c/camping-gear-reviews

Chat with a park ranger changed how I pick sleeping bags

I was up at Yosemite last month asking a ranger about gear for cold weather camping. She told me most people ignore the 'comfort rating' on bags and just look at the 'extreme' number. She said she's seen folks shivering at 30 degrees in a bag rated for 20 because they didn't factor in ground insulation. That hit different because I've totally done that before. Has anyone else realized they've been reading sleeping bag labels wrong this whole time?

2 comments

susansingh•1d ago

Picked a cheap Ozark Trail tent over a big brand name and it actually held up in a storm

I was between a $60 Ozark Trail dome tent and a $200 REI one for a weekend trip up in the Poconos. Went with the cheap one because my budget was tight. It rained hard Friday night, like sideways wind and everything. Tent stayed dry inside, no leaks. Zippers still worked fine. I am not saying it will last years but for the price it did way better than I expected. Has anyone else had a budget tent surprise them like that?

2 comments

shanef34•4d ago

Pro tip: My fire pit went from smoking out the whole campsite to nearly invisible flames in one weekend

I swapped out my old damp wood pile for a bag of kiln-dried firewood I grabbed at a gas station outside Flagstaff, and the difference was insane. No more thick smoke cloud following me around or hacking up a lung every 10 minutes. Anyone else had a simple switch like that totally change their campfire game?

2 comments

mark_ward•4d ago

Three days of rain at Yosemite last spring wrecked my brand new sleeping bag

The waterproof rating was supposed to handle a drizzle but after hour 12 the damp just seeped through the shell and I woke up shivering in a puddle at 4am. Anybody had luck with actual waterproof bags or am I just gonna have to shell out for a bivvy?

2 comments

christopherh79•5d ago

Spent 4 hours trying to set up a tent before I realized the poles were backwards

I bought this new dome tent last week and thought I was going crazy. The poles just would NOT fit into the sleeves no matter how I bent them. After about 3 hours of struggling and almost ripping a hole in the fabric, my wife walked over and flipped the whole pole set around. It clicked together in like 2 minutes flat. Has anyone else ever had a gear setup that took way longer than it should have because you missed something obvious?

2 comments

charles_young92•5d ago

I finally hit 200 nights in my tent last month

I keep a log of every night I spend camping. Hit 200 on a random Thursday at a state park in Ohio. Didn't realize it until I checked my notebook the next morning. Just made me think about all the cold mornings and burnt coffee that got me there. Anybody else keep track of their nights out?

2 comments

shane_park92•6d ago

Bought a $40 tarp off Amazon and it shredded in the first windstorm at Big Bend

Now I'm stuck replacing it before my next trip and wondering if anyone else has had bad luck with those budget silnylon tarps falling apart after one weekend.

c/camping-gear-reviews

Chat with a park ranger changed how I pick sleeping bags

Picked a cheap Ozark Trail tent over a big brand name and it actually held up in a storm

Pro tip: My fire pit went from smoking out the whole campsite to nearly invisible flames in one weekend

Three days of rain at Yosemite last spring wrecked my brand new sleeping bag

Spent 4 hours trying to set up a tent before I realized the poles were backwards

I finally hit 200 nights in my tent last month

Bought a $40 tarp off Amazon and it shredded in the first windstorm at Big Bend

Three hours to set up a tent? Yeah that was me last weekend

Wasted 4 hours trying to start a damp campfire before I realized my firestarter was worthless

Heads up: cheap sleeping pad repair kits won't fix a puncture in the baffle seam

I was told to always use a ground tarp under my tent - that was dead wrong

I finally realized my tent footprint was supposed to be smaller than the tent

Got told my tent stakes were way too light for actual camping

Rant: My tent flooded during a storm last June and ruined a whole trip

One comment about my tent stakes totally changed how I camp now

That REI employee talked me out of a $400 tent and I'm glad he did

A hiker told me my waterproof jacket was too heavy after a 12 mile carry in the Smokies

Found a $3 camp stove mod that saved my chilly morning last weekend

The week my tent flooded in Olympic National Park and I learned the truth about waterproof ratings

Changed my mind about cheap camp stoves after my Coleman broke down

Just had to choose between a foam pad and an air mattress for a 4 day trip

Used to haul firewood in a trash bag until a raccoon situation at Higgins Lake changed everything

Tarp setup failure at Lake Michigan taught me a new staking trick

Talked to a guy who had camped in Alaska for 30 years and he said sleeping bags are a waste of money if you have the right layering system

I swore by expensive sleeping pads until a $40 foam pad changed my nights