Camping Equipment

[nynole1]

Seems like we have quite a few outdoorsmen on this site, so I figured I would ask the experts.

I am going on a 3 day camping trip in August here in NY. We will be staying at a campsite near the lake with my two dogs, the campsite will have a fire ring and picnic table. My question for you guys is what should I bring equipment wise? I need to buy a tent and am looking for recommendations on that as well.

 

[FreeFlyNole]

Rent a tent from REI.

Good inflatable mattress. Ear plugs.

 

[BelemNole]

Yeah, if you're just going for the first time just rent some good gear. Tent, pad, sleeping bag. Other than that bring a few layers for rain/cold, some food/drink and something to make fire with. Doesn't have to be complicated.

 

[nolelan]

Seems like we have quite a few outdoorsmen on this site, so I figured I would ask the experts.

I am going on a 3 day camping trip in August here in NY. We will be staying at a campsite near the lake with my two dogs, the campsite will have a fire ring and picnic table. My question for you guys is what should I bring equipment wise? I need to buy a tent and am looking for recommendations on that as well.

Depends on several things like if you are cooking for yourself, is drinkable water available, is it cold or hot. A starter list: Tent, sleeping bag, water bottle, sunscreen, insect repellent, flashlight, pocket knife, 1st aid kit.
Many sites dont let you collect wood for fire. You may have to bring your own or sometimes they sell firewood at the ranger stattion.

 

[JohnnieHolmesNole]

Seems like we have quite a few outdoorsmen on this site, so I figured I would ask the experts.

I am going on a 3 day camping trip in August here in NY. We will be staying at a campsite near the lake with my two dogs, the campsite will have a fire ring and picnic table. My question for you guys is what should I bring equipment wise? I need to buy a tent and am looking for recommendations on that as well.

1. Check into the Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons
2. Eat, drink and have a great time
3. On your last evening, sit by the pool on a lounger for a few hours, maybe dozing asleep
4. Return home the next day and tell everyone how much you loved "camping"

 

[SeaPA]

How many people are going with you? You can buy a decent, small tent for pretty cheap at Walmart, along with an inflatable mattress. Maybe a sleeping bag, but in August it will probably be fairly warm - make sure you get one appropriate for the likely temperature range you'll be sleeping in.

Put the tent up at the house before you go on your trip. You don't want to be trying to learn how to put it up while you're at the campsite. I'd also suggest one of the "easy-up" tents, they make life a lot simpler.

 

[nynole1]

Depends on several things like if you are cooking for yourself, is drinkable water available, is it cold or hot. A starter list: Tent, sleeping bag, water bottle, sunscreen, insect repellent, flashlight, pocket knife, 1st aid kit.
Many sites dont let you collect wood for fire. You may have to bring your own or sometimes they sell firewood at the ranger stattion.

This seems to be around what I was thinking. Going to bring in my own firewood as well along with drinkable water. Going with a few people who are more experienced, so that will help. This is a "sticking my toe in the water" trip before something hopefully longer and more involved.

 

[jamnolfin]

1. Check into the Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons
2. Eat, drink and have a great time
3. On your last evening, sit by the pool on a lounger for a few hours, maybe dozing asleep
4. Return home the next day and tell everyone how much you loved "camping"

I would rather camp, I'm sick of hotel rooms. Haven't tent camped in a few years but there's some nice tents these days. My buddy has a 2 bedroom with screen room and air conditioning, its the bomb. Set your tent up and scotch guard it to make it waterproof, they have a outdoor tent product. I love sleeping in the woods.

 

[seminole97]

http://gobqgrills.com/

 

[jamnolfin]

http://gobqgrills.com/

Thats pretty cool.

 

[Lemon Thrower]

besides a tent, a $20 walmart sleeping bag if its the summer will be fine, a waterproof ground cloth for under the tent, air mattress or similar for comfort for the adults, flashlight, maybe a lantern, maybe a hatchet, cooking stove if no camp fires allowed, cooler and food.

 

[On Iowa]

This is probably excessive, but you could pare it down to what you really want to take.

http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/family-camping-checklist.html

 

[Manch.]

 

[F4Gary]

Bring this:

 

[KevNole]

Sitting in my camper on Lake Blackshear even as I type.
Georgia Veterans State Park, an awesome park. You can kayak, canoe, jet ski, ski boat or pontoon it. Hike, or just walk the dogs around the camping loop.
they have Frisbee golf. On weekends they have model airplane hobbyist that fly some awesome planes in a nice open field.

They have a veterans war museum, tanks etc.
They have a marina within a half mile on the park grounds. There is a bar and grill, live bands weekends.

