So You've Never Really Camped Before?

Fieldcon sounds like a blast. A bunch of otaku together in the middle of nowhere, being themselves and having fun. But how does one survive without the basic essentials of such things as hot water and electricity? It's actually easier than you'd think.

First, think of your basic essentials. What do you truly need to survive? This includes such things as shelter, clothing, and food. This does not include your Nintendo DS. Here's a list of common camping supplies that everyone should bring:

• Tent - Unless you plan on staying with someone else, you will probably need a home-away-from-home.
• Sleeping Bag & Pillow - Summer nights are still cold. We also recommend a ground pad for the sleeping bag, as what seems like a small pebble when your setting up your tent in the morning will keep you up all night.
• Water - Either bring gallon jugs, or if you plan on using what nature provides, bring purification tablets. We'll have purification means as well, but not a place to store it, so if nothing else bring a few water bottles. A cooler full of your favorite soda wouldn't hurt either, but you can't cook with that!
• Food - You still have to eat. Remember that there won't be an oven or microwave anywhere nearby. Hot dogs good; hot pockets bad. Ramen and a pot are very good.
• Clothing - It may come as a surprise, but the outdoors tends to be dirty. Try to pack comfortable clothes that you can move in and you wont care if they get messy. Shoes are also really important. Good tennis shoes or hiking boots are your best bet.
• Water bottle or canteen - Unless you feel like running back to your tent every half-hour, carry one.
• Flashlight and extra batteries - Where there aren't streetlights, it actually gets dark at night.
• Bug Spray - Mosquitos aren't fun, but they are avoidable. To some extent anyway. We'll also be testing out our new invention to stop bugs. It involves lasers. You might want to bring a laser proofed something for when we try it out.
• First Aid Kit - Don't let a small injury kill the event for you. Bring along band-aids, hydrogen peroxide, gauze, athletic tape, Neosporin, and anything else that would belong. If you are allergic to bees and wasps, triple-check that you've packed your sting kit. If you are allergic to anime, get the hells out!
• Sunscreen - The sun will burn. Especially the virgin flesh of an otaku that rarely sees the light of sol, giver of life. Bring sunscreen; your feeble goth-loli umbrellas won't save you.
• Purell - Clean your hands before eating. When you don't have water, this stuff is perfect.
• Toiletries - Toothbrush, deodorant, soap, etc. If nothing else have some mouthwash, and that is for your sake as much as anyone else's! (Be sure that your soap is eco-friendly and won't create mutant frogs bent on world domination. Otherwise we'll have to sacrifice you to pacify them. Eco-friendly = ^_^. Mutant frogs = x_x.)
• Towels - Make sure you know where your towel is, never know what it could come in handy for.
• Plastic Bags - A few garbage bags and such are nice incase things rain to keep your stuff dry, or to put muddy things into, or for trash or just whatever.

Those are probably the basic essentials for any camping trip. An overly extensive list of stuff that could be useful can be found at the following link: http://www.camping-usa.com/checklist.html

Remember to pack light for convenience. Tents tend to be small as it is, and unless you want to be running to your car every time you need something, it'd be a good idea to bring as little as necessary.

Note for cosplayers: First of all, a single cosplay for the weekend is probably fine. Don't overdo it. Secondly, make sure your cosplay isn't going to kill you. This is the outdoors. There is no climate control. It's hot during the day and cold during the night. Make sure the character you're attempting is going to work well in any condition. Yuffie would probably be fine; Alphonse would not.

Great, you've got all your stuff packed, you're at the site and you've got your tent set up. But now you wonder "Where do I bathe?" You could just choose not to, but you might discover that people stop wanting to hang around you. You could also bring along a solar shower, which is basically a giant plastic bag that you fill with water and hang somewhere so that the sun warms it up and you can shower. You'll either have to construct your own blinds around it or learn to shower in a bathing suit. The final option would be to make use of a nearby stream; once again a bathing suit is probably a bright idea unless you don't mind people watching you skinny dip (which we are actually totally cool with).

So you're all clean and ready for breakfast. You look at your package of Johnsonville Sausages and then look at the campfire and wonder "Well now what do I do?" If you didn't bring along roasting sticks, you could always hunt one up. Find a nice green twig that's sturdy and stick the tip in the fire to sterilize it, then stab your sausage and roast away. There's a technique to roasting things that takes some mastery, but with a bit of practice you'll get the hang of it! ^_^

For other fun things to cook, check out this site: http://www.camprecipes.com/

So now you're getting the hang of this adventure. It's actually pretty fun. Pretty soon, you won't even think about how much you wish you could check your email. And that is when you've reached true camping nirvana.