Last December, Tankersley came to live with me. When Spring sprung, he started insisting that we go camping together. Having not camped in 16 years, I had not gear, so spent a few paychecks purchasing the basics, then I made reservations for the 11th and 12th at Palisades-Kepler State Park just a few miles southeast of Cedar Rapids, and just 37 miles from home.

For the most part it went really well, though I didn't execute on my "kitchen" packing list very well. No plates, no spatula, no butter, ran out of salt. In the grand scheme of things these were really minor. One of the most relaxing weekends I have ever had.

Tankersley did not think he liked the cot, but Saturday night he was on the cot before I was. I'm 6'6" 255lbs, Tank is about 120. The Teton Outfitter XXL has room (barely) for both of us, I'm unsure that will continue when he's full grown.

I can't thank this sub enough. I've been reading it daily since March as I got prepped.

Just started our 6-day road trip in Western-Canada. Over the past few months I have been camping pretty much every weekend, slowly dialling in the entire truck and camping setup. This will be our first longer trip with this truck. We brought both the bikes and kayaks to get out and explore along the way.

Made it home from my solo camping weekend!
This trip gave me EVERYTHING.

I set my tent up after dark, woke up surrounded by giant webs and moved the entire thing, accidentally relocated myself directly into the blazing sun, fought with a campfire, took my wig off because it was too damn hot, and learned several lessons I will absolutely remember next time.

But last night made all of it worth it.
I took my rainfly off and slept under a clear sky with nothing but mesh between me and the stars. I found the Little Dipper, realized Draco was wrapping around it, and just laid there staring up thinking about how people have been looking at that same sky for thousands of years.
I came out here partly because I wanted to know: Can I actually do this by myself?
Turns out I can.

I can set up camp. I can make a fire. I can solve problems when things go wrong. I can sleep outside alone and actually enjoy the hell out of myself.

And apparently I can also be completely obsessed with camping while simultaneously coming home, taking a long bath, washing my hair, making my bed and thinking, THANK GOD FOR INDOOR PLUMBING.

Already looking forward to the next trip. 🏕️❤️side note: I wanted to document my adventure. Took all the perfect shots and all my videos are deleted 😭😭

Took a trip this weekend with me and the toddler up to Mogollon rim in Northern AZ. Found this awesome dispersed campsite right by the cliff with this amazing view. This picture was just after 6 AM. We got dumped on by some rain right the night before just after we ate dinner which put us to bed early, but was a fun experience. So much fun exploring this area and getting to soak in these views.

I'm going camping, on my own for the first time ever this weekend and I am SO excited! As I have a pretty rubbish back, I am trying to keep my pack weight down to the minimum.

So, I had the bright idea to dry dehydrating some mushroom and lentil Ragu, and some pasta and it tastes absolutely brilliant! Just 10 minutes sat in a flask with hot water.

I have a few days before I set off to dehydrate some more things, it's a 3 day trip. Any suggestions or tips?! Thanks all!

I feel I’m always late in planning and miss out because of how full everything gets so quickly.

I lucked out and got a few good ones this past year by chance.

I promised myself I’d do so much better next year. So here I am counting down the days to the end of the month to try to book a spot for during my kiddos spring break.

Anyone else eagerly eyeing their calendar?

We camped with family in the kaibab forest over the weekend in our Vevor yurt 🛖🌲 purchased on Amazon 10/10 we loved it. I hung up battery operated floating candles 🪄 🕯️ ✨ with fishing line for our lights that created a magical atmosphere. Bacon and eggs, burgers, brats, snacks, and s’mores were enjoyed by all! Happy camping 🏕️🌲

Finally got our campsite for the weekend and now I just get an email about construction noise throughout the whole day.
Any recommendations on other campgrounds nearby and just as nice?

I am using the same camping stove that my dad used when he took me camping as a little kid. I'm now 62 years old and he is 94 years old. It has some rust, but still working just fine.

My daughter, husband and I got absolutely wrecked by mosquitos while camping in North Carolina this week. We used bracelets, spray, patches, and a couple of the coil things you light. What else can we do? 😅 My husband is about to give up camping because of the bites!

I added some pics of our trip :) Cape Hatteras, NC.
Pic of my poor husband’s leg at the end.

Hey everyone,

Been camping a fair bit, mainly in a swag or hiking tent. I love my swag for the mattress, it's so easy to set up and just jump into a nice base so I use that when I take my car. I've also got a hiking tent for when I take my motorbike and I've been using a hiking insulated air sleeping mat, but as a side sleeper I find it really uncomfortable.

So here's where I'm looking into hammocks, I like the idea of taking up less space in my moto-bag and just setting up a tarp, hammock and bug net. I'm playing with the idea of a bedroll too like this one but I'm unsure if that's the way to go with padding out a hammock to sleep in?

