“We listened to customers so we took the database of our larger Camp & RV app, which has over 20,400 campgrounds and RV parks, and narrowed it down to just those that say they accept tents,” says Adam Longfellow, the president of AllStays LLC. “This is currently over 14,000 locations. Most of these places will accept RVs and truck campers as well. There are well less than a thousand campgrounds that are completely tent only.”

Like it’s popular sister app Camp and RV, the new Camp and Tent app plots points on a map view around the user and then updates on the fly as the user scrolls or they can enter a city and state to quickly research far away places. With just a touch, the map can be filtered for certain types of campgrounds. Maybe a user only wants to see National and State Forests, State Parks, public lands, privately owned campgrounds or even Military camps. There are many more campground types along with a selection of hundreds of outdoor sporting goods stores for that last minute item you need.

Each detail views includes a long list of amenities along with buttons for the phone number, driving directions, links to the campgrounds official website and a photo search.

Adam Longfellow adds “After a few too many times of finding myself in the middle of dense forests where none of my gadgets worked, I knew it had to be done differently. So even without any internet service, a camper can look up locations by city and state and still get all the location and amenity details.”

I also added some more amenities details to parks and some more campgrounds were added as I recheck for all county and city parks. It is already the top ranked camping related app but I will never rest in making it better and taking in every user suggestion and report. I want this app to be the best one out there for all your trips this spring and summer.

The camping app is available on iPhone, iPad,  iPod, Android and Intel’s App Up for PCs. You can get more info here.

Using much of the data I have with this website, it puts it into a more usable format on the road. It locates you and shows you what is around you. You can filter by what you are looking for or search way on ahead in other areas of your trip.

The app has two modes. One that uses GPS location services and finds you and then plots everything on a map near you. The other is the manual lookup. Data is stored locally so you can look up your interstate or highway choice and view the data. Maps and directions still require internet access from there of course.

*13,850 campgrounds. KOA, Private, State Parks, National Parks, BLM, National Forest, Army Corps of Engineers. Even primitive hike-in/boat-in spots. Expanded details for most of them.

*Walmart (with Parking and No Parking noted, along with comments from those like you.)

*Overnight Parking like casinos and other options.

*2,800 Truck Stops with amenities, if RVs are welcome, and what else is nearby.

*Outdoor Supply Stores (Camping World, Cabelas, Gander Mountain, Dicks, Bass Pro Shops)

*750 RV dealers and service places (adding some more in the next couple weeks to be more complete)

*2,455 Rest Areas, Welcome centers, turn outs, service plazas, and scenic vistas broken down by heading. Only heading northbound and don’t want to see southbound rest stops that you can’t use? You can filter Rest Areas and Turnouts by the direction you are heading. A detail view lists each rest stops amenities like restrooms, picnic tables, vending machines, pet-friendly, RV dump, handicap accessible, security and even wi-fi. (Changing with budget cuts)

I accept and listen to all requests to make the app better. What kind of data or options do you want?

Here are some screen shots of the app and a few words about each.

The main map view, zoom buttons or pinch. Select lower left Find button to filter or search. Select each point to bring up detailed view.

The detail view for each point in the app includes map, more information and amenities for most, buttons to dial phone number and for directions with Google maps.

Filter points on the map view. This is handy when you want to see only public lands, Wal-marts, rest areas in one direction or whatever. You can zoom out to view up to 150 points on a single view.

Select favorites to move them up in your list on the view screen.

Select favorites to move them up in your list on the view screen.

Get “Camp & RV” now

I have finished a update of all Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds in the USA. Overall I added a couple hundred campgrounds I didn’t have before because I took these down to even the ones with only a few primitive sites. They are now here.

I’ve added pretty detailed GPS coordinates to each one along with directions when I have them. At least as well as I could find. Most are right down to the remote location while some are just to the nearby main road. It is probably due to budget woes, but much of the official information is outdated and hasn’t been updated in quite some time. A few have neglected their sites for a couple of years now.

There are very few Army Corps sites in the northeast and the deserts of the west. Army Corps camping is based around water so you can figure that out. You can find the main page here and then go to wherever you are traveling.

Campground and RV Parks

Each state now has a special map just for public campgrounds. You can see the Arizona example here.

Public Campgrounds in Arizona

Stepping outside onto our private terrace there was a swinging hammock and a full day bed under the extended straw roof which neatly disguised the tent. We were yards away from the white sandy beach and could see the reef just offshore. To complete the picture a cheeky Colobus monkey sat on the roof, watching us. Having got over the shock, we quickly settled in and over the coming week enjoyed the retreat-like atmosphere of this unique resort. Meals were served in the open-sided dining room beneath a high thatch roof; the pool and spa were delightful, and we joined the local guide for rambles around the island, spotting tiny antelope, turtles and hermit crabs with huge shells on their backs. We visited the altar at which the local Digo people still leave their sacrifices and requests, and submersed ourselves in the sulphurous slimy grey mud for a DIY mud bath treatment.

Days out began with a stroll to the jetty and a boat or tractor ride to the mainland. The wildlife safaris were quite superb as we were within striking distance of Tsavo East National Park. After seeing herds of elephants, zebra, wildebeest, countless antelope and monkeys, the day ended as a cheetah strolled across the path in front of our jeep followed by four scampering kittens.

I don’t do camping, but I can recommend Chale Island. Call it bungalow accommodation, as the guide book does, then settle down to a relaxed existence of sleeping, swimming, reading, walking and eating. And of course safari-ing.

