Camping Essentials pt 2

You have read my last post on what gear you need to start camping. Now you’re ready to find a camping spot. People dream of camping in elaborate and beautiful places. In most cases, though, you have you hike a long ways to get that camping spot. If you are starting out and need the experience, find a state or national park closest to you and go to the campsite. That’s the simplest and easiest way to start out. Most sites are pretty cheap to camp at. You can also just start in your backyard or farm. 

When looking for a site, try to find one that is flat. It may not seem like a significant slope, but when you finally lay down to sleep, you will definitely notice it. If you just can’t avoid a slope, put the head of your sleeping bag uphill. This will help to avoid the feeling of being upside down. You can set up near trees, but as you set up your tent, find a spot that is free of tree roots that will dig into your back. Also, try to clear away sticks and nuts before setting up the tent. If you are hammock camping, you obviously need two trees to set up the hammock. Find trees that are about 10 feet apart. That is ideal for setting up the hammock. 

When you set up your tent, do so upwind of the fire. This will keep the smoke out of the tent. You can also apply this to hammocks. I generally face the door of tent towards the fire. However, if you are expecting wind direction to change, face it away. If you camp in winter, face the door downwind. If you don’t, snow could pile up on the door and when you open it, get a tent full of snow.

All established campsites have fire rings. However, if you’re camping in the backyard or your friend's place out in the country, you need to make one. You can buy fire rings, or you can dig out a hole in the ground and clear out the dead leaves from the area. If they are available, you can put rocks around the fit pit. Don’t build an open fire where it can be seen because some people (including police) don’t really like it. 

If you are at a campsite or in the backyard, you obviously have a restroom nearby. But if you are in the sticks, you need to set one up. I will post later on how to make a latrine, but right now, I will give advice and finding a spot. Make your latrine downhill from your campsite. I have heard a lot of people say how far away it should be from the tents and they all disagreed on how far to go. Just make sure it’s far enough away that you won’t smell it when you’re around the fire. You want to dig a hole about a foot deep if you can. Then you can us sticks, logs, a bucket, what ever you want to use as a toilet. I like to also use orange flagging tape to make where it’s at so it’s easy to find in the dark. 

We have a “leave no trace” policy when hiking which also applies to the latrine. When you are ready to leave camp, you should fill in the hole and put a stick in the ground where it was buried so campers that come there after you will know where your latrine was at. 

When you are at the campsite, you can hang a trash bag on a tree branch. However, when you get ready to sleep, you really need to hang it somewhere higher. In my area, there are raccoons who love trash and bears seem to like it as well. Try to hang it like a bear bag, about 10 feet in a tree if possible. This will save you the trouble of having to pick up all your trash off the ground in the morning. 

If you don’t have a cooler with you or didn’t drive to the campsite, you will want to store your food safely. As a backpacker, I hang it in a bear bag in a tree so the animals don’t get to it. You can do the same thing by putting your food in a medium to small sized bag and hang it about 10 feet in the tree. You can also get bear canisters that seal and keep the smell in and bears out. If you have a cooler, you can just store your food in there without having to worry. Although, if you’re in bear country, make sure it latches so the bear can’t open it and store it away from your camp. If you drove to the campsite, your best bet is to just leave the food in the car. If you keep it in your pack or tent, you have risk of animals and bugs invading you in the night to get the food. 

You should be pretty well set for your first camp. I hope this post has helped and if you have any questions or anything to add, please comment.

 

Camping Essentials

Camping is a fun sport and can be very adventurous. In today’s day and age, camping is mostly done in campers and “rouging it” is now defined as not having an air conditioner. However, I consider camping to actually be out in the sticks without the luxuries of home. 

When you start out camping, it can sometimes be overwhelming as to what to get, where to go, what to bring, etc. If you don’t know what you’re doing, the expenses can add up and you can gain a large gear closet trying to figure out what you need.

So, what do you need to start out? First ask yourself a few questions. What’s the purpose of your camping? Is it to have something to do on the weekend with the family? Are you wanting to start backpacking? Do you want the high adventure and survival? The kind of camping you want to do will determine what you get. Also ask yourself what kind of camping you’re interested in. What are you comfortable sleeping in? If you want to just go out on weekends with the family or if you have never camped before, you may want to consider tent camping. If you are interested in backpacking and spending a lot of time camping, you could consider a hammock. If you want the adventure and survival feel, you could think about tarp camping. Think about what you are comfortable in before buying. If you have a bad back and can’t sleep on the ground, there’s ways to work around it. So just think about it before deciding. 

Now you know what kind of camping you want to pursue. Next comes deciding what to get. I advise sticking with cheaper gear to start out with, then move to better stuff when you decide you like it. If you have camped before and kind of know what you’re doing, you may know a little more about what you want.

