Nothing beats a quick weekend escape to the great outdoors – it’s part of the reason I’ve finally graduated from using a traditional tent to a truck-mounted rooftop tent. But whether you’re pitching a tent by a lake or firing up a campfire in the woods and high and mighty on your overpriced truck tent, a short camping trip can recharge your soul as long as you don’t have to put in a bunch of extra work. But let’s face it—cramming gear into your car, wrestling with a tent, or dealing with soggy gear, or impossible-to-manage food can turn a relaxing getaway into a stress fest. Over countless weekend jaunts, I’ve picked up a handful of dead-simple camping hacks that make these trips smoother, comfier, and way more fun. These tricks are perfect for casual campers or families looking to make the most of a couple of days in the wild without needing a PhD in survival skills. Here’s my go-to list of hacks to elevate your next weekend getaway.
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Simple Camping Hacks for a Better Weekend Getaway
Packing Efficiency – Less Waste, Better Storage
My weekend trips don’t need a U-Haul’s worth of gear. Aside from the basics (cooking gear, water, food), my new truck setup has really streamlined how I camp. Over the years I’ve also developed a few packing hacks to save space and sanity so that I spend less time Tetris-ing my gear in the truck and more time relaxing in the great outdoors.
- Compartments Are Your Friend: Having your gear in neat, labeled, and stackable containers is a great way to cut down on the time you spend unloading and packing. Instead of having one giant tub for all your cooking, cleaning, gear, and food supplies, consider breaking these containers down into their own dedicated units based on what’s inside.
- Ziplock Meal Prep: If you’re not a fan of expensive camp meals from Mountain House and you don’t have the stomach for MREs, your only other alternative is going to be surviving on trail mix and protein bars, or cooking your own meals. Cooking doesn’t have to be difficult when you’re camping though! Before you head out, pack single-meal ingredients into resealable bags. One of my favorites for breakfast is this great “Omelette In A Bag” recipe. For dinner, mix instant rice, dried veggies, and a packet of seasoning for a no-fuss side. Label each bag and stack them flat in your cooler. This cuts down on having a bunch of bulky containers and trash and makes cleanup a breeze. One of my favorites for breakfast is a pre-made sausage, egg, and cheese mix which can be tossed right in a hot skillet for some nice breakfast burritos for a group in under 10 minutes using this trick, and it’s a crowd-pleaser.
- Bottle Egg Hack: Speaking of eggs: Eggs are great for weekend breakfasts, but standard cartons don’t really protect the eggs against cracking, and even dedicated plastic egg carriers take up a lot of space in general. However, if you crack a half-dozen eggs into a small plastic water bottle, shake it up, and keep it in your cooler you’ll have easily accessible and more efficiently stored scrambled eggs ready to go whenever you and your crew get hungry, best of all, you don’t have to deal with the shells!
Photo: Nana’s Recipe Picks
Easy Campsite Setup: Get Comfy Fast
Like I said earlier one of the biggest creature comforts (camping hacks)
I’ve added to my camping setup is a rooftop tent. However, even a rooftop tent suffers from some of the same setup and takedown struggles that you have with any other tent. Setting up camp shouldn’t eat up your precious weekend time so I’ve adopted a few of these practices over the years to keep my setup and takedown time down to a minimum and
- Pre-Tied Guyline Knots: This applies to those of you who will be using more traditional tents or even larger canopies and vestibules for other camping setups. Before your trip, tie adjustable knots (like taut-line hitches) on your tent’s guylines so you can tension them quickly at camp. It saves fiddling with knots in the dark or wind. I started pre-rigging my regular tent after a gusty night left me re-staking at 2 a.m. in the rain—now the setup is a five-minute job, even in a hurry if I’m using a traditional tent and stakes.
