The Camping Thread

[prydey]

I'm not a camper (tents) but am about to embark on a camping weekend in a couple of weeks (anzac long weekend).

I have a decent tent (2 room, canvas) and used it a couple of times about 10 years ago, but it was a big gathering, a poor location and i hated it, and have hated camping since.

This easter, i dug it out of the shed and set it up in the back yard for the youngest to have a bit of a camp out. It must have planted a bit of a seed, because since then both my wife and I have decided that past experiences have probably clouded our judgement somewhat and if we go away with just our family to a nice camping spot in a national park or something, it will be a much more enjoyable experience.

i like the idea of being out in the bush, with nature etc, but i do like to have some amenities (yep, i'm soft), and it turns out, many national parks etc do have facilities scattered around.

this is my tent in my backyard.


unfortunately for my bank balance, this is pretty much all i have. need to buy pretty much everything else you need to go camping.

with this in mind, i'm keen to hear from anyone else who goes camping, tent style, and especially unpowered.

also be keen to see pics of your setups etc. what ideas you have for keeping things cold/frozen for up to 5 days? lighting setups.

had a wander through anaconda and BCF before work today and camping has come a long way since i last did it

[nuthin' fancy]

We've had a few trips in the last couple of years, camping in caravan parks. We've just used led lights, battery powered. They are cheap as chips and remote controlled so i have the power.

We use normal eskys and the cooling period is mre about the quality of the ice than the esky. Some of the newer thick wall eskies last 5 days from what I have observed.

We cook on butane cookers and have never had any issue (except whn the empties 'fall' in the fire).

[Tui2]

Originally Posted by prydey

I'm not a camper (tents) but am about to embark on a camping weekend in a couple of weeks (anzac long weekend).

I have a decent tent (2 room, canvas) and used it a couple of times about 10 years ago, but it was a big gathering, a poor location and i hated it, and have hated camping since.

This easter, i dug it out of the shed and set it up in the back yard for the youngest to have a bit of a camp out. It must have planted a bit of a seed, because since then both my wife and I have decided that past experiences have probably clouded our judgement somewhat and if we go away with just our family to a nice camping spot in a national park or something, it will be a much more enjoyable experience.

i like the idea of being out in the bush, with nature etc, but i do like to have some amenities (yep, i'm soft), and it turns out, many national parks etc do have facilities scattered around.

this is my tent in my backyard.
image

unfortunately for my bank balance, this is pretty much all i have. need to buy pretty much everything else you need to go camping.

with this in mind, i'm keen to hear from anyone else who goes camping, tent style, and especially unpowered.

also be keen to see pics of your setups etc. what ideas you have for keeping things cold/frozen for up to 5 days? lighting setups.

had a wander through anaconda and BCF before work today and camping has come a long way since i last did it

I'll sleep n camp anywhere as long as i have a good intact fly screen and a top quality tarp that covers all the tent plus 4ft with its own poles n ropes and a couple of Pool Noodles cut up into 4inch pieces to place over the tent pole tips so tarrp doesn't tear (or pvc plumbing 45° angle joiners with hole drilled in inner bend to fit snug over pole tip) expensive but worth the cost to keep an expensive tarp in top condition, rain hail or shine

[tranquilized]

My partner and I love camping and usually go on a trip two or three times a summer.

Keeping stuff cold for 5 days will be a struggle but not impossible. You'll need a good quality ice box. Techni-Ice make great ones http://www.techniice.com/ or the Esky branded ones like this http://www.bunnings.com.au/esky-65l-...heels_p3240360 work really well also. I've got one of each - big techni ice for food and the small esky for drinks - saves opening the food box so regularly. It's a good idea to move the days food across to the other esky at the start of the day meaning you'll only open your food esky once a day.

Ice is important of course. Never by the cubed party ice, you'll be lucky to get a day out of it. Block ice is much better and is usually sold alongside the cubed ice at servo's etc. These ice packs http://www.techniice.com/dry-ice-pac...ice-packs.html are amazing. Set your freezer on it's coldest setting a few days before leaving and those things will go right down to -16 degrees or whatever your freezer is at, not just 0 degrees like ice. Another good idea is to make your own ice blocks with salt water, and again set your freezer on it's coldest setting and they will go a few degrees below 0 and last longer.

