Is there a camping discount membership that is worth it? Good Sam for example?

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Todd

We are camping all summer 3 months or so. Can we save a lot of money if we do Good Sam or some other? We live in Oregon, USA. They all claim big savings like 80% which seems like it has to be hogwash. We will be tent camping only by the way. And I am aware of free dispersed camping.

Answer
The discount memberships only save you money at private operations like KOA or anything like those. Those facilities are geared to the recreational vehicle crowd you know the big house on wheels set up. Some of those parks have tent camping area's so it's really up to you.

If you are staying in county, state or national forest or parks the only thing those memberships help you with is finding the listing for the park and giving you the information you need to make a reservation which you could do on your own.

Another less costly way to get the information is with your triple A membership. A lot of folks just have the membership for the emergency road service, what they don't realize is that with that is a free trip planning service where they find the campgrounds and all the attractions along your route and put it all in a neat road map package. You still have to make the reservations if need be.

The only discounts offered to state, county or national forests and parks are Senior over age 65 deals and if you qualify that really is the only deal you don't want to miss.

What are some good camping sites around Pennsylvania?

Leo

Camping sites that are afordable and are around a beach, river or lake. Please send me the websites to some. Thnx

Answer
www.koa camping.com ......camping in USA all 50 states
most have bathrooms,pool,showers and RV,tent sites and cabin rentals... join the club and get big discounts well worth the price if you want to get away every weekend.there is one by lake Cumberland in KY with the lake next to it .

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What is a Best tent for camping in the heat?

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b w

I am going to a festival that the heats gets a little much in the mornings, I understand tent fans are around so i guess which is the best tent fan/ tent combo. I do not want a pro one thats super $$ just in case it has to be left behind at the concert (on the other side of the country) heh thank you for your time and answers

Answer
Tarps and hammocks are the best. They make hammocks with mosquito netting built in if bugs are a problem.

Tarps eliminate walls and you get more ventilation. No privacy really. You can pitch it low over a rope (tied between two trees and knotted to maximize opposing forces, you want it really tight) into an A frame that doesn't quite hit the ground, or into a modified A frame where one side is longer than the other, or a flat plane on an incline with the tarp opening to the private side. You still get more circulation under a tarp because the ends are open, you can cover them in rain with what is called a "beak", by using a poncho or a piece of plastic.

When you use tarps, you also want a ground cover, this could be a piece of 6 mm plastic, a neat sheet, or a piece of nylon from Walmart's clearance fabric dept or even a trash bag that you cut open.

Campmor and REI have great tarps, look for their 8x10 nylon tarp, it is waterproof, and very easy to use, grommets, for about 40 US dollars. You have to get your own line to pitch it with. Nylon masonry cord in bright colors is great. I always color coded mine to find corners vs sides. Tarps can also be plastic, such as you would throw over the bed of your pickup or a stack of firewood, or you can use any piece of waterproof material that you can tie corners into a sheetbend (a knot). You can get all kinds of tarps, all different carry weights, etc. I always had great results with the first one I mentioned, from www.campmor.com

Mosquito hammocks are great. For shelter over you, pitch a tarp as above, just higher, no ground cover needed. What is so cool about these is that you get air circulation all around you. Sucks in the winter so I always hit the ground but in summer there is NOTHING better. Your pack goes underneath you for maximum shelter of you and your gear, if you have it with you. So you don't need a lot of surface area under the shelter, use a smaller tarp, save packweight.

Hennessey Hammocks offer a lot of hammocks, they all have rainflys which attach directly to the hammock, eliminating the need for a tarp. Very popular. I never did like them.

Other hammock brands, these are cottage industries for the most part...so supporting small businessmen, you will pay more to buy from the little guys:

Speer
mosquitohammock.com
Crazy Creek
Clark or Clarke (not sure sp)
Byer of Maine
Travel Hammock

(above are all silk or nylon hammocks) Prices for these vary a lot. With a bugnet you will pay more. Without, they can start at 15 dollars....Hennesseys start at about 100 dollars.

You can also get rope/mesh/net ones that leave nice waffle prints on your butt, and these are available at most discount stores for about 10 dollars.

Have fun, don't forget your bug net if you are near water.

What qualities and features should I look for when shopping for a tent?

Mrs.Fine

I love to camp, but my poor old tent has worn out and it is time to purchase a new one. There are alot more features available now, and I want to know which ones are worth the extra money, and which ones just add more weight to my gear. It was a little overwhelming shopping at the Bass Pro shop last weekend.

Also, where is the best place to find a good deal on these tents? I only have a family of four, so an extra large tent is not needed. Just one that is relativley simple to set up.

Thanks for your input!

Answer
First, get a name brand tent. Almost everyone I know who has purchased a tent from a discount store has had problems with it very soon. Not only is this bad economics but can ruin a camping trip.

The tent that is right for you will depend on your own use and priorities. If you are car camping, you will likely accept weight and volume to have a comfortable tent. If you are bike touring, you probably want as small a tent as you can get.

Here's a few things to consider:

Self supporting - The more self supporting a tent is, the less you have to rely on stakes, but the more likely it is to have more poles and more weight. A classic pup-tent for example is simple, has only basic center poles, but needs good ground to steak it down.

Ventilation - Very important if you will be in warm weather especially. I find that having cross ventilation (two opposite doors for example) give much better ventilation than the percent of the tent body that is netting. ( I find that if the netting is completely surrounded by the fly, you won't get much wind movement anyways)

Mosquito netting - get the smaller no seeum netting. It's helpful if you can adjust this and the door rainflies without having to open the tent door (thus letting all the bugs in)

Zipper - get one with a substantial zipper on the doors. This is a point of failure on many bargain brand tents.

