5 Handy Ways To Use Magnets While Camping
Many RVers are familiar with how useful a good magnet can be. Magnets can be used to attach and corral knives to a kitchen wall and keep your curtains closed. Magnets come in many forms, shapes, and sizes. Disks, bars, adhesive tape and fasteners, clips, hooks, and even decorative push pins.
They come in a variety of strengths as well, from lightweight (like your typical refrigerator magnet) to heavyweight which can hold up to several pounds.
While the science behind magnets is complex, you can learn more about what type of magnet or magnet device you might need from K&J Magnetics, Inc. This company breaks down types of magnets and their strengths and offers magnet kits so you can try a variety of projects and tricks.
Once you have your magnets, try out these 5 new ways to use them during your next camping trip.
1. Keep your cabinets free of holes
Rather than drilling holes into your kitchen or bedroom cabinets in order to hang paper towel holders, spice containers, or accessories, place a strip of adhesive magnet into the bottom floor inside the cabinet or shelf.
Depending on the strength of the magnet, you can then attach small jars, holders, hooks, and even small tap lights right to the bottom of the cabinet or shelf. You can also use a more heavyweight magnetic bar inside the cabinet and move it to any location you want without using adhesive.
2. Take advantage of your campsite
Certain campsites are a magnet haven. Bear boxes, metal rain shelters, picnic tables, and lamp posts are all great places to use magnetic hooks, hook racks, and magnetic organizers.
Attach camping lamps to the ceiling of metal shelters with magnet hooks. Use the same hooks to hang garbage bags inside metal bear boxes away from critters. Small magnetic organizersare also fun to stick to metal picnic tables to hold spices, cell phones, sponges, or toys. Just don’t forget to pick up your magnets when you leave your campsite.
3. Paint with magnetic primer
If you are thinking of doing some DIY paint jobs in your RV, use a magnetic primer first. Magnetic primer is sold by a variety of companies, but one of the most widely available is Rust-Oleum’s Magnetic Primer.
While this technique will hold up smaller magnets, don’t depend on it to hold up heavy objects. It will work if you want a large magnetic surface on your fridge, a cabinet, or a children’s area. For more information, YouTuber Superholly does a nice demonstration of this type of paint.
4. Keep track of wayward items
Every camper knows that there are campsite items that like to walk away. Paper towels, bottle openers, lighters, and oven mitts tend to not stay put or they just get in the way. Purchasing magnetic versions of bottle openers or putting magnets on certain items will allow them to be attached to picnic tables, camp tables, walls, fridges, and other metal surfaces.
The Kitchn blog has a great tip for organizing food and food storage boxes. Kitchn user Triptik puts small magnets inside of aluminum foil boxes and attaches them to the fridge. This can save space in an already small RV kitchen.
5. Make your own campsite marker
If you spend any time in Forest Service or state park campgrounds, those little pieces of paper that prove you’ve paid for your campsite don’t last if the weather turns foul. Instead of using the paper, use a magnetic label.
With a marker, write your dates, the code from the original envelope, and your name on it. Stick it to the post in case the paper becomes too wet to read. The written text can be erased and taken with you to the next campground.
In addition, if you are in a large campground, or are meeting up with friends or family, use magnetic labels to leave messages for them at the entrance bulletin board.
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