Keep Your Campfire Essentials Dry With This Handy Aluminum Foil Hack

You probably know how useful aluminum foil is in the kitchen, but you may not have known how essential this everyday item can be while out at a campsite. In fact, aluminum foil has many camping uses, from getting a flickering flashlight to work to making a DIY foil pot when you forget to pack your camping cookware. On top of this, aluminum foil can help prevent one shivering-inducing camping catastrophe — a wet lighter or matchbox.

This hack is very simple and involves wrapping your fire starter in aluminum foil to help protect it from moisture by creating a water-resistant barrier around your lighter or matches to keep them safe from morning dew, humidity, and light rain. This way, even if you accidentally leave your fire starter outside overnight or if your gear gets soaked in a sudden downpour, you will still be able to start a fire and grill up some eggs and toast or brew a steaming hot cup of coffee. This is important because the ability to light a fire can make the difference between spending your camping trip miserable and cold or comfortable and happy.

The reason this hack works so well is that aluminum foil can form a barrier to either seal in or seal out moisture — which is why it is often used to protect food in the refrigerator or prevent roasted meat from drying out in the oven. Also, because aluminum foil is so versatile, it is likely one of those items that you already plan on bringing with you for other reasons. This means you won't have to go out and buy something new or pack something extra just to keep your campfire tools dry.

However, while aluminum foil does a great job of keeping moisture out, it only works well if there are no tears and the edges of the protective wrap are properly sealed. You can do this by wrapping the foil around the matchbox or lighter multiple times and crimping down the edges.

One important thing to know about this hack is that while it will protect your fire starter from moisture, it won't make it waterproof. So, make sure you don't go jumping in a lake with your aluminum-wrapped matches because they won't stay dry during a full submersion. Because aluminum foil won't protect your lighter or matches if they get completely soaked, if you will be camping in a wet area or plan to boat to your campsite you may want to keep your fire starters in a dry bag, Ziplock, or other airtight container.

Another option if you spend a lot of time camping in wet climates is to invest in special water and wind-proof lighters or matches. While these are a little more expensive than a normal lighter or box of camping matches, they're totally worth it when you need to start a fire in wet conditions. For your average weekend camping trip during nice weather though, this handy aluminum foil hack will likely be all you need to keep your fire starters dry.