Hey, Back-to-School Shoppers!

We may be a summer camp shop, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find plenty of the school accessories you’ll need when your children return for the upcoming school year.

We have an excellent selection of school backpacks and daypacks from trusted brand names like JanSport, Columbia, and Under Armour. And, coming soon, we’ll be offering embroidery on our JanSport Superbreak Backpacks so your backpack can feature your own individuality. Pick your choice of style and color to make your Superbreak really feel like your own!

We’ve also made some recent additions to our lovely Lockers 101 selection to make your school locker look fantastic! Dress up the drab metal locker at your school with Lockers 101 Wall Paper Set and the Bling it Up Decorating Set. And don’t forget the Magnetic Three-Pocket Locker Organizer for convenience on your way to class. Get a closer look at these products and click here.

It’s a wise move to label your school clothes so that there’s no confusion in the locker room after gym class as well as jackets, footwear, and snow pants/other winter gear. A surefire way to ensure that your child’s school clothes return home at the end of the day (and don’t go home with the wrong kid), Clothing Name Labels can be personalized by clicking here.

Also, take a look at our inclusive selection of Rain Gear for wet, rainy waits at the bus stop or outdoor for recess. Top quality rain gear from Columbia and other leading manufacturers like Frogg Toggs and Red Ledge is certain to keep your kid prepared against precipitation. Stay dry at school with our excellent Rain Gear Department.

The new school year is approaching fast, so don’t wait start shopping and find the fun and functional gear, supplies, and other accessories we offer here at Everything Summer Camp. As always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Summer Camp Fans!

Everything Summer Camp’s ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest is BACK!! Now that you’ve returned home and have had some time to reflect on your camp stay, we want to hear how you liked it. This contest has seen great participation in our previous years and we love reading all the submissions we get. We can’t wait to hear all your stories from this summer!

Tell us about the single, most fun and exciting activity or talk about all the great people you met. No matter what you have to share, we’d love to hear about it! Include your first name and the initial of your last name, what camp you visited, and how long you’ve been going to camp. 150 words will qualify, however, we’d rather see submission’s that are closer to 250. Tell us about the camp you went to and why you think it’s the best! And, if you include a picture with your submission, we’ll post your camp story on Instagram!

What to Write
There are a million things you could talk about. But what will make the best submissions are the parts of camp that meant the most to you. Tell us about the things you learned at camp. Tell us about all the friends you made while you were there. Tell us how it felt to be away from home. Tell us about the beautiful landscapes and natural surroundings you saw at camp. Or submit a journal entry style to chronicle a day in the life!

Submit your written story about your summer camp experience by clicking here. There’s no entry fee. If you’re under 18 years old, you’ll need permission from your parent or guardian to enter this Contest.

Speaking of parents—we love hearing from you too! Don’t hesitate to give us your own submission if you have a story to share. How was the experience? Has your kid exhibited a change in behavior? How did you cope with your kid being gone? Did you learn any lessons from this year? Tell us whatever you want. We’re all ears!

Everybody gets a $15 gift certificate to Everything Summer Camp with their submission!
Seven random winners will be chosen. Our first randomized winner will receive a $100 gift card for our website. We’ll then randomly pick two more winners to receive $50 gift cards to our site. After that, four random winners will get our $25 gift cards. Everyone else who submits will get the $15 gift cards.

Tell us how camp went and share your stories right here on the Blog! Check out further details on the entry form by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Water Lovers!

Activities and the summer sun make us sweaty and thirsty; a trusty water bottle is essential to your summer stay at camp. That’s why we like to offer only the best bottles for camp here at Everything Summer Camp. Names like CamelBak, Light My Fire, Outdoor Products, and more can all be found right here on our website. But today, we’re spotlighting the Avex brand in particular.

Featuring their own Autoseal and Autospout technologies, Avex has designed kid-friendly bottles that lend themselves perfectly to the adventuresome summer camp lifestyle. Offering the Brazos Autoseal as well as the Wells Autospout right here on our website, we want you to have the best throughout your time at camp.