And most importantly - have fun!

[NTF6]

Originally Posted by tranquilized

My partner and I love camping and usually go on a trip two or three times a summer.

Keeping stuff cold for 5 days will be a struggle but not impossible. You'll need a good quality ice box. Techni-Ice make great ones http://www.techniice.com/ or the Esky branded ones like this http://www.bunnings.com.au/esky-65l-...heels_p3240360 work really well also. I've got one of each - big techni ice for food and the small esky for drinks - saves opening the food box so regularly. It's a good idea to move the days food across to the other esky at the start of the day meaning you'll only open your food esky once a day.

Ice is important of course. Never by the cubed party ice, you'll be lucky to get a day out of it. Block ice is much better and is usually sold alongside the cubed ice at servo's etc. These ice packs http://www.techniice.com/dry-ice-pac...ice-packs.html are amazing. Set your freezer on it's coldest setting a few days before leaving and those things will go right down to -16 degrees or whatever your freezer is at, not just 0 degrees like ice. Another good idea is to make your own ice blocks with salt water, and again set your freezer on it's coldest setting and they will go a few degrees below 0 and last longer.

And most importantly - have fun!

I have a Chilly Chest from Big Terrain Pty Ltd and they have no problems keeping ice after 5 days in the central desert summer sun.

[Burnout]

Yep, first thing I would do is erect the tent tight in your back yard and go over it with a good roller with a canvas water proofing.
Any BCF/Camping store can advise. I have a tented camper trailer, had it for yonks, and two years ago I found water seeping through in large patches. So I used a spray pack water proofer and found I needed lots of the stuff. So went the roller and roller pail and had heaps of sucess - cheaper. I also used a small 2 inch brush on the seams.
Another thing, for summer camping I put up a large silver backed tarp over the whole thing to reduce heat inside during the day. Also very handy in a very wet camp, these can be had quite cheap.

[beardo]

Good thread as I'm about to start collecting supplies for tent camping too. Mrs bought home an oztrail tent a while ago but its like a fly screen tent and a separate thin tarp that goes over the top but I can't see it working well at all as the weather will come up from underneath.
I think sorting out fishing rods and eskies will be my number 1 priority though

[thefargo]

prydey, we have exactly the same tent, although different in colour.
We bought some camp stretchers, like fold up beds, and have found they are good for cold nights as it gets you off the ground, and you don't have to worry about air mattresses etc. Just chuck a sleeping bag on top. We also bought some cheap, plastic tarps to put on the ground in front, otherwise you can drag dirt, mud inside.
Apparently with the tent you have, there is a velcro fly screen attachment for the front, I haven't seen them, but have heard about it, would be good for warmer camping, particularly if you cooked under the front.
We used electrical tape, and put different coloured stripes on the poles to make it easier to match them up, my old eyes struggle with the codes stamped in. we also bought some extra poles for the side window awnings, which help get in extra light, particularly in the front 'room' and allow more air in.
I hope these tips help, send pm, if you wish to 'chat' about this.
I'm not far from you, so if you really needed something I may be able to loan you some stuff. I did make my own 'camping donkey' out of an 18 gall keg, which has been used a lot, great to sit in the camp fire coals.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by thefargo

prydey, we have exactly the same tent, although different in colour.
We bought some camp stretchers, like fold up beds, and have found they are good for cold nights as it gets you off the ground, and you don't have to worry about air mattresses etc. Just chuck a sleeping bag on top. We also bought some cheap, plastic tarps to put on the ground in front, otherwise you can drag dirt, mud inside.
Apparently with the tent you have, there is a velcro fly screen attachment for the front, I haven't seen them, but have heard about it, would be good for warmer camping, particularly if you cooked under the front.
We used electrical tape, and put different coloured stripes on the poles to make it easier to match them up, my old eyes struggle with the codes stamped in. we also bought some extra poles for the side window awnings, which help get in extra light, particularly in the front 'room' and allow more air in.
I hope these tips help, send pm, if you wish to 'chat' about this.
I'm not far from you, so if you really needed something I may be able to loan you some stuff. I did make my own 'camping donkey' out of an 18 gall keg, which has been used a lot, great to sit in the camp fire coals.

