Tent Camping

[Whisky]

Where have you been recently? Would you recommend it? What gear do you use?

Work and overall life have kept me from camping as much as I'd like over the past 5-6 years. Hopefully we'll be able to start doing some more camping now that the kids are a little older. The oldest 2 I hope to introduce to backpacking (with them wearing regular backpacks) in the next 2-3 years. We spent 3 days at Shades SP in Indiana 2 weeks ago. The weather turned cold the day we arrived but we still had a good time. No electricity at the park so there aren't a lot of RVs there. If you have an RV (NOT camping as far as I'm concerned) nearby Turkey Run SP has full hookups. The park was pretty deserted while we were there which was great. Overall it's a nice park that we'll definitely return to. The area around the park is well known for its covered bridges so we spent a day just driving around through the countryside checking them out. We spent a day just hiking and the trails in the park are great.

We have an older REI Hobitat 6 with the attachable tech Garage. It's been a great tent over the last 8 years (when we could get out) and has withstood some pretty nasty weather. Our stove and lantern are both old school Coleman gas powered, no propane. Sleeping bags are a mix of REI and Northface. The temps dropped into the mid 20's at night and we all slept warm.

 

[CANES]

The only type of camping I do...I have a Coleman 3 man tent and a great no-name one person tent that is easy for backpacking. When we go as a family, my wife has some big tent with a screened in porch deal that's only good for car camping. I've mainly camped in GA and FL. My son is an Eagle Scout, so we did a yearly 25 mile canoe trip with the Troop down the Alapaha River. 3 days of fishing, canoeing and swimming. We camped out on sandbars each day. Did a little bit of the Appalachian trail and enjoyed that big time. If I didn't actually HAVE to work, I'd love to do a lot more of it.

 

[ctr]

Backpacking and survival skills tests weekends. Used a tent a few times but never really cared for them honestly. Mostly cowboy sleep, or under a tarp if the weather is bad. A debris hut sometimes but that is a lot of work.

Haven't been out for a few years now. Once I got old seemed like the ground got a whole lot harder. Can't sleep well so haven't been out lately.

 

[RayClem]

It has been a long time since I went camping. I enjoyed it back when I was in school and college. After I got married, my wife's idea of camping was staying at a motel rather than a hotel.

 

[Whisky]

My parents were both teachers so that meant not a lot of spare money for extravagant vacations and summers off. We probably spent at least a month each summer from the time was a 2 until I was 14 or so camping in various parts of the US. We would car camp when mom was with us and backpack when it was just the guys.

 

[NorthernSoul]

Backpacking and family camping have very different requirements. Most backpacking tents are small and light for one or two people.

My equipment is pretty old. I have a Sierra Designs Meteor Light (?) that can sleep 3 and weighs about 7 pounds. Mostly, I have used that as a car camping tent and at the beach. I also have a smaller Sierra Designs wedge that is tight for 2 people and weighs around 3 pounds. That's one I could take hiking.

If you don't have an insect problem, you might try using tarps. That is usually the lightest shelter. For hiking, it scales easily with group size, just have each person or every other person bring a suitable tarp and stakes, etc.

 

[Maxwedge]

My son goes camping with the Boy Scouts once a month. He has a decent 3-season tent (3 man?) And we have a larger 6 man tent for occasional family camping.

Now that it's getting cold I'd like to get him a simple cold-weather tent. But everything I see online is either A) very complicated looking (he's 12 and needs to set it up alone) or else B) it's very expensive (+- $1000).

Looking for a simple, sturdy, affordable tent. Do any of you have experience with winter camping?

 

[brucered]

Western Ontario for us.

MEC and REI branded tents, Costco sleeping bags, ice cooler, canoe, hammocks.

The two tone REI is 20 years old, I've touched up the weather barrier on the seams and that's all. It's an expedition 3 person, but one of the kids sleeps solo in it.

The big green one is an MEC 6 person, but realistically sleeps 3-4. It's usually me and our teenage son (wife stays home when tenting) and it has a divider in the middle for privacy.

Love it.

