Unless the camping enthusiast on your list has a motorized camping rig with lots of cold storage space, good quality coolers are essential items. Why not surprise your favorite camper with a brand new cooler for Christmas? To make it an extra special gift, tuck a couple of gift cards from your favorite grocer, beverage mart, or butcher shop so they can pick up some items to put in the cooler when they head out on their next camping trip.

Yes, Christmas is only a few days away. But there’s still time to get a cooler to put under the tree. Just choose a model that has overnight shipping available or take a trip to your nearest sporting goods store to pick one up. Look for one that has excellent insulation and will keep food cold for at least 4 days; or choose a plug in model that won’t need ice. My plug in cooler (which has a multifunctional plug that works in both my vehicle cigarette lighter socket and outlet inside my popup camper) is my favorite by far because I never have to worry about the ice freezing my carrots or foods getting waterlogged when the ice melts.

Hot dogs and hamburgers are great camping foods. They’re easy to make and easy to hold in one hand, leaving the other hand free to hold a nice cold beer (or other beverage of your choice).

What are the best grills to give to the people on your Christmas list who think anytime is a great time to go camping?

It really depends on your budget. They are a lot of portable grills on the market that work great. I personally own an inexpensive tabletop gas grill that cost less than $25 dollars, a Weber portable gas grill that cost over $100 but works like a dream and is well worth the money if you can afford it (get the optional cover as well), and a small tabletop charcoal grill for when I want that authentic charcoal taste.

Happy Grilling!

And thanks to the invention of portable rechargeable and propane powered blenders, delicious cold drinks can be made just about anywhere without any electricity.

They make a great gift for the camper on your gift list, even if that camper is you!

And because it’s no fun to have to keep making trips to buy ice, make sure to have a good quality cooler to keep the ice cold so that the only time a trip to buy ice is needed is when the ice is gone - not when it’s melted.

Although I now can turn out some pretty delicious dutch oven meals my first foray into the world of dutch oven cooking was a fiasco.

Instead of doing a little bit of reading on the topic and finding out what equipment and techniques were best (and easiest) for beginners, I thought I had all I needed with the box that contained my brand new pre-seasoned campfire dutch oven. I did think it was going to have an instruction book with some recipes inside, but since I didn’t open it up until we were at the campground and ready to use it, I didn’t know that the only thing inside the box was the dutch oven and a warranty card.

The beef roast, potatoes, onions and carrots all looked delicious when I put them inside the dutch oven, but were unrecognizable chunks of gray char after being cooked in a blazing hot campfire for an hour. The hot dogs we ate instead that night were a big letdown from the delicious roast beef dinner we thought we going to have.

But instead of giving up I got educated and learned that dutch oven cooking is easy when a person has the right equipment and little knowledge. Plus the food that comes out of the dutch ovens is fantastic.

If you know someone who camps and who hasn’t tried dutch oven cooking, why not put together a “Dutch Oven Gift Set” that contains the essential equipment and a cookbook with Dutch Oven recipes?

Here’s the basics needed:

- A footed cast iron Dutch Oven (non-enameled) that has been pre-seasoned. Any size is okay but a good starter size is one that is 10″ or 12″ inches in diameter.
- Dutch Oven Carrying Case
- Dutch Oven Lid Lifter
- Dutch Oven Lid Stand
- High Heat Gloves (welding ones are fine)
- Chimney Starter for starting coals (coals are the best fuel for beginners)
- Small whisk broom to brush ash off Dutch Oven lid
- Dutch oven cookbook

Deep fried food….yum! Whoever first thought of it was a genius because there are a lot of foods that are so tasty when they’ve been given a dunk in a vat of hot oil and cooked to crispy goodness. I could go for a crunchy piece of deep fried chicken (or fish or fries or onion rings) right now! But you can keep the deep fried Snickers bars, Oreo cookies, and Twinkies. Those are some of the things that, in my opinion, should be kept far away from a vat of hot oil.

But, no matter what you’re cooking in a deep fryer we all know how messy it can be when done inside so why not give the camper or RVer on your list a portable deep fryer they can use outside.

Coleman makes a portable table top fryer that uses a propane cylinder to heat it rather than a cord that needs an electrical outlet. It’s cord free and completely portable! It has a 6 quart capacity, can cook at temperatures up to 450 degrees F, has built in carrying handles so it can be moved easily, has a striking high-gloss red metallic steel exterior that resists weather and corrosion, and comes with a 2 year warranty.

There’s also a carrying case available to keep the fryer dust free and protected from scratches while not in use that also has 2 handy pouches for storing propane cylinders that is a great companion gift.