By Gillian Birch

Northern Hemisphere

1. Hold the watch so it is flat in your hand and even with the ground. Point the hour hand toward the sun.
2. Use something like a matchstick and set it on the watch face so one end or the head covers the number that is halfway between the 12 and the hour hand. (Use 1 instead of 12 if you are in daylight savings time.)
3. The head or the end that is covering the number is pointing south. Assuming your stick is straight, the other end is heading north.

Southern Hemisphere

1. This first step is the difference between the two hemispheres. Hold the watch so it is flat in your hand and even with the ground. Point the number 12 toward the sun.
2. Use something like a matchstick and set it on the watch face so one end or the head covers the number that is halfway between the 12 and the hour hand. (Use 1 instead of 12 if you are in daylight savings time.)
3. The head or the end that is covering the number is pointing south. Assuming your stick is straight, the other end is heading north.

I still love my ranger compass but I don’t always have it with me so this method suffices. And it takes less time than drawing an arc in the dirt around a stick.

Have you used this method and saved your butt in the wild?

By Adam Longfellow

Before noon and on level terrain, put a stick of around 3ft into the ground. Look for it’s shadow. (If it’s cloudy enough that you don’t have any shadow at all…well, this won’t work and you’ll have to just wish you had a compass or for some sun.)

Compass in the sand - Photo by treehouse1977

Mark the end of this shadow. You can use a stone, stick or whatever is handy.

Use the tip of this shadow for your radius and draw an arc around your stick in the ground. The shadow will get shorter as noon approaches. After noon, it will get longer again. Mark the arc again where the new afternoon shadow touches your arc.

You now have two marked spots. Draw a straight line between the two marks. This makes an East-West line in the dirt. The first mark is in the west and the second is towards the east.

Make a cross. Draw a line that forms right angles across your first line. This is your North-South line.

Compass in the snow - Photo by Uigers

Have you done this before? How did it work in your situation?

By Adam Longfellow

Fall trees - Photo by chrisbastian44

Here are just a few reasons to get out there again

• Less traffic
• Fewer campers around you
• Lower campsite prices
• Some campgrounds are free in off season
• Lower fuel prices
• Changing seasons and colors
• Very few kids camping around you

Fall Camping and Colors - Photo by inottawa

It’s not easy to miss a fall football game but a weekend trip out is well worth it. Depending on where you go, you may be able to bring a radio or video device and get the game while sitting at a campfire! Just make sure to keep the volume low so other campers get their desired solitude. You could also combine it with getting some firewood for the home. Then you have a great trip that serves a purpose as well and you won’t feel guilty for living the good life.

The tourists have gone but beauty remains - Photo by J Gurbisz

Mojave Green Rattlesnake. A catch-in-garage-and-release in Arizona.

New Mexico’s snake population is booming this year.  Heavy rainfall and abundant rodent populations mean snakes are fat, happy and multiplying.  A recent report by a local new station suggested three times as many rattlers had been caught and transported away from the Los Alamos area this summer. Rattlers have been spotted around Santa Fe as well.

With proper precautions, there’s no reason why you can’t still enjoy a hike.  The key is to be extra vigilant.  Here are some additional tips to snake safety:

- Walk well-maintained trails.  Snakes (and rodents) tend to congregate around debris and in tall grass.
- Wear high-top shoes and long pants.
- Be noisy. Let your feet thud into the ground.
- Keep children in the middle of the group.
- Always look before stepping over logs, rocks and debris.
- Continually scan the area around the trail.
- Walk around snakes. Or stop and let them slither away.  For the most part, snakes are afraid of you.
-  Snakes are usually most active in the mornings and evenings.  Be more cautious when out at dawn or dusk.
- Bites are most common in spring and fall.
- Travel with a snakebite kit like Venex Snake Bite Pocket Kit ($10).

If you or someone in your party is bitten by a snake:
- Stop moving immediately.
- Keep the bitten area below heart level.
- Remove jewelry and any other constricting object from that arm or leg.
- Get to a hospital as soon as possible.
- Do not ever try to suck out the venom.
- Do not apply ice to the bite.
- Do not apply a tourniquet or other constricting device.

By Anna Philpot

I want to remind people that there are thousands of these out there. They were manufactured in such a rush and so cheaply that they had dangerous levels of formaldehyde in them. The usual supply chains were stressed by the volume so the factories started buying products from other countries and regulated sources. Many people, including children, became very sick while living in them. Some people even died in them after surviving the original disaster.

Many of these trailers have never even been lived in. Some have had flood damage increasing the health hazards that already existed in these sick campers from the beginning.

In the nature of good old American capitalism, there are people out there that would love to sell you one of these campers, possibly disguised as something else. It is up to you to know what you are buying.

Please take extra care when looking at any trailer made in 2005. Yes, the worst of the gases would have dissipated into the air but the levels are still higher than normal all these years later. The crappy foreign glues they used were so deadly to begin with, they are still above recommended exposure levels.

So you save a few bucks. You give those savings to your insurance. They take your money, deny your claim and then you’ll be both sick and out of money while some suit is richer for it. That is what is happening to many people that are still in the wake of disasters like Katrina. They got taken by their home insurance company. They got taken by a private company under government contract. They got taken by their health insurance company. That’s the nature of business these days and it’s up to you to avoid it at the start.

Many companies and factories produced these trailers in Indiana. Many employees of those companies have become very sick. Note that the regular branded retail products from these companies are fine. The retail products are were made with more care and expense than the rushed and cheap bare bones FEMA trailers. It’s up to you to decide who took the money and ran and who is being responsible.

According to documents shown on a HDNet news report by Dan Rather, companies that were sued in the aftermath of these FEMA trailers include the following companies:

Gulfstream
Fleetwood
Starcraft
Pilgrim
Monaco
KZRV