- Clothes-Stuffed Pillow: Skip the bulky camp pillow and blow-up pillows. Camp pillows take up a bunch of unnecessary extra space, and blow-up pillows are about as comfortable as having an airbag deployed right in your face. Use your sleeping bag’s stuff sack or an extra hoodie and fill it with other clothes, like another hoodie or spare socks. It’s just as comfy, takes up no extra space, and works like a charm. I’ve been sleeping on my hoodies and jackets for years, and they beat inflatable pillows that always seem to make things worse.
- Pool Noodle Table Guard: Got kids or clumsy friends? (I’ve got at least one of those) Slice a pool noodle lengthwise and tape it over the sharp edges of your folding camp table or cooler. While I normally use pool noodles as a cheap window guard for shooting out of my truck, it’s also a cheap way to prevent bumps and bruises, especially when everyone’s scrambling for s’mores and has had a few drinks. I saw this at a family campsite and my friend’s shins wished they had thought of it sooner.
Fire and Food: Quick Wins for Happy Campers
A good fire and tasty grub are the heart of any camping trip. These hacks keep things simple, so you’re not stuck babysitting coals or washing dishes. All of these should work whether you use a portable gas grill like a jetboil or MSR pocket rocket, or you’re keeping things old school and using a more traditional fire pit.
- Lint Fire Starters: Don’t chuck that dryer lint—it’s a fire-starting goldmine. Stuff it into an empty Altoids tin and toss it in your cooking gearbox. Like steel wool, it catches a spark almost instantly, even in damp conditions, and does a good job of continuing to burn even with a stiff breeze. I keep a few of these stashed in my car for every trip; they’ve saved me when soggy kindling was all I could find. If you’ve got the cash, you can also purchase or make your own fire starters like these I’m working on integrating into my hiking gear.
- Coffee Filter Brew: Many could consider me a coffee snob since I almost always bring a French press to camp with me, but I’ve also learned that morning coffee doesn’t need to be complicated. If you’re looking for a cheap and quick way for a good morning brew, you can scoop ground coffee into a filter, tie it with a piece of string (or unflavored dental floss), and steep it in a mug of hot water like a tea bag. It’s lightweight, packs flat, and beats most instant coffee by a mile (it’s also much less expensive). I’ve since graduated to keeping some coffee in a small ziplock bag and using the Wacaco Pipamoka portable coffee brewer which doubles as its own drinking vessel – can’t get much more optimized than that!
Comfort and Safety: Small Tricks, Big Difference
While I still occasionally Weekend camping is about relaxing, not roughing it. These hacks boost comfort and keep you safe without adding complexity.
- Glow-in-the-Dark Zipper Ties: Fumbling for your tent zipper in the dark is a rookie move. Tie a glow-in-the-dark keychain or a dollar-store glow stick to each zipper pull. They light up your tent entrance for hours, making midnight bathroom runs a non-issue and making for a much larger grasping surface when you’re trying to find your way in or out of the tent. My RTT is on top of a ladder so I’d rather be sure of what I’m grabbing onto when I’m coming back from a bathroom break.
- Herb Fire Bug Repellent: Mosquitoes love to crash your campfire party and if you’re like me wearing shorts is a requirement and not a clothing option. Toss a handful of dried sage or rosemary into the flames—the smoke drives bugs away naturally and smells better than spray in my opinion. I discovered this during a desert trip when we ran out of bug spray and surprisingly it kept the biters at bay.
Final Thoughts
A weekend getaway is too short to waste on gear mishaps, frustrating fire starting, complicated meal prep, or other mundane campsite chores. These hacks are my tried-and-true shortcuts to a better camping experience, honed over years of random quick trips with friends, family, or just me, my thoughts, and a starry Oregonian sky. They’re simple enough for beginners but handy for seasoned campers too and it’d be flattering if any of you adopted them as part of your camping experience. If it makes things any easier for you and your crew, please let me know in the comments! So next time you load up for a couple of days in the wild, give these a shot and see how they transform your trip. Do you have a go-to hack you think would help me or others on their weekend outdoor getaways? Share it in the comments—I’m always up for stealing a good idea.
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