 

[wyze0ne]

Love camping! My wife and I used to tent camp a lot until we had our daughter, then she insisted we get a camper. So we ended up getting a pop up which to me is similar to tent camping with all the set up etc. The added room, running water, and heater make things a little more relaxed and enjoyable in our experience, especially for cold weather. We still do weekend trips with the tent sometimes though. Ours is a ThermaRest brand that's a good size and is actually tall enough for me to stand up inside.

 

[Whisky]

My son goes camping with the Boy Scouts once a month. He has a decent 3-season tent (3 man?) And we have a larger 6 man tent for occasional family camping.

Now that it's getting cold I'd like to get him a simple cold-weather tent. But everything I see online is either A) very complicated looking (he's 12 and needs to set it up alone) or else B) it's very expensive (+- $1000).

Looking for a simple, sturdy, affordable tent. Do any of you have experience with winter camping?

Instead of a tent I would get him cold weather sleeping bag and a good ground pad. Most sleeping bag manufacturers have a temp rating that gives a good idea of how well they work in cold weather. I have a cold weather bag rated to 10f and a warm weather bag that’s rated to 60f. Getting a good barrier between your body and cold ground can make the difference between sleeping cold or comfortable. I’m old enough to remember the old foam pads but have used Thermarest pads for the past 30ish years and have no complaints. A 3 season tent should do well unless he’s planning on camping where there’s so much snow that the weight might collapse a tent. The only time I spent in the tent when I was in scouts is when we were sleeping or it was raining.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Our family camping has been limited to fair weather getaways around the south coast of BC, with a few forays into the interior. Car camping means we don’t pack light and have plenty of creature comforts. Our gear is basic, tents are low tech and spacious, with lots of emphasis on eating and kicking back. My kids are older now and we have not family camped for several years, but the gear is stored away, waiting for the next opportunity. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[Alum Ladd]

This is our 4 season tent. We use it in April and Oct though I'm pretty confident in it beyond that.

Its a Force 10 Erebus+3. Discontinued but I got lucky picking it up as NOS for around 50% of listed price. It's made and designed in Scotland and tested in winter conditions there. The sleeping compartment is full solid fabric, the front room is single wall. Its a palace for 2. Excellent ventilation also. The sleep cabin is about 10 degrees C higher than outside with 2 in.

The current F10 Xenon 2 is basically a smaller version of this. Same design but a 2 person max.

Had it out in 60+mph winds, no problems. Its about 3.5 metres (12ft) long and very stealthy, at around 1.2 metres (5.2ft) high. Great areodynamic shape. HH at around 3,000. It only weighs 2.8 kilo so split between 2 it's an easy ruck load.

Inside view looking from bedroom cabin. Excuse the mess!

For May-September we use the Naturehike CloudUp 2. An excellent backpacking tent at around 1.7 kilo with a nice pack size. The inner is about 65% solid with good mesh for airflow. Excellent design. About 3,000 HH. I would trust it in the 4th season as we use good down bags and mats. Great in high wind and pretty tough.

View from the inside, showing mesh inner door.

It's a nice combination of tents which covers all 4 seasons in the UK.

 

[Ckmaui]

Hammock camping for me but not a eno but nice ones made for it cottage industry stuff or make my own once you understand how to hang and how to lay them they are insane comfy
for the underquilts HG 900 down then use quilts again HG 900 down nice ultralight stuff
coldest I have been in was under 20 and comfy of course
tarps on top also nice since you can have lots of room under neath never on sticks never muddy never flooded BUT you need trees or a tree and roof rack

I used to be into off road camping and had a Conqueror conquest trailer and then got rid of that did a lot of off road without the trailer have a ton of SnowPeak stuff etc...

but these days kinda want to get more into the ultralight stuff only and change up what how I camp

longest stint out of a 2 man tent when I used tents was 6 months reckon well over 3 yrs total time living out of a tent though often did 1 month long trips when I was into bicycle touring

I do love camping any way you do it as long as you are outdoors having fun and happy comfy is what counts !

