Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

[Needle]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

a tarp on the inside slightly smaller than the floor will allow moisture that does leak into the tent to go underneath and not wet your gear. But one on the outside larger than the tent is a hugh bonus when rain sets in. My brothers and i camped almost every weekend when growing up and deer hunting. And man did we ever camp in some awful weather. By the way, a large sponge works well for removing water from the tent.

Moisture inside a tent is a problem, thanks for the tip on how to keep gear from getting wet.

Moisture from a person just breathing inside a tent can make things wet if it is not vented out.

I think I read somewhere that one person can expell a quart of water in 8 hours just through breathing.

If that is the case, four people sleeping in a tent for eight hours can generate 1 gallon of water, I can see how that can be a problem.

 

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[Hemisteve]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

My best advice for camping is this:
Make a list of everything you take. Make a check mark next to everthing you used. Repeat.
After a while your usage habits will become evident. For example, I hav'nt used my lantern in three years. So I don't take it anymore. I have two small Coleman battery lanterns with the flourescent bulbs that are more than adequate for my style of camping.
When we first started camping we took everything including the kitchen sink. After many trips we learned what we really needed and have cut our gear in half at least. Personal hygene and health and safety are always #1. After that, prioritise.
We always return home with more food than we left with. But if you get stranded for a few days that could be a life saver. Same thing with water if you are desert camping.
One of our best trips was actually the result of a mistake. I have a small BBQ that always goes with us. One trip I forgot the regulator for the gas so I made a fire and poured the coals into the BBQ to cook with. Good tasting camp food! Sometimes you have to improvise, but thats what makes it fun.
I use the rubbermaid tubs with locking lids for most of our gear. One has all our cooking stuff the other has food stuff which we have loaded over the years.
Couple of cans of soup, peanuts, cooking spices, etc. anything non-perishable stays in that container and gets rotated about once a year.
The one thing I do is after returning home I repack all the gear. Clean my tent, wash the dishes, and prep everything for the next trip. It's all ready to go on a moments notice and i know everything is there that I need for the next trip so I don't have to worry if I forgot anything.
I can have the truck loaded in 30 minutes and we are on the road.
Camping is subjective. Are you taking the kids or is it just you and the wife. National forest campground or dry desert camping. Only you can decide whats right for your situation, but if in doubt, take more than you need, you can always modify your gear as you learn.
The most important thing is to have fun and respect the land you are camping on. If you pack it in, pack it out. And leave the place better than it was when you got there.

Happy Trails
Steve

 

[Born2Dtect]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

Steve ,

You have a pretty good system there. I too use a list and check it twice. Once when it is put in a staging area and a second when it is out in my truck. It is a lot easier if you can store all your gear in one place/area and put everything away in its place.

 

[LadyDigger]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

Some great responses! One bit of info that helped us. When we went camping in Arkansas at the Army Corps of Engineer campsite...(when we went to find our riches at the diamond mine...ha...didn't find out riches!)....it rained really bad our third day there. The rain was getting our tent wet and it started to sag and also getting the inside wet. Hubby put a tarp over the tent and BINGO....no more water in the tent! We always use a large tarp under our tents as well as bringing a spare incase of rain. That rain wasn't just a sprinkle / light rain...it was a downpour!!!! Started about 3 in the morning and started tapering off around 9 in the morning!

We found also, at our last Pipsico hunt, when we got rain mixed with sleet...that putting the tarp over the tent also helped keeping the tent a bit warmer! It was really nice and toastie in there!!! If you go to my website link under my profile and look under the 3rd hunt for Pipsico, you will see pics of the tent with a tarp and the sleet that settled at the bottom!!! It's a huge tarp!!

I recently purchased a shower structure (you set up like a tent)...it also has a closet space to keep your clothes dry. I only paid $39 for it at KMart...you can find the same on on Calaberos and other camping equip sites for a bit more money. I have also purchased myself a portable toilet. It folds up. I love it! (my body, after so many years of doing this...thinks everytime I squat to dig a find, I need to go....can't get my body to understand I am digging a hole!!! UGH! LOL)

We also use tubs to store all of our gear. We have some set up just for Boy Scout camping. We also purchased from KMart, this lites that look like a UFO....we hang that in the middle of the tent at the top and turn it on when inside. Lights up the tent well. I recently purchased a remote control light too! So, when walking to the tent, I can turn the light on before entering the tent.

I've looked at heaters and fans for the tents, but have not made a purchase yet. I am more interested in the heaters though...a really safe one!

