c/camping-gear-reviews

Realized my tent pegs were useless after that storm last night

Had 4 stakes bend on me in 40mph wind at Big Sur and a camper next to me handed me a set of groundhogs. Now I get why everyone swears by those things, anyone else cheap out on stakes for way too long?

Warning: don't trust those cheap tent stakes that come with most budget tents

I bought a $40 tent from Walmart for a weekend trip to Big Sur last month, and every single plastic stake bent or snapped trying to get them into the rocky ground. Had to use rocks to hold the corners down and woke up with dirt all over my sleeping bag. Anyone else have a better solution for hard ground?

Last week I pulled out my old coleman stove from 1995 and it worked better than my new one

I picked up one of those fancy new butane stoves a few months back, lightweight and all that. Took it camping last weekend near Big Bear and it was sputtering the whole time, barely simmered my coffee. Got home and grabbed my dad's old green coleman from the garage, the one with the rust spots. Fired it up on the driveway Tuesday, roaring flame after a minute. Makes you wonder if they just don't build them like they used to. Anyone else hold onto old gear that still outperforms the new stuff?

Tried waxing my tent zippers after a buddy swore by it

Last weekend before a trip up to Lake Lure I hit all my tent zippers with some paraffin wax I had in the garage. Figured it'd just make them slide smoother but instead it actually kept them from getting stuck when dirt and pine needles got in the tracks. Ran into rain on day 2 and the wax didn't mess with the waterproofing at all. Anyone else tried something like this or got a better trick for sticky zippers?

My $9 Walmart camp chair vs a $150 foldable throne

I brought both on a trip to Lake Tahoe last weekend. The cheap chair tilted sideways every time I leaned back and the leg sunk into the dirt. The expensive one stayed solid even when I dozed off after lunch. Has anyone else found that spending more on chairs actually saves you from patching holes in your tent floor?

Bought a $60 tarp that ripped on the first trip. Learned my lesson on cheap waterproofing.

I picked up that budget tarp from the outdoor store last spring to save some cash. First night of a three-day trip in the Smokies, a branch poked a hole right through the corner. Rain came in at 2AM and soaked my sleeping bag. Total waste of money, and I had to cut the trip short the next morning. Ended up dropping $130 on a proper polycro tarp after I got home. Has anyone else had a cheap tarp fail on them?

That moment when a broken tent pole turned a 4-day trip into a survival test

Last summer I was out in the Desolation Wilderness near Lake Tahoe, 8 miles from the trailhead, when my tent pole snapped clean in half during a wind gust around midnight. I'd always read reviews about aluminum vs fiberglass poles but figured my cheap $60 tent was fine for a few nights. Turns out, duct tape and a broken branch only held for about 3 hours before the whole thing collapsed on my face at 3 AM. I ended up sleeping under a tarp I almost left in the car, which kept me dry but cold. Now I'm wondering, how many of you actually stress-test your gear before heading into remote spots like that?

PSA: My $30 camp stove just passed 500 meals without a single hiccup

I bought this cheap butane stove off Amazon three years ago and figured it'd die after a season, but after counting every trip's meals in my notebook, it hit 500 uses last weekend without so much as a flame sputter, so what's the longest you guys have gotten out of a budget stove before it gave up?

That one week last June where everything went wrong on the trail

I decided to do a 5 day solo hike near Mount Rainier and it was a disaster from day one. Day 2 my cheap camp stove's valve got stuck open and I almost set my tent on fire trying to boil water. Then my sleeping pad developed a slow leak that left me waking up on cold ground every night. By day 4 my water filter clogged up completely and I had to use iodine tablets for the last 2 days. Turns out I should have tested all my gear before heading out instead of assuming it was fine. Anyone else had a trip ruined by gear failures that could have been caught with a quick test?

The week I camped through a storm and my tent finally gave up

Last spring I was up in the Smoky Mountains for a five day trip. Day three hit with a storm that dumped rain sideways for nearly 12 hours straight. My old dome tent started leaking through the seams around midnight, and by 4 AM I had a puddle forming right where my sleeping bag was. I tried patching it with duct tape but the tape just peeled off in the wet. That was the moment I realized I needed to replace a tent I had been using since 2016. Has anyone else had a tent fail in the middle of a bad storm and had to switch brands because of it?

The day I stopped using a camp stove windscreen

Cooked bacon at 10,000 feet last summer and it took 45 minutes. My buddy pointed out my windscreen was trapping too much heat near the canister. Swapped to a simple twig fire for wind protection and had breakfast done in 15. Has anyone else ruined a trip by overcomplicating their stove setup?

Question about tent stakes: Was I pounding them in backwards for 5 years?

I was camping at Lake Tahoe last weekend and a gust of wind almost took my tent down. A guy at the next site pointed out I had the stakes angled away from the tent instead of toward it. Has anyone else made this mistake or am I the only one who never read the instructions?