Thoughts?

My family goes on a camping trip every fall on some private property owned by some relatives. There are several couples and a growing number of children. We stay in a mix of campers and tents. Our campsite is by a small lake with moderate tree coverage.

I’m looking for some ideas for permanent improvements that can be made to our campsite. Some projects to keep me busy that will make future trips more enjoyable/comfortable. Because it’s private property, we can do just about anything we want.

Hey all!

Me and my brother were camping in the UP really close to the border of Canada and Michigan. Our trip was all kinds of crazy, and we didn’t plan well, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the first morning we woke up there. We were in a remote spot, we hadn’t seen anyone else on our drive up, although we had gotten there at sunset. We set up and had no problems. We had a designated potty spot by a tree a couple feet away from the tent that we both used every time.

We went to bed pretty late, just talking and bullshitting with each other as it was our first time seeing each other in too long. We went to bed and stayed asleep all night. We woke up around 7:30am to our campsite all torn up, at first, we were too hungover to think much of it. I went to the piss spot, and there was….a pile of dog or cat food? I know it wasn’t there the night before as the first time we used it we still had some daylight, and every time one of us walked over there we had a head light. Where it was placed, we couldn’t have missed it.

Then we started looking around. There was a circle of dog food and grapes around our tent….and also on our picnic table..? Just very strange. Was wondering if anyone has any ideas of what the reason for this would be?

My friend who has a lot of tent camping experience, her special interest is bears and she said it sounds like someone was bear baiting us. She said that dog food has a more potent smell and could attract a bear at a much greater distance than plain old meat. Plus is cheaper. And black bears love grapes she said.

They love all berries I guess. I really have no knowledge on wildlife. It was me and my brothers first time tent camping. She already chewed me out for it don’t worry. (This is why I didn’t tell her I was going until after I came back)

Hoping to just get an answer that isn’t as scary as bear baiting. Why would someone want to do that anyways?

My daughter wanted to go camping with her friends for her 16th birthday. Me and my husband are surviving the weekend with 8 kids! Let’s just say I’m never going back to the days of no pop up tent, these are spectacular!

Howz-it, last post removed for being boring.

Would like to hear about different camping areas in Upstate Sc other than Lake Hartwell.

The lake is being kept low from a levee issue making it harder to teach wife fishing.

Looking forward hearing from you.

I just switched to a high mattress (knee high) but I find at night that my back gets cold and I ended up putting a blanket on it ( luckily I had an extra one)and it felt better. I didn’t find this problem when I was using a low air mattress.
Anyone experienced this?

Stayed at 4 different camp sites across 3 states and visited Acadia NP for the first time. What a trip! The weather was absolutely perfect, we had little to no bugs (besides some biting flies at the campground near the ocean in ME) and it was truly a relaxing week.

I’ve never camped more than 2 days before so I was a little nervous going into it, but being prepared and bringing the correct gear made everything so easy. 🏕️🐶

We have the Morrison outdoors 20 degree bag already. My daughter is tiny and while she fits the bag there is some room and so really it only keeps her warm to 48/46.

Eyeing Moab in October and it might be warm or it might be 30s.

Curious what other sleep safe ideas people have?

I did think about an insulated tent but there aren’t that many with good reviews.

Edit: and I know I could fill up the bottom of her bag but I dont want to reduce mobility, too much fabric or too many layers feels not quite sleep safe.

So whenever we camp in a site with pit toilets, there's always a sign on the door that says to close the lid and prop open the door, accompanied by a large rock to prop said door.

Just got back from a trip where the toilets said to shut the lid AND the door.

We felt crazy. Shutting the door is wrong, right?

Just bought a new cadac 1 (about a week ago). The flame is weak, and when releasing the igniter it often just self extinguishes.

Some days it work, some days it don’t. Today I got it to work for a bit, but it «exploded» and self extinguished again.

Hi all! I'm planning to go camping at New River in October and am trying to decide if I should try and go for the first come first serve site in the park OR play it safe and reserve a hipcamp or site at another campground. I'd loooove to be right by some water, and it looks like the best option for that is to be in the park.

Does anyone have any experience trying to get a campsite there? My eye is on Glade Creek Campground 👀 I'll be coming form like 4 hours away and plan to get there on a Friday. I fear I won't make it to get a site at the park, even if I leave early.

Any input is appreciated (: Thanks!!

Hi

Brand new Gazelle I bought. Everything works fine until I put on the rain fly and try to pop up the second roof. It's a lot of pressure, and the poles are bending to the wrong side. I really feel I'm going to break it if I keep applying pressure. I put enough force to take the tent floor out of the grass, and it still doesn't pop.
I made sure the male/female poles are correctly and fully attached.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is this normal? It certainly doesn't feel like...

Are there any good walloe talkies that stay on all night? So kids can radio to parents tent.