You can do plenty or chill.

 

[KitingHigh]

Wait till tribe gets in this thread. He has an air conditioned tent.

As others have said get a tent from Walmart or target and an air mattress. If your tent is big enough for a double/queen bed don't bother with a sleeping bag, just use regular sheets and blanket or comforter. You need a lantern and headlamps. Also don't count on cooking over a pit fire. You can but it's often slow and tricky for beginners. If a grill is not provided get a weber smokey joe. Actually get one anyway, as it cooks better than the park ones anyway. The small light the bag charcoal packs work perfect in it. It only a costs about twenty bucks. A propane stove comes in handy as well. Folding chairs are nice to have as well. As for your cooler, use ice blocks rather than cubes and make sure everything is cold when it goes in. If possible keep your beverages in a separate cooler so you aren't constently opening the one with your food.

As for your fire, buy firewood locally near camp, don't take it from another area as that spreads insects and tree disease that may not otherwise be present in that area. Don't forget kindling and a solid method for getting it lit. A good kindling is fatwood. They are pencil size sticks with a ton of sap in them that burn like crazy. They are sold in bundles and one should get you through three days. You would be suprised how many free beers I've gotten by starting fires for people at campgrounds because they got wood, but no kindling.

 

[KitingHigh]

One more thing. Moisture management. Make sure nothing inside the tent is touching the walls. If something is on the wall it will wick rain or even dew into the tent. Also lean your chairs on the picnic table at night or they may be wet with dew when you get up in the morning.

 

[FSUTribe76]

Wait till tribe gets in this thread. He has an air conditioned tent.

As others have said get a tent from Walmart or target and an air mattress. If your tent is big enough for a double/queen bed don't bother with a sleeping bag, just use regular sheets and blanket or comforter. You need a lantern and headlamps. Also don't count on cooking over a pit fire. You can but it's often slow and tricky for beginners. If a grill is not provided get a weber smokey joe. Actually get one anyway, as it cooks better than the park ones anyway. The small light the bag charcoal packs work perfect in it. It only a costs about twenty bucks. A propane stove comes in handy as well. Folding chairs are nice to have as well. As for your cooler, use ice blocks rather than cubes and make sure everything is cold when it goes in. If possible keep your beverages in a separate cooler so you aren't constently opening the one with your food.

As for your fire, buy firewood locally near camp, don't take it from another area as that spreads insects and tree disease that may not otherwise be present in that area. Don't forget kindling and a solid method for getting it lit. A good kindling is fatwood. They are pencil size sticks with a ton of sap in them that burn like crazy. They are sold in bundles and one should get you through three days. You would be suprised how many free beers I've gotten by starting fires for people at campgrounds because they got wood, but no kindling.

I do have an air conditioned (courtesy of a portable evaporative condenser) three season tent in the form of a Eureka Nergy with built in wires and outlets with a solar powered battery as well as a large capacity car/normal AC battery to run it. That's for pulling up and parking at civilized camping sites.

For primitive camping where you have to hike in I've got a two pound four season tent.

Also an air mattress with regular sheets works just fight in the heat of Florida. But an air mattress when it's cold enough to need a comforter? No way. The air in the air mattress will match the ambient temperature and you'll freeze your nuts off. I know from personal experience when there was an unexpected cold snap when camping for a week in early spring near High Springs. If it's 40 outside your back will be 40. You need a full sleeping bag if it's cold enough to need a comforter.

 

[Huck Said]

Lots of good suggestions on here. I agree with the folks that recommend keeping it relatively simple, since you're kind of testing the water. Since you're "base camping," you can buy/rent/borrow stuff that's not so highly engineered, and designed for backpacking, where weight and supreme dependability are of paramount concern - and price.

Do get a headlamp. You can spend as much as you want, but I got one quite cheap at Big Lots (an Energizer brand for $5). It's nice to be hands-free after the sun goes down, whether you're stepping away to relieve yourself in the bushes, or collecting firewood... Plus, they're nice to keep in your car should you ever have to work under the hood at night.

You can take pillows, but I just make my own using the stuff sack and some assorted clothes - and if it gets wet, you haven't ruined a decent pillow.

Take some flip flops, or something that's easy to slip in and out of when you need to step outside your tent in the middle of the night to relieve yourself.

I agree with the caution about the air mattresses - the wrong one can act as a heat sink and leave you shivering through the night, so check the average nighttime temperature in the area you'll be in. If you're in the Adirondacks, for example, and it gets down into the 40's (or even 50's) you might have a long, uncomfortable night. Keep an eye out for a Thermarest (or something similar - but if you buy a used inflatable one, make sure it doesn't leak air) - I would spring for something along those lines since they're always nice to have around the house anyway, in case you have someone crashing on the floor... or even to use as an exercise mat.

