Questions about camping.

[Nsghunter]

Hello guys, I've been on the forum for a few years now but I've never posted in the camping forum before.

I'm an adult man and I've never camped much. I wanted to buy an RV to use for hunting and recreation camping but we have decided against it. We don't want to pay for one, don't believe they would ultimately make camping easier etc.. they really just don't suite our needs at this time.

Therefore, what I'm asking for is some help with camping Advice. Actually I realize now that I'm afraid to go camping, it's daunting to me and I don't know much about it so I was really hoping for some general advice and tips. I have a tent, stove, sleeping bags, air mattress and a lot of the most common amenities and supplies. I have been camping a few times by myself and with my wife and children. Most of the camping I will be doing is camping at a campsite, sometimes with and without electricity.

I Think I understand the basics of camping but are there any tips to making it easier You would like to share?

Any pieces of gear that you Think are "must haves"?

I will be camping mostly by myself, during hunting season, in the hot of the fall and the cold of the winter.

How can you stay cool and warm during the respective times? How can you keep condensation down in your tent?

How do you stay dry in the rain?

 

[Omega]

Hello guys, I've been on the forum for a few years now but I've never posted in the camping forum before.

I'm an adult man and I've never camped much. I wanted to buy an RV to use for hunting and recreation camping but we have decided against it. We don't want to pay for one, don't believe they would ultimately make camping easier etc.. they really just don't suite our needs at this time.

Therefore, what I'm asking for is some help with camping Advice. Actually I realize now that I'm afraid to go camping, it's daunting to me and I don't know much about it so I was really hoping for some general advice and tips. I have a tent, stove, sleeping bags, air mattress and a lot of the most common amenities and supplies. I have been camping a few times by myself and with my wife and children. Most of the camping I will be doing is camping at a campsite, sometimes with and without electricity.

I Think I understand the basics of camping but are there any tips to making it easier You would like to share?

Any pieces of gear that you Think are "must haves"?

I will be camping mostly by myself, during hunting season, in the hot of the fall and the cold of the winter.

How can you stay cool and warm during the respective times? How can you keep condensation down in your tent?

How do you stay dry in the rain?

Lots of questions there, I'll take a couple, and ask a couple. What kind of camping are you planning? Are you planning on one night, the weekend, or an entire week? The times I have tent camped, two of the most important things that I needed was a toilet, and enough clean water. As to the tent, make sure it has a rain fly, or a separate layer than the tent itself. Try not to touch the tent sides as that invites leaks, and make sure you set the tent up in an elevated part of the ground and not in a depression. If you don't have a tent, and you have a pickup, consider getting one that installs in the bed, such as this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/Rightline-Gear-110750-Full-Size-Short/dp/B00FSBE7BE

 

[Nsghunter]

It would be for 3-5 days. The toilet problem makes sense but I would hope to try to camp in a campground with facilities.

 

[waynesworld]

One other thing is your age I have camped from small tents to now have a RV. If you start with tents everyone will appreciate if you go to a camper. Tent is important and number of people in it. If you are taking kids I recommend a larger house type of tents. My last two had two bedrooms that could hold 3 queen air mat. and a entrance part so if it is raining you can set up a table. I have a lot of kids but even if only a few would go out larger is better. Camping at state and federal campgrounds seem to have good to great facilities so bathrooms and showers seem to be not problem. One of the things I think is a canopy of some type to go over your picnic table and cooking stuff.

As you get older or more you camp you may look at a pop-up camper or getting a used camper the up side of those are all the stuff stays in one place so you don't have to hunt it and forget it. Also AC is nice, if you tent camp plan around the heat, setting up a tent in the mid summer heat runes the weekend.

 

[moondawg]

I'll offer a few tips.

*ALWAYS bring rain gear. Rain jacket, rain pants/overalls, and waterproof shoes/boots. If you bring it, it probably won't rain. If you DON'T bring it, the chances of rain increase exponentially!

