This post may contain affiliate links or mention our own products, please check out our disclosure policy.

5 Handy Ways To Use Magnets While Camping

magnets - Magnets can be so much more than travel souvenirs. Photo by daveynin

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.

Sign up for the newsletter today!

Please enter a valid email address.

An error occurred. Please try again later.

× logo

Thank you for subscribing to the Do It Yourself RV newsletter, keep your eye on your inbox for updates.

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.

magnets
Photo by The Vol

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.

Photo by NPS

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 organizers are 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.

magnets
Photo by Rust-Oleum

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.

magnets
Photo by Phlogiston

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.

magnets
Photo by Rick Obst

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.

Let us know how you use magnets while camping in the comments below and with the community on iRV2 Forums.



Support Do It Yourself RV

Do It Yourself RV is run by RVers who share the most up-to-date and valuable content on camping and RVing every week. We couldn’t do it without the support of our readers just like you.

You can help support the efforts of Do It Yourself RV by becoming an RV LIFE Pro subscriber, which gives you access to:

  • RV LIFE App, an RV Safe GPSâ„¢ with voice- and lane guidance, even offline.
  • RV LIFE Trip Wizard, a visual RV trip planner with custom RV-safe routes and a comprehensive directory of RV parks, resorts, and campgrounds.
  • RV LIFE Maintenance, a cloud-based service that tracks your RV maintenance and provides reminders, reports, and related documentation.
  • RV LIFE Masterclass, an online educational platform where RV experts share tips and advice on everything you need to know about RVing.

If you value our site and want to see us continue to grow, please consider supporting us by becoming an RV LIFE Pro subscriber today.