We have a grill and a camp stove...never know when you may run out of propane....and some things just taste better grilled!

Also a heater system that will warm up the water to take showers, those are pretty expensive though! Just thinking about it right now.

We use twin size air mattresses and I love them...so comfortable and highly recommended. Esp at our age, we need something better to sleep on than the ground! LOL

We also have our GPS....just incase we get lost, not that we would...but just in case LOL............

At Pipsico, we have access to electricity....so I do bring my laptop and DVD player, esp when the kids are with us. I use my laptop to record our finds and the DVD to entertain us at night! Don't know if a TV would work, but a DVD player is just fine!

Don't forget a radio!!!!

We also have walkie talkies and when broken down in groups, each group gets one..we have four of them....provided you have electricity to charge them at night...which we do at Pipsico.

Also recently purchased those roll up tables...those are awesome and take up little space when taken down! Highly recommeded. We got ours at BJ's Wholesale Club.

Oh, keep on hand, esp in the cold, those hand warmers. They work great!!! At night, I have my boys, and myself put one in each sock to keep our feet warm at night. During the day, we put one in each shoe ontop of our toes and one in each glove...they really do work wonderfully! You can usually get a pack of 8 or is it 10...at Target, Walmart, Kmart for under 2 bucks. I bought a bunch a few months ago for a dollar a pack! Well, worth the money! They are only activated when you open the pack and kneed it to use it...throw away when done. Usually lasts up to 8-10 hours.

Well, that's all I can think of right now....have fun!!
Annmarie

 

[Needle]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

The accessories that go along with Tent Camping are usually stored in some out of the way place until they are needed again.

I learned something the other day that might be helpful...

I hooked my 2 burner propane cook stove up to a 5 gallon propane bottle and turned it on after it had been sitting for 6 months without use,

It would not heat up, so I dismantled it and discovered that spiders had crawled into every open hole and cobwebs were restricting the flow of propane.

So now when I put this cook stove up into storage I tape up every open hole to keep the spiders out.

I also will check all other pieces of camping equipment to keep the critters out.

Good Luck -

 

[warsawdaddy]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

A canopy put up at the entrance will serve you well.Don't burn any propane inside unless you are ventilated well.Camp chairs and a small table is nice also.

 

[SomeGuy]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

If you don't bring an air mattress you can make the hardest ground feel softer by scooping out shallow depressions for your butt/hips and shoulders under the spot where your sleeping bag will be.

 

[Needle]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

I have been told to look for pine trees and collect enough pine needles to cover

the ground under the tent to a depth of 4 inches then place a tarp on top of them,

then set up your tent on top, (straw or fir brows with the woody part stripped away

could be used).

That makes sense to me, it would add insulation from the ground and give you a padding to assist in comfortable sleeping.

 

[warsawdaddy]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

I have been told to look for pine trees and collect enough pine needles to cover

the ground under the tent to a depth of 4 inches then place a tarp on top of them,

then set up your tent on top, (straw or fir brows with the woody part stripped away

could be used).

That makes sense to me, it would add insulation from the ground and give you a padding to assist in comfortable sleeping.

That probably won't take you more than 3-4hrs.

 

[Needle]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

If a person has the time and is going to stay there for a week or more it would be a worth the effort, I would only pad the area where I was going to be sleeping though, putting down insulation under the entire tent would be a waste of time and is unnecessary. (that should take only about 1/2 hour to do).

I personally have an air mattress that folds up into a couch during the day and unfolds to a Queen size air mattress for sleeping.

I also have a single foam pad made for sleeping on the ground with a sleeping bag or a blanket, it is amazing how much comfort and insulation that pad can give.

One time when I was younger a friend and I spent a night out under the stars, we stripped some fir brows off a few trees and threw them into a pile on the ground.

The pile measured 3' deep X 4' wide X 6' long...

We built a fire about 10 feet away from the brows and he climbed into the middle of the pile of brows and slept for 4 hours while I tended the fire.

Then we traded and he tended the fire and I slept for 4 hours, I felt refreshed when I awoke, then we hiked out about 10 miles.

 

[SomeGuy]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

Is your big tent easy to set up? I hope you have help with it. When I camped with anybody who had a large tent, we always seemed to have a few tense moments in setting it up. Hope that doesn't happen with you.

This is easily prevented with experience gained by a few practice runs in the back yard. All essential gear should be tested/practiced with in this way.

 

[Needle]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

Treasure Tales, thanks for the website, Good advice here and something to think about.



The tent I bought is easy to setup for one person, like someguy said,

practice makes perfection.

In a hard wind the setup might be a problem for one person though, but the instructions say to stake the tent down good to the ground on the windy side before you lift the tent with the poles.

 

[Needle]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

I drove a water truck on my first fire of the year the other day, the fire was up Little River and it was called the Jim Creek fire.

All of the fire fighters were sleeping in this area and they all had the same size tent

(small dome tents - 2 person.) The picture only shows about 1/2 of the tents that were in this area.



Here is a picture of the fire fighting crew early in the morning just before they began work.

 

[toolman61]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

wouldn't put any of the cooking -heating accs. in the tent with you for saftey reasons. happy camping and hunting
tom

 

[Needle]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

Putting cooking and heating accessories inside a tent is not a good idea, but it can be done if there is plenty of ventilation to keep the fresh air circulating.

I have a camping setup I am anxious to try...

I have purchased a 12' x 25' canopy with side curtains and a 10' x 12' tent.

I am thinking about setting up the canopy then setting up the tent inside the canopy that would leave a 15' area where all the cooking and eating would be outside the tent and still be under cover from the elements.

Even with this setup I don't think I would boil cabbage and smoked hocks inside the canopy for a meal without extreme ventilation.

 

[LadyDigger]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

I have seen on some camping sites for heating elements for the tent....I have thought about buying one... but I am a bit nervous in actually using them ... so I am holding off. We did find on our last cold outing, that putting a tarp over the tent (we have a huge one!) .... it helped keep the tent warmer and you did not get those cold winds coming in. It was still cold, but nothing like it would have been without the tarp and it was sleeting!!! And we use those hand warmers in our sleeping bag for our toes...if you can keep the toes and hands warm, you'll be fine, but once they get cold, seems like you just can't get warm!

We also found using a tarp over our tent when we went camping and we had a bad thunderstorm come through - Rained for hours - The tarp helped prevent any sagging of our tent and water coming in and again, kept us dry, warm and happy! At the entrance of the tent, the tarp over hung and in that area, we put our camp stove so we could have breakfast, since the rain started at 4 am and lasted till early afternoon!!! The stove was on the ground, not the tent but was under the tarp, which was tall enough where I could stand up under it (I'm 4'11").

However, I like that idea about setting up a canopy and putting the tent inside the canopy... thanks for that idea!

Happy Camping,
Annmarie

 

[Pepper2004]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

Cabela's store has a wide selection of camping gear at reasonable prices. We are getting a three room tent. The tent we have now is a dome tent and not very comfortable even with air mattress. The hand warmers is a great idea I can vouch for. I've been using them for years when fishing in cold weather. Also using a tent sealant is another smart idea I learn the hard way! It is well worth the money, and the time, to use the sealant before using the tent.

We found that using a tarp under the tent can lead to leaks inside. The rain accumulates underneath them without a run off.

 

[Needle]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

Quote from pepper2004...
We found that using a tarp under the tent can lead to leaks inside. The rain accumulates underneath them without a run off.

There has to be a way to prevent rain from accumulating under a tent, where it is allowed to do and possible to do a small trench only a couple of inches deep should be dug around the drip line of the sides of the tent to divert the rain water away from the base of the tent. That should give some relief to the water problem.

One time I was walking through the forest up above Tiller, Oregon and I stepped inside a circle of dirt.

The circle of raised dirt was 20' in diameter and 18" high, my first impression was that I had stepped into a place where a small meteorite had hit, but after talking with some knowledgeable locals they told me that it was a place where Native Americans had built a winter Teepee.

They would place their poles on the outside of this dirt ring and that ring of dirt would keep water and melting snow out of the interior of the Teepee.

 

[Born2Dtect]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

The key to using a tarp under a tent is to get or fold the tarp smaller than the foot print of the tent, about 4 to 6 " on each side. If you think about it you never walk near the edges any way. A lot of top tent makers offer ground sheets, made for this purpose and just the right size. The purpose of the tarp is to protect the bottom and keep moisture from wicking up under the floor. No tarp will help if the right tent site is not chosen. Tents should go on higher ground with good drainage. Choose a good tent with a 3/4 or full length rain fly and you should not need to put a tarp on top either.

Ed D.

 

[LadyDigger]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

We never had a problem with leaking with a tarp under the tent...but our tarp is ONLY under the tent, never extends beyond the tent. We use it mainly for extra padding and to prevent our tent from laying on sharp objects that could puncture our tent and easier on the feet when walking inside ... so far so good!!!