Hiking / Camping equipment review thread (and trip stories!)

[JAYBAL]

I have a very similar Marmot tent to the one above.. Great, light hike-able tent.. But I haven't used it in years.. I bought a North American from Clark Jungle Hammocks and haven't used anything since on hike in camping trips.. It is probably the best night sleep I get too.

http://www.junglehammock.com/

Its a little pricey, but I think if you camp a lot its worth it.. No poles to hike in, no bed roll.. Never have to worry about uneven ground or rocks.. Sticks to rip the bottom of the tent, or water making its way in.


It packs up the size of a football and can be used on the ground and in the trees..

The sacks stitched in to the bottom of it do help with traping your body heat. I think the coldest temp I was in with it was 15* and I was fine.. I use a 0 North Face bag.

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[nhluhr]

+ + was perfect this past weekend when I did a traverse of the Tatoosh Mountains.

[BacDoc]

In for tent consideration. Wanna start back into camping a little bit now my oldest is able to handle it. We're gonna camp in the back yard a couple nights and see how she does.

[boxered]

Originally Posted by I_H8_1.8

How about some reviews/recommendations of tents, air mattresses, coolers, lanterns, grills, bug repellants, etc?

What I'm really after is some recommendations for a good queen-size, double-height air mattress for less than $75, but there doesn't seem to be a camping equipment thread, so here we go.

How big of a tent is needed? There are some really good backpacking-level air mattresses now that are easier to use in multiple situations. Having a giant air mattress is a waste of space and energy.

[BGPunk2001]

Originally Posted by scaryfastskier

I'm considering buying:



+



I hate camping, but it would be convenient for dirt biking at times.

****ING OUTSTANDING!!!!

I need to get these for our truck.

[I_H8_1.8]

Originally Posted by boxered

How big of a tent is needed? There are some really good backpacking-level air mattresses now that are easier to use in multiple situations. Having a giant air mattress is a waste of space and energy.

I just got a new tent 2 weeks ago or so; not sure of the brand or size off hand, but it's fairly big, so there is plenty of room for a queen size air mattress. I think it was on sale for $50 or so; a cheap, but decent-seeming tent. So far my only gripe is like just smurfy said; there's no privacy with the rain fly off, but it will probably be on the whole time when I'm using it.

I've got my eye on a Coleman double height "Quickbed" that's around $60, but reviews seem to be all over, which is why I'm asking for recommendations. I used a single height mattress last summer and wasn't thrilled with it; didn't hold air very well, and just wasn't very comfortable.

[boxered]

Ok, first things first, you get what you pay for when it comes to camping stuff. Yes, for some things you can get the cheapie stuff but tents and sleeping gear is not where you go cheap. A "big" $50 tent is going to perform that way when the weather gets ugly or when stressed. What single height air mattress did you use? A cheap air mattress will not be constructed as well and will develop slow leaks.

[Bochet]

for hiking, i like the thermarest z-rest pads better than the auto-inflating foam ones.

my tent is old, i hike with a tarp to put down as a ground mat. all but eliminates any condensation issues.

synthetic fill for sleeping bags.

the jetboil things are great if you just need to prep smaller amounts of liquid at a time.

extra string/rope/bungees/carabiners always seem to come in handy. make sure you've got a sharp knife.

[I_H8_1.8]

Originally Posted by boxered

Ok, first things first, you get what you pay for when it comes to camping stuff. Yes, for some things you can get the cheapie stuff but tents and sleeping gear is not where you go cheap. A "big" $50 tent is going to perform that way when the weather gets ugly or when stressed. What single height air mattress did you use? A cheap air mattress will not be constructed as well and will develop slow leaks.

Agreed; my first tent I ever bought was a hexagonal Eureka (early-mid 90s). If I were going backpacking, I wouldn't even have considered the one I bought, but it should work just fine for the amount of car camping I do. I have a tarp to put underneath it, and will be doing some additional waterproofing once I set it up.

