What Household Items Are Great Camping Gear Substitutes?

You don’t have to spend a fortune on camping supplies. In fact, you can substitute expensive camping gear with household items. This will save you money and ensure you have an enjoyable camping experience.

When venturing out into the great outdoors, people like to be as prepared as possible. Having the right camping equipment can be the difference between a perfect experience and a bad one. I have put together a couple of ideas that will save you money on camping essentials:

© Martin Wroblewski 2015

Mess Kit

Let’s start with the mess kit. A good mess kit will run you upwards of $50. This is a vital item on the camping checklist as it allows you to transport, cook, and eat the third most important thing for survival – food. The first two being shelter and water. A good mess kit will include various sizes of cooking containers, bowls, plates, and covers.

Let’s Substitute!

Grab the oldest pan and a small boiling pot from your cupboard. The pan will be used for frying up some morning eggs and the pickerel you just reeled in. The pot will allow you to boil drinking water but most importantly that delicious cup of coffee as you look out onto the loon-echoed lake. For use as plate/bowl, I recommend plastic Tupperware containers. The various sizes give you versatility and an easy way to transport the food. Clean up is also made easy.

Utensils

Utensils are offered in metal or a more expensive material such as silicon to prevent heat transfer. I have been camping for nearly 30 years and have yet to purchase a set. So what can you use?

Let’s Substitute!

Utensils are on everyone’s camping essentials list. It certainly makes eating a lot easier. Some of us would starve long before whittling a fork out of a branch. If you have disposable cutlery, that may be an option. However, I prefer sturdy cutlery. There’s nothing worse than breaking a fork halfway through a juicy medium rare steak. Every household has a drawer that contains the odd collection of knives, spoons, and forks that don’t seem to belong to the dinner set. No one will miss these. Make sure the knife you take is sharp and strong as this is a good tool to have while camping.

The bottom line is that people have been camping long before camping-specific retailers were around. So be creative when checking off your camping checklist. The opportunities to substitute household items for camping gear are limitless.

What household items have you used

as substitutes on your camping checklist?

We want to know!