In my outdoor program I purchase Eureka Timberline Tents which are the mainstays of many outdoor programs. I think they are one of the best values you will find in a tent. They are well built, have good zippers, have excellent cross ventilation and are easy to set up with poles that are unlikely to break. You can adjust the ventilation from inside the tent. They are great for most general needs, but would not be my choice for activities where light weight is needed such as bike touring or light-weight backpacking. They will make more noise than a dome tent in a wind. A good source is Campmore. They also stock spare parts such as poles should you ever need them. Personally, I find myself using this tent most of the time unless I'm in the wind or snow I use a Eureka dome tent, and if I want to go light, I use a small
Sierra Designs hoop tent instead.

Help preserve your tent by shaking or sweeping out all the debris each morning when you take it down. This will make the floor last much longer. If you are not overly concerned about weight, cut a plastic ground cloth to fit, which you can always leave out if you don't want it. (Campmore sells these very cheaply to fit the timberline)

P.S. - the Timberline has a 4-person version, but it is room for sleeping only. If you are car camping for long periods of time, you may want something more roomy for a family of four.

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Do I really have to buy a four-season camping tent?

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Tracy

I am planning to have my very first winter camping next month. I heard some people said that a four-season camping tent is necessary for a winter camping. I purchased a camping tent this summer and it's a three-season camping tent. I think it's OK because I will use my sleeping bag. Do I really have to buy a four-season camping tent?

Answer
The major differences between a 3 season and a 4 season tent are that the winter rated tents are designed to be able to support or shed a heavy snow load without the frame breaking or the tent collapsing. They also tend to have the rainfly system designed to maintain a more reliable space between the fly and inner tent wall to minimize condensation and having the fly press on the tent due to a build up of snow. Winter rated tents tend to have smaller window and ventilation areas and will more often have an exterior vestibule arrangement to block wind and to give you a place to leave snowy gear outside the sleeping area or to cook on the ground but out of the wind during storms.

Unless you expect heavy snow loads or severe blizzards and extended bivouacs, a good quality (not discount store) 3 season tent can be perfectly adequate for winter camping. I have winter camped many times with 3 season tents, in fact, probably more often than with my 4-season ones (though I own several tents of each type). If your tent pitches tight so that the fly doesn't blow around and snap in the wind and has strong poles and a vestibule or good fly overhang over the door, you will most likely be fine in it.

For winter camping in snow I always carry a microfiber towel to wipe condensation off the inside of the tent walls at night and before I get out of my bag in the morning.

Be certain you have stakes that will work in the ground conditions you will encounter. Fat plastic stakes will not work on frozen ground -- get the thin metal ones that twist in. If you will be camping in deep snowpack, you will want to be able to make "dead man" anchors by attaching the guy lines and corner staking tabs to buried stuff sacks that you fill with snow or rocks or tying your guy lines to buried branches. You will probably need to stake the tent more solidly than in warmer weather due to the higher potential for wind. Nothing is worse than watching your dome tent bounce down the mountain and out of sight over a cliff (hasn't happened to me but I've seen it happen to others).

What are your jungle camping/hiking supplies, gadgets and must haves?

phaja1nine

Please advise on what kind of things you wished you had while hiking and camping in the jungle. I know that the basics will be covered but you list those as well just so I can be sure I am not missing anything. I love gadgets so feel free to include those as well.

Please make list with Peru in mind.

Thanks!

Answer
Can't really offer you a "complete" list since you don't specify what you'll be doing or where you will be staying. But, some things I can't live without when camping in jungle conditions are listed below. All of them cost between $10 and $20 but are worth their weight in gold.:

"Blu Bandoo" cooling bandanas. They are scarves that you can tie around your head or neck that have gel beads inside the fabric. You soak them for 10 minutes in water, the beads swell and it causes a chemical chilling affect that lasts all day. Wearing one around your neck really helps keep you cool. You can re-use them over and over.

An Eddie Bauer sports series zip-neck long-sleeved shirt made with what they call Cocono poly fabric. It has fine mesh panels on the sides and down the back that really keep you cool and dry and the material is SPF 50 rated to prevent sunburn (near the Equator, even people with darker skin can burn painfully). I think they discontinued these shirts but I just bought 2 on their outlet website for $20 each.

A cheap lightweight plastic salad bowl that holds about 2 quarts of water (like a basketball cut in half). You can fit it in the bottom of your daypack and it is really handy for washing your face or doing undie and sock laundry. (get it in the picnic goods department of K-Mart or other discount store for a dollar or two.)

Speaking of laundry, get a set of small backpacker clothespins (they are small bright colored metal or plastic clips.) Very handy for hanging up wet gear and even a flashlight in your tent or cabin. Camping goods departments sell them (COughlans brand, usually) for a few dollars.

A backpackers mesh hammock is handy too (only cost $10 or $12 and fold down small enough to fit in a pack pocket.) Hung between two trees you can sit on it or sleep in it, hung on the wall in a tent or cabin it gives you a big pocket to keep your gear off the floor.

Quick dry underwear made of polyolefin or polyester mesh -- they won't get damp and sweaty while you wear them and dry overnight when you wash them out. Check sporting good stores.

Wool socks (yes, wool), lightweight cushion weave. Much easier on your feet in hiking shoes in damp hot weather -- more absorbent than cotton or synthetics and will cut down on blisters.

A wide brimmed fabric hat and a mosquito net that can go over it when the bugs get to bugging me.

A small journal to write in each night before going to sleep. You think you'll remember everything when you get back but you never do -- it's so much fun to read your own first hand account years later.

A couple of tiny LED flashlights -- they look like a big clear plastic gem about an inch across attached to a black plastic clip that can attach to your pack, hat or pocket. Excellent for walking around camp at night or reading and writing in bed.

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