The single height air mattress was a gift; I don't recall the brand or anything, but assume it was a cheapo. Again, for as often as it will get used, I don't want to spend a ton on an air mattress, either.

[Subie Love]

Well, I picked up this tent yesterday. REI quarterdome T2. I haven't slept in it yet so this isn't a review, just my initial thoughts.









Pretty small 2 person tent but it only weighs a little over 4 pounds. Seems to be very good quality and it was extremely easy to set up. There is only 1 pole with 2 hubs. My sleeping bag is the long version so if you have a normal length bag it will fit better. I'm 6 foot exactly and I fit great, still have a few inches when I'm laying down. There is plenty of room for 2 people to sit Indian style. Although roomy enough inside, you are definitely going to be using the vestibules for your gear. This is a pretty popular tent, if you go on rei.com you can read all the reviews.

The T2 plus version is 10 inches longer and 3 inches wider. Not worth the extra $100 to me.

Does anyone know what these are? There is one of them hanging on the inside of each door flap. I can't figure out what they do. I used it to tie back one of the doors but if that's what they are for I don't think I did it right. I just looped the white piece around the orange piece on the outside. It wasn't very secure.

[nhluhr]

those are basically spring clips to assist you in tying back the door flaps if you want them open. look for matching loops at the attached crease where the door would fold open. Just loosely roll the door back to the fully open position, stick that clip through the loop, and cinch it to make it stay put.

edit - in your pics, it appears you used it pretty much as intended, but maybe stick it through the loop the other direction so you can pull the white nylon tether to tighten the thing.

[Subie Love]

Ahhh, ok thanks!

I didn't even put the clip part through the orange loop, just the white piece and looped it twice. I'll stick the clip through and see if that makes it sturdier.

Edit: Yup, works like a charm!

[Rallyroo]

I had a REI Quarterdome T2. It didn't survive 20 mph winds outside of Tucson, AZ. The poles bent. I tried to go lightweight, but that didn't work out.

I went back to using my 4-season Mountain Hardware Trango 2. Was on Mt Whitney in April and had to deal with 55 mph gusts and waking up with 1-2 feet of snow around the tent.

For lightweight, I'm back to using an Outdoor Research Basic Bivy.

[Subie Love]

Any experience with Tarp-tent tents? They seem to be good quality and extremely lightweight. I almost bought one of those instead.

I don't plan on doing any hardcore backpacking in bad weather so I think the T2 will suite me fine, hopefully.

[r0bman]

omgwant.

[Drink]

I saw that on their site the other day, I just can't seem to find storage specs and weight.

[I_H8_1.8]

Originally Posted by r0bman

omgwant.

Agreed. I've been seeing them advertised, and went and watched a few youtube videos of them...so nice, yet out of my limited car camping budget!

[PGT]

I have a Marmot Equinox II tent. The poles failed on it and years later, Marmot has not returned them under warranty. Reading up on the company, they've been through a rollercoaster. Time to bring what's left back to REI with the copies of our correspondence and utter lack of response from Marmot. Terrible experience.

In other news, I took this pic in 2001. You can barely make out the tents in the pic

[Teehsee]

OP: I have a coleman queen size air mattress that seems damn near indestructable. It's survived about 10 trips in the past year and a half probably 35-40 days, not one hole or leak, which is pretty amazing, considering it holds the weight of the wife and I, plus our two 75-100lb dogs jumping on it, one of which has some pretty gnarly nails. I think we only paid $50-60 for it.

Originally Posted by VpointVick

I've car camped for years, and an air mattress has gone with me since I turned thirty. It's nice having a base camp with a few amenities to come home to on long MTB trips.

This. I just recently got into camping again...last winterish. I originally had a few foam pads for the sleeping bags, woke up and could barely walk. Purchased an air mattress the day I got back and surprisingly it takes up far less space when compacted than the pads did and it's far more comfortable.

Originally Posted by I_H8_1.8

Agreed. I've been seeing them advertised, and went and watched a few youtube videos of them...so nice, yet out of my limited car camping budget!

My cheapo wal-mart tent does just fine, but seeing a couple of those videos makes me really want one. $220 seems like a pretty good deal considering the amount of bickering with the Mrs. that goes on for 20-30 minutes while setting ours up.

[subasurf]

Just get an Australian Swag and be done with it.
It's your mattress and 'protection' from the elements all rolled into one. Similar to a bivvy bag and comfortable as all hell.

[tobylazur]

Wow, I'm glad this thread popped up. We got all the camping stuff out over the weekend in preparation of a trip we plan to take in a few weeks.

Set the tent up for my daughter to play in, and so I could get a refresher on how it all goes together. I think we're probably only going to get one more summer out of my old school coleman tent. You can definitely see small pin holes of blue sky in some places on the roof. Anyone know of anything you can use to water proof the roof of a tent?

I'm actually border line hoping it leaks so I can **** can it and look into getting a new tent for car camping. I dread setting it up since you have to assemble the frame first, then hang the tent from the frame. I've gotten spoiled using the little pop-up tent I got for when I go back packing with my buddy.

[VpointVick]

Originally Posted by tobylazur

Wow, I'm glad this thread popped up. We got all the camping stuff out over the weekend in preparation of a trip we plan to take in a few weeks.

Set the tent up for my daughter to play in, and so I could get a refresher on how it all goes together. I think we're probably only going to get one more summer out of my old school coleman tent. You can definitely see small pin holes of blue sky in some places on the roof. Anyone know of anything you can use to water proof the roof of a tent?

I'm actually border line hoping it leaks so I can **** can it and look into getting a new tent for car camping. I dread setting it up since you have to assemble the frame first, then hang the tent from the frame. I've gotten spoiled using the little pop-up tent I got for when I go back packing with my buddy.

?

[Hondaslayer]

Originally Posted by Teehsee

OP: I have a coleman queen size air mattress that seems damn near indestructable. It's survived about 10 trips in the past year and a half probably 35-40 days, not one hole or leak, which is pretty amazing, considering it holds the weight of the wife and I, plus our two 75-100lb dogs jumping on it, one of which has some pretty gnarly nails. I think we only paid $50-60 for it.


.

Same here, We have had ours for nearly ten years and been using it under the same conditions (me, wife, mutts) and it's still in great shape.

[CF-Ninja]

I've got a 4 day kayak trip planed with my friend next month. Gear is as follows:

Alps Mountaineering Chaos 3 tent
REI +40 synthetic sleeping bag
Thermarest Z-lite pad
MSR Sweetwater filter
Brunton Stove and cookware
Cabelas bug suit

For the last day of the trip I have my Jungle Juice 98% deet spray.

[Kaiser]

After using a loaner tent during our recent Adirondacks camping trip, we bought our own: An REI Half Dome 2 Plus. Haven't had a chance to use it yet, but my buddy had one during the trip and it seemed very nice. Got it for $150 during REI's recent sale:




I'm looking forward to using it. We might just sleep outside one night and test it out.

...

Something I did use during the recent trip was our new Bushbuddy wood stove (http://www.bushbuddy.ca). I randomly found out about it by perusing camping vids on youtube, and the idea of a small, light stove that didn't require carrying any fuel in really appealed to me. I tested it a few times at home and got it to light with just my fire stick and some magnesium shavings, although I did have to resort to using a cotton ball as the initial tinder. That practice paid off, because all of the wood (and everything else, including us) was wet on the island that we camped on. Still, I got it going each morning, which meant we had hot tea and breakfast, and that made a huge difference.

Using the Bushbuddy stove while camping on Indian Lake, NY

Using the Bushbuddy stove while camping on Indian Lake, NY

Here's an interesting read about the guy who builds each by hand: http://www.hikinginfinland.com/2009/...bushbuddy.html He lives in Midddleof****ingnowhere, Canada. EDIT: (No, seriously, he does.)

The quality of his work is phenomenal. It's my favorite piece of gear.