c/camping-gear-reviews

Overheard a guy at the campground say expensive tents are just a flex, not better

I was at Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend and this guy with a beat up 20 year old tent was telling his buddy that his $50 Coleman worked just as good as my new $400 Nemo. He claimed all the extra money goes to marketing and a logo, not real weather protection. Now I'm wondering if I got scammed into buying premium gear or if there's actually a real difference. Anyone else ever compare a budget tent side by side with a high end one in a storm?

I dropped $200 on a titanium spork set and it was a total waste

Everyone raves about titanium gear for weight savings, but that spork set bent on the third use scooping canned chili. I ended up back at my old $2 plastic spoon from a gas station - lighter and actually works. Anybody else ditch the fancy stuff for cheap plastic?

Finally solved my tent rainfly problem after 3 soggy trips

I kept waking up with water pooling inside my tent, and it drove me crazy. Turns out I was staking the rainfly too close to the tent body, so condensation had nowhere to escape. It took me 3 separate camping trips over 6 months to figure out the fix - I had to leave a 4 inch gap on each side. Now I also angle the stakes at 45 degrees and it's been bone dry through two heavy rain nights in Shenandoah. Has anyone else dealt with rainfly setup issues or found a better technique?

Debate: Do I buy a $300 Big Agnes tent or a $150 REI knockoff for my PNW trip?

I'm heading to the Olympic National Park next month and gotta choose between a Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 at $300 used or a REI Trail Hut 2 for $150 new. The Big Agnes is super light at 3 lbs but the REI has better reviews for rain resistance. I snagged the Big Agnes cause I'm a weight nerd, and honestly it held up fine in a drizzle near Port Angeles, but I'm wondering if I overpaid for hype. Anyone else torn between brand names and budget gear on a specific trip like this? What'd you pick and did it work out?

Rant: People keep storing sleeping bags compressed and it drives me crazy

I work at a busy outdoor gear shop part time and I see so many folks bringing in their 3 season down bags that have lost all their loft because they kept them in those stuff sacks for months. A $250 bag like the Marmot Trestles 30 will lose about half its insulation value if you don't store it loose in a cotton or mesh sack. Has anyone else noticed their bag getting cold even though it's still the same model from 2 years ago?

I tested a $30 tarp against a $100 tarp and the cheap one won

Got stuck in a freak rainstorm up near Lake Tahoe about 6 weeks back. Had my fancy branded tarp that everyone online swears by. Leaked right through the seams after 3 hours of steady rain. Buddy had this no-name blue tarp from a hardware store that he uses for everything. His stayed bone dry underneath. I mean, maybe it's just my luck with that particular brand, but I'm pretty convinced now that spending more on a tarp is just paying for a label. Has anyone else found a cheap piece of gear that actually outperformed the expensive version?

Rant: Everyone loves the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir but I think it's overhyped

I took my NeoAir XTherm up to Mount Rainier last weekend and woke up sliding off the pad three times because it's so slick. My old foam pad never had this problem even on sloped ground. Am I the only one who actually prefers a simple closed-cell foam pad over these inflatable ones?

Just picked a Jetboil over a Soto for my week in Shenandoah

I spent like two hours comparing the Jetboil Flash and the Soto WindMaster before my trip to Shenandoah last month. Ended up going with the Jetboil because I wanted something that boils water super fast for my morning coffee. Has anyone else switched from one to the other and noticed a big difference in real-world use?

My buddy told me I was carrying way too much weight on backpacking trips

I used to bring everything including the kitchen sink. Had a 55 pound pack for a 3 night trip in the Smokies. My friend just looked at me and said 'you know your tent alone weighs more than my whole setup right?' That stung lol. So I started actually weighing each item and cut down to under 30 pounds. Ditched the heavy camp chair for a sit pad. Left the cast iron skillet at home. Best decision I ever made. Anyone else have a wake up call about pack weight?

TIL at a Yosemite campground that a simple tarp setup matters more than a $400 tent

Last summer I was up at the Yosemite Creek campground, about 7 miles north of the valley. A storm rolled in around 2 AM, nothing crazy just steady rain. I had a nice REI tent, but my neighbor had a basic blue tarp strung between two trees and a cheap ground tarp under his bag. He stayed bone dry. My tent leaked at the seams. After that night I started paying more attention to how I set up tarps and site drainage. Has anyone else found that a well placed tarp beats a high end tent in bad weather?

My tent turned into a bathtub after a 3 hour downpour in Oregon

Last summer I was camping near Bend and this older guy with a seriously patched-up tent was my neighbor. He saw me trying to dry out my gear and just said "your footprint is too big, you need to fold it under so no water pools." I had been leaving mine sticking out a few inches like a dummy for years. Now I'm looking at all my old failed trips where stuff got soaked and it all clicks. Has anyone else had a simple setup change totally change their camping experience?

That $40 camping stove that barely boils water

Picked up a no name brand camping stove from a discount bin for $40 about 3 months ago. First trip out to Hocking Hills it took 20 minutes to boil a single cup of water. The flame kept sputtering out whenever the wind picked up even a little. Second trip the regulator straight up broke and now it's just a paperweight. Who else has gotten burned by cheaping out on gear and should I just save up for a Jetboil next time?

