re: Camping Questions

If the floor of your tent is made out of tarp material you do not need a ground cloth. If it isn't you need one the same size or slightly smaller, but can get by with slightly larger if you roll the excess material under the edges of your tent.

A few other things to add to your gear:

Hatchet or axe
Bowsaw
Dining fly or canopy
Cast iron griddle
Cast iron Dutch oven
Pie iron(s)

One more camping item is a small table. Some places have them but many do not.

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I’m a big fan of these for light around the campsite in addition to a headlamp. Roll up solar string lights

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They just ran a BOGO on the luci lights. Love those things for car camping.

We’ve used them up to a week long stretch and kept them topped with just solar.

I was surprised how well the illuminate an area

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Gross. You are camping, why do you need instant coffee? I would make cowboy coffee before instant.

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I used to take time to make coffee and cook in the morning. Then I realized I was spending too much time cooking/cleaning than i was hitting trails or playing with my kids.

Switched to instant and I’ll never go back. It’s so much easier to boil some water and throw in a Starbucks stick. Only thing to clean is rinse out a cup and I’m done for the morning.

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I can’t believe I missed that sale.

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They do it a handful of times during the year. Typical sales weekends and Black Friday and during prime day…. In case you need another set

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I don’t know what your budget is, but I always recommend a hammock setup instead of a tent in these threads. Much more versatile and gets you off the ground. I’m a big fan of these for light around the campsite in addition to a headlamp. Roll up solar string lights How are you washing dishes and getting water?

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My budget is meager for now. I am getting decent things, but I want to camp a few more times to see what I might like to spend more money on. I have found a few things NIB on FB marketplace and have gotten some good deals.

I have an inexpensive hammock, and I love it. It’s quite comfortable, and I have thought about sleeping in it.

To wash dishes, we had a small dishpan. There was a water pump up a hill near our site, and we filled up a few gallons of water at a time. We’d wash the dishes in the dishpan and then rinse them in clean water from the gallon jugs. We’d then dry them and put them away. We also used the gallon jugs to wash our hands before cooking. It was surprisingly fun to do things like that. You waste a lot less water when you have to haul it each day.

If you decide to upgrade your hammock setup and really give it a try, check out Dutchware or Warbonnet Outdoors. They’re both fantastic companies that make everything by hand in the US. Expensive, but I have an original Warbonnet Blackbird that’s almost 15 years old and it’s like new still.

If you want to upgrade your dishwashing while camping experience, here’s a cheap collapsible camp sink I use. Sounds weird to say this about a camp sink, but it’s awesome

LINK

We also use this camp lanyard to hang and dry our pots, mugs, and whatever else needs to be dried. It helps keep things organized and out of the way as well.

LINK

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Thanks for the suggestions!

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I’ve got a rigged out 100 series Land Cruiser that we overland with, so I’ve accumulated tons of gear over the years and happy to suggest what works for us.

Been there done that, get you a Graniteware 12 cup pot on Amazon for like $22. Got to youtube and look up Kent Rollins and make yourself Cowboy coffee. He makes perfect camp coffee and you don’t have to wait on a percolator.

I have 2 percolators, a Coleman Portable Drip coffee maker ( for Hurricanes) and the Graniteware Coffee pot.

My Graniteware is my go-to method for coffee when tent camping. Also it helps to have extra coffee if you have visitors.

I setup my coffee pot the night before and just kick it on when I wake up. Ten minutes later I am drinking coffee. Cleanup takes 2-3 minutes.

Wow! I am truly grateful for all this excellent advice!

As far as toting water, we were just carrying gallon jugs up and down the stairs leading to our campsite. For the next trip, we chose a site with a ramp. I have a foldable wagon that will help transport our gear, but it is useless for a site with stairs. I plan to purchase a couple of those 5-gallon jugs for future camping trips.

I also bought a couple of those plastic three-drawer carts to keep my kitchen stuff and my other camping stuff organized. They are easy to transport, and I like to keep my things neatly organized. I absolutely hate having stuff in disarray and not being able to find what I need. I don’t think I am going to attach the wheels to the carts because I think they’ll just get sandy and gritty. The carts, even with my things in them, are light enough to carry easily. I also plan to get a Rubbermaid tote to keep the things that are not in the carts. I’m waiting to get the tote until I get all my gear so I can gauge how big it needs to be. The tote also makes a good non-cold food storage container when unpacked.

A table is definitely on my list of things to get. I found one for $70 on Amazon that folds and also has canvas compartments underneath to store things (4’ by 1.5’) . Sam’s Club also has a folding table for $40, but no storage underneath (4’ by 2’). I am still deciding which one to get. Since my kitchen stuff is organized in a plastic cart, I’m not sure I need the table with extra storage. It looks pretty cool, though, so I am tempted.

I completely agree about needing to keep the tent clean. Sandy dirt underfoot does not sound pleasant to me. My sister had some cheap throw rugs that we put outside the tent to wipe our feet on before entering, and those worked very well. I got one for myself at Dollar Tree yesterday. I think a rug plus the tarp will help with that. I also picked up a small little whisk and dustpan set at a Dollar Tree to help with small messes. I know it probably sounds like I am preoccupied with cleanliness, but I do like to keep things neat and in their proper place (ex: dirt belongs outside on the ground rather than inside our tent). Plus, I am a woman, so it kind of comes naturally to me.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Your advice has been extremely helpful.