Monday, August 2, 2010

Camping tips

I've always been a fan of Campmor, the New Jersey purveyor of camping gear. I like how its gear is affordably priced, presented without any frills in its small-format, two-color catalogs. All of the catalog items are depicted as sketches, which seems like an amazing feat. Even the Wall Street Journal doesn't draw all its pictures any more.

But I've been following Campmor on Twitter, and I am thoroughly confused. The past few days they have been posting camping tips. These are either the worst camping tips in the world or someone with a very dry sense of humor is tweeting for them.

Here's an example from today:

Hiking Tip # 9. Think before you step. A mesmerized hiker may be staring at local wildlife, & trip over a tree root causing serious injury.

And another from today:

Hiking Tip # 14. Avoid sunburn. Wear head and arm coverings in sunny or high altitude areas, and use sunblock.

There are a few legitimate ones, like this one from July 26:

Camping Tip # 9. Bring a piece of outdoor carpet to place in front of your tent to reduce the amount of dirt tracked in.

But for every one like that there's something like this:

Camping Tip # 1. Arrive at your campsite in the daylight. This will give you a chance to get your tent & camp site set up.

Next thing you know, Campmor will tell us that the sun is hot, the sky is blue and water is wet. Oh wait they actually revealed that the sun is hot in tip #14. The only thing I can figure is that these are intended for beginning campers or children. And that some are meant to be a little funny.


No comments: