Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

[Mental Granny]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

OH!

 

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[45-70Ranger]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

Going to add,those "tent stakes",like the tents I've bought,are not all that good.
I read,or someone said, to buy 12" spike nails.Yes,and bought a claw hammer too.
Those nails are fairly tough.They'll bend,but not crumple up like those sheet metal stakes.
Or have a piece of plastic fly off when hammering into the ground.
So, if this was already brought up,sorry.

 

[mrs.oroblanco]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

I agree - whoever invented those thin stakes never camped in a spot that had rocks!!! Nor did they ever think someone would camp in the snow or cold.

We carry some cut pieces of re-bar in our tent bag. (I seem to be able to bend those big-ass nails, too)

B

 

[olepossum]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

18-20 inches long with a good bend for hammer strikes of 1/2inch square stock cut at a angle in every loop hole i have been to 2 many mountain man blackpowder shoots and civil war re-encatments where the weather ran our buts into the cars but our tents stood the weather due to the style of ten stakes we used

 

[SusanMN]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

I find it helpful to pack sleeping pills.

This is not appropriate advice for holiday campers, teenagers, and family-guys, and I’m sure its going to appall some holier-than-me puritans, fusspot old-ladies, greenie-weenies, and a few others, (so blah-blah, consider your objections as pre-noted and pre-read) but if you only camp sporadically, and you’re just out there to work, you may find that sedatives may augment your enjoyment and maximize your potential.

How about packing something a bit more all purpose, like Benadryl tablets. A couple at bed time will knock you out, but there are also invaluable for allergic reactions to stings and bites as well as hayfever symptoms.

 

[JamesE]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

I slept in sweats and socks and sometimes stocking hat in a sleeping bag, pretty toasty and makes ya' grateful. I'm 6' and use an 84" bag. We used an air mattress in our house for a year, can totally recommend them. Although inflating them requires the pump or an experienced hooker.
IMO the very best tent stakes are the 18" or 24" concrete form stakes. Too heavy for packing but can be driven into rocky ground without bending. Already have holes for S hooks. Home Depot or Lowes, about $2 apiece.
Was a good idea about the rachet straps.
Also, if you put the sheet over the blanket it's a lot warmer, more trapped warm air. The tighter sheet weave keeps warmth in.
Some teepee winter sites were set up with a raised bench ring for sleeping/sitting and a sunken fire pit. Still found in Southern IA.
Lots of good help here, jim

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

One bad experience is taking big tents! lol Take cans of soup. They can be heated and ate out of. atop portable propane stoves! always bring duct or duck tape! Buy a rack that attaches to your trailor hitch. A must!!!!!! we put a big cooler on back with firewood and other things. It's amazing the space you will save durring travel. Being "too cramped" on long trips is a bummer.

 

[airborne1092]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

I went Elk hunting near Crystal Mountain (East of Mt Rainier, WA) years ago with my future brother in law and wanted to show him I was a 'tough Army guy.' I brought my sleeping pad, fart sack and an Army poncho. I made a hooch with the poncho. i.e. I tied the 4 corners of the poncho about 12 inches off the ground, put a stone in the middle and lashed a bungee cord around it and hooked it on a low limb, to raise the center up about 30 inches. Then I put a few layers of pine boughs with my pad on top and crawled inside. I slept like a baby! I woke up about 0500 the next morning with about 2 feet of snow covering me and I was dry as a bone. I try to be a minimalist and that trip proved to myself that I can do it and survive.

Good luck on the tent camping! As posted earlier, be sure to take items to repair your tent JIC!

 

[packerbacker]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

I don't tent camp much anymore after buying the pop-up camper a few years back. I do have an awning on the camper though that I use the same type of stakes for that I used tent camping. A friend of mine has a welder and has made me various tent stakes in the past. First thing to do after purchasing a tent is to throw away the stakes that came with it. I use stakes made out of rebar, cut at an angle on one end to make sharper. Then cut chainlinks to form the shape of a candy cane. Weld the back of the "candy cane" near the top of the stake for the tent loop to go over. You won't have to worry about how hard the ground is or even if it's rocky. Take a 2-pound sledge hammer for installation. These stakes will last forever! Paint them white or a fluorescent color for visibility. You'll be glad you have them.

 

[RGINN]

Re: Tent Camping, Tips, Tricks & Advice.

Boy howdy, I just now saw this thread. I read it with great amusement. I'm sorry, but most of y'all are total idiots and will die if you have to be out in the woods for more than 2 nights, by what I've seen. You're city slickers, and you will either drown, fall off a cliff, be eaten by bears, get bit by rattlesnakes, or just wander around in the desert until you finally drop dead and die. But wait. I got put into a position where the great outdoors was my only home. I actually made it. Y'all have come up with some great sharing of information that was derived from experience on this post. Keep it up, and pay attention, and all y'all just might make it!