camping: gear

According to Heather Menicucci, in Let’s Get Primitive, my camping primer, these are the five big-ticket items you’ll need to camp:

~ tent
Menicucci suggests that any three-season tent will work in warmer weather but that your tent should also be waterproof and well-ventilated. As I mentioned in a previous post, John and I have a very cool two-person tent that we use when we do RAGBRAI. It’s clearly not big enough for four people. Last weekend we bought a six-person tent at REI—the Kelty Grand Mesa. I’m not exactly sure about how we arrived at this particular tent. We went to REI knowing only that we needed at least a four-person tent. REI has, posted on a wall, spec sheets for all the tents they carry. I gravitated toward the color and shape; I thought a dome with some headroom would be nice. John leaned toward weight and price, not wanting to spend too much money. I wanted a large vestibule for storing things that don’t necessarily need to be in the sleeping space. We got a great balance of all those things (okay, maybe not so much color, because I would have chosen an orange tent over such the Grand Mesa’s light tan), and we were able to make the leap to a six-person tent for the same price as many of the four-person tents that I found appealing.

~ sleeping bag
Warmth and lightweight are key. John and I have matching mummy-style sleeping bags that we bought for RAGBRAI. And before you say, “Awww, how romantic,” I have to confess that I have never, in my entire life, felt as claustrophobic as when I slept in that bag. I am a tosser and a turner, and I need room for hurdling legs. Plus, because I have hips, I could never get the zipper completely closed. Since we were camping during the last week of July, and it was hotter than Hades in our tent, I almost always slept on top of the sleeping bag. This won’t always be an acceptable solution. Last summer I bought a granny-style rectangle sleeping bag, after test-driving it in the store, and I am confident it is up to the task of a good night’s sleep.

~ backpack
Size and carrying capacity are important here. Menicucci suggests picking a backpack that specifically fits a woman’s shorter torso because you want the shoulder straps to be comfortable and weight to be properly distributed on your hips. I don’t own a backpack. I have borrowed small backpacks from each of my kids, which I mostly use as a purse when necessary. Otherwise, John has many, many backpacks that I could borrow. True, none of these will properly fit my shorter torso, but we’re car camping. When we’re ready to do a backpacking trip, where we’re carrying all our gear from site to site, I’ll splurge for my own pack.

~ water purifier
I’m not going to dwell on this item. Again, since we’re car camping and don’t need to worry about carrying in the weight, we can fill a collapsible container with water from the filter at home. That said, when we get around to backpacking, I’m going to spring for one of those ultraviolet sterilizing pens, or whatever happens to be the comparable technology at the moment.

~ tarp
Menicucci writes, “A tarp is straightforward. It’s a piece of sturdy waterproof material with grommets—reinforced holes—for easy hanging. Think shelter, shed, raincoat, and ground cover. Camping stores sell durable tarps for about $20.” I’m totally sold, but I can’t seem to convince John that we’ll need a tarp for car camping, especially not when we’ll be 400 feet or so from a concrete shelter and our car will be even closer. Again, I’ll invest when we get around to backpacking.

We should be good to go.