My husband and I are going to the Czech Republic at the end of July and will be camping for a week about 2 hours from Prague. I want to pack light but we have a lot of camping gear to take plus there will not be any place to wash clothes. We will be doing car day trips and some hiking/walking while we attend an antique French car meet (citroen 2cvs). Any suggestiions?
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
180 posts
Betsy,
Can you first define what kind of camping? Are you talking about camping with a vehicle or are you backpacking? What services are in the camping area? Are you tenting?
I ask because people's definitions vary. For example, to my wife's family in Italy, camping includes a flush toilet that they built themselves at their beach "campsite". I was expecting a tarp and a sleeping bag :)
Pete
Posted by
OP
West Nyack, NY, United States
41 posts
Yes, you are right, there are so many ways of camping. We will be tent camping and have a car at a place that will have public toilets, showers and eating facilities. Our gear consists of tent, plastic ground sheet, 2 sleeping bags and "thin" inflatable roll-up pads, hostel sleep sacks and flashlights. No cooking utensils needed. We have 2 smallish soft-sided pieces of luggage for that stuff and then have to bring suitcases for our clothing, etc. Because there are no clothes washing facilities we have to take more than I would like. I'd like some tips on multiple-duty clothing packing. As I read my camping list, I realize that it is the bare minimum already.
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
I wouldn't give up on laundry. I suspect most people there will have some method for washing clothes.
My personal favorite is a large (2 gallon or larger) ziplock bag. It works great for underwear, socks, t-shirts or even a sweater. Pants still need to be washed at a laundromat occasionally.
Put clothes, small amount of laundry detergent and about half-full of water. Shake well, drain out of one open corner, add rinse water/shake/drain and repeat until the water is coming out clear. Hang dry.
To improve the drying time, I bring a chamois to wring my clothes. I haven't found anything yet that gets as much water out of the clothes and can be wrung nearly dry to use on the next item.