Get a tent that has at least some mesh siding. This will offer a little ventilation. Currently I have the 4 man Alps Mountaineering tent. It's a dome tent that has two doors, and two ventilation ports at the top, to allow for moisture/condensation to escape. It also has plenty of room for gear inside the tent.

Get a canopy to place over the picnic table. It will come in handy when (not if) it rains.

Invest in a good sleeping bag. Down is good and warm, but you have to be careful to NOT get it wet. Synthetic bags are also warm, but a little heavier. Since you're car camping, weight should'nt be a big deal. I'd also invest in a sleeping bag liner--it will help keep sleeping bag clean, dry, etc. It will also add a few degrees of warmth when it's cold.

I don't camp that much in the heat, because I don't like the heat. I just cannot sleep well at night, so I just avoid camping when it's hot.

 

[bobbuck]

My favorite thing about camping is cooking and eating. However, cooking on Coleman stoves suck in my opinion, it takes forever to cook a big breakfast. Spend some money on a nice stove, I had a three 30,000btu burner stove. I had a flat top griddle that went over two eyes for frying bacon, sausage eggs etc. it's amazing how fast you can prepare a meal on a stove like that, leaves more time to enjoy your family. I don't tent camp anymore, but we used to a lot. If your campsite is wooded we always brought a tarp to string up to help with rainy days. My tip of the day take a quarter and place it in the dead center of your tarp. Tie a string around the tarp/quarter and throw string over a high limb in center of campsite where you will cook/ congregatee tie the line off. Then tie your four corners off and you have a fairly dry campsite also keeps leaves etc off camp gear.

 

[MeganMcGrathnvb]

Hi everyone, as far as I know in the summer everyone is stuffy at caravan and people dream of a budget good air conditioner. If you're one of these people, you've come to the right place. Today I will tell you how I got acquainted with this site. In the summer when I was at camping I was very stuffy and had to pour cold water. But then my dad recommended the site to me brightcamping.com. I went to this site and I saw a selection of good air conditioners. I recommend Bright Camping site with guides and reviews about air conditioners to everyone.

 

[Rancocas]

My parents began camping on a regular basis back in the mid-1950's when I was only a small child. They started with a tent, but soon graduated to camp trailers. I have been camping ever since then.
One thing we learned, if you are in a tent, is to;
1st pitch the tent on high ground, even if its only a foot above the surrounding area, that could be enough to keep you out of a puddle if it rains.
2. Don't lay directly on the floor of the tent. Use a sleeping pad, an air mattress, or a low, folding cot. Also, newspapers are good insulation and help keep you warm when spread several layers thick under you.
3. Condensation can be a problem in a tent, especially in the winter. During the night your own breathing can form frost on the inside of the tent, and once you get up, moving about, cooking, etc. the frost melts and it can drip like rain inside your tent. Good ventilation helps.
However, I have done some back country hunts in the west and in the "great white north", with lots of snow on the ground. Most of those times I hiked in, miles from any road, but other times I was able to canoe into some really remote areas. Instead of a tent, I cut some poles and set up a tarp lean-to. I closed off the sides with either smaller tarps, or cut brush, but the front was left open. (the old long-hunters such as Daniel Boone would call it a "half-face" camp or an "open-faced camp") A fire in front provided the only heat. I cooked over the open fire. No camp stove. A small ground pad, with a good sleeping bag rated for below freezing temperatures, and I was quite comfortable. No condensation in an open lean-to. I once sat out a 3-day blizzard in northern Michigan in such a camp.
Ah, but I was a much younger man in those days. Now, I like my pop-up camper. ():~)

 

[PossumSlayer]

I would recommend cots instead of air mattresses, air mattresses only leak when you're trying to sleep.

 

[bbqit]

I would recommend cots instead of air mattresses, air mattresses only leak when you're trying to sleep.