Showerthought: That $300 down sleeping bag was a mistake for wet weather camping

Spent a whole afternoon fighting a tent pole that was 2 inches too short

Guy at the campsite said just flex it more, but I spent a good 45 minutes trying to figure out why my rain fly wouldn't snap on. Turns out I grabbed the wrong pole from the bag, swapped it out, and had it done in 30 seconds. Anyone else mix up tent poles and blame the gear for way too long?

I tried using a tarp instead of a tent for a weekend in the Smokies and got soaked

Was trying to save weight on a 3 day trip and figured a cheap tarp would work fine. Set it up like I saw on youtube. First night was great, second night a storm rolled in around 2am and water just poured in from every angle. My sleeping bag weighed like 10 pounds the next morning. Learned real quick that tarp camping takes way more skill than I thought. Anyone else have a gear experiment go wrong like this?

TIL a leaky sleeping pad taught me to test gear before the trip.

I was camped at Hocking Hills in Ohio when my Therm-a-Rest went flat at 2 AM on a 40 degree night. Spent the rest of the night shivering in my car, so now I inflate everything in the living room a day before I leave. Has anyone else had a piece of gear fail right when you needed it most?

Vent: Everyone raves about down sleeping bags but they miss the big downside

I see so many people recommending 800-fill down bags for damp climates like the Pacific Northwest. After three soaked trips near Olympic National Park last fall, my $300 bag was a cold, clumpy mess. Folks don't talk enough about how synthetic bags hold up way better in wet conditions. Anyone else deal with down losing its loft after one rainstorm?

PSA: My tent flooded so bad I woke up floating

Last summer at Algonquin Park, I woke up at 3am in three inches of water after a random thunderstorm rolled in. My cheap Walmart tent had a giant puddle inside and my sleeping bag was totally soaked. Anyone else had a tent fail on them in the middle of the night?

Just changed my mind about silicone vs nylon cooking utensils after seeing a test online

Ive always been a nylon guy for camping cookware cause its cheap and doesnt scratch. But I saw this video where a guy tested both by leaving them in boiling water for 10 minutes. The nylon actually started melting a bit around the edges and the silicone was totally fine. That got me thinking about all the times Ive left a spatula sitting in my pot while dinner cooks. I found the test on the Outdoor Gear Lab site last night. Has anyone else noticed their nylon tools getting warped after a few trips?

Can we talk about how different campgrounds are now versus 20 years ago?

I camped at Lake Tahoe last summer at a spot I first visited back in 2003. The biggest change I noticed was all the RVs with satellite dishes and full outdoor kitchens (like, actual stoves and fridges). I swear half the people barely left their setup, just watched TV in the woods. Has anyone else felt like the vibe has shifted away from the whole 'roughing it' thing?

That moment I realized I was packing my sleeping bag wrong for years

I was out near Shenandoah last fall and couldn't figure out why my bag was always damp in the mornings. My buddy Mike took one look at how I was stuffing it into the compression sack and just laughed. He told me I was crushing the down insulation in the same spot every time by rolling it instead of just loosely bunching it. I switched to the method where you just shove it in randomly and let it puff out, and after three trips now it's way warmer and dries faster. Anyone else have a gear habit they had to unlearn the hard way?

That time a ranger told me to cook 100 feet from my tent site

Last summer I was camping at Lake George and this ranger came by our spot. He said we needed to move our cooking area at least 100 feet from where we slept. I thought he was being extra since we were just using a camp stove and not a fire. But I moved it anyway about 80 feet because dragging all the gear felt like a pain. That night around 2am I heard rustling right where we had cooked earlier. Turned out a raccoon and maybe a bear came through sniffing around our empty stove area. If I had kept cooking right next to my tent I would have had a visitor unzipping my fly. Anyone else ever ignore advice and get away with it or did you learn the hard way like I almost did?

That $50 inflatable kayak from the bargain bin popped after 20 minutes on the lake near Denton last Saturday

I thought I scored big with this cheap inflatable kayak I found at a discount outdoor shop. It was marked down to $50 and looked fine in the packaging. I blew it up by the shore, got in, paddled maybe 20 minutes, and then heard a loud hiss. The thing deflated so fast I was suddenly waist-deep in cold water holding a floppy piece of plastic. My phone got ruined and I had to swim to shore dragging this useless heap. Lost $50 on the kayak and another $200 on a new phone. Has anyone else bought gear that looked like a steal but ended up costing way more in the end?

Bought a $20 sleeping pad off Amazon and woke up on the ground by 3am

Last month at a site near Lake Tahoe, my budget foam pad deflated flat by midnight and I spent the rest of the night shivering on dirt. Has anyone else had luck with cheap pads holding up, or is it just not worth it?

Bought a $40 tent from Walmart and got rained on for 6 hours straight

I figured hey, it's just a weekend trip, how bad could it be? Well I set up at Lake Tahoe last month and by midnight the seams started leaking like a sieve. I spent the whole night huddled under my rain jacket, trying to keep my sleeping bag dry. The next morning I counted 3 separate puddles inside the tent floor. Has anyone else had a budget tent fail on them in the middle of nowhere? I'm thinking of just saving up for a mid-range one now.