——-great wash system———
I will say the best thing ever is this washing system for car camping
bulb syphon some hose and a jerry can and some kinda simple sprayer on the end that does not have a lever to turn on
then you just step on the bulb get the water
small arm to position
why is it so great because no batteries nothing to really break down and you can use your foot so when your hands are dirty you never touch anything like a lever or valve that then gets dirty greasy and easy to step lightly get a touch of water with no waste so conserves water which can be handy sometimes
river rafting guides use this setup a lot !
Having worked on boats a good chunk of my life with tourists often what we/those folks do to make things work is well thought out dealing with that many people daily you really learn to streamline and maximize things
the white bin is just when we do dishes otherwise its not there

sorry horrid pic

Used on our snowpeak setup but you could clamp it to any table or branch but I often have it like above just onto the handle
also the black jug works well by end of day to warm the water when left out in sun

 

[ctr]

Online suppliers, there are a few I deal with:

Enwild, https://www.enwild.com/. Highly recommend.
Campmor, Camping Equipment, Hiking, Outdoor Gear and Clothing at campmor.com - https://www.campmor.com. Good deals, good company.

REI makes good gear. Coop member for 40+ years. But I no longer do business with them. REI has lost sight of core values and members. Much too political now.

 

[Whisky]

Hammock camping for me but not a eno but nice ones made for it cottage industry stuff or make my own once you understand how to hang and how to lay them they are insane comfy
for the underquilts HG 900 down then use quilts again HG 900 down nice ultralight stuff
coldest I have been in was under 20 and comfy of course
tarps on top also nice since you can have lots of room under neath never on sticks never muddy never flooded BUT you need trees or a tree and roof rack

I used to be into off road camping and had a Conqueror conquest trailer and then got rid of that did a lot of off road without the trailer have a ton of SnowPeak stuff etc...

but these days kinda want to get more into the ultralight stuff only and change up what how I camp

longest stint out of a 2 man tent when I used tents was 6 months reckon well over 3 yrs total time living out of a tent though often did 1 month long trips when I was into bicycle touring

I do love camping any way you do it as long as you are outdoors having fun and happy comfy is what counts !

——-great wash system———
I will say the best thing ever is this washing system for car camping
bulb syphon some hose and a jerry can and some kinda simple sprayer on the end that does not have a lever to turn on
then you just step on the bulb get the water
small arm to position
why is it so great because no batteries nothing to really break down and you can use your foot so when your hands are dirty you never touch anything like a lever or valve that then gets dirty greasy and easy to step lightly get a touch of water with no waste so conserves water which can be handy sometimes
river rafting guides use this setup a lot !
Having worked on boats a good chunk of my life with tourists often what we/those folks do to make things work is well thought out dealing with that many people daily you really learn to streamline and maximize things
the white bin is just when we do dishes otherwise its not there

sorry horrid pic
View attachment 1549910


Used on our snowpeak setup but you could clamp it to any table or branch but I often have it like above just onto the handle
also the black jug works well by end of day to warm the water when left out in sun
View attachment 1549911

That is a great setup. I’ll be building one soon!

 

[Ckmaui]

That is a great setup. I’ll be building one soon!

Cool yeah that thing was a game changer for us especially with the kids

I know for the hose I have a brass fitting that helps add some weight to keep it down in the jerry can
forgot to put that in just a simple press in to hose end that you would hose clamp but since no pressure I just press it on

 

[ColtRevolver]

45 years ago, my parents and I tent camped quite a bit in a Coleman cabin tent. They still have it. Then, came several campers of various sizes.

I have camped off a motorcycle a good bit. I have used a bivy shelter by myself. It's not much more than a body bag. The first trip the newly acquired woman went with me on 20 years ago, we used 4x6 tent. I'm 6'2". It was cozy. We upgraded to a 7x8 that would still fit in a saddle bag and used it the next few years.

 

[Whisky]

45 years ago, my parents and I tent camped quite a bit in a Coleman cabin tent

Was it blue and yellow? We had an old canvas Coleman cabin tent as well. I remember my dad getting on us about touching the walls when it rained because it would leak. Of course that just made us want to touch them even more. Good memories.

 

[Eric_75]

When I was a wee one, my parents used to take me camping at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. It was better than Disneyland to me.

 

[ColtRevolver]

Was it blue and yellow? We had an old canvas Coleman cabin tent as well. I remember my dad getting on us about touching the walls when it rained because it would leak. Of course that just made us want to touch them even more. Good memories.

No, it is tan. I believe the model is a Vagabond.

It looks like this: