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What is the biggest camping equipment investment

Which is the more important equipment investment?

  • Sleeping Bag

    Votes: 7 22.6%
  • Tent

    Votes: 15 48.4%
  • Maritini Fixings and you can always swap for lodging

    Votes: 6 19.4%
  • Other

    Votes: 3 9.7%

  • Total voters
    31
  • Poll closed .
I heard good things about them and they look cool too! Glad you like it:thumb
 
I just came back today from a three-day tent camping trip down in Baja California. I haven't tent camped in about five years because in 2000 I bought a VW WESTY. I sold it last year. The tent was in the storage box above my car for about five or more years. It looked/worked great I was surprised. Only it seemed smaller. It's a nylon dome tent. I think the tent is more important because it will keep you warm, dry, and bug free, oh yeah and shield some of the morning light out. It should be small, light easy to pack, and easy to clean and store. I dont even use a sleeping bag. I either use $5 Mexican blankets or my Army poncho and liner. For comfort I put the tent on nice fluffy grass or on soft sand. I also bring my E tool(folding shovel). It makes all the surfaces level and makes a trench when it looks like it might rain, also when it really windy (like this weekend) you bury the edges(sometimes in addition to stakes). Although now that I'm married my wife has been saying she wants to get a sleeping bag. Go figure. First we get rid of the Army rucksacks for matching luggage and now this.
Thanks,
Michael
 
A cheap tent will still keep you dry. A cheap sleeping bag will be huge, hard to pack, and cold.

I got tired of sleeping with my jacket on and still being cold. I finally bought a decent (not expensive) mummy bag that should do the trick.
 
I got tired of sleeping with my jacket on and still being cold. I finally bought a decent (not expensive) mummy bag that should do the trick.


Me too, I solved it by not camping when it is cold.
 
lorazepam said:
Me too, I solved it by not camping when it is cold.

If I did that, I'd never camp! :D

Even in June or July it can get pretty cold out here. I've woken up to snow while camping in June before!
 
Tent #1

1. Tent - Eureka 3 season, 3 person, no leaks from rain or sitting in 2" of water after rain
2. Sleeping pad - Thermalrest LE (2.5 " thick self inflating)
3. Sleeping bag - Synthetic fill, wet down will not warm you!
4. Transportation - Helen2Wheels bags! Never had a wet sleeping bag even after 4 hours of heavy rain on bike.
5. Chair - collapsable with footrest $17 at most outlets, off the ground easychair posture, after long ride MAJOR plus!
6. Cooking gear - only worth it if you have a trailer, go out to eat. Most rally's even have morning coffee somewhare.
 
I think I spent more money on my tent because I got my bag at a North Face outlet in SF on sale. Spent good bucks on a NF bicycle touring tent (11 years old now) after throwing away MORE money on several cheap tents.
It's small, but it's SMALL. Says that it's a "two man" (maybe if they were REALLY good friends!) but it's great for me, my boots, jacket and saddlebags. AND it fits in a saddlebag or my dry bag along with my bag and Thermarest.
 
I have been camping (backpacking until I got a bike) under all conditions (from below zero F to triple digits) since I was about 11. I am now 47.

The surprising thing that I will share with you is that for the three mild seasons, a simple Coleman dome tent for about $50-60.00 will keep you dry and comfortable even in extremely bad weather. Simple to set up and it works.

REI sells a synthetically insulated sleeping bag that has a thick and a thin side - on warmer nights keep the thin side up and vice versa on colder nights. This bag is well under $100.00. Get a Thermarest pad of a size you like.

The other thing nobody has mentioned is to go out and buy yourself a stove that runs on gasoline and other liquid fuels (a multi fuel stove). Use it to make coffee in the morning in an REI lexan french press. The fuel bottle for it comes in handy if you run out of gas...
 
How about a cot!

I just bought one of those little cots that sits about 8 inches off the ground. That thing is great! Feels like a hammock. With the thermarest it's almost more comfortable than my bed back home. You motel only guys oughta give one a try.

MarkF
 
I'm a camping n00bie but benefited from a lot of great advice and Internet research over the long winter.
Unless you're in a hurry, you should be able to purchase almost everything on sale at one time or another from one outlet or another. My tent, my sleeping bag and my mattress pad were all bought on sale. Definitely don't scrimp on the tent. I ended up with a Sierra Designs Gamma and it saved my sorry butt within minutes of setting it up outdoors for the very first time. I was in southern Kentucky and was hit with FOUR thunderstorms over a period of just a couple hours. The tent kept me dry. :clap
If you have any bad back issues (or even if you don't) you've gotta take the advice I did and buy a Therm-a-Rest Luxury Camp or equivalent (the CampRest LE is out of production now). It's a real back saver and makes the rest of the trip more enjoyable. ;)
 
Re: How about a cot!

MarkF said:
I just bought one of those little cots that sits about 8 inches off the ground. That thing is great! Feels like a hammock. With the thermarest it's almost more comfortable than my bed back home. You motel only guys oughta give one a try.

MarkF

We use a double size air mattress. I have a little pump that plugs into the accessory outlet I got for $9 at Walmart that blows it up in a couple minutes.

We also pack a couple of full size pillows. It's as nice as sleeping at home.

Bear in mind that if you were camping in cold weather, you'd want a real insulating thermal pad, but in warm weather, this set up is hard to beat for comfort. It's like sleeping in our bed at home.
 
Camping gear? Like anything else in life, you get what you pay for.

Personally, if I'm ground sleeping, I want my Eureka. I've only ever owned 1 Eureka tent and I've been using it for 10 years. Eureka makes quality equipment, that may cost alittle more, but it's worth it in the long run. Some NO-NO's for tents: 1)Excessive UV exposure-set up in the shade if you can! 2)Packing away wet--always set up the tent when you get home to dry it out! 3)Flames-never smoke or run your stove in a tent!!

Sleeping bags-I have a Sierra Designs Flex bag. It has synthetic fill (which dries out the fastest if it gets wet) and is rated for 20 deg. There's a synth/goose down battle going on out there as to which is best. Goose down is more expensive and also takes a LONG time to dry out if it gets wet. Invest in a sleeping bag liner (cotton or silk)...it adds a few degrees to your bag's temp rating, but most of all it feels GREAT and protects your EXPENSIVE bag's inner construction from your nightly thrashing and tossing.

Last of all, I only use my Eureka tent when I'm ground sleeping, which ain't much. These days, it's all about packing LIGHTLY and camping at the BEST and most scenic spots. Rocks and uneven ground can make finding a spot to set up a tent next to impossible. That's why I use a Hennessey Hammock tent. At 2.5 lbs, it weighs over 5 lbs LESS than my Eureka. On a motorcycle, that's no big deal, but hiking with a backpack, 5 lbs make a big difference. But, most importantly, the Hammock tent allows you to set up wherever there are 2 trees 9-15' apart. I highly recommend these products as perfect alternatives to ground tents. Take it from me--they are very comfortable!! I didn't believe it until I tried one. Tom Hennessey is the MAN!! Check out all his cool products at www.hennesseyhammock.com :bliss

p.s. if anybody gets one, email me for some tips on usage--my bud and I have been using them for over 2 years and have worked out all the bugs and created some "improvements" to our hammock tents through trial and error!!:D
 
Foo

your posted link didn't work (for me anyway on three tries). gonna go look at the hammock tent on my own. sounds like a cool idea....
 
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