Quote:
Originally Posted by surferguy
Now it’s time to start bringing my family out.
We will be tenting. We will only be car camping.
My question is what kind of items are essential vs what are a nice luxury to have.
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Lots of great advice so far, but I think the key part of all of this is that you're doing this with small (small-ish?) kids? That changes everything. I was in a similar situation 3-4 years ago.
If there's one piece of advice I'd give - don't go nuts buying stuff off the hop. You know what you need for the basics having camped before - slowly refine your gear as you need to. Heck, you (or your S/O) might say - this is totally not for us - and you don't want to be stuck with all this unused stuff.
Some things that worked for us and our simple and cheap approach (assuming you have small kids)
- 2 nights keeps it simple, and enough to preserve your sanity
- The $20 butane burners are good enough (vs a coleman stove)
- Like everything else kids - it's about snacks. Smores / chips / jiffypop are always a hit.
- Waterguns are a cheap source of entertainment Them squirting a hot fire ring to make steam is endless fun.
- Bail if the forecast is terrible. That keeps the gear requirements simpler and cheaper. (i.e. no need for sub zero sleeping bags)
- Meal prep and plan the hell out of your meals and snacks in advance. As someone said above, prep sucks at a campsite with kids.
- Yes, YETI's are good, but if you're only there for 2-3 days, you don't need 7-10 days of freeze time. They also weigh a ton loaded. (I just went for a $120 Coleman Extreme 5)
- Costco level gear is fine for this 'simple and cheap' approach
- I've resisted getting too large of a battery bank. Our philosophy is that the point of camping is to teach the kids to get away from electronics and devices - otherwise I'd just rent a condo....
Some luxuries that make the experience better:
- The $200 propane fire pits are nice for firebans
- an inexpensive propane travel BBQ makes way easier (run off of same tank as firepit