carissanboys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2004
- Messages
- 7,242
Even though my actual camping experience with the kids is fairly low, perhaps all of my reading about the topic will make up for it. 
While living in Australia, we purchased an L. L. Bean tent. I don't remember exactly which one it is (it's packed somewhere in our closet), but I believe it's similar to this one:
Ours also has a small screened area attached to the front. It's quite roomy, although it takes us (more like Chuck) a while to set up. I think it'll get quicker as we use it more often. We also have at least one plastic tarp to go underneath the tent and I'll purchase a second one to use on the inside (a new tip I've read about).
Next up is mattresses. In my opinion, a good night's sleep is essential to a good camping trip. After doing all of my research, we decided to purchase a self-inflating air mattress. This isn't the kind that has its own pump. It has holes on the end that have caps. When you want to use it, you unroll the pad and open the caps. It then begins to fill with air. We purchased a queen sized mattress at a camping store in Australia. It's very comfy and we actually use it a lot when we have guests staying at the house (no, we don't make our guests sleep on it - we give our bed to the guests). I couldn't find a picture of a queen sized one, or even one that looks anything like ours.
Sully and Owen shared an inexpensive full sized blow up mattress. It worked the two times we went out. I'm not sure what we'll do with Connor at this point (he just slept with us before). I'll probably just buy him an inexpensive pad to sleep on.
We have a couple of light sources, but both are battery operated. We have a flashlight that kind of doubles as a lantern:
And a battery powered lantern:
Chuck and I are big morning coffee drinkers so we purchased this splurge item:
I can't remember if we've ever actually used it or not.
Of course, we have sleeping bags for all of us. Our bags are nothing fancy, although the boys did get some nice ones as a Christmas present from their aunt and uncle. Since we most likely won't be camping in cold weather, I'm not really worried about having the best bags.
In my previous PTR I mentioned that our van does not have a lot of extra space when all 3 rows of seats are in. I recently went shopping at Craigs List and found a car carrier for only $20. It's in great shape and this will help give us a little extra room to store things like the sleeping bags and pillows, etc. I'll get a picture of it at some point.
The main thing we need to purchase is a stove and I saw some at Walmart for $50 (Coleman) so that won't be too painful. We did have a camp stove and stand when we were in Australia, but we sold them at a yard sale right before we moved back home. I don't plan on purchasing much else at this point. We'll see how everything goes on our first trip out. I just plan on using skillets and pots from the house.
I'll have loads more pictures after our first attempt at camping this spring and show you pictures of our stuff and set up. The next 20 months will be a learning experience for us in prepartion of our big camping trip at The Fort.
Am I forgetting any major items? Time for the experienced campers to chime in!
Up Next...Picture of Me
While living in Australia, we purchased an L. L. Bean tent. I don't remember exactly which one it is (it's packed somewhere in our closet), but I believe it's similar to this one:
Ours also has a small screened area attached to the front. It's quite roomy, although it takes us (more like Chuck) a while to set up. I think it'll get quicker as we use it more often. We also have at least one plastic tarp to go underneath the tent and I'll purchase a second one to use on the inside (a new tip I've read about).
Next up is mattresses. In my opinion, a good night's sleep is essential to a good camping trip. After doing all of my research, we decided to purchase a self-inflating air mattress. This isn't the kind that has its own pump. It has holes on the end that have caps. When you want to use it, you unroll the pad and open the caps. It then begins to fill with air. We purchased a queen sized mattress at a camping store in Australia. It's very comfy and we actually use it a lot when we have guests staying at the house (no, we don't make our guests sleep on it - we give our bed to the guests). I couldn't find a picture of a queen sized one, or even one that looks anything like ours.
Sully and Owen shared an inexpensive full sized blow up mattress. It worked the two times we went out. I'm not sure what we'll do with Connor at this point (he just slept with us before). I'll probably just buy him an inexpensive pad to sleep on.
We have a couple of light sources, but both are battery operated. We have a flashlight that kind of doubles as a lantern:
And a battery powered lantern:
Chuck and I are big morning coffee drinkers so we purchased this splurge item:
I can't remember if we've ever actually used it or not.
Of course, we have sleeping bags for all of us. Our bags are nothing fancy, although the boys did get some nice ones as a Christmas present from their aunt and uncle. Since we most likely won't be camping in cold weather, I'm not really worried about having the best bags.
In my previous PTR I mentioned that our van does not have a lot of extra space when all 3 rows of seats are in. I recently went shopping at Craigs List and found a car carrier for only $20. It's in great shape and this will help give us a little extra room to store things like the sleeping bags and pillows, etc. I'll get a picture of it at some point.
The main thing we need to purchase is a stove and I saw some at Walmart for $50 (Coleman) so that won't be too painful. We did have a camp stove and stand when we were in Australia, but we sold them at a yard sale right before we moved back home. I don't plan on purchasing much else at this point. We'll see how everything goes on our first trip out. I just plan on using skillets and pots from the house.
I'll have loads more pictures after our first attempt at camping this spring and show you pictures of our stuff and set up. The next 20 months will be a learning experience for us in prepartion of our big camping trip at The Fort.
Am I forgetting any major items? Time for the experienced campers to chime in!
Up Next...Picture of Me
.
There's a difference between camping in a campground and camping out in the "wildnerness" somewhere. But, you reminded me of when I went to Alaska last year. My friend and I would go for a walk every day I was there and I'd get real nervous when we'd get near the woods. I'd start talking really loudly and stomping my feet 
I never did see a bear, unfortunately 
Maybe when I go back in July!
I see you've started your PTR while I was away from DIS this week
