c/camping-gear-reviews

Bought a 60 dollar air mattress and it sprung a leak by 2am

Took it on a trip to Lake Tahoe two weeks ago and woke up flat on the ground at 2 in the morning. Had to sleep in the car the rest of the night, anyone else have bad luck with these inflatable beds?

My buddy Ron laughed at my tent setup on our first trip together last spring

So Ron watches me unpack this brand new 4-person dome tent and he just goes 'you're gonna hate sleeping in that thing by night two.' I was pretty proud of how fast I got it up too. Turns out he was right... the fabric was way too thin and I woke up with dew all over my bag. He handed me a beat-up old canvas tent he'd had since 2010 and told me to try that instead. Has anyone else had a friend totally change their gear lineup with a single comment?

That time my camp stove regulator froze up at 9,000 feet

Went camping near Rocky Mountain National Park last October and my trusty propane stove just wouldn't hold a flame above a flicker. Turns out the regulator had ice building up inside from moisture in the tank, which I never even knew was a thing. Had to boil water on a tiny wood fire I built with wet twigs, which took forever. Anyone else dealt with a frozen regulator on a cold trip?

Saw a huge difference in tent waterproofing after using seam sealer vs not using it over 2 years

I got this Kelty tent about 3 years ago and the first year I just set it up without doing anything extra. It leaked bad during a night rain at Red River Gorge, just a slow drip right above my face. So last year I finally broke down and spent $12 on a tube of seam sealer and went over every stitch on the rainfly and floor. Total game changer. That same tent got hammered by a storm last month up in Hocking Hills and stayed bone dry inside even when water was pooling on the fly. But here is the thing - I also heard people say modern tents don't really need seam sealer from the factory. So is it really worth the hassle and the mess of applying it, or did I just get lucky with a bad batch of factory tape? Has anyone else seen a clear before and after like that with their own tent?

PSA: My tent flooded during a rainstorm at Yellow Creek last weekend

I set up my 3-season tent near the lake at Yellow Creek last Saturday, thinking it was a great spot. Then it poured for 4 hours straight, and I woke up at 2am with water seeping through the floor. Turns out I didn't stake the rain fly low enough on the sides. Has anyone else had a tent floor get soaked because of poor fly setup?

Why I finally stopped hating on those tiny backpacking pillows

I spent 3 years thinking they were a total waste of money and just used my puffy jacket rolled up. Then I was camping up near Lake Tahoe last fall and this older guy at the site next to me let me try his Sea to Summit pillow for one night. Woke up without my neck feeling like a pretzel for the first time in forever. Has anyone else had one of those gear items they swore off for years but finally gave in?

Showerthought: Are double-wall tents actually worth the extra weight or just a gimmick?

I took my cheap single-wall tent on a rainy trip last weekend in the Smokies and woke up soaked, but my buddy’s fancy MSR double-wall stayed bone dry. Is the extra 2 pounds really that big of a deal for better ventilation and no condensation, or do you just need to pick better campsites?

A guy in Yosemite told me my tent stakes were too short for windy sites and switched to 12 inch shepherds hooks.

After fighting with my fly all night I replaced them and now my tent stays planted even in gusty Sierra storms, has anyone else seen a big difference with longer stakes?

Pro tip: that $50 water filter almost got me sick on my last trip

I grabbed one of those cheap Sawyer Squeeze knockoffs from a discount bin for my weekend trip up near Big Bear, figured it was the same thing for half the price. After two days I noticed the seal was cracked and brown stuff was leaking into my clean bottle, so I basically drank unfiltered creek water for a whole afternoon. Has anyone else had a budget filter fail on them or am I just cursed with bad luck?

My Coleman sleeping bag let me down hard at 3am last Friday

Honestly, I thought I was good with this old Coleman bag I've had for maybe 5 years. Last Friday night I went out to a site near Pine Grove, and the temp dropped to about 38 degrees. By 3am I was shivering so bad I couldn't even get back to sleep. The filling was all clumped up in the foot area and there was basically nothing on top of me. I checked the tag and it said it was rated for 30 degrees, but that felt like a straight-up lie. Ngl, I ended up just sitting in my car with the heater on for an hour until dawn. Has anyone else had an old bag just stop working right after a few years?

Lost my tent pole mid-storm at Yosemite last June - patch or pack up?

My aluminum pole snapped right at midnight during a sudden hail storm near Half Dome. I used a splint from a hiking stick and duct tape to hold it, but it collapsed again after an hour - would you call it quits or keep fighting to save the trip?

After 5 nights of rain near Lake Tahoe, I finally got why people swear by tarp shelters over tents

Warning: Tried a foam pad vs a self-inflating mat for 5 nights in the Smokies

The foam pad was fine for the first night but by day 3 I was waking up with my hips aching like crazy against the ground. Has anyone else switched back to self-inflating after giving foam a fair shot?

Tried using a sleeping bag liner instead of a heavy bag last week in the Smokies

Got tired of lugging my 4 pound winter bag on summer trips so I grabbed a $30 silk liner and my old 50 degree bag instead. Picked a night that dropped to 45 and honestly I slept fine, no shivering at all. The pack weight difference was huge, like 2 pounds lighter easy. Has anyone else found a good combo for trimming down summer gear without freezing?

My switch from a cheap tarp to a proper rain fly after a storm in the Smokies

For years I just used the same blue tarp I bought at a hardware store for $8. It worked okay for a while, but last June I got caught in a nasty thunderstorm near Clingmans Dome. That tarp ripped right at the grommet around 2 AM, and my whole sleeping bag got soaked. I switched to a silnylon rain fly from a local outfitter in Gatlinburg, cost me about $60. The first night I tested it in a drizzle, not a single drop got through. Has anyone else made a similar switch and regretted not doing it sooner?

Hit 73 nights in a tent this year and I'm not sure how that happened

I was going through my photo roll last night trying to find a shot of a campsite I liked and realized I had camped 73 nights so far this year. That number caught me off guard because I never set out to hit any kind of goal. It just kind of happened with a bunch of weekend trips and a couple longer stretches in the White Mountains back in July. I remember when 10 nights a year felt like a lot, back when I was using that old coleman dome that weighed a ton. Now I've got a little one person tent that sets up in two minutes and I find myself heading out just to get away from email for a day. Has anyone else looked back at their tally for the year and been surprised by how much time they actually spent out there?

Shoutout to my old sleeping pad that finally gave up after 8 years

I took my Therm-a-Rest Z Lite out to Shenandoah last weekend and noticed it wasn't bouncing back like it used to. After 8 years of use, the foam is so compressed I could feel rocks through it on the second night. I used to wake up feeling great, but now I'm tossing around by 3 AM. I'm thinking about switching to a lightweight inflatable like the Nemo Switchback or just getting a new Z Lite. Has anyone else dealt with foam pads losing their support over time? What did you switch to?

My old sleeping bag was a 20 degree rated oven bag, or so I thought

Took my old Coleman bag out last weekend up near Lake Tahoe and froze my ass off when it hit 38 degrees. Been using that thing for about 6 years and never realized the filling had flattened out to almost nothing. I picked up a new synthetic bag from a gear shop this week and the difference between the two is massive. The new one is twice as thick and I actually slept warm at 35 degrees on a test night in my backyard. Anyone else notice their old bags lose their puff over time and not keep up with the temp rating?

Vent: I picked a cheap 40-degree bag over a good one and froze my butt off in the Sawtooths

It was between a $50 generic bag and the Kelty Cosmic 40, which was on sale for $120. I went cheap to save cash, and that thing was useless below 50 degrees. Spent three nights near Stanley, Idaho shivering and wearing every layer I owned. Anyone have a solid budget bag that actually works?

Serious question, has anyone else had a tent floor just give up after a single season?

I bought a new 3-person dome tent for around $200 last spring, used it maybe six times total. The first few trips were fine, but on the last one up near Lake Tahoe, I woke up with a wet sleeping bag. At first I thought it was condensation, but no, the floor fabric had gotten thin and porous right under my hips. I mean, I always used a ground cloth, so it wasn't from sharp rocks. I compared a piece of the old floor to a scrap from the stuff sack, and the difference was crazy. The good fabric was thick and tight, the floor piece was fuzzy and weak. It feels like the waterproof coating just wore off way too fast, maybe from sun or just cheap material. Has anyone else seen a tent fail this quickly, and is there a good way to fix it or should I just cut my losses?

Just realized my tent footprint is basically a raincoat for the ground

I was reading a thread here about a guy who camped in Olympic National Park for a week straight of rain. He said his tent floor was still bone dry because he used a proper footprint, not just a cheap tarp. I've always just thrown a blue tarp down and called it good. His point was that a fitted footprint stops water from pooling underneath you, not just under the tent. I've been doing it wrong for maybe five years. Has anyone else noticed a real difference with a custom footprint versus a generic ground sheet?

Update: My buddy in Flagstaff said my old sleeping bag was basically a 'cold trap'

I was camping near Sedona last weekend and my friend pointed out my 15-year-old down bag had lost a lot of its loft. He said the fill was probably clumped and creating cold spots, which explained why I was always chilly below 40 degrees. I never really thought about gear degrading like that over time. Has anyone else had a sleeping bag just stop performing after so many seasons?

Got some tough feedback on my sleeping bag review style

I posted a review of my Marmot Trestles 15 bag last year, focusing mostly on the tech specs and price. Another user commented that my reviews were 'like reading a spec sheet' and didn't help them understand what it's actually like to sleep in the thing for a week. They said to talk about the feel, the noise of the fabric, and if it packs down small enough for a real backpack. I changed my approach after that. Now I always take gear on at least one weekend trip before writing anything. My last review for a new tent included how it handled a sudden downpour in the Gifford Pinchot forest. Has anyone else gotten feedback that totally shifted how they test or talk about their gear?

Showerthought: My old tent's zipper gave out in a Wyoming storm

I was in the Wind River Range when the main door zipper just ripped apart in the wind and rain. I ended up using a bunch of safety pins and a tarp to make a seal for the night. Has anyone else had a tent fail like that, and what did you do to fix it on the spot?

My old 4-person tent from 2015 finally gave out after a storm in the Smokies

I used to pack that heavy Coleman tent for every trip because it was cheap and I thought weight didn't matter. After it ripped last fall, I switched to a lighter 2-person model from REI that packs down way smaller. The change happened because I started doing more backpacking where every ounce counts, not just car camping. It cost me $250, but my back thanks me on every hike now. Has anyone else made the switch to lighter gear and found it changed the type of trips you take?