I initially set up in one of the 5 spots at Swain’s lock along the Potomac (pics 2&3), but right at sunset, 3 bros roll in, gear in tow. They had good taste in music, but that wasn’t the vibe I was going for.

They made it easy for me to decide to move to a location more suited to the hammock stand I was trying out for the first time.

Best decision! I could still hear them around 1, but the frogs and crickets and last few summer locusts mostly drown them out. And the view was to die for!

This part of the Potomac isn’t tidal, and there was no rain in the forecast here or upstream last night, so I wasn’t worried about rising water levels while I slept.

There was a little dew on the outside this morning, but it was really nice sleeping without the fly and seeing the stars and the moon and the beautiful scenery, zipped in away from the bugs.

Hammock stand: YOBO Gear Cricket 2.0 Ultralight

Hammock: Haven Specter

Does anyone have any information or experience with this style Magellan Sleeping Pad? I see the newer blue ones that are 4” thick have good reviews, but I can’t find anything on this 2” thick orange version. Style 39176L

Hi everyone 👋 I’m planning a hike around Kreiskogel (Styria, Austria) and I’m curious if anyone here has experience with wild camping/bivouacking there.

• Did you have any issues with the military zone, and is it clearly marked?
• Was it safe regarding wildlife?
• Did anyone check on you or did you have problems with the law?

Any advice or personal experience would be super helpful 🙏 Thanks in advance!

So, story. Me and my friends plan a camping trip to stone hill state forest. And drive to investigate happy valley during the night. We set up camp, have a good time. Went to happy valley, got startled by quads. But when we get back to camp, we mess around in the tent. Until ≈12AM. We hear footsteps close to the tent. We pause for a bit, and they start to circle the tent. The windows were closed thankfully, but we see a finger brush the north eastern part of the tent.

We bolt outside to the machete, but nothing was there. We circle the tent, nothing. We go back in and… more circling. This repeated for ≈1 hour until it stopped. Was 13, now 14. Still can’t explain as my stepdad was watching us through his tent but saw nothing. But still heard it circle the tent.

Hi all,

I know similar questions have been asked around here but I figured I would personalize, update, and add an item to the list.

My boyfriend is a big and tall guy, around 350lbs. I am about 165lbs. I'm cool to rough it but he's a little more of a glamper (and also gets sad if I wake up and my hip is aching lol)

For him, we got the disco-o-bed extra large single cot. It's rated to 500lbs but he does sink significantly in it. Comfortable. Insulation underneath you is, of course, a must. It is also ridiculously easy to set up & has its own nice carry case.

For my question. Are there camping pads y'all like that are tried and true for his size? It would be nice to have a pad for on the cot.

And, for the absolute probably impossible dream - anything out there that would support our combined weight? Cot, pad, whatever doesn't matter.

We do car camping so weight doesn't matter. I prefer it not to require electricity but really I'll look at anything.

I highly recommend a trial run in the backyard especially if you have kids. We felt really prepared for going out a bit further from civilization. The closest gas station was 30 minutes away from our first tent camping spot as a family. In our backyard, we kept track of everything that we had to go back in the house for and based our camping list off of that. Plus, lying down in the tent, all we could see was the treetops. It almost felt like real camping. At night, we listened to our cicadas and frogs sing. This weekend, we might pitch the tent again since we probably won’t be able to get away for real camping.

Had a wonderful time. Great setup right on the Tennessee River. High of 80, lows in the high 50’s. It was perfect. Didn’t even put the rain fly on the tent, and woke up to a gorgeous view. Cooked a lot, drank a lot of coffee, and even watched some college football 😂

Excited to get out a few more times this fall!

Me and my man just camped for 6 days in our new tent. I kept seeing ads for another brand, and fell in love with the idea of such an easy set up (we use our Quest canopy over the old tent anyways) with no poles and oodles of room (10’x10’).

The other brand was more expensive and took longer to ship, so I found this on Amazon. After checking the reviews, I was sold. The two main complaints were no issue for us.

1. The zipper on the door gets stuck. Yes, it does if you aren’t paying attention to where the flap over the zipper is. Use your fingers to move the flap out of the way and you’re fine.

2. The plastic hooks are cheap and break if you breathe on them. I don’t know what people were doing to them, but they hook on the canopy easy peasy, and I even stepped on one and it didn’t break.

It has a doggy door, 4 pockets for stuff, plenty of places to hook lights, and the ability for lots of ventilation and views. Another plus is the tent floor being made out of tarp material. We were worried about how it might do in wind or storms, but we didn’t experience that over our trip. We did water proof it, and the way the tent gets secured leads us to believe it would be fine in the wind. Each corner hooks to where the canopy gets staked down, and each side gets staked down on its own.

So, for anyone that may have been curious about it, it’s a great tent for camping where you don’t have to walk far, and we love it!

wanted to share a few photos and also ask if anyone knows any spots close to the MA/VT border that are camp friendly besides the usual commercial spots. I ended up finding a place right outside Brattleboro (have friends that live close by so wanted to be close to them) This camp site is family run and felt safe enough. I was warned by local PD here in Boston not to go into Appalachian trail area, which I have been wanting to camp/hike in but that there is active serial killer :/ He has targeted at least 12 women (seems to be down more in southern MA/RI area but that he has made his way up here. It's something that's not being televised so much but they have been warning those going off and advised me not to go so far out. I slept with a hammer by my side and only stayed for a few nights with friends visiting so I was not just out by myself, and the campgrounds had other people there as well. i finally got my tent out of my living room where i had pitched it :) and slept it in. It was awesome, moonlight shined the whole night and the stars were a sight to see! The weather was perfect too, not too hot, not too chilly. :) Stopped off in Northampton on my way back home to have a cold one in memory of a dear Irish friend of mine who passed. lovely labor day getaway.

My husband and I are taking our baby camping early October (he’ll be 6 months then). Any tips on what we should bring and/or do?

Weather wise, it’ll be an average high of 65 degrees and average low of 40. The trail itself is about 4 miles, but we’ll probably set up camp about 2 miles in.

I strictly nurse, so I’m not worried about bringing bottles, etc. We decided to go for it since we’ve taken him on nature walks and he loves it. Taking him outside is what helped me navigate those first two months of postpartum.

Went away with my friend and her dog, we stayed near Austwick on the Yorkshire moors.

Camped on a campsite in an open field with a really old house attached which was the camp shop/office. We just had a basic (cheap) 4 man tent which was small for just the three of us!

We were close to a nature trail which had waterfalls and a cave nearby, and little villages with old country pubs.

My Eureka tent (which had seen many years of camping) gave out last summer after a four-day trip (three nights with heavy rain). I'm looking for recommendations for a 6-person easy to set up tent. Something with a decent rainfly so we won't need to put a tarp up in heavy rain.

I have a skybox that had to be drilled out b/c a key broke off. When they drilled it, the base piece (not the cylinder) was damaged. I can't seem to find this piece for purchase. Going to contact Yakima but thought I would check here first. Thanks for any advice...it's the small metal piece that the cylinder connects to.

I have a site reserved at a campground for this weekend, but saw that there a spot just opened up for a site that may be more desirable. However, it's so close to the reservation date that I can't change the reservation to that site. If I arrive and the site is available, is it possible to move my reservation over to that site?

I can’t be the only one who thinks these are over priced, over hyped and just a ridiculous waste of time, energy and money?

My in laws recently bought one, despite my cynicism of them and advising against it. They spent upwards of £1500 by the time they bought the tent, the required roof bars, had it fitted etc.

We went for a camping trip with them to “christen” the new tent box (which incidentally is fitted to the top of their VW camper van)!

My 4 person Coleman pop up tent was up and pegged down, mattress blown up etc, all within around 5/10 mins. Half an hour later, they’re still faffing around with the poles etc to keep the tent box thingy upright and eventually I had to help them. It was nowhere near as simple as it’s advertised 😂

Then once it’s up you can’t go anywhere unless you pack it all away again, not to mention the fact it no doubt significantly reduces your fuel economy. None of it makes it appealing to me in the slightest.

Anyway, I’m open to opinions and happy to be proven wrong but to me it’s nowhere near as fun, effective and easy as a good old tent!

Would love the best tent recommendation for a family of 6, although primarily 5 will be using it as I don’t see my 18yr old going with us often. I want something as big as our budget will allow but also something that will last. We did tent camping 15yrs ago together before we’ve had 3 more children and feel so out of the loop.

Budget: $500 or under. Occupants: my husband, me, 8, 9 and 2yr old (sometimes our oldest).

Would LOVE to see your tent set ups for a big family?! Yes, we would enjoy more luxuries than just roughing it! We actually have a very nice camper but financial strains are causing us to sell it but we still want our kids to have this experience and us too some next season! Ty!

Spent a few days over labor day weekend up on top of the lake plateau in the Beartooths. About a 10 mile hike into the rainbow lakes. Incredible camping up at 9,500 on tundra. Lots of cutthroats in the many rainbow lakes, pretty much were taking any fly we threw at them. No bears seen although we heard from others there was a sow and two cubs roaming around owl lake.

Hi everyone,

I just come back from camping and I had the bad surprise of discovering my tent isn't waterproof anymore. I have a ma pack olympus for almost 10 years now and I believe the problem comes from the hydrophobic of the fabric failing. I had a tarp under the tent and some water got stuck between the tarp and the tent floor. Unfortunately the floor was sipping the water inside the tent faster than I could dry it with my towel...

I love my tent and getting a new similarly capable tent is a huge expense therefore I was wondering if there was a way to Re-waterproof the tent floor and canopy while I am at it?

Thanks a lot for your advice 🙃

Hi all, My boyfriend and I are going to the Colorado sand dunes the 21st&22nd of this month. We are driving into Co Springs 18th and staying in a hotel till the next morning.

He’s never been camping in Colorado and I really want to find a campground that’s beautiful to relax or has some trails but am OVERWHELMED by all the choices. I was looking at places in Gunnison near buena vista, but I’m willing to drive out 2-3 hours from the springs. Places I’ve viewed on google maps: Lakeview camp grounds, Cascade campground, OHaver Lake Campground, and Cottonwood Lake Campground.

Does anyone have camping spots they would recommend or visited and loved? Thanks.

Hi! I recently purchased a ozark camp stove as well as two empty 1lb propane bottles. Can any one suggest where to take them to have them filled, or do I need to buy a 35lb take and fill them off that? Thanks so much for advice!

does any of you guys what dimensions of tent poles should I buy for my tent ( I dont have any idea how the measurements work for this)

ROTHENBERGER Industrial Camping Stove Deluxe Including 2 Gas Cartridges | Includes Carry Case | 1-Bulb Gas Stove Camping Gas Stove Cartridge | for Pots 12-34 cm Should be fine I believe.

Hi!

I'm looking to buy a cabin-style tent, ideally 4-people sized. Not looking for something for extreme weather conditions, usually weather is pretty mild, not extremely cold and usually only light rain, rarely in winter.

From what I've been looking around, something like the Coleman collection of cabin tents would be ideal. Something like the 4-Person Dark Room Skydome or the 4-Person Cabin Camping Tent with Instant Setup:

I've also looked at the Core 4 Person Straight Wall Cabin Tent, which is also in the dimensions I look for and in an acceptable price range.

The problem is I can't seem to find these tents for sale in Europe (either locally in Portugal or online, from any retailer or Amazon). I can find them in some weird sites, but usually at double the price or used. The Coleman Dark Room is available on Amazon at regular price, but with a delivery estimate of 6 months! The Core I can only find through shady resellers which mark up the price to more than double.

Do you have any suggestions for similar tents, which are available in Europe at similar prices?

Thanks!

I’ve camped a few times with friends, but this weekend was my first time going solo. I figured it’d be relaxing just me, a tent, and some quiet. Instead I ended up spending half the night paranoid about every little noise outside. Setting up the tent took longer than I expected, cooking was awkward, and I didn’t sleep much at all. But weirdly, I still feel proud I did it. Sitting by the fire later and scrolling IG and actually felt kind of peaceful once I settled down.
For people who’ve done solo trips does it get easier with experience? Or is camping alone always a little nerve wracking?