Totally New - Looking to Learn

NickInTheValley

New member
Hello all!

I'm looking to get into camping and eventually overland expeditions with my family. Right now I'm focused on doing this with my seven year old son as he's the interested one. Hoping my wife and three year old want to venture along at some point in the future. I'm confident I can muddle my way through learning the various things I should know about camping, as I didn't grow up with these experiences. Dad wasn't there. No boy scouts. etc.

I want to do it differently with my boy. I take him hunting when he wants to go and we go hiking occasionally. What I'd like to do with him (we homeschool) is develop some sort of woodcraft/survival/camping curriculum. One week we could work on something like building a fire. Another week (and more) about plants and trees. Other lessons about using a map. etc.

Before I try to figure this all out.... does such a thing exist? Website? Book? etc?

Thanks... trying to find my way as me and my boy learn this all together.

Nick.. in the valley.
 

NickInTheValley

New member
Thanks, man. I definitely don't have the money to go buying a bunch of toys. I guess I wanted to try to figure out a few things before I took my boy out there. Maybe the answer is I do it alone a few times until I figure a few things out.
 

stevenmd

Expedition Leader
A solo trial run is not a bad idea, but go with some friends if you can. Good company makes camping much more enjoyable.

Sleeping comfortably is one of the most important things when camping. A good night's sleep makes a huge difference, especially if kids are involved. A good mattress will make a big difference, but a cot is another good option. There are some cots on Amazon that fold down real small (backpacking), but still get you off the ground and allow the cot to contour to your body, vs your body contouring to the ground.

Keep an eye on local outdoor-gear stores for sales, especially the outlets. You can often score great gear at reasonable prices. And for many items, there's no harm in getting them second hand; cheaper learning experience if the items don't work out.

Spot on advice here! Go with friends if possible and sleep comfortable! I have found that as long as I am comfortable sleeping, I can pretty much tolerate almost all conditions and catastrophes that happen during the day.
 

Drumber

Observer
I agree with the comments here already. One thing I see people do all the time is try to do things that they wouldn't normally do at home. If you've never made that dutch oven cobbler you just read about on Pinterest, you aren't going to pull it off while camping with a kid. Along the lines of cooking, you can also totally skip buying any cookware and bring some pre-made food in a cooler. You'll probably be only going for a night or two the first few times anyway. What's the kid like? Pizza, Subway sandwiches, fried chicken from KFC? Get that stuff in advance and throw it in the cooler. Or make a bunch of cold food at home and treat your meals like a picnic. You'll start to see what you're wanting to use/missing from your home kitchen and can figure out what you want to start packing.
Also, get the kids involved in as many things as they are willing to help with and stretch that time out. Camping with kids involves killing a lot of time that they'd be otherwise distracted with at home.
 

Honu

lost on the mainland
all great advice here of course
for sure on food etc..
IMHO a simple overnight is easy way to get into it without having to have much gear etc..


before all this for sure see if friends have good stuff you can borrow
being warm is key to happy night and a good insulated pad can help insulate that back side notice the trend here ;) hahahahah


if you end up buying
avoid some air infatable bed from costco and a huge coleman tent from costco :) my reasons are bed wont insulate properly and setup and quality of a huge coleman IMHO wont match a nice basic REI or other setup and it can be a long term purchase

get a decent bag and insulated pad the costco insulated self inflate is good bang for buck
for a bag search here on expo for info or ask in a thread
basic nice REI tent on sale depending on funds available they can be had quite reasonable
 

Stryder106

Explorer
Welcome. There is some stuff you can start teaching him while at home, like: How to read a map, how to use a compass, how to navigate. Draw out a course - headings and steps (his size), put a towel over his head and have him use the compass and instructions to navigate his way through a course. Things like that........
 

NickInTheValley

New member
Thanks. I have an REI tent I picked up cheap years ago. Just a two person though. My son is 7 so it may work.

I'll definitely be on the lookout for sleeping pads that are decent. I wanted to pick some up at Cabela's today but I'm traveling for work and can't get em home.
 

Kerensky97

Xterra101
I like going to the Army Surplus stores and rummaging though their stuff. You can get a lot of basic camping gear for cheap there, then as you find out what you really need or like you can upgrade equipment that will benefit you most.

Remember people used to camp with canvas tents, a pile of blankets and some heavy cast iron cookware. All of the super titanium, fast boil stove, space age material tents you can get for $1000s are just bling to refine the craft of camping. Depending on the comfort, weiht, and willingness to rough it you don't need much to get started.

Yosemite-camping.jpg
 

Madbodhi

Observer
I've done primitive camping and such my entire life. There are a great many superb books and videos out there. But when I wanted to teach people who were brand spanking new to the outdoors the very best primer ive found has been the "Survival Basics" Volume 1 and 2 (on sale at the moment,both volumes on 1 dvd for $10.http://survival.instantestore.net/cat_woodsmaster.cfm .Ron Hood (R.I.P.) was a real deal expert and more importantly an excellent teacher. I would highly recommend these to get a good solid base. My son has a small tablet that's loaded with various apps for identifying tracks, fish and animal species,plants, and knot tying. Easier than carrying a book around,some of the apps have question and answer type searching to identify things and the knot tying app is animated so you can actually follow along as the knot is demonstrated. I also got him "The boys book of adventure" https://www.amazon.com/Boys-Book-Adventure-Guidebook-Resourceful/dp/0764166115/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505635435&sr=1-4&keywords=boys+book+of+survival which he is quite fond of. Best of luck and have fun.
 

Kyle Kelso

Adventurer
My advice would be don't go too far out until you are both comfortable with the process. Car camping is much easier with kids as you can afford to over-pack and have a way to get out quick if things go poorly. I took my daughter backpacking for her first time (since she was in a carrier) when she was 4 but it was only 3km so I knew I could carry her out quick in an emergency. It was great fun but I enjoy truck camping with our rtt so we can cook better meals and have more bed time books and stuffies and things to make it easier with a kid.

Don't over think it, but don't go under-prepared. It doesn't have to be luxurious but make sure you have survival essentials covered, ESPECIALLY if going alone.
Water, shelter, first-aid, navigation, clothing, food, etc.
It can be expensive and elaborate or cheap and simple, you just have to have it.

Have fun!

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk
 

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