How Can My iPhone Help Me in the Great Outdoors?
Just because you want to get away from it all doesn’t mean your iPhone doesn’t have a place in your next camping or hiking trip. The truth is, technology has its place in the great outdoors, and your iOS device can be a useful and even life-saving tool for all stages of your trip, from planning to actually going.
Let’s take a look at some great apps to take along with you when you’re getting ready for that camping trip, traveling to your campsite, and then spending your time in the great outdoors.
Before your trip
Figuring out where to go
The first step in preparing for a camping trip, for most folks, is figuring out where to go. These apps will help you choose the perfect campground and campsite, and even reserve your favorite spot.
Let’s say you don’t know where to go for your camping trip, but know what you want to do once you get there — bird watching, hiking, boating, hunting, or something else entirely. This is the app for you. Oh, Ranger’s database includes national parks and forests, state parks, wildlife refuges and Bureau of Land Management sites.
Find the perfect campground
Whether you want to hike, birdwatch, or play tennis, you can find the perfect campground for your interests.
If you already know where and when you want to go camping, ReserveAmerica Camping will help you find the best campsite. Its directory includes state, federal and private campgrounds, giving you lots of options to choose from, and the easy-to-access maps make it a cinch to find the perfect campsite for you and your family.
Pick your campsite
Once you know where you want to camp, pick out the perfect spot and reserve it.
Be prepared
You don’t need to be a Boy Scout to appreciate the importance of being prepared. These apps will help you gear up your knowledge before that camping or hiking trip.
Before you head out into the great unknown, brush up on your survival skills. You might not need them, but this app could save your life if you the unexpected happens. Based on the best-selling book by a Special Air Services soldier, SAS Survival Guide is the ultimate resource for keeping yourself alive in the great outdoors.
This application is packed to the hilt with elite training techniques used to make the SAS one of the world's most devastating fighting forces.
Learn essential camping and survival skills
The unexpected can always happen in the wilderness, and this app will help you be prepared to deal with problems when you're off the grid.
To read more about SAS Survival Guide, check this article.
For the free version of SAS Survival Guide, check this out.
Nothing can kill the fun of a camping trip faster than forgetting to bring something important. To help you remember to pack everything, Packing Pro has your back. The app comes pre-loaded with tons of common camping gear, from the right type of clothing to that survival gear.
Packing Pro is also full of other features, like keeping track of the weight of your backpack and sharing your list with others in your group.
Don't forget a thing
Packing for camp is always the most stressful part of preparation, but this app takes away the stress by giving you a head-start on your checklist.
An army moves on its stomach, and your army of happy campers will need plenty of food to stay happy. Find some great camping recipes and plan out all of your meals with Coleman’s own cookout cookbook.
Plan your meals
You can get a great variety of meal recipes, and plan out all of your food needs, using this app.
On the way to camp
While you’re traveling to camp, don’t just sit there and play Candy Crush Saga. Instead, enjoy setting the mood for your excursion with campfire stories and songs, with the help of these apps.
This wonderful app has tons of creepy campfire tales for you to share, whether your group is all adults or a mix of grown-ups and children or teens.
Tell some tall tales
On your way to camp, and even at the site, learn some great stories you can swap.
Nothing sets the mood for the outdoors like a good campfire song, and this app has hundreds of them. Learn the tunes and the lyrics quickly and easily as you practice them along the way to the park.
Learn some tunes
You can do a lot of singing in the car and around the fire, but you need some great campfire songs to perform. This app is packed with great songs to learn.
At camp
Once you get to camp, the fun begins. These apps will help you make the most of your time in the great outdoors, from assisting you with knot-tying to helping navigate the trails to having fun around the campfire at night.
There are hundreds of different types of knots, and it’s important to know how to tie many of them when you’re camping. This handy app shows you how to tie more than a hundred different knots.
Tie it off
Learn how to tie those important knots using easy-to-follow pictorial steps.
Here's the free, lite version of Knot Guide.
When you’re hiking, it’s important to do everything you can not to get lost. Gaia GPS features offline maps and a compass built-in, so you can make sure to navigate with ease and confidence through the trails.
Find your way
A good topographical map and compass, Gaia will help you make sure you don't end up lost in the wilderness.
If you don't want to spend a lot on your mapping app, this is a great alternative
Finally, we have a bit of fun you can have with your device while you’re at camp. Head’s Up isn’t just great for parties, it is a fun game for camp, too.
Heads Up!
Your teammates' clues will help you guess what's on your head.
Breaking camp
I hope you find these apps as helpful as I do when it comes to getting ready for camp, getting out to the site, and making the most of my time outdoors. Make sure you take lots of pictures to remember your time in the wilderness.
