Tent Camping and Equipment

Do you travel a lot with your kids? Do you need to drag along a travel crib or pack and play?

Winter is almost here and most of us already forgot about our camping gear, now stored in some dark corner in your garage.

As many backpacking enthusiasts tell me, backpacking is a sport and should be taken seriously. It is not just a little stroll in the woods and it has its own rules and requirements.

Equipment

Many good cyclists love the idea of taking the whole family camping by bike. Certainly you can’t beat the savings that can be achieved this way.

Camping is considered a cheaper alternative to many other travel options. But as many new campers realized, the costs of purchasing new camping equipment add up and may not be as cheap as we would like.

Are you a gadget guy or gal? Myself, I am always on the lookout for some new and cool stuff. Even if I don’t buy it all, it is good to keep up with what is new out there.

Almost every campsite I have ever been to had a picnic table. It is great for the weekend trips and meals. You can even put it inside of your screen house for the protection from the elements and mosquitoes. But for sitting around the campfire and going to the beach you will need a folding chair.

My worst memories about tent camping are related to sleeping on a lousy air mattress.  Waking up with an aching back can ruin your whole camping experience, don’t you think?

Tents come in quite a few shapes and sizes. Most modern tents are dome shaped and some are more house-like shaped and some are a combination. Some tents, especially the larger and taller ones, use aluminum poles and outside ropes and stakes to support them. The dome tents tend to be stand alone structures, supported by flexible poles connected by stretchable cord running inside them.

In general there are two types of sleeping bags when it comes to their shape: rectangular and a mummy. Rectangular is your regular sleeping bag while the mummy is contoured to the body shape and has a hood. As you may have guessed the mummy is for colder weather and more severe conditions. If you are planning winter camping, fall camping in a colder climate or some mountain climbing then you should invest in one of those.

Back in our tent camping days we visited a wonderful park of Awenda, right on the shores of Georgian Bay. The sun was shining and the forecast predicted a weekend of beach weather. Just what I like.

In the early days of camping, the only light source available was either candles or kerosene powered lanterns. They did the job, but did not illuminate the campsite enough for cooking, and it was virtually impossible to read.