Debate: Is a $300 tent really better than a $100 one after 3 years of use?

Switched from a heavy Coleman tent to a lightweight backpacking one last summer and it changed everything

I used to haul my old 8-pound tent for years because I thought it was fine for car camping trips near Denver. Then I borrowed a friend's 3-pound ultralight tent on a rainy hike and realized I was done carrying all that extra weight. Has anyone else made this switch and felt like they were missing out for way too long?

Discovered a way to dry out wet boots overnight without ruining them

I was sick of wet boots every morning after rainy hikes. Tried stuffing them with newspaper and setting them near a fan on low. It worked way better than my old trick of using a campfire which just damaged the leather.

Just passed 50 nights in my hammock setup this year

I've been keeping a little log of my camping trips, and this weekend I hit 50 nights sleeping in my hammock this year. That caught me off guard, I figured I was maybe at 35. It matters to me because I switched from a tent two years ago and was worried I'd regret it. I'm in the Pacific Northwest so rain has been a real test for my tarp skills. So far so good, but has anyone else found a good way to keep your underquilt dry when packing up in a downpour?

That time my tent collapsed and I learned about guy lines the hard way

Last summer at Lake Tahoe I set up my old dome tent in about 10 minutes without bothering to stake the guy lines. Wind picked up around 2 AM and that thing folded in half right on top of me. I spent the next hour trying to untangle poles with a headlamp while my dog sat on my sleeping bag looking at me like I was an idiot. Has anyone else learned a basic camping lesson after a really stupid mistake?

Tried setting up my tent in a windstorm at Big Sur last weekend

I got to my campsite near Pfeiffer Beach around 5 PM and the gusts were easily 40 mph. My tent pole snapped before I even got the rainfly on, and I spent 20 minutes chasing my sleeping pad across the parking lot. Has anyone else just given up and slept in their car instead of fighting the wind?

I finally stopped buying into the $300 tent hype after a rainy weekend

Overheard a guy at REI saying 'you need at least a 4-season tent for any rain' and had to laugh, my $80 Coleman has held up through 3 straight days of downpours in Oregon without a leak. Anyone else think the gear industry is just upselling us on features we don't actually need?

TIL my 3-season tent hit 200 nights before I finally replaced it

I was flipping through my camping log book last night to plan a trip for next month. I added up all the nights from the last 5 years and that old REI tent I bought used for $80 had 208 nights on it. I always thought I'd swap it out after 100 nights but it just kept going. The zippers are sticky and one pole sleeve has a patch from duct tape but it still kept me dry in a storm last June up near Lake George. Finally ordered a new one this week but that number surprised me. Anyone else track how long their gear actually lasts before tossing it?

Appreciation post: Ditching my backpacking stove for cold soaking

I used to haul a full MSR stove setup on every trip, even short overnights in the Smokies, and it added nearly 2 pounds to my pack. After a rainy trip last April where I couldn't get it lit and ended up eating cold ramen anyway, I switched to cold soaking meals in a wide-mouth jar. Has anyone else made this change and found it works better for certain trips, or do you still prefer a hot meal no matter what?

My tent zipper blew out during a storm in the Smokies last October

I was camped at Elkmont around midnight when the wind picked up and my main zipper just split apart. Had to use paracord and a trash bag to jury-rig the door shut for the rest of the night. Has anyone found a reliable way to fix tent zippers on the trail or do you just pack a backup shelter?

I used to swear by my $80 coleman sleeping bag for years

For like 5 years I took that heavy green bag on every trip from the Smokies to Big Bend. I thought spending more was dumb, a sleeping bag is a sleeping bag right? Then last spring I borrowed my buddy's down quilt on a wet night in the Shenandoahs. I woke up actually warm and my pack was like 3 pounds lighter. That one night convinced me to drop $250 on a used quilt from r/geartrade. Now I won't go back. The weight difference is huge when you're hiking 8 miles to a site. Anyone else make the switch from cheap bags to something lighter and regret waiting so long?

Pro tip: don't cheap out on your tent footprint like I did.

Last summer I had to choose between a $30 generic footprint from Amazon or a $75 one from the same brand as my tent. I went cheap because I figured it's just a piece of fabric. First night in Olympic National Park, the generic one ripped along the seam after a light rain and soaked my tent floor. I spent the next morning drying everything out on a rock. Lesson learned. Has anyone else had a tent accessory fail on them like this?

Bought a $90 sleeping pad that leaked air for 6 months before I checked the valve cap

I was out near Lake Tahoe last month and woke up on the ground for the third time this year. My buddy Rob asked why I didn't just tighten the valve cap. I told him I always checked it, but he walked over and gave it a quarter turn and it sealed tight. Turns out the rubber gasket inside was loose from the factory and I had been blaming the pad itself for months. Has anyone else had a fix this simple on their gear?