While a food dehydrator may not be the first thing that comes to mind when trying to think of a great present to give somebody who loves camping, it’s a thoughtful and useful gift.

My dehydrator gets a big workout before every camping trip making several batches of beef and turkey jerky along with fruit leathers and dried fruit from whatever fruit is in season.

They are so tasty and much better than anything from a package bought in the store! Plus they are easy to transport and store while camping - no refrigeration is needed. My husband loves to grab a couple pieces of jerky and some dried fruit to tuck in his daypack before his hiking adventures in the state parks we enjoy camping at.

I like having the choice of how to cook food but my husband thinks it is crazy to take a portable gas grill, a tripod for over the campfire, and a small charcoal grill on every camping trip. But, to his credit, he just packs them all for me and doesn’t complain too much. He probably thinks I won’t cook for him if he grumbles a lot, which is probably true!

Today I read about the Volcano II Cook Stove which is one stove that folds down for easy and compact storage, plus a person can cook with it using wood, charcoal or propane. That means this one product will do the same thing as my tripod, smoky joe charcoal grill, and Weber portable gas grill.

Plus the price is reasonable considering how versatile it is. The Volanco II with the propane attachment kit is $139.95. That may seem like a lot of money, but it’s a deal compared to the nearly $300 I paid for my gas grill, tripod and charcoal grill. Plus it’s only 1 item to store instead of three and most campers are well aware of how precious storage space is!

The Volcano II with Propane Attachment Kit comes with a top and bottom grill, storage bag, propane attachment kit, wrench for adjustments, deflector plate (lowers heat and allows stove to act as a warmer to keep things like soups and stews warm), and a user’s manual. Plus it has a full one year warranty.

For more information watch the video below or visit the the company’s official website.

Personally I enjoy having a hammock on my campsite and I do truly love the ones made by Tree Ghost Hammocks. They are sturdy and made from solid material instead of rope so they don’t dig into your skin like the one shown in the YouTube video below. Sleeping in the hammocks made by Tree Ghost Hammocks is probably very easy. I know taking a nap in them is great!

Probably the best thing about them is that Tree Ghost Hammocks custom makes each hammock so buyers can purchase a hammock made with a print of their choice. My sister-in-law is a huge fan of anything related to cows so hers is made with a cow print material.

They are also made in kids sizes, which my nieces and nephews love. The Tree Ghost Hammocks are always the first thing they want to set up when they go camping. They don’t sleep in them, or even nap in them; but they spend a lot of time reading in them and spinning themselves around in them because they have a “cocoon” feature where they wrap around a person. The kids favorite position? It’s upside down! To see pictures of the hammocks in use, check out Tree Hammock’s photo gallery.

Even rain isn’t a problem when using a Tree Ghost Hammock because they also sell canopies for over the top of the hammocks so you won’t need to wear your raincoat to bed if rain is predicted!

To find out more about Tree Ghost Hammocks, check out their website: TreeGhostHammocks.com.

Twilight Camp Supply offers a good selection of camp cookware, lanterns, flashlights, stoves, heaters (good to have this time of year in the colder areas of the country), tents, tent footprints, Gerber tools (a must for gadget lovers), hammocks, sleeping bags, air mattresses, cots, canopies and other shelters. It’s pretty much everything a camping enthusiast needs besides food.

I think it is nice to have a place to shop that is strictly decided to campers who I consider more “low tech” meaning our camping units don’t power themselves or require a huge truck to pull them.

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against people who have travel trailers, 5th wheels or motorized RV’s. Heck, I hope to be one of those people in the next couple of years.

Most websites that sell camping supplies treat all campers, whether they tent or RV, the same way. But the needs of RV campers and tent campers are very different. So instead of having to slog through tons of items that are only useful to RV campers, TwilightCampSupply just has items that are useful for tent campers and people like me who have a very basic popup camper.

Check them out at TwilightCampSupply.com.

It is waterproof to 80 feet and floats when dropped in the water (unlike my cell phone that was “toast” after I accidentally dropped it in the lake while on a camping trip last year, but I guess that’s another story).

The flashlight also has a conventional battery backup. You probably won’t ever need to use it, but it’s there just in case you decide to to something like go live in a dark cave for a long time.

The best part is that the hybrid solar lite it is guaranteed for life (just don’t lose it)!

The Hybrid Solar Light is manufactured by Hybrid Light LC in Saint George, Utah, a small family owned company.

To find out more about the flashlight and how it works, watch the short video below:

For more information about the company or to purchase a Hybrid Solar light, visit the company’s website at hybridlite.com. Enter the discount code of blog08 to receive $2.50 off your hybridlite. The code is good through December 31, 2008.