The 1 Thing That’s Better To Have And Not Need On Idaho Campouts

There's one thing campers in Idaho can never trust. That's the weather, and there's one thing that should always be in the truck bed on the off chance you might need it.

If you're like most people who camp frequently in the Gem State, you've probably already booked a few weekends away. I'll never forget one campout, in particular, in the Sawtooth Mountains when the weather changed in the blink of an eye and we needed some heavy-duty equipment to get out of the area.

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Chainsaws aren't something that everyone thinks to pack for a camping trip. Sure, for those that cut their own wood for fires routinely, it's kind of a no-brainer. In Idaho, everyone brings one to the campsite.

In the summer of 2010, we were camping at a favorite spot of my wife's family, and the weather turned on a dime. It went from nineties and sunny to rolling thunderstorms and crazy lightning strikes. A bolt of electricity shot over our campsite at night and took out a large tree that fell exactly across the only dirt road we could take to get home. The tree was too large to move by the group, so it was more than ideal that a friend had a chainsaw in the back of his truck.

Long story short. The weather does this all the time in Idaho, and it doesn't matter the time of year. It's better to have a chainsaw and not need it than need it and not have it.