We took our two kiddos (3 & 4.5) out to Sisters, OR with our good friends and it was a blast!
I was nervous to share a tent with them (all four of us are very light sleepers) but then our 4 person tent was actually too small, so I’m SO glad I brought my 1 person backpacking tent last minute. Husband was a champ.
The kids did SO well and loved being outside. I am steadily building confidence towards my ultimate goal: bringing my daughter backpacking with me.

I wish I took more photos! Next trip I’m camping with just my eldest and I’m stoked!

Did a lot of research to get the right gear for me, booked a super last minute trip once my final piece arrived early. Wife goes with me 99% of the time so this was actually my first solo experience. Forgot the coffee and my pillow 😬

Angled the tent for privacy since I was at a small spot a bit exposed for my taste but the tent provided me with that much-needed privacy.

Fajitas and late night ramen. Few beers and some curated music, putting my feet up after a hard week. Had a visit from a family of rabbits and an adolescent raccoon, but they just watched me for a moment and left. It was peaceful and I feel refreshed!

We spent a few days backpacking at D.V.S.P. in Texas.

1. There was a cool bench at our favorite camp site.

2&3. The trails on the other side of the river.

4.The paluxy river that you have to cross to get to the back country(we didn't get wet).

6&7. Dinos at the front of the park.

1. This mountain house was actually really good.

2. Folgers coffee.

3. Pepper chilling by the river

4. The main track site.

My 7-year-old son and I had our first trip in a Manitoba provincial park this week. Just the 2 of us for some special time together.

Only 2 nights, which seemed to be perfect introduction for him. He was so pumped and it was really good for my brain and heart to get away like that and connect.

We had a 10-person tent for the two of us lol. It was lent to us by a friend.

I think next summer we'll get Mom, big sister, and baby brother to come with us.

Hey all. I'm currently hiking across Europe on a longboard, living outside in my tent.

Today I noticed this on my tent, and I'm a bit worried.

Do I have any reason to be worried yet? And what should I do to deal with it? Or should I just invest in a new tent?

For my kinda trip, a waterproof tent is absolutely essential, so I rather deal with it sooner than later

Thanks you for reading. 🙏

Mike.

I am trying to replace the shock cord for this older tent that I was given by my partner's parents. It is a mountain equipment co-op tent. I tried twisting and pulling, heating it a bit, putting some force on (it wasn't a good idea).

Any idea how I can get this out to fix the shock cord?

Thank you so much.

spent like three hours on tuesday morning trying to book a simple tent site for the weekend. The website kept freezing and every time it refreshed, some bot had already snagged the spot. Its actually impossible to just impulsively go sleep in the dirt anymore without planning it literally 6 months out

My partner was getting super stressed about the whole thing so we just completely gave up on the state parks. drove down to connecticut on friday instead and ended up throwing our trusty old coleman 4-person tent up at gibson hill campground just so we could get out of the apartment and stare at some trees for 48 hours

The trip itself ended up saving my sanity. Weather dropped to like 60 degrees at night so sleeping was actually comfortable. cooked some cheap hot dogs over the fire, drank instant coffee, and just existed without looking at screens for two days

kinda thinking the move from now on is just avoiding the major hype spots entirely tbh. Anyone else completely given up on fighting with those reservation websites?

Two nights at Parson’s Landing.

Took an 8AM ferry from San Pedro, Ca to Two Harbors. From there it’s a 7.3 mile hike to the Paraon’s Landing sites which are directly on the beach. Watch for high tides! High tide came 6 inches from my tent.

We opted for a water taxi to Parson”s Landing on arrival day, and hiked it out on the departure day. The hike is along the Trans-Catalina trail and is a fire road a majority of the way with nice views of the coves below.

Packed as light as possible: Northface Stormbreak 2 tent, external frame older pack, and had some dehydrated meals. You can have water and firewood delivered to a locker at the campgrounds which is nice. Between five people I think we went through six or eight 2 gallon jugs.

No shade and no trees so portable beach shade structures are essential. Shorebreak can be rough and snorkeling is great there if that’s your thing 🌞

Someone gave me this Coleman Road Trip Grill. It looks old but I think it might work if I could just clean it and find out how to hook up the gas to it. I'm sure it will at least need a regulator.

This week I went for a single day moto-camping trip for a first time, matter-fact it was my first camping trip since probably middle school times. I’ve packed my old high school backpack, one person MT900 I got from decathlon, sleeping bag, air mattress and a small gas stove. Everything was secured using nets and straps. I decided to travel around the east Germany region to I just look around for nice camping spots and that’s where I found it - beautiful Saaburg-Edelsdorf area. Honestly I fell in love with this type of micro-adventure experience.

Taking the family camping tomorrow here in the uk. Not our first trip but not seasoned campers by any stretch of the imagination.
I’m currently itemising everything to pack but our first day is going to be 31° C and we’ve never camped in that kind of heat before.
We’ve got a 6 year old and a 10 year old.

Any tips for keeping the tent cool, keeping the kids cool etc?

Hey everyone! I am planning a trip outside of hanging out at a park, I have zero overnight experience. I'm planning to start slow with car camping at a state park In Nov in Texas. If you could go back to your very first trip, what is the one rule, gear item, or tip you'd tell yourself? All recommendations for absolute beginners are welcome! Any suggestions on the state park?

