Good Morning All,
Let’s get back to our discussion on what to bring with you and why.
Yesterday we talked about various items that you will need and I didn’t get finished.
Screen Tent – Alot of people disagree on the necessity of this item. Do you really need to drag another 30 to 40 lb. tent in your already cramped car? I don’t know for sure. I can only tell you how I feel and why I do, from there you can make up your own mind. Anytime my family is going camping I make sure to bring ours with us, the only time I don’t is if it is just my older son and I. When it’s just the two of us we will either “tough it out” or we will eat in the screened in porch of our tent.
For the family I like to bring it for a couple of reasons: 1) if we get rained on it gives us another location to place our stuff that will keep it dry since we put the picnic table inside of the screen tent. 2) There are times of year and campgrounds that are notorious for significant flying critter population. That doesn’t necessarily bother me all that much but it does bother my wife and children. The screen tent and a can of bug spray are the easiest ways I know of to keep those bugs away from us and our food. When I set up the tent and at least once a day I will take the bug spray and spray the tent as well as spray a line on the ground around the base of the tent. On the inside we usually have some sort of bug candle or citronella candle going as well. This combination of things seems to keep about 95% of the bugs away.
Extra Tarp – Now some people I know that don’t like the screen tent will instead just bring an extra 20′ X 40′ tarp that they will use as a raincover over their picnic table/eating area. Again this is a personal choice. I also bring an extra tarp but I use it as an extra covering for our tent if the weatherman is calling for rain for a large part of the time we will be out there. This will afford you some extra protection from that rain. Most well made tents will keep out about 90 to 95% of the rain on their own but if you get absolutely pounded or if you are in for some long term rain then the extra protection is definitely worth it.
Hand Brush & Dust Pan – These are an absolute necessity for a couple of reasons.
1. If you have kids they will always find a way to have a significant amount of dirt/critters/grass/leaves collected in the folds/creases of their clothing. Whenever we are going into the tent area I take a couple of seconds and the hand brush and basically brush them down. Do this once or twice and you will be amazed at the amount of stuff you will save from entering your tent.
2. When you are packing up to head home, if you take a couple of minutes to sweep down the inside of the tent you could very well keep from having to setup the tent at home and hose it down. Now if it has rained at all or if there is a significant amount of dew on your tent then you must set it up at home, hose it down and let it completely dry before you stow it away for your next trip.
3. When you are breaking camp and you have the tent knocked down and are ready to start rolling it up, having a hand brush handy will be very useful. There is always an accumulation of dew under a tent that will attract all sorts of dirt and sand. If you have the brush you can brush about 90% of that dirt off the tent as you are rolling it up. If the outside/underside of the tent is damp from dew accumulation you will need to set the tent up in your backyard once you get home and hose it down and let it dry completely before you put it away.
Plastic Bins – When it comes to bringing all this stuff in my opinion the best way to carry it all is to get yourself a couple of big plastic tubs with lids. You can get these at your local Wal-Mart or Target for a couple of bucks each. I have 4 that I usually carry with me. 2 of them are about 2 feet deep by 3 feet long by 2 feet wide. The other 2 are 6 inches deep by 3 feet long by 2 feet wide.
If you pack the carefully you will be amazed at how much stuff you can get into these containers. I pack them with anything and everything that I need for camping that does not have it’s own container. Bowls, plates, utensils, napkins, cooking utensils, skillets, pots, hand brush, etc…
The other benefit is that you will be able to pretty much pull them out of your vehicle, set them down next to your camping kitchen and leave them there until you head home. Make sure that when you are not actually digging through it for something that you leave the lid on and secured this way animals and rain won’t be able to get into them.
The downside is that packing a vehicle with them can at times be pretty interesting as they are not very flexible in shape or composition so you can’t shove them into a corner. But with a little planning you can make it work.
‘Till Next Time…Remember “There Ain’t No Better Camping Then New Jersey Camping!”
Eric