i have a single stretcher which the youngest will use. will probably buy another for the eldest, or perhaps a single mattress. the mrs and i will have a double (queen is a bit tight for space if all 4 of us share the same room) mattress. checked them out at anaconda and bcf, and they are pricey but worth it. from the little research i've done, air mattresses are useless.

yes, these tents did come with a 'sunroom' attachment for the front, but i don't have it. the side awning does open right up and open as a second door. i have the poles and everything for that. i also made sure i coded all the poles when i pulled it down at easter, so putting it up next time shouldn't take more than half hour to an hour.

you can just see the poly tarp under the tent (if you look hard). this is silver one side and green the other and would normally serve as the 'fly' over the top (as mentioned by burnout) but it was easiest to get to so i just used it under. i have 2 others that i normally use as ground covers and can cover the whole front awning area as well depending on what the campsite is like.

cheers for the suggestions so far. i've been doing a fair bit of reading and learning, but most learning is done by doing. the 2 esky method is fairly common and reasonably good for a few days if you have quality eski's and good ice. we are planning on staying in the naracoorte caves national park, so not that far from a reasonable size town, so some stuff can be bought as we need, and ice (not party ice) should be available if needed.

hopefully this thread can become less about me after a while and more about everyone sharing their camping knowledge, info and pics.

[Giant Cranium]

swag + food + baby q + grog + guns = perfect camping trip

[mechanic]

I'll get shot down for making this statement but here goes.
YOU DON'T NEED A FRIDGE

It's the little things that can really annoy you when camping, ants in your bed, mosquitos, etc.
Take the absolute minimum.
We do trips of about 12 weeks duration and camp out of the back of the RTV.
Most of Qld, the western 2/3 of NSW and Tasmania, that's in the last 3 years.
We've had every camping and travelling setup except a Winnebago and now use the cheapest method we can.

[mechanic]

Oh, I forgot Victoria, very easy little state to get around.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

We go camping and take minimum gear.

Good camping mattress, and a good water proof tent. We have camping chairs, a Supercheap Auto Butane stove, plate and knife and fork, and a Supercheap Auto ice box.

Sometimes if I go with friends it's just a swag, chair, esky, guns/fishing gear, butane stove

LED lights are great these days and cheap.

Some camping photos from the last few years:

Camping on our own property before shed/house was build:



Camping week end away fishing with the family:





Roughing it with the 'boys' on a hunting trip out west:

[b0son]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

We go camping and take minimum gear.

Good camping mattress, and a good water proof tent.

Any issues with the oztent? We got one, yet to use it but hoping to get it out before winter.

[Giant Cranium]

Last photo is the best way to camp

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Giant Cranium

Last photo is the best way to camp

Yep, I agree, least hassle, least set up, least packing up, maximum fun.

Take the tent for family trips, but swag if it's just me going on hunting trips etc.

Dinner time, no stove just a grid out of an old fridge:

[roKWiz]

Hey prydey,
If you can, check out some of the independent camping stores first. I've found BCF and Anaconda are bl**dy overpriced big box stores by comparison.

When I built the motorhome I found independent camping and boat chandleries both cheaper and better quality.

[fordomatic]

As others have said, a good esky and minimal gear. Our eskys will hold block ice for 7 days if they are kept in shade and only opened for meal times. We take two eskys, one for food and one for drinks, the drinks one is constantly open it loses the ice quicker. A good tarp to go over the front of the tent and extend out a little so if it rains you have somewhere to sit outside in the rain. A simple fold out table and a butane gas cooker that can also use LPG if its really cold (butane crap in cold weather).

I always check the weather before we leave and don't bother setting up a tarp if the weather is fine. We always camp in cooler areas as we are usually in the high country so we don't set up a tarp for shade. We have a canvas tent but i find ourselves using the swag every time.

I love camping in the middle of nowhere with the bush all to yourself. First pic was when we were in the high country and a freak storm came over while we were cooking dinner, makeshift cover to make dinner and then straight into bed.

[mcflux]

prydey - what do you have in the way of a vehicle, (& trailer?), bbq, etc.

This was my setup the last time my wife & I went camping:

Tent, clothing, sleeping:
* Tent, tarp on ground, hammer for pegs (decent pegs are a must)
* Blow-up mattress, double sleeping bag, pillows, cig-lighter air pump
* Extra socks, pants (if camping in a wet area or near a river), plastic bag(s) for soiled clothes.
* Dress for the weather!