One of those two-burner Coleman-style portable grills (always nice to have for tailgating...). I would't bother with one of those white gas backpacking stoves (again, back to the cost thing).

Take several "stuff sacks." You can get a three-pack, of various sizes, at Walmart for quite cheap - and they're good for hanging (oh, take some length of nylon cord) food from branches at night. (Don't assume that just because you're in a campground with a bunch of other people that you won't have nocturnal visitors looking for freebies.)

Oh, one of those little Jawbone Jamboxes, or other bluetooth speaker things for playing music off your phone... But respect your neighbors after "quiet-time" (I went camping with a dude a few years ago that thought we should rock Judas Priest "Unleashed in the East" through his Harley's stereo at 11:00 on night - not cool - LOL).

 

[MR . B]

Bring this:


I'm with Gary ! Two A/Cs, satelite TV, bathroom, shower, and a kitchen. I'm too old to tent camp.

 

[SeaPA]

For coffee, easiest thing is to just bring an old pan to heat water over the campfire, then use a French press to make the coffee. Cheaper & faster than springing for a campfire-safe perc. Of course, if you're camping at a spot with electric hookup, a Mr Coffee is easier & faster.

 

[Huck Said]

Another thing: Do a "personal inspection" a couple of times a day (before crashing and in the morning, when you wake up). Ticks have a way of finding their way to the most intimate of areas - I picked up two during a three-day outing a few years ago - and once they get burrowed in a little ways, it can be a pain to get them out (never mind that you might later find yourself running through the campground, doing pushups and proclaiming yourself to be God). Which reminds me: magic mushrooms!! A little psilocybin can always make a day in the woods more interesting.

 

[funksouljon]

Simple tent pack in camping has been addressed above, but the bare minimum would be tent, sleeping bag, something to start a fire, flashlight, water, food (bare minimum).

Where in NY are you going? Both, location and how remote? Reason I ask, NY does have bears, cougars, wolves coyotes. I am in Colorado, our list of large predators is much larger and more populous. I always camp with a axe, machete or firearm.
PS, you have Moose, but you will need a pretty large firearm if you end up tangling with a moose. Mostly unlikely tho.

 

[travnole]

You need to get your hands on a good snipe hunting bag. Ask one of the more experienced guys to help.

 

[poewilly]

the rei in yonkers always has good 4 person tents to rent.... and the jet boil is a must... even if you are car camping.... buy a bunch of of those mountain house desserts... you will be the envy of the entire camp ground... also a petzl headlamp is the sign of an experienced camper....

 

[KitingHigh]

You need to get your hands on a good snipe hunting bag. Ask one of the more experienced guys to help.

Agreed. Snipe is a detrimental invasive species, but so tasty and there really is no wrong way to cook it.

 

[TallyNole93]

Toilet paper. Pine cones are a little rough.

 

[billanole]

We hit a site on Lake George years ago up there years go. When we signed in the ranger said something like, "Oh, you are from where they have real camping." I' m looking around at a beautiful place on an amazing lake and wondering what he meant...

The relatively empty place gained loud, boisterous city creatures all night long. Yonkers, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Manhatten all moved to Lake George overnight. Jeez, those peeps were loud.

 

[wdnole]

Someone should bring a tarp for hanging above the dining table/area... and also enough rope and tent poles to actually support it. The tarp will provide protection from the weather while you can still hang out and cook/drink/play cards/bullshit...

 

[fsufantoo]

Don't take a French press. You want cowboy coffee. Pour grounds straight into boiling water and let it brew a bit. My uncle would take a small scoop of ash from the fire and toss it in the pot once brewed claiming the ash somehow made the grounds settle (not sure if this was true or not, but he did it all the time). You can toss in some egg shells and that will help settle it too, and the calcium from the shells takes the "edge" off the brew.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Cowboy-Coffee

or Find a perk pot at goodwill

 

[nynole1]

Lots of good stuff in this thread guys, I kind of lost track of it, thank you.

To answer a few questions, here is what I bought so far:

A 6 person tent that, a sleeping bag and a firestarter stick.

Here is what I already owned that I will be bringing:

Air mattress, headlamp, hunting pack, hatchet, tarp, firewood, flashlight, first aid kit.

The camp ground is in Carmel, NY and will be loaded with people from NYC and the surrounding areas. When I mentioned sticking my toe in the water before, this is why. My goal is to treat this like a lab before moving in to more remote locations where I wont have to deal with those people.