Tent camping, what do I need?

[S1mp13m4n]

Hello everyone. I have not been tent camping in ten years. Last time I used old borrowed gear and it was a mess. The tent leaked in rain, zippers on sleeping bags did not work, etc. my wife and I want to try again. We have no camping gear except for an 8 year old unopened, never used Swiss Gear three season tent. We want to stay in a Virginia state park about 45 min from our house. We looked at the primitive tent sites today and liked what we saw. We also have a 4 year old daughter and a small Nissan Versa hatchback, so we need gear for three that will fit in our small car. The car will be on site about 20 feet from the tent. The site has a fire pit with iron grate for cooking and a picnic table. The goal is to have fun on the extra cheap. We will be starting off camping in summer under a lot of shade. Fire wood is in bins around the state park and there are pit toilets. What do we need to bring? What advice can you offer?
Items I do have are:
Leatherman Wave multi tool
LED flashlights with XML LEDs and 18650 cells
Ground tarp
8 year old un opened tent new in box
Hammer for driving tent spikes
Bottled water
Small am/fm radio with D cell batteries

We just want to have fun without spending hundreds in gear. Can you get cheap cookware from Dollar General rather than so called camping cookware?

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Tent camping, what do I need?

First, crack open the tent and set it up. 8 years in a box is a long time and you need to see if it is still good. Yes, you can get cook ware at good will, the dollar store or some other thrift store. If you are going to be camping in the summer, just rob the sheets and blankets from you house instead of buying sleeping bags. If you have cushions from outside furniture, you could use that to sleep on instead of sleeping pads. Or you could pick up pads from wally world. Look around and see if you can use something else that you already have for your camping trip. See if you have cooler laying around to use. Also check Craigslist for someone else who wanted to try camping and didn't like it.

I understand you want to get away, but I usually recommend starting with a overnight, in the back yard. It is a lot easier to bail from the backyard than a campsite.

[S1mp13m4n]

Re: Tent camping, what do I need?

Craigslist for my area has little to offer for tent camping, but plenty used rv's. We live in an apartment, so sleeping in the backyard is out. How are sleeping pads compared to air mattresses? I like the sleeping pad and sheet idea. The plan is to go during the week to avoid other campers in the area. There were many rv's campers and cabin campers in the park, but not a person to be seen or heard in the "primitive" tent area in the woods on the dirt road.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Tent camping, what do I need?

Good on you to give camping another try.
Good advice from kings above and to add on I'd suggest not buying any new cooking equipment that duplicates items that are already in your home's kitchen. If for whatever reason you don't want to use home cookware, try a local thrift store over the Dollar Store for cookware. I took 2 pots from my home my first trip, a 12" cast iron skillet plus a cast iron griddle and added on a dollar type store 16" non stick skillet which I threw in the garbage before a week was out; it was too wobbley. Eventually, I found a 2.5 or 3 qt Caphalon pot at a thrift store; stopped bringing the griddle and now 2 pots are the norm for my trips of 2 days or 2 weeks. This feeds up to 6 people comfortably and should I have more people at my site I bring extra pots accordingly. Disposable aluminum pans are also useful for everything from dumping hot ashes to cooking and serving food.

Make up a menu for the time you'll be on site and bring cooking utensils that correspond to that menu. Serving soup/chili? You'll at least need a tablespoon for fast serving; grilling foods? A non plastic/ silicon tipped tong will be useful for food flipping, serving and moving charcoal around. You get the idea I'm sure.

You don't mention if there is a pure water site so assuming you don't, heat water for pot and utensil washing in a pot w/ a lil soap and just wash stuff that way. You can rinse easily with a cold water and white vinegar solution. I'd suggest using paper plates for your first trip unless you have melamine plates already on hand. There are plastic stackable disposable cups that work nicely for hot and cold beverages; this would mean you've no need to take coffee mugs/ bowls and separate cold drinking glasses. . You can wash them also for the duration of your trip. You can find them at your local party supply store and they're normally sold in sets of 12. Take as many as you want. For 3 people I'd prolly take 6 for a weekend trip.

Should you find your tent leaks during your backyard tryout, buy some spray on sealant and/or just seal the seams stuff.

Should you need to buy a cooler get the best one possible for your money. You can often buy a Coleman 5/6 day for a reasonable price. Try to pre cook as many meals as possible to conserve on fuel. Freezing food stuff in advance also helps to cut down on ice purchases and in the dark work.

Here's a camp checklist that lists a lot of stuff that you may, or may not, need. Customize it for your personal wants:

http://www.angelfire.com/ia3/camping/checklist.htm

HTH and have fun out there!

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Tent camping, what do I need?

Craigslist for my area has little to offer for tent camping, but plenty used rv's. We live in an apartment, so sleeping in the backyard is out. How are sleeping pads compared to air mattresses? I like the sleeping pad and sheet idea. The plan is to go during the week to avoid other campers in the area. There were many rv's campers and cabin campers in the park, but not a person to be seen or heard in the "primitive" tent area in the woods on the dirt road.

I live in an apartment as well and waterproof/seal my tent where ever I can:D. Been known to pay my nephew 20 bucks to do the job in his parent's backyard. Perhaps a local park is available or parents/friends backyard on your end. Maybe even a parking spot with a sprinkler or water spigot nearby. You don't have to sleep in the tent to know if it's weatherproof or not. Think outside of the box.