Made up of a team of adventurers, the folks at Avex understand how important it is to camp with gear that you love. By learning through their own experiences out in the wilderness, they’ve been able to capture the things we want from our water bottles in their water bottles and deliver gear that you will grow to love!

They’re the company that cares and strives to make a difference. Compelled to do their part to protect the valuable water resources of our planet, the Avex brand policy states that “For every purchase of an Avex product, you give back to your planet and help preserve our water.” When you support Avex, you support our planet.

Avex water bottles stop any chance of leaks, spills, or contamination and they allow for convenient one-handed use. Thanks to the double-walled, vacuum insulated design, these bottles can keep liquids hot for about 7 hours and cold for 20 hours. Stay hydrated with our small selection of water bottles and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Curious Campers!

If you get curious about the history of some of your camping gear as we do, then check out the history of the poncho! We carry a handful of ponchos from an assortment of brand names such as GSI Outdoor, Red Ledge, and Coghlan’s. But how long have these effective pieces of rain gear been in existence and how did they come to be?

These outer garments were developed for protection from wind, sandstorms, rain, and to provide warmth. We’ve traced the history of the poncho back to 500 B.C. along the Andes Mountains. The natives that first wore ponchos were known as Paracas. They lived in South America on lands that are modern day Bolivia and Peru. Over hundreds of years, the poncho slowly made its way north into modern day Mexico and beyond.

Just a simple large sheet of fabric with a hole in its center for your head, ponchos have developed a few more features over the years. By the 1800s, ponchos were made with fasteners so that the sides could close around your body to provide better effectiveness. They also gained hoods for further protection.

And just 50 years after that, ponchos were adopted by the U.S. military. They started making their ponchos out of a latex-coated cloth that was waterproof and they became part of popular attire for soldiers in the Civil War. Not only would they use their ponchos for clothing, but they proved handy as a ground sheet to sleep on as well.

While ponchos nowadays are still strongly associated with the Americas and the natives who first created them, they have made a comeback in modern fashion design as well. The simple sheet shape hasn’t changed, but the material these fashionable ponchos are made from has. They can be knit from wool or yarn or any number of materials.

Rain gear is a must at summer camp when you never know what the weather may be like, so take a look at our Outerwear Department  by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

The same as so many Hollywood stars, professional athletes, musical artists, and other celebrities, among so many of our favorite Hollywood actors who attended summer camp when they were young, movie star Ethan Hawke is yet another former camper in the biz! Frequently found in film features all throughout the 90’s, he started making a name for himself even before that when he was only 15.

And it wasn’t much before then that Ethan attended summer camp at the YMCA Camp Carter in Texas. Located just minutes from downtown Fort Worth, Camp Carter covers more than 300 acres of heavily wooded land as well as its own lake and waterfront access to the Trinity river, showing kids—like Ethan Hawke back in the early 80s—the time of their lives.

Between his camp stay and his first movie, Ethan starred for the first time on the stage for his high school production of ‘Saint Joan’ When he first started high school, Ethan wanted to be a writer, but it didn’t take long for the acting bug to settle in and he knew this was what he wanted to do.

So eager to get into the business, the 15-year-old Ethan landed a lead role in the sci-fi movie as mentioned above. While the movie ‘Explorers’ went on to develop a cult following, it did not do well in the theaters. Though he’s not proud to admit it, ‘Explorers’ poor immediate reception took a toll on Ethan and he unofficially gave up acting for the time being. In retrospect, he feels that he rushed things along too quickly. “I would never recommend that a kid act,” he has said.

He returned to acting five years later after completing his education and saw better success than he did on his initial run. In just a few years, he found his role alongside Robin Williams in ‘Dead Poet’s Society’ which was a great launching point that brought him the work of 18 films throughout the 90s.

Ethan’s acting career also included some television appearances such as an episode of ‘Alias’ as well as ‘Moby Dick’ the made-for-TV miniseries. Check out Camp Carter for yourself sometime and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John