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Camping *city boy* helppppp

Mtpisgah

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I would ask some friends if they have a tent and some gear you can borrow (or rent for a case of beer) before buying stuff that you may never use again.

After shelter, just take blankets and pillows with you rather than worrying about sleeping bags. Sleeping pads are ok, but an air mattress is great for car camping, and can be used if you have guests and not enough beds at home. Keep the cooking gear simple if taking any at all. You can get by with sandwiches or prepared food that can be eaten cold for a weekend if you do not know anyone with a stove. Check Goodwill type stores for gear too.
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Longleaf

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Glow sticks/ head lamps. Cheap from Amazon and hours of entertainment for kids.
And I'll second keeping the food simple. Yes, you CAN make gourmet food while camping, but it just adds stress and gear to an activity that is best left simple (at least while you're still figuring things out).
 

bgenlvtex

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Glow sticks/ head lamps. Cheap from Amazon and hours of entertainment for kids.
And I'll second keeping the food simple. Yes, you CAN make gourmet food while camping, but it just adds stress and gear to an activity that is best left simple (at least while you're still figuring things out).
Occams Kitchen Knife !
 

Klutch

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I'm jealous of East Coast campers in only one area; fire! In the west, we're typically not allowed to gather firewood. Yeah, makes no sense, but that's the law. Also, if it's warm enough to go camping, there's typically a fire ban. Phooey! Camping with no fire no fun.

Anyway...

- I disagree about blankets and pillows vs sleeping bags. You don't need to buy sub-zero sleeping bags, but I think basic sleeping bags are a good investment. The kids can use them for sleep-overs as well as future camping trips

- Make extra effort to bring some good chow. Never understood why people eat cheese sandwiches while camping. Even with just a basic Coleman stove from Walmart and a cheap iron skillet, you can make some good chow with basic ingredients. Simply frying up some potatoes and adding polish sausage, onions and peppers makes for great camp chow. And you can pretty much put anything inside a flour tortilla and make it a burrito. Yum!

- On the East Coast, I would make every effort to keep things dry. It rains a lot out there. So, lay down a waterproof tarp and put your tent on top of that. Bring a plastic tub to put shoes into inside the tent. If you leave them outside, they're likely to get wet.

- Bring lots of ice! A cheap cooler is fine when you're starting out, but cheap coolers don't keep ice very well; especially if the kids keep opening it up to get snacks and sodas. And don't drain the water as the ice melts. The cold water helps to keep things cold.

- Buy lots of cheap, little LED lanterns. The old-fashioned Coleman gas lanterns are great, but they're getting expensive. So, order cheap, battery-powered lanterns which you can move around the camp site as you need them.

- Bring bug spray with Deet. If it don't have Deet, it don't do Jack. (Just go easy with that stuff. You don't want to give your family Deet poisoning.)

- You can make nice and inexpensive fire-starters from egg cartons, dryer lint, some wax and some string. Search it on YouTube for directions.

Remember it's an adventure. When things go wrong, and they will go wrong, just go with it and have fun.
 

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CerOf

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A large tarp, at least 12x12. Paracord.

tie it up to some trees. If it rains, cramming in to a tent is fun for like 5 minutes. The tarp will give you somewhere to hang out.
 

Artsifrtsi

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Thanks all. Great tips. For the kids (9,6,2) the 2 year old and our giant dog will be with us in the main tent. I want to get a tent and bed for the other 2 to sleep in the bed at night. Any recommended? I am not into the overlander tent as I am trying to stick to a budget.

We bought a Gazelle T-8 tent... look them up, sets up in about 2 minutes, and is a 2 room, 9ft x 16ft... but they are a tad spendy.

As all have said, have fun! All have given goos advise.

Start with what you can, and modify/upgrade/add as you see the need
 

Blade1668

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Not to be contrarian, but before hitting up REI, first decide what kind of camper you are. REI is expensive and targeted towards those that are committed to outdoor activities. If this is a casual, occasional activity, don’t overlook Academy or even Walmart for your gear.

It sounds like you’re a “car camper” (me too) so don’t waste money on a ton of back country gear. For example, don’t pay double for items that are half the weight because you won’t be carrying them on your back.

That being said, there’s always room for quality basics... Tents, sleeping bags, etc... But again, make sure you’re looking at the ones that are right for you. A bulky sleeping bag rated for 30 degrees may be 3x less than the same rating on a packable sleeping bag.
Good advice, my recommendation is to sift through them for info... I've got some stuff from REI many years ago and very little as of lately. But they do have used stuff too. Some Wal-Mart have ok starter camping stuff and some good stuff too. Their knock off of the Jet-Boil is good enough that it's out of stock at most I've been to. A low cost sleeping mat beats a over priced on every day. A quality tent will last longer and not fail you when you need it. For pans a Dollar store one or in Walmart cooking dept will be better than the cheap ones in their camping dept. I bought one just to try it out on my stove in my RV the handle came off😲 on first use.