[S1mp13m4n]

Re: Tent camping, what do I need?

OK, well you've got two threads going on this topic S1mp13m4n. In the other thread you mentioned that you are blind and live in an apartment. Since you live in an apartment, the practice campout in the backyard is not going to be possible. For those that want to read both threads the other thread is at: http://www.campingforums.com/forum/s...-advice-needed. The blindness part is unique but I don't see any reason to let that stop you from having a fantastic time in the forest.

Thank you for reminding me about the other thread. I forgot about that. We never did go camping for our anniversory, so lets try this again shall we? LOL

With everything you've said in both threads, I think you have to start with an examination of what your primary goal is. Is camping your primary goal? Or is it secondary? Do you want to just sit around camp in the forest listening to the birdsong and crickets, relaxing with a cool beverage? Or maybe it's to go fishing? Or walking the trails? Or maybe it's to eat great food from a smokey fire? Once you figure out your true priority, then the camping part - sleeping in a tent - becomes secondary and little things like the tent leaking or ground being muddy all become just little bumps in the road. Figuring out your priorities let's you dial into exactly what gear is important to you and what isn't.

The goal is a combo of both camping and also relaxing. To go for walks on the flatter paths in the woods and enjoy the sounds, smells, and the lack of "the noise of daily life". My wife and I want to have fun cooking over wood, play games with our daughter, and get away from college homework, computers, and iPads for a few days.

Another thing to think about is entertainment for your child. You'll want to bring along lots of games and some kid friendly bug repellent and perhaps spray your clothes with Sawyer Permethrin Spray which you would apply and let dry before you leave town. You can also search the internet for the term "hug a tree" which has training tips for teaching children how to blow a whistle and what to do if they get lost.

For entertainment I have a small Sony am/fm radio that runs on two D cell batteries so we can have music and keep up with weather. I will have my iPad so I can read books from it as it is easier than printed text. My wife wants to bring a few printed books. Our daughter loves horses and the state park offers rides....our daughter likes that.

Let us know some more about what you expect to get out of this trip. What your priorities are. I think you'll get better recommendations on what to bring and with a small hatchback, you're going to have to really think out your gear load.

The goal with the gear is to find balance of what you "need" verses what you might "want" but not really need. I realize there are special camping tools such as saws and hammers. I will bring a Leatherman Wave for this...realizing it is not as good a a dedicated tool, but will do what you need...just a bit slower. Our daughter wants to be where we are, so she is not the wander off type. There is a children play area in the state park so we also have that to help our daughter have fun. We can read to our daughter, she loves that. I will certainly think more about what to do for entertainment because we do not just want to lay in the tent all day.

To answer one of your main questions though - I agree with everyone else who's saying you don't need to buy a bunch of gear - use what you have - use blankets from home, eat off paper plates, etc. keep it simple your first trip out.

I do want to enjoy a small tent camping trip. The plan is to do this during the week to avoid a lot of crowds. I was thinking about using items such as paper plates and plastic forks for the first time out to get a feel for it and also help cut down on cleaning. Where we would be camping there is no water (in that area of the park) but there is water via bath houses if you want a long walk or a car ride on the property. The sites with water and power are for RV use and also in the RV area, so no tents allowed. The trip would be for 2-3 days so it does not become a burden or become boring to quickly.

[RJ Cooper]

Re: Tent camping, what do I need?

Good advice given here. In your first post the items sealing your tent and stuck zippers was listed. You can always spray seal in the field, allowing a few hours before a rain. I coat all mine 3 times. I have two set up now that have just received their third coat yesterday and we had a major downpour from noon until 5pm. No a drop on the floor.

As for the stuck zippers, get Remington Dri gun oil and coat zippers, world of difference. in zipper function and long/lot of usage.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Tent camping, what do I need?

It sounds as if you've water on site but it takes a long walk or short car ride to get it. Since car space is an issue, I'd just buy one empty collapsible water container, and fill it on site. I'd also hold on to empty rectangular juice bottles (the ones from OceanSpray are great), fill them w/ water and freeze to keep cooler contents cold and have extra cold drinkable water on site when it melts.

Now you said earlier ya don't want to fuss with food but you prefer quality goods. Not sure what that means (everyone has their own interpretation on food quality). You also stated that your DW would like to experience the joys of cooking on a wood fire. Given the fare available at supermarkets today, I think it'll be easy enough to define your own form of quality food but I would suggest that you try to find ingredients/prepared meals that don't need a lot of water like pasta, rice, many frozen veggies. You can pre-cook high water usage items like rice/pasta at home, place in a ziploc bag, and store, frozen, or not, in your cooler. Gonna pre cook pasta? Be sure to throw a little oil or sauce in the pasta to keep it from sticking together. As I stated on an earlier post, planning a menu ahead of time is useful. I'm big on making pan fritattas on my last days with leftovers and eggs. Which travel best in a Styrofoam container as opposed to the cardboard variety.

[Skwerly]

Re: Tent camping, what do I need?

I actually wrote a short article on this very subject!

http://voices.yahoo.com/ten-essentia...51.html?cat=11