Which camping gadgets have you tried and which are worth it and which ones are crap?

The one camping gadget I wouldn’t want to be without is that spill-proof coleman fuel spout.
Those camp-stove toasters that stand the bread up over the burner — those work great, too.

Help with my Secret Garden?

I built a small cabin with a friend thats on the very edge of some beautiful lush woods. Behind the cabin is a secret entrance I made into a clearing. I made benches and have a chair high in a tree made out of an old spool. We have an old cast iron stove we camp out with, and I made a tin roof on a tree to store wood under. I also stood some trees around the edges for additional privacy. I want cool ideas to make this a magical get away. Any type of projects you’ve done, and i need to know what types of plants to plant in the deep shade under all those trees. Thanks!!!

Lone camper question?

Critical to my issue is me being a lone female (I only have one pair of hands). I want to try camping so have already purchased a small 2 man tent, stove, windbreak, portaloo etc. so can confine my JRT and myself. I don’t have overhead cover (the tent will be for sleeping in only) I am therefore looking for a standing height cover which I can sit beneath/cover my stuff should the weather turn bad. Whatever I purchase needs to be ‘erectable’ by me alone. I will have a car with me so am thinking about pitching it over the rear end of my hatchback car. Any suggestions for weatherproofing etc? Any other suggestions welcome also. Thank you

Don’t you think my parents are very uptight and give us no responsibility, trust, nor freedom?

This is a list of all the things that my parents restrict me and my siblings from doing. I can bet you that things that I am unable to do is what thousands of other kids are able to: (My brother and I are 15; my sister is 11)

– They never let us use the stove. We can’t be near it because they think we’ll burn ourselves or we’ll brake it. I thought at my age that they were suppose to encouraging the use of the stove, not restricting. I’ve never touched the stove once but only when my mom was in the shower and told me to turn it off (I barely know how a stove works).

– We can never stay inside the house by ourselves (on the occasion that my parents go out which they don’t frequently do) because they think we’ll mess up the apartment and brake every single tile on the floor. Tear the walls apart such destruction. At one point they did allow us to stay by ourselves, but they insisted on making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for us because they believed we couldn’t make it ourselves without a thick coating of glob splattered about the wall.

– If I don’t leave the building to get my sister from camp at EXACTLY 4:40 PM my mom will get very angry and go crazy for about 10 mins (or at least when I storm out of the house). I’m serious, even if it’s 4:41 she’ll yell until you can’t stand for her insipid voice.

– We can never choose what we want for dinner. It’s always the same meal every day (rice and meat sauce). It is very generic and boring. The only person in the family who receives variety in his dinner is my dad. He gets everything he wants (and I know he pays the bills and all but I think thats just not fair).

– We can’t ever handle our own money. We have about $100 and something cents in our piggy banks. We could add more but we forget about it because our parents want to deprive it from our possession. They don’t want us to spend any of it which I think makes no sense because $100 is nothing compared to a mortgage or a full college fund.

– We can’t choose what we want to wear. My dad even once forced me to wear his Yankee shirt when I don’t like it because it’s over-sized. The selves are huge. And I know nothing about sports and I don’t want to spark a “Hey you like Granderson too!” conversation. We don’t have good clothes in our closets. Nothing that I’d be proud of wearing outside. The only clothes that I have the option to wear is the clothes from my father’s job (and it’s not the best shirt in the world if you ask me).

– We can never buy our own clothes. My parents buy our clothes and it’s always a horrible style and it’s always from Old Navy and JCPenny. Never Aeropostale, American Eagle, nothing. They don’t even give us money if we want to go anywhere. Why? Because we never go anywhere. Why? Because they don’t allow us to go anywhere. And we do not live in a bad neighborhood. I see little kids going to the park late at night where I live.

– They barge into our room whenever they please. They don’t care if we could possibly be undressed or something. And we don’t do anything bad; we don’t smoke or nothing and they know that. Yet they continue to give us no privacy. It’s very annoying when they open the door when I don’t want them to. My grandparents give us respect and open the door, but not my parents.

– I’ve never been to anyone else house except for my friend Justin down the hall. If it’s at least 3 blocks away then we are not allowed to go.

– We can pick up the phone to anyone who calls. And when someone wants to speak to me on the phone my dad wants to stay inside the room to see what we say. A few days ago I forgot to say ‘goodbye’ to someone I was on the phone to and my dad started a rant about how we have no etiquette.

What do you think about my parents. Don’t you think they can treat us better than this? I know it’s nothing horribly bad but still it feels like torture that we can’t do anything in this house and we are given no freedom whatsoever! And I get mad about the fact that we have no choices!
What is wrong with OldNavy and JCPenny? — Everyone knows that OldNavy is for babies and JCPenny is for people who don’t have style and are not “cool”.