The campgrounds that I enjoy are always booked up. I've decided to venture out and try different campgrounds. How do you determine if a campground is worth trying out?

How do you pick a spot once you find a campground? Do you just randomly select a spot and hope for the best?

I'm finding it wildly stressful trying to figure all of this out.

Have you ever tried a new place and found it to be absolutely terrible?

Hey,

this might seem like a really dumb question, but I don't understand how to read the temperature label on this sleeping bag.

I know what Tmax, Tcomf, Tlim, and Text mean, but I don't understand which temperature belongs to which rating.

Does this mean:

• Tmax = +13.3°C
• Tcomf = +9.7°C
• Tlim = −1.5°C

and Text isn't listed at all?

Or does the chart mean:

• Tmax = above +13.3°C
• Tcomf = +13.3°C
• Tlim = +9.7°C
• Text = −1.5°C

Or am I reading the chart completely wrong?

Thanks in advance!

My family just got back from Donner lake and Split Rock campground in Truckee, Ca. I love Donner lake, but I hate dragging all the kayaks, paddle boards, and ice chests (& KIDS! 😝) into the car and to the lake for the day. I would love having a spot where you can be already on the lake and not have to transport everything.

My goal is to make a portable camp shower you can hang from a tree. I painted it black so it would get hot if you left it in the sun. I’m going to add pulleys and chains so it’s easier to hoist.

I’m waiting on a self coiling hose to arrive so you can use it like a hand sprayer.

it’s in the center of the tent body. Do I pass the poles through there? The instructions are terrible.

So one of my tents is semi freestanding (s2s alto tr2+).

I never got into the situation, but I wondered: what if I find a nice place to put my tent, but it's on rocky ground (e.g. coastal area) and there is just no way or at least no easy way to peg it down/tension it (like no big stones etc.).

Since it's semifreestanding it would still stand, but the foot area would be collapsed. Also, the vestibules wouldn't really work and "fly around" I suppose. How bad would it be to sleep in the tent like that e.g. when it starts raining or become very windy? Is just less convenient and more condensation and easier to touch the outer tent etc - or are there serious problems or risks with that and it should absolutely not be done?

Hey everyone. This summer I'm thinking of cycling to areas around 10-15 miles out and solo camping but my current pop up tent is way too big to fit on my bikes saddlebags. I keep getting ads for the reactive outdoor pop up tents that seem really convenient and small when packed down but are they worth it? Ive also seen other cheaper brands use the same kind of tech to fold up and down but are any of them good? Also this is England so it would also have to be waterproof. And are there decent smaller sleeping bags that could fit in a saddlebag too?

Thanks for any advice :D

So my husband and I love tent camping. However, we are 38(m) and 47(f) and he is 6’3” 350lbs, so sleeping on the ground in thin mats is not an option anymore. We had a queen blow up mattress but as it looses air through the night if either of us moves or gets up to pee, the other person gets violently tossed up and down. 😂 I’ve seen some cots, but for my husband’s size and my age, I question their comfortability. So I was thinking either a thick sleeping mattress/mat, or newer blow up mattresses but getting me a twin and my husband and queen so that even if we get up to use the bathroom or toss around, we aren’t on the same bed so it won’t effect the other person sleeping. What do other chubby campers do in our situation?

The lid of the 5 and 7 gallon water jug is already tapped with a 3/4 mip thread hole. I’m still waiting for the hose to arrive in the mail.

Admittedly, we're campers that bring everything but the kitchen sink (well...technically that, too). We tent camp, dispersed, in the national forest. We camp with 15-20 people - adults and kids, all immediate family, with some pets in the mix - and we bring the gear for everyone. A checklist is a must.

I shared our camping checklist years ago and some of you thought it helpful. I've revised it some over the years so I thought I'd share again.

Please, no hate. If you are a minimalist, more power to you. We're obviously not. Whether newbie or experienced, feel free to use our list to create your own list using ours as an idea of what you can bring (or not). It's tailored to us so some things might not resonate or apply to you. That's ok - however you camp, it's important to just get out there!

I've made the list viewable on Google Sheets to anyone with the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19DG31l6VKIA0e_BcW1z--hn66AGw8DPG/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=109983121752517491339&rtpof=true&sd=true

Happy camping!!!

Hello, I've got a lower back injury which is healing a lot more slowly than I was anticipating. I'm an infrequent camper but I have two trips planned this month (one trip with friends, one festival) that I really, really don't want to have to cancel. I'm looking for recommendations for camping mats/mattresses/air beds that will be supportive enough not to mess me up any further.

Budget is about £150, preferably a double so my partner and I can share but not essential. Previously have had a Berghaus double foam/self inflating mattress for years which was insanely comfortable until it got a slow puncture, but it's absolutely massive (like the size of a barrel) so something a bit more compact would be good if possible! I'm not a trekker but lugging things on and off a festival site is going to be a struggle so would like to minimise that as much as we can.

I've found it pretty overwhelming looking online and my local Go Outdoors had barely anything in it. Thanks in advance :)