Camping Gear for the Casual Family Campers

[jeywalk]

Hi all,

My name is Jerry, and I am working on a project to research camping equipment for modern urban families.

I know a lot of you guys are experienced in camping and outdoor adventures, but for the casual family who goes camping once or twice a year, what gear would you recommend to them?

I am thinking these attributes would be desirable (feel free to add more):
- easy to use for the beginner
- compact so it doesn't take up too much space when stored away
- makes camping more enjoyable for family members

For disclosure, I am a product curator at www.ippinka.com. We are looking for products that would encourage families to go camping this summer. Your suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[nwoods]

Well, destination and activities are huge factors in your gear selections, almost as big as budget. Generally speaking, anyone with any sort of family camping experience will focus on three things:
1. Keep Mom happy
2. Keep Mom comfortable
3. Keep Mom warm

That tends to mean things like:
1. Tent that is tall enough to move around in
2. Sleeping bag that is way overated for the anticipated temperatures. If it's going to get in the 40's at night, buy the +15 degree bag.
3. Good insulated sleeping pads, such as those by Nemo or REI
4. Quality chairs, decent table, good stove, etc...
5. Portapotty enclosure and PETT style toilet
6. Performance clothing, with an emphasis on warm and dry.

As a father and principle load-master, I look for gear that is compressible, dual purpose (if possible) child proof in operation, and value oriented. I personally really like REI gear because of their "no-questions-asked-so-what-if-the toddler-blew-through-the-tent-zipper-trying-to-get-out-to-pee-we-will-replace-it-anyway" return policy. My own family focuses on comfort far more than space allocation, so we are always bursting at the seams, but I have gotten good at loading and stowing the gear.

I can answer more detailed questions if you ask them. Here is a bit more about my family:
http://www.adventureparents.com/adv...ice-cream-loving-woods-family-in-15-questions

 

[jeywalk]

Thanks for the reply, Nathan. Any foldable tables / chairs you would recommend?

Regards

 

[JAvendan]

i've been following this thread in regards to camp chairs...

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/32480-The-Great-Camp-Chair-Debate?highlight=camp+chair

i am in the process of downsizing our camp chairs as i need the room and need cut some weight, too.

joel

 

[JAvendan]

great pic, btw!

joel

 

[nwoods]

Thanks for the reply, Nathan. Any foldable tables / chairs you would recommend?

Regards

Tables and chairs are a factor of space and physical needs. I am 6'-7" and 300lbs. I don't fit, or greatly exceed the rated limit of most chairs. As much as I like Snowpeak, they are set for the 160lbs zero percent body fat demographic. I have used various REI "fat boy" folding chairs, beach chairs, ARB folding chairs, etc... My favorite is a hugely bulky Coleman directors chair.

I use several of the Roll-A-Table's on most family trips. USA produced, and well made. Reasonably portable, but a bit slow and awkward to set up, particularly if its muddy:

If its just me and perhaps one other family member, I often use a low slung backpack beach chair:

But my heart is for a nice Campaign Chair. I really enjoyed borrowing this one for a few weeks:

I have experimented with ALPS's tables, and they are nice, but too low for family use, and too low for food prep. However, for solo use, I really like these little RIO Adventure sidetables. They are small, but work well Very compact too:

I still struggle with my Snowpeak fixation. I want this set up someday, when my wallet grows up:

I make do now with my Snowpeak Hozuki lantern (which I love!)

And one of the most surprisingly well used purchases, my SnowPeak trash can. We use this thing all the time now!

Lately, another great tool that we've enjoyed is the extremely well made Nemo shower unit:

 

[Amy H]

Who makes the wooden table pictured with the white jeep? Looks like it might serve two purposes for me if it is the right size.

=================================
A little about me... I car camp (sleep in my Honda Element-nice little full size bed) with my nine year old boy and two dogs every chance we get in the summer in Washington State. We keep our gear weight lite, but with perks, usually at a campground since it is mostly just the two of us together.