Fire & cooking & cleaning:
* Axe & saw for dead wood, otherwise a little gas burner will do the trick.
* Fold-out table, chopping board, dish tub, camp utensils, oven lighter

Food basics:
* 1x drink esky, 1x food ice-box
* 2x10L water containers,
* 250ml UHT milk or powdered milk comes in handy.
* Small containers for coffee, sugar, tea, butter, flour, oil, etc.
* Anything that won't get spoiled or crushed or soggy in an esky
* Tinned stuff, dried stuff, ready-made vac-packed camp meals.
* X-in-1 spice shaker, for salt, pepper etc
* Plan ahead for any fresh/spoilable stuff (salads, meat, dairy)
* If drinking grog, cans are far easier to dispose of than bottles.

Hygiene:
* If you're near a river take advantage of it for personal washing... pref upstream of other campers :P Failing that you could get by with just soap and deoderant for a while, depending on summer/winter/activity. Failing that extra deoderant, or even fresh wipes can help.
* TOILET PAPER!!!
* Detergent
* 2 bins or bin bags - 1 for recycling, 2 for rubbish. Take out what you take in. Unless you can burn it like beer cartons.
* Basic first aid kit.

Entertainment & comfort:
* Cards Against Humanity (if the kids are old enough)
* Regular cards
* Fold-out table
* Camp chairs
* At least one decent lantern. Phone torches should suffice for toilet runs at night. I spent $100 on a Primus 1000 Lumen adjustable lantern that lasts ~100 hours on the minimum setting, ~10 hours on the max setting.
* Jump-starter, which was actually used for charging phones (no reception - used for photos & music - use a cup as a phone speaker), for the cig ligher pump, and other stuff

Google will help with various campsites (power/no power, water/no water, 2WD/4WD/hike, toilet/no toilet, pet-friendly, etc)



^^^ All of the camping gear was in the car, except a large fold-out table.





^^^ One of my more modest setups

[mechanic]

Ghia5L
I agree entirely with your post, we do things in a nearly identical manner.
I have different sleeping equipment and we drink spirits rather than cans.
Funniest part of all this is the reaction from people who've spent $150,000 on equipment and are camped in the same spot as we are.
Normally a group of people gathered around us as we pack our gear into the ute.
I thought we were a bit primitive untill we camped beside a bloke with a very lightweight swag and nothing else, not even a vehicle.
Got some great camping photos in remote spots but don't know how to post them.

[Adamz Ghia]

I remember the first camping trip up mates and I went on when we were younger, I went out and bought a nice 4 person tent that I thought was the ducks nuts. It was warm when we left but by the time we got to the camp site it was down to 5 degrees and the tent I bought was a summer tent, so it had a fly screen inner and a light fly over. I shared my tent as one of the guys tents had holes in it. We absolutely froze the first night, the second night we took turns in keeping the camp fire going all night to keep warm. In saying that it was probably the best trip we've ever been on.

We go every year down to Aire River in the Otways. Keep it nice and simple, a tent each, an esky for food, two eskys for drinks, a gazebo in case of wet weather and a ton of firewood. Best holiday a person can have.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Ghia5L

prydey - what do you have in the way of a vehicle, (& trailer?), bbq, etc.

FG (as in avatar) and 6x4 so pretty similar to you going by that pic.

This being the first serious camping attempt in many years, we have chosen a campground that has access to an adjacent caravan park with toilets and showers. (naracoorte caves national park - wirreanda campground)

the campground also has those picnic style table and chairs randomly scattered around with water and a sink and there are also bbq's, so we aren't going totally without amenities.

i have a 45L coleman esky which will do for drinks. checked out some ice boxes today, but for now my brother has said i can borrow his 60L Waeco ice box, so that side of things is pretty sorted. interesting about the dry ice. sounds like it works well.

we have one of those cheap single burner things with the cartridges that got left at my place years ago. will work for boiling a kettle but they are a bit limited with what you can fit on them. i have a workmate that has offered to lend us a 2 burner camp stove, so might do that for now to keep the costs down. i have a 9kg gas bottle already.

glad you mentioned the jump starter as well. power supply has been something i've been wondering about, and i was looking at a cheap one of these at kmart today ($60). not that great for jump starting cars but probably ok for charging phones in the bush. how do you work out how many charges you can get out of it?