If you go with a tent, you have endless options. Tents come in all shapes and sizes for different climates. If you are planning on just having something for casual camping with the family on weekends, you can just run to Wal Mart and get an Ozark Trail or Coleman brand. I recommend staying with those two brands. There’s many others, but some are junk and won’t last. 

If you are planning on backpacking, you want a smaller, lightweight tent. This can start to get pricey. The brands that make lightweight backpacking tents can charge quite a bit. Ozark Trail does make a small, lightweight that is reasonably priced. Big Agnes, Eureka!, and Hilleberg are great brands, but again, you will pay a small fortune for some of these.

When deciding on what size to get, try to stick to a general rule. Tents are rated at their sleeping capacity. However, I recommend getting a tent that holds one more person than you are planning on having. For example, if there’s two of you camping, get a three person tent. This gives you some wiggle room and allows room for gear. 

If you are looking at hammock camping, you may have a fewer options than with tent camping. There aren’t a whole lot of brands that make camping hammocks and the ones that do, don’t make twelve different styles. Hammocks are different from tents in the regard that you don’t have cheaper brands and expensive brands. If you want a comfortable hammock to sleep in, try to stick with ENO, Hennessy, or Hammock Bliss. They are the better hammocks that are comfortable and that will last a while. Most hammocks are customizable so you can essentially get a setup that you want. You can get one brand that you find comfortable, but a tarp from another brand that you like better. You can mix things up to make a custom hammock. 

Tarp camping is a little different. You aren’t sleeping in a well established shelter and away from the elements. Imagine taking a tarp, making a floor, then draping one over a ridgeline. That’s essentially it. You are under a single tarp. That’s why I urge you to not go with that unless you are adventurous like me or like survival type stuff. The upside is price. Tarp camping is the cheapest because all you buy is a tarp, rope, and stakes. You can use a regular utility tarp from a hardware store, to a couple hundred dollar tarp from a good brand. Hilleberg makes great tarps designed for just tarp camping, but they are very expensive. If you want a tarp that’s easy to set up, you can simply buy a hammock tarp. Some good hammock tarps only run $20.

OK. So you have your shelter. What next? You need something to sleep in. You probably already have a sleeping bag, so you’re halfway there! I recommend looking at the temperature rating on your bag. Every time I buy a sleeping bag, I look for a specific temperature rating. Assess what temperature you may be sleeping in, then get a bag that is rated for about 10 degrees colder. This gives you some room there in case it gets colder. Deciding on whether to get a down or synthetic bag is totally up to you. I recommend looking at my previous post (Down vs. Synthetic). Like tents, there are several brands out there that make sleeping bags. If you want a good brand, I would get Big Agnes, Slumberjack, or North Face. There are other good brands out there and Ozark Trail makes some good, cheaper ones as well.

To compliment the sleeping bag, consider a sleeping pad. This is also preference. Some people like sleeping on the ground, other can’t tolerate it. I don’t have a whole lot of experience in these because by time I started to get into them, I went to hammock camping and haven’t used a sleeping pad since. I do know that an air mattress is much better than foam. Foam sleeping pads are great for insulating, but air mattresses are much more comfortable. Again, what kind of camping are doing? If you are with the family, you can get large, queen sized air mattresses. You can also get compact backpacking ones. If you get a backpacking one, decide what style works for you. There are different shapes and sizes and some have different contours than others. If you get Big Agnes, you can match the pad with the sleeping bag and the pad will slide into a slot on the sleeping bag. But again you have to buy all Big Agnes to do that and it gets expensive. 

We now have what we need to sleep, but what next? Well, there’s some essentials for camping, whether you’re camping on the weekend or backpacking. I will only give you what’s essential. There are so many options out there that you can get and other cool gadget. There are some things you can get that, in my opinion, start to add luxuries and take away from the camping experience. 

If you are camping overnight, more than likely you will be cooking. Therefore, you need cooking gear. If you’re getting into backpacking, refer to my previous post “My Gear List for Backpacking”. If you aren’t backpacking, you will probably be cooking over a fire and not with an ultralight camp stove. A lot of people just take hog dogs camping and cook them on the end of a skewer. But if you want to actually cook something, you need some extra stuff. A skillet is a good thing to have. When not backpacking, I like using cast iron. You may also need a cook pot. You can find some smaller ones at Wal Mart that work just fine. Of course, you can’t forget the most important thing: a stainless steel coffee kettle. In addition to all these things, you need something to hold these utensils over the fire. You can get a stainless steel wire grate that goes over the fire. These work great, but I prefer to use cast iron. Don’t forget the essentials such as silverware and other utensils you may need for cooking. Of course, when backpacking, you really condense these down. 

In addition to all you need, there are some things that do make life easier. Flashlights are important for the obvious reasons. You can also add in some camping chairs, lanterns, toilet paper, trash bags, wipes, paper towels, and folding tables. This is not a comprehensive list of what you need, just the essentials. Now that you have what you need, it’s time to find a camping spot. 

(stay tuned for part 2)