Handy Hints, Gadgets, Products & Gizmos

[GizmosMom]

Another member suggested a new forum section with new products but it doesn't look like it will be feasible. So I thought I would post this here under General RVing Issues. If enough people post (even if you have mentioned it before in another post) we can keep it near the top?

Do you have a handy hint, a new product or an old product that makes your RVing or Camping much better?

(Sorry, no commercial advertising allowed)

I'll start:

Someone in the Camping Van posted a reference to using a Super-Chamois to wipe down their shower. I have been using an icky old thick sponge and I like the chamois idea so much more.

Now I want to hear what works for you

[ArmySFCRet]

popeye59 wrote:
Firestarters? How do you make those?

It's called a match!

[popeye59]

Firestarters? How do you make those?

[Martyn]

So.... what's all this about firestarters? 🙂 🙂

[Poppy___Nana]

TMBLSN wrote:
Are we done now? This firestarter conversation has really hijacked an otherwise useful thread.

Heck we had other topics listed and then you posted about the firestarters....

[craftyfox]

Amen!

[horseylady]

Anyone can pop in at any time with a new subject and anyone who doesn't care about the fire starters doesn't have to read the posts. Are we limited on space?

[TMBLSN]

Are we done now? This firestarter conversation has really hijacked an otherwise useful thread.

[drakethib]

opps

[Montana_Marine]

campingshadow wrote:
Nick, tis an issue with me, also. I think it is possible to enjoy your surround sound without bothering the neighbors. Once it is loud enough to hear comfortably, it really serves no purpose to crank it up higher. I have a lot of hearing loss, but because of it, I am extra aware of the volume levels of my TV and radio. I try not to bother anyone else around me. I would much rather hear the birds and wind chimes than someone else's idea of music which is almost guaranteed to be different than mine (unless they are into 50's and 60's oldies). What is just as bad are the idiots that drive thru the campground with their radios blaring and the bass turned up so high that it vibrates everything in a two-block radius. By the time you can get management to them to tell them to turn it down they have already moved on. Just came thru to tick people off....because they can.

Of course it always helps to understand your rig's speaker system. One rainy evening we were playing a DVD movie & could hardly hear the sound. Kept cranking it up, but it was still faint. Finally realized we had our external speakers on instead of the inside ones! We very red facedly apologized to our neighbors the next morning, but they were all friends & laughed about it. Luckily we figured it out in 5-10 minutes so they didn't have to listen to the entire movie!!

[jassrnj]

I purchase fire starters at Home Depot ... I guess there are alot of people with more time on their hands then I do.

[pkunk]

dlplaia wrote:
Debbie, Are you using "pine trees" in the generic sense? We have lots of spruces around us but no pines. Would any evergreen work?


Being from the South, I have taken fatwood for granted and didn't question what kind of pines until a friend in NC said they have the wrong pines for fatwood, so I looked it up; it's from resinous trees, especially Long Leaf Pine. I would imagine you'd have to research your native trees to find out if they are resinous.

Our fatwood, when gotten from the stump, smells strongly like Pinesol. It's amazing.

Debbie

Ask anyone from the Southwest how much 'resin' there is in a Pinon tree. The root area especially will ignite with a match. Bad for creosoting chimneys, but good 'fat wood'.

[texacokat]

Ditto on the dryer lint and paraffin. In Girl Scouts, we call these FIRE KISSES! And they are fun to make with the kids. In Girl Scouts, we call the charcoal starter fluid "The Boy Scout Way" haha.

[dlplaia]

Debbie, Are you using "pine trees" in the generic sense? We have lots of spruces around us but no pines. Would any evergreen work?


Being from the South, I have taken fatwood for granted and didn't question what kind of pines until a friend in NC said they have the wrong pines for fatwood, so I looked it up; it's from resinous trees, especially Long Leaf Pine. I would imagine you'd have to research your native trees to find out if they are resinous.

Our fatwood, when gotten from the stump, smells strongly like Pinesol. It's amazing.

Debbie

[tenbear]

dlplaia wrote:
If you live in the forest, then you should have access to plenty of free fatwood. Fatwood is the rosin-rich wood from the core of pine trees. When a pine dies and falls, it leaves the stump in the ground. A few years of age/rotting on the stump and the fatwood is easily pulled from the middle. One stump will yield years of fatwood needed for starting fires in your woodburning stove. You only need a small piece to start a fire, not the big pieces that are sold.

Debbie

Debbie, Are you using "pine trees" in the generic sense? We have lots of spruces around us but no pines. Would any evergreen work?

[CRAMD]

For fire starters, a paper muffin cup about half full of sawdust covered with melted paraffin to just below the top of the cup works quite well.Just have to light one edge of the muffin cup to get things going.