What is the biggest camping equipment investment

[BMWRider]

I'm a camping n00bie but benefited from a lot of great advice and Internet research over the long winter.
Unless you're in a hurry, you should be able to purchase almost everything on sale at one time or another from one outlet or another. My tent, my sleeping bag and my mattress pad were all bought on sale. Definitely don't scrimp on the tent. I ended up with a Sierra Designs Gamma and it saved my sorry butt within minutes of setting it up outdoors for the very first time. I was in southern Kentucky and was hit with FOUR thunderstorms over a period of just a couple hours. The tent kept me dry.
If you have any bad back issues (or even if you don't) you've gotta take the advice I did and buy a Therm-a-Rest Luxury Camp or equivalent (the CampRest LE is out of production now). It's a real back saver and makes the rest of the trip more enjoyable.

[kbasa]

Originally posted by MarkF
I just bought one of those little cots that sits about 8 inches off the ground. That thing is great! Feels like a hammock. With the thermarest it's almost more comfortable than my bed back home. You motel only guys oughta give one a try.

MarkF

We use a double size air mattress. I have a little pump that plugs into the accessory outlet I got for $9 at Walmart that blows it up in a couple minutes.

We also pack a couple of full size pillows. It's as nice as sleeping at home.

Bear in mind that if you were camping in cold weather, you'd want a real insulating thermal pad, but in warm weather, this set up is hard to beat for comfort. It's like sleeping in our bed at home.

[mcholt212]

Camping gear? Like anything else in life, you get what you pay for.

Personally, if I'm ground sleeping, I want my Eureka. I've only ever owned 1 Eureka tent and I've been using it for 10 years. Eureka makes quality equipment, that may cost alittle more, but it's worth it in the long run. Some NO-NO's for tents: 1)Excessive UV exposure-set up in the shade if you can! 2)Packing away wet--always set up the tent when you get home to dry it out! 3)Flames-never smoke or run your stove in a tent!!

Sleeping bags-I have a Sierra Designs Flex bag. It has synthetic fill (which dries out the fastest if it gets wet) and is rated for 20 deg. There's a synth/goose down battle going on out there as to which is best. Goose down is more expensive and also takes a LONG time to dry out if it gets wet. Invest in a sleeping bag liner (cotton or silk)...it adds a few degrees to your bag's temp rating, but most of all it feels GREAT and protects your EXPENSIVE bag's inner construction from your nightly thrashing and tossing.

Last of all, I only use my Eureka tent when I'm ground sleeping, which ain't much. These days, it's all about packing LIGHTLY and camping at the BEST and most scenic spots. Rocks and uneven ground can make finding a spot to set up a tent next to impossible. That's why I use a Hennessey Hammock tent. At 2.5 lbs, it weighs over 5 lbs LESS than my Eureka. On a motorcycle, that's no big deal, but hiking with a backpack, 5 lbs make a big difference. But, most importantly, the Hammock tent allows you to set up wherever there are 2 trees 9-15' apart. I highly recommend these products as perfect alternatives to ground tents. Take it from me--they are very comfortable!! I didn't believe it until I tried one. Tom Hennessey is the MAN!! Check out all his cool products at www.hennesseyhammock.com

p.s. if anybody gets one, email me for some tips on usage--my bud and I have been using them for over 2 years and have worked out all the bugs and created some "improvements" to our hammock tents through trial and error!!

[99007]

your posted link didn't work (for me anyway on three tries). gonna go look at the hammock tent on my own. sounds like a cool idea....