold a lighter to one chip for a couple seconds, it will stay lit! On your way out for your camping trip, grab a few snack-sized bags. You only need a few chips for each fire. Eat the extras!” – Laura Ailing, Facebook

Did it work?

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

YES. I tried this hack before in one of my other camping hacks posts and it didn’t work because, as commenters said, I used own-brand chips, which apparently don’t have enough fat in them. Armed with proper branded Doritos I hoped this would work. And damn I wasn't disappointed!

Look at it!!

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

The Doritos were such good tinder for the fire. They burn for a really long time so your kindling has time to catch! Definitely worth it – I can see this being useful in wet weather too.

Dish soap pan trick

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

The Method: “If you are cooking on an open fire, coat the bottom of your pans in dish soap. It makes it so much easier to clean the inevitable blackness off." – bethanyp4a4ea4c03

Did it work?

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Did it work? Yes, this is actually a great idea! The black ash and soap mix on the right of the pan was really easy to wipe off (ignore the bit on the left, I accidentally may have destroyed the pan by dropping it in the fire...).

Campfire baked potatoes

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

The Method: “Stab a potato with a fork a few times. Wrap it in tin foil. Throw it in the campfire. Carefully retrieve it an hour and a half later. Cut it open, add butter and seasoning salt. Enjoy.” – Mary Vendegna, Facebook

Did it work?

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Did it work? Yes, and it was really easy! We didn't realise the potatoes weren't near enough to the heat for the first half an hour so make sure they're ACTUALLY hot enough. Also I misread the instructions and put the butter on before cooking, but this actually turned out fine.

Gaffa tape wrapped round a bottle

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

The Method: “Bring gaffa tape by wrapping it around your water bottle so you don't have to carry a whole roll.” – Lauryn Culnane, Facebook

Did it work?

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Did it work! Yes! Here I am experiencing the three stages of wrapping tape around your water bottle. Maybe don't do this on your battered old water bottle like I did, because the tape definitely rips the paint off. The tape came in useful later on while we were out for a walk so I'd definitely recommend this tip.

Roasted Starbursts

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

The Method: “Roasting Starbursts. I totally doubted this hack when I heard it but when you roast it over the fire the insides turn all gooey and the outside is crunchier. It’s so good.” – janeym4a252c891

Did it work? Yes, and it was WONDERFUL. Also Starbursts in the UK are vegan so vegetarians don't have to miss out on marshmallow roasting fun.

Camping hot water bottle

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

The Method: “Put boiling water in a tightly sealed water bottle, and place it in the bottom of your sleeping bag. No more cold feet at night, and a cold bottle of water in the morning.” Jacob Ward, Facebook

Did it work? Yes it did! However we used hot water from the sort of gross campsite bathrooms, so obviously didn't drink it. My girlfriend, who is always cold, said this really helped keep her sleeping bag warm.

Fairy Lights

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

The Method: “Take battery-powered fairy lights! Gives a nice ambient light and you can drape them in trees or on fences, or wrap them around your tent poles. So much better than torches!” – justsayino

Did it work?

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Even I couldn't fuck this up. It's not really a "hack" as such but it really creates lovely mood lighting in your tent. I'd definitely do it again.

Eggs in a bottle

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

The Method: “So I didn’t have to worry about eggs breaking, I cracked them the night before and put them in a gallon jug.” – savannahroseh3

Did it work?

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Yes! Again, no idea why I never thought of this before! It's great because you can just shake them and pour your them straight in the pan when you make scrambled eggs in the morning. Thanks for this LIFE-CHANGING submission.

Bacon and eggs in a bag

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

The Method: “Line a paper bag with bacon, crack a couple of eggs in there, season with salt and pepper, and pop it on the coals. Best. Hack. Ever.” – kellyt478c95921

Did it work?

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Sadly not. I wanted this to work so badly, but the eggs started to drip out the bottom of the bag almost immediately, so we had to put a second bag on the outside. It was also quite difficult to stop the bag catching on fire, even when the campfire was just hot coals. After about 10 minutes the eggs had just started to cook/burn to the bottom of the bag. In the end we decided it was probably easier to just cook the bacon and eggs in a pan over our stove.

Bonus: Here is a really soothing picture of a beautiful marshmallow we roasted.

Sophie Gadd / BuzzFeed

Just wanted to share :)

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