I'm slightly jaded I've kinda been camping out for last 10 years more or less I live in my RV and now a shed on my land. 😁 5 Jeeps, 4wheeler, boats and not much else. As I'm typing this out I'm smoking about 10 lbs of pork.
 

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YoBub

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OK, this is a Jeep forum, but don't sleep in your pickup bed. Sleep in the tent. Don't drive places, hike around.

The key to camping with kids is to get them involved, let them have their own gear to own and take care of, and to have some planned activities for when they are bored, but let them explore as much as they have an appetite for. The more they can control the weekend based on their interests, the more they will enjoy it. Bring a simple, unorganized game like a medium-sized inflatable ball of some type. Or just a football. Let them make up their own rules. And bring snacks. Let them pick and pack the snacks.

When I talk about them having their own gear, put together a list of what they should bring, and then make it a family activity for them to gather and pack it up. Have them be responsible for a piece of whatever you do, regardless of how small their role is. That ownership will make it a family activity, not a mom and dad activity with you dragging them along.

Let them plan the meals - set a budget, but then talk through the food they would want, take them to the grocery store and let them pick it out. Then get them involved in the cooking, even if it is hot dogs on a stick. Don't plan any complicated meal, and don't plan anything that requires a large pot of boiling water - it takes forever on a camp stove. Fry pan and fire meals are best. Have food them can open and eat quickly, to get them by. Don't worry about diet.

When you get to the campsite, establish only the most important safety rules (the fire stays in the fire, dont leave the campsite alone, etc) but don't bring the rules from home into the campsite. Let them get messy. Have extra clothes. I would recommend that the electronics stay in the car.

Regarding a budget for gear, start with Craigslist for anything expensive that you don't have, but start small. No need to go to REI to buy a backpacking stove, you can find an old coleman for $15 on craigslist. There are generations of families that have moved out of these years, and want to unload lightly-used gear. I'm one of those families.

Finally, if the weather is complete crap, don't force it. Either bail and go have a fun dinner someplace or just reschedule. If it's not fun for them, it won't be fun for you.
 

Bobzdar

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Go on Cragslist or fb marketplace and grab a used coleman stove. Get a medium sized cast iron skillet and a combo spatula/knife. That will let you cook 80% of things with little hassle or expense if you know your way around a stove. Add a cast iron lid and you up it to almost 90% as you can bake stuff in it. Get or borrow an instant up/down tent. Get good air mattresses (that don't lose air) for everyone, bring regular bedding and use sleeping bags as comforters. For a fire, I use a biolite fire pit as it works well with the $5 bundles of wood you can get at the camp store without burning through it super fast, has little smoke, and includes a grate for grilling. I use a standard igloo cooler, it's fine for a weekend without having to add more ice. Get everyone a comfortable folding camp chair - coleman has good ones - and decent flashlights. Make one of them a combo lantern. Bring a folding card table for food prep and other odd jobs so the picnic table isn't always covered in stuff so you can comfortably eat, play card games etc. Bring a plastic table cloth for the picnic table. If you will have running water, put the eating utensils and kitchenware you need in a dishwashing bin and bring it, if you don't I'd just use disposable. Bring bug spray and a citronella candle and a can of cleaning wipes and wet wipes. Bring a decent hatchet and folding army shovel. That should cover it for a weekend without breaking the bank. If there's any of that you don't use, don't bring it next time, and if there's anything you're sitting there wishing you had, bring it next time. That should all fit in the bed of a gladiator with room to spare.
 

Free2roam

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My two cents. I grew up camping in the west. Big tent lots of people. Bears, the whole shebang. Parents, let us be kids. We got lost scared etc. But in reality we weren't lost. Couple campsites over.
My kids grew up the same way. Enjoying the outdoors. Never took anything that was to awfully necessary. We used to boil water....add cold water for a bath in a huge Tupperware container. That bath being key warm and snuggled in bed. Slept on the ground. Get a good cast iron pan and a decent stove. Best ever bacon eggs and pancakes while camping. 🥞 🥞 🥞 Enjoy
 
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Coleman Extreme coolers are awesome, mine keeps food cold up to 5-6 days if properly packed and precooled before loading. Under 100 for a 60 qt, and works as well as a super expensive brand cooler.
 

dernawe

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As someone who camps with a couple kids and a dog, tow trailer is the way to go. I love tent camping, but with all the crap you need to bring for the kids and the dog, and having climate control doesn’t hurt:) Plus, you don’t need to buy much, campers are available on plenty of rental sites like rvshare. Whatever you do, snacks and water, and portable water containers for the dogs.
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