[roKWiz]

Down by the Ovens river for this week. The park is nice and quiet.



Main line crossing the Ovens at Wangaratta.

[sgt_doofey]

We did Halls Gap a couple months ago. Was a great trip with great friends, as usual.
We didn't have a disaster ourselves this time, but one of our friends had a bit of a mishap.

Started off with the wife hurting her back a couple of days before being due to leave, so they ended up staying home a couple of extra days. Rather then drive over on the Friday, they ended up coming over on the Monday.
When they arrived, they started the process of winding up the roof of their campervan only to have a cable snap and one corner fall down.
Cue three blokes scratching their heads for the next 30 minutes trying to figure out what to do to hold the heavy roof of the campervan up.
Ended up borrowing a drill from the park maintenance person, drilling holes in the uprights and putting pins (tent pegs) through them to hold it up.

Rest of the trip was great and uneventful after that!

[thefargo]

took a big esky with dry ice as a layer on the bottom, covered with newspaper then our stuff and a couple of bags of ice spread between the stuff. the dry ice kept the 'normal' ice frozen for a week. when we left, after a week, I still had some frozen stuff in the esky. yep, we took two so we managed to move stuff around, almost like a fridge and freezer set up. dry ice seems a bit difficult to get, but i would look at doing it that way again, if we were in for a long stay.

[mcflux]

I tend to get myself in trouble with spirits haha

I also have a swag if we're wanting a smaller sleeping setup. Sometimes for cooking we use a Weber-Q, one time we shoved a full 4-burner BBQ on the trailer.

We've also used additional shelter such as a pair of 12x12' shade domes, a pop-up shower/changing tent... It depends on the type of camping I guess. I've got a mate's b'day party in the sticks that I'll be going to soon, the wife & I will be swagging it in the back of the new Hilux, with the esky on the tub also. Looking forward to that one!

For posting pics do you have something like a Photobucket account? There are tons of different ways to upload/save pics online. Photobucket's gotten more convoluted lately, but I still use it.

[DoreSlamR]

There's an app called wikicamps, highly recommend it. It's user generated and so information on camp sites is pretty up to date.

I think you have to pay for it, but it's only a few dollars

[Burnout]

I'm old, so enjoy 4 star camping these days:







I have lots of Tech to help out this old bloke in camp:
duel battery system,
70 Lit Fridge/Freezer.
2 burner gas stove,
Water heater,
130Liters of water storasge.
Up to 280AmpHr deep cycle battries.
600Watt invertor,
12V water pump,
12amp Solar Panel,
TV & world radio,
And more...
Good camp for an old bloke

[CoupeKing]

Some tips for your regular Esky.

1. NEVER let anyone use them as a seat, It can ruin the seal/warp the lid.

2. Leave it in the shade at all times (this sounds obvious but you'd be surprised)

3. Chill the Esky the night before with some old ice cream containers filled with frozen water, (you can leave them in but less room for beer), and also chill anything you plan to put in it.

Room temperature stubbies will speed the melting process up as soon as you chuck them in. Probably not a deal-breaker if you're camping over-night or town is 5 clicks away, but it can make life a little easier when you're an hours drive from the nearest servo, and are camped for 3 or more days.

I heard occasionally draining some of the water helps.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by CoupeKing

Some tips for your regular Esky.

1. NEVER let anyone use them as a seat, It can ruin the seal/warp the lid.

2. Leave it in the shade at all times (this sounds obvious but you'd be surprised)

3. Chill the Esky the night before with some old ice cream containers filled with frozen water, (you can leave them in but less room for beer), and also chill anything you plan to put in it.

Room temperature stubbies will speed the melting process up as soon as you chuck them in. Probably not a deal-breaker if you're camping over-night or town is 5 clicks away, but it can make life a little easier when you're an hours drive from the nearest servo, and are camped for 3 or more days.

I heard occasionally draining some of the water helps.

I got one of these now, picked it up on special for $99, best thing ever, if you follow the rules you mentioned it will easily go 4-5 days and stay cool

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/onl...ecommendations