Tent Camping

[singingpixie]

I'm thinking of going camping this weekend with my boyfriend (and my dog)- just one night, but it'll get down into the mid-40s overnight.

He's an eagle scout, so we're not going to get eaten by bears or anything, but I haven't camped much and he hasn't camped much recently. Besides the obvious (tent, sleeping bags/pillows/blankets, layered clothes), what would we need?

Any tips? Recipes to make over the fire? We don't have a camp stove.

 

[Hercules10]

Air mattress. Ground is hard and cold.

A campfire grate. Fold out grilling grates you put over a campfire for hot-dogs, burgers or whatever.

Beer....uuum to help put out the campfire before retiring for the night.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

One nighter means you precook something and heat it up/eat cold if you want.
Or you prepare foil packets with meat, veggies, etc....you can go as fancy as you want, salmon and aparagus or easy like hamburger/chicken packets.

They are just easy and no cooking pots to wash. You do need a grate to put over you hot coals so your packets don't burn. Bring Charcoal for even cooking.

Tons of recipes online to choose from.

 

[RUDisney]

The key thing, and your DBF will know this from his BS days is that you have to strip down to your underwear to sleep. You'll be much warmer in your sleeping bag if you do this instead of wearing layers or even pajamas or clothes to bed.

So, when he tells you this from his Klondike camping days, he's telling you the truth and not just trying to rush the mood <ahem>.

 

[singingpixie]

Lol so I take it that since no one has jumped in freaking out that we won't freeze if it gets down into the 40s? It'll be 70 during the day which is great hiking weather.

 

[singingpixie]

The key thing, and your DBF will know this from his BS days is that you have to strip down to your underwear to sleep. You'll be much warmer in your sleeping bag if you do this instead of wearing layers or even pajamas or clothes to bed.

So, when he tells you this from his Klondike camping days, he's telling you the truth and not just trying to rush the mood <ahem>.

Thanks for the warning! Although having the dog in the tent may foil any of those plans anyway!

 

[KiminChicago]

Not just an air mattress, but some decent padson top of the air mattress, or newspaper to put between the air mattress and the ground. The cold will wick up from the cold ground through the air in the mattress and you'll end up feeling as if you are sleeping on an ice cube.

 

[SDFgirl]

You should make Campfire Yum-Yums!

Get some heavy-duty tinfoil. Chop up some ground beef, carrots, onions, potatoes. Combine them all in the tinfoil with LOTS of salt/pepper and some olive oil. Place near the embers of your campfire and turn every 15 minutes or so. It takes a long time to cook - about an hour - but is soooo good!

40 degrees is great camping weather!

I do have one tip - make a last minute pee break before you go to bed for the evening. Many, many nights I have laid awake in my sleeping bag, weighing the discomfort of having a full bladder vs. getting out of my warm sleeping bag. It's a tough call! In fact, I've started not drinking anything within 2 - 3 hours of going to bed, just to avoid having to stumble out of the tent at 4am.

 

[cgcw]

In my son's boy scout troop, there are a couple things they recommend for cold weather camping.

One is to have a fleece liner to use on the inside of your sleeping bag. They are relatively cheap when purchased at Walmart. Fold it inside of your sleeping bag and when you get inside, make sure the fleece is around you.

They also recommend is putting fresh socks on as even if your socks feet dry, they are most likely damp.

The third thing they recommend is to sleep with a hat on your head. It sounds silly but a lot of body heat is lost through the head.

Have fun!

 

[KiminChicago]

When I attended Outdoor Leaders Skills training for Cub Scouts, they recommended changing all your clothes, including underwear, before climbing into your sleeping bag because if you were hiking or anything before bedtime, all of your clothes would be damp. Oh, and they recommended putting the clothes you are planning on wearing the next day in the foot of your sleeping bag so you're not dressing in cold clothing in the morning.

 

[RUDisney]

Not just an air mattress, but some decent padson top of the air mattress, or newspaper to put between the air mattress and the ground. The cold will wick up from the cold ground through the air in the mattress and you'll end up feeling as if you are sleeping on an ice cube.

You know, while you're right, I've slept in a tent when it's gotten colder than the 40s with just a tarp under our sleeping bags and we haven't been cold. The key is a good sleeping bag for the weather.

 

[singingpixie]

When I attended Outdoor Leaders Skills training for Cub Scouts, they recommended changing all your clothes, including underwear, before climbing into your sleeping bag because if you were hiking or anything before bedtime, all of your clothes would be damp. Oh, and they recommended putting the clothes you are planning on wearing the next day in the foot of your sleeping bag so you're not dressing in cold clothing in the morning.

That makes sense- never thought of that!

 

[Hercules10]

Just rent one of these.

 

[singingpixie]

Just rent one of these.

Lol, I don't think we'd get much of a return on that investment.

 

[adkkev]

do you know what kind of sleeping bags you'll be using? and what the "temperature rating" is for each bag? you'll be cold if the bag is rated at 55 degrees and it's 40 degrees at night!

how big is the tent? does it have a rainfly? ventilation? without ventilation the condensation from your breathing will accumulate on the inside of the tent ... drip drip drip!

cooking over a fire can be pretty tricky ... it may be a good idea to borrow a campstove if you can ... or invest in one if you may continue camping in the future!

how about lighting? do you have a lantern? flashlight? it's getting dark by 7pm or so now ... and if you're in the mountains, and in the woods/trees, it'll be darker more quickly! and think about walking to the restrooms in the dark ...

bring a small plastic garbage bag (kitchen garbage can size) and lay it on the ground outside your tent door ... then you can take your shoes off outside and not track dirt inside your tent (you can bring the shoes inside after you knock off any dirt).

 

[singingpixie]

No idea about my sleeping bag... it's the same one I had as a kid/teenager that I took the couple of times we went camping. I know that I usually slept w/ it unzipped because I was too warm otherwise.