You are confusing leaking with farting

 

[mike243]

I will take a camper any day of the week. warm cool dry stove microwave fridge, bathrooms/showers at the state parks have always been clean, maybe I have been lucky lol

 

[PickettSFHunter]

I tent camp by myself and camper camp with my family. I really like a cot in the tent. I suggest getting at least a 4 man tent even for just you, nice to have room for stuff and to spread out if it's raining or whatever. Get a quality tent, like a REI or something nice. If I go to a campground with electric, I will run a thermostated electric heater in my tent during chilly nights. For primitive camping, I will take a buddy heater and only turn it on right when I'm getting out of my sleeping bag to get clothes on. Get a quality sleeping bag if tent camping! Probably even one for summer and one for cold weather. By myself, I am fine with a little single burner stove for cooking. Get a quality cooler where your not having to get ice at all for a normal trip. Just do it, just go, and you will figure it out. Go somewhere easy first, a nice developed campground with stores and such nearby. You'll figure it out.

 

[gtk]

did the tent camping thing when my son was in scouts. have since moved on to camper and love having a soft bed, toilet, shower, stove, tv, etc

 

[bbqit]

did the tent camping thing when my son was in scouts. have since moved on to camper and love having a soft bed, toilet, shower, stove, tv, etc

All the places I've been has had nice folks. They all like their lights too. Being in the trees next to a lake with campers lit up reminds me of some kind of hobbit village. It's kinda fun.

 

[flyinpro]

Been tent camping all my life. Recommend a cot over any air mattress. Thermal Rests are ok. Looking at getting a camper or class C. Wife won't tent camp.

I will say many so-called camper camping sites in Tennessee look like trailer parks & there's no privacy

 

[Spurhunter]

I have lots of experience in tent camping year round. I used a canvas tent for 3 years, bought a camper, sold camper, bought another canvas tent. Campers are wonderful, but I couldn't pull my boat and camper at the same time, so the camper was useless for fishing.

1) Spend the money and get a canvas flex bow tent. Teton Mesa or Kodiak Canvas are the two I've owned. Each has pluses and minuses I'll go into in greater detail if you get serious about spending the money. They are heavy and relatively expensive, but worth it X1000. Benefits of flex bow: Other than driving the stakes in the ground it takes one man less than 5 minutes to erect. Benefits of canvas: no condensation, breathable, durable, and the BIGGEST benefit is they hold in heat. I run a buddy heater off a 20 pound propane tank down to 30*F and it stays toasty warm inside. Below 30* I use 2 buddy heaters or a Big Buddy. You can opt for a super warm sleeping bag and skip the heater, but in the morning you're not going to want to get out, and it causes me to have sore throat the next morning. I just like to be comfortable. Like I tell people, you can rough it and still be comfortable.

2) Get a ground tarp for your tent and camp on a high spot. It will make packing your tent away at the end of your trip so much easier, because the bottom of the tent will be dry and clean.

3) Do not sleep on the ground in winter or on an air mattress. They will freeze you to death. Get a comfortable cot. I use an REI Kingdom Cot. It's big, bulky to transport, expensive, but worth it for the comfort.

 

[Forvols]

I have a Kodiak 10x10 and 2 cabelas alaskan guide large cots plus good non air sleeping pads along with 0degree rated sleeping bags. Great for car camping, way to heavy for packing in without a horse or mule or atv...but very warm and comfy.

 

[bbqit]

Too old, too stiff, too too many things. Bought a camper

 

[Gravey]

Have an old camper on our hunting lease. She ain't much to look at it but keeps me off the ground. Have a friend that tent camps and he puts a canopy over it which helps keep rain off. Thought that was a great idea.

 

[timberjack86]

Start small, try 1 night with what you have and then go from there. You will figure out your wants and needs pretty quick. Most people can get by pretty minimal for a night. I've slept on the ground with nothing but the clothes on my back and a fire. Fun? Not really but I didn't have a choice. It got dark on me and I was a few miles from the truck and my light went out. Good luck. Nothing to be afraid of.