We don't usually pack chairs or tables, if so we use good storage bins are used as double duty. Action packers seem to handle being used as chairs.

We love our coleman led lantern with rechargable power packs that plug into the car. Great for night time potty trips if your not so inclined to use the bucket. LOL

We use a two burner propane camp stove and tea kettle here in the NW. We tried the single back packer stoves, but with little ones around it just felt too unstable and I was afraid the kettle would fall over on my child.

Dress in layers of t-shirts, fleece and wet weather gear on top. And quick dry pants that roll up to make shorts. Like North Face or Columbia brand. Smart wool socks for night time and Keen water sandels for river hopping. Some nylon cord make a quick clothes line too.

One of my best little finds is a small travel spice pack from Old World Market. Seasoned camp food is a must. Kleen Kanteen metal beverage bottles are great for packing soy milk in for my little guy and it keeps on one cooler of ice here for 3 days. Nalgene bottles are fine for regular water.

Small travel games like Mancala and other pocket games are nice to have around. We always pack a bucket and shovel for my son to dig around and collect treasures. Kites are fun too.

Not sure if this is what you were looking for but the basics of what we take.

 

[nwoods]

The red chairs and bamboo topped table by the nice white Rubicon are all SnowPeak. They belong to Justin ( aka: Gear here on ExPo), the fellow in the black shirt in the middle

 

[Amy H]

Thanks!

 

[jeywalk]

If its just me and perhaps one other family member, I often use a low slung backpack beach chair:

Looks compact and lightweight, who makes this backpack chair?

I make do now with my Snowpeak Hozuki lantern (which I love!)

Very visually pleasing - what do you like about it?

Lately, another great tool that we've enjoyed is the extremely well made Nemo shower unit:

Awesome!

 

[jeywalk]

Thanks Amy for sharing!

We use a two burner propane camp stove and tea kettle here in the NW. We tried the single back packer stoves, but with little ones around it just felt too unstable and I was afraid the kettle would fall over on my child.

What is the brand of the camp stove that you are using?

What do you think of something like this?

http://www.sotooutdoors.com/products/item/OD-1R.html

 

[nwoods]

Looks compact and lightweight, who makes this backpack chair?

China. They are available everywhere. Costco, Sports Chalet, Oscars, Big-O, Champs, Dicks, etc...

Very visually pleasing - what do you like about it?

The quality of light. it is very warm, similar in spectrum to candle lighting. It has multiple brightness modes, and works well lighting up a whole picnic table or hanging in the top of the tent at minimum glow settings. There is a motion sensor in it too, if you turn on motion mode, and set it swinging, it will flicker in random patterns to mimick an actual candle, but I never use this mode. It does consume batteries fairly rapidly for an LED, but it lasts a week or so on four AA's. It's pretty durable, and easy to clean as well. The shroud is just a flexible silicone sheath.

 

[nwoods]

Thanks Amy for sharing!



What is the brand of the camp stove that you are using?

What do you think of something like this?

http://www.sotooutdoors.com/products/item/OD-1R.html

I have an MSR stove like that one, but hardly ever use it. We use a compact Vector stove if it's just me and boy, or we lug out the big two-burner stove most times for full family trips. For many many years we used a Coleman with a gridle on one side and burner on the other, but it finally died. We recently replaced with with a high BTU Primus or CampChief or something like that. We actually like it quite a bit in terms of heat and control, but the knobs are external and I predict loosing them over time. What I really want is a Partner Steel 2 burner, but they are not in my price range.

 

[JAvendan]

Looks compact and lightweight, who makes this backpack chair?

you can find those at walmart and costco.

the prices range from like $25 to $45.

some have a very large single compartment... some have two smaller compartments one being a little cooler and the other to hold stuffs

joel

 

[Amy H]

We use a two burner coleman propane stove. The one pictured is similar to the back packer stove that can get top heavy with a small tea kettle on top...not good with kiddos running around. I feel safer with a stove that is not going to tip over. Plus when traveling with kiddos/family we tend to cook more food...like pancakes, sausage and scramble and the two burners do the trick.