c/camping-gear-reviews

Just crossed 200 nights in my tent this year

I keep a log of every campout and hit 200 nights last Tuesday. That number surprised me because it means I've spent more time sleeping outdoors than indoors since March. Has anyone else tracked a milestone like that and found it changed how you look at gear?

Heard a ranger say something about tent seams that made me rethink everything

I was at a campground near Lake Tahoe last weekend and overheard a ranger telling someone that most tent failures happen because people skip resealing the seams. He said a $6 tube of seam sealer can double the life of a cheap tent but almost nobody does it. I came home and checked mine and sure enough the tape was peeling. Has anyone else had a tent start leaking because of this?

Found out my trusty old gas stove uses way more fuel than I thought

I was reading the manual for my Coleman stove while killing time at a campsite in Shenandoah. It said on high it burns through a full propane bottle in about 2 hours. I've been running it wide open for years without thinking. Anyone else find a weird stat like that in their gear manual that totally changed how you camp?

Vent: I used to throw all my gear in a duffel bag and call it good

Last trip I spent 20 minutes digging for my headlamp at 2am in the rain near Lake Tahoe. Now I use those little zippered mesh pouches from the dollar store for each category. Anyone else have a cheap fix that saved your sanity?

Overheard a guy at Cabella's say 'these new tents don't breathe' and it made me miss my old canvas

I was grabbing some stove fuel last Saturday and this older fella was griping to a clerk about how his new polyester tent fogs up bad. That got me thinking about my first tent, a heavy canvas job from the 90s I used for about 8 years up in the Adirondacks. It was a pain to dry out but you'd never wake up with condensation dripping on your face. Has anyone else switched back to canvas or found a modern tent that handles moisture as well?

Wasted $80 on a cheap air mattress from Amazon last summer

Bought this random brand air mattress for a 4 day trip to Lake Tahoe. Worked fine the first night but by night two it had a slow leak. Woke up at 3am on the ground with my back killing me. Tried patching it with the kit they included but that glue was basically useless. Ended up sleeping in my car the rest of the trip. Anyone else had bad luck with those no name blow up mattresses?

Dropped $120 on a cheap sleeping pad and my back still hasn't forgiven me

Bought this no-name inflatable pad off Amazon for $120 back in June. First trip out to Lake Placid it lost half its air by 3 AM. Woke up on cold hard ground with a stiff back that lasted three days. Should have just spent the extra $80 on a Therm-a-Rest. Has anyone else had a bad experience with those off-brand pads?

That guy at REI who told me my tent was "wrong" still bothers me 2 years later

My fancy titanium camp stove cracked on day two of a 10 day trip

I spent a year hyping myself up for this lightweight titanium stove. Saved up my cash, watched all the reviews. Then I'm out near Flathead Lake in Montana and the fuel line fitting just snapped off when I was screwing on the canister. No way to fix it in the backcountry. I had to borrow a buddy's old Coleman propane stove for the rest of the trip. Made me realize I should've brought a backup or just stuck with something more rugged. Anybody else have a pricey piece of gear fail on them like that?

Switched from a heavy coleman to a hammock setup after watching a thru-hiker video

I was dead set on keeping my big 6-person tent, but I saw this YouTube video from a guy who did the whole PCT with just a hammock and tarp. He showed how it only weighed 2.5 pounds total, and that convinced me to try it out on my last trip to the Smokies. Anyone else make the switch and regret losing the privacy?

Three days to fix a Coleman stove valve

I spent three whole evenings trying to get my old Coleman 2-burner stove to stop flaring up. Turns out the generator tube was clogged with spider webs and rust from sitting in my garage after a trip to Yosemite last fall. A 50 cent pipe cleaner and some carb cleaner finally did the trick after I wasted time buying a whole new valve assembly. Has anyone else dealt with a simple problem that snowballed into a bigger headache?

Switched from a cheap foam pad to an inflatable sleeping mat last season

Honestly, I used to just throw a $15 foam pad under my bag and call it good. After three nights in a row at Big Sur last spring, my hips were killing me and I couldn't sleep at all. So I finally spent $60 on a Klymit inflatable mat with baffles, and it made such a difference I actually woke up not sore. Now I can't imagine going back to foam, but has anyone else found a budget mat that actually lasts more than a year?

That guy at the REI return counter changed how I think about tent warranties

I was at REI in Denver last weekend returning a tent pole that snapped on my 3-year-old tent. The guy behind the counter asked if I ever actually read the warranty fine print. He said most people don't realize those lifetime warranties only cover defects, not normal wear and tear. It hit different because I've been treating camping gear like it's indestructible. He showed me a stack of denied claims for poles bent in wind and zippers jammed with dirt. Now I'm wondering if I should just buy cheaper tents and replace them every couple years instead of relying on warranty promises. Has anyone else gotten burned by gear warranties in a similar way?

Debate: should you patch a tent rip on the trail or wait till you get home?

My Big Agnes tent got a 4 inch tear from a branch last weekend in Shenandoah. I patched it with duct tape on the spot, but a buddy says that ruins the waterproofing later. What do you do when gear fails mid-trip?

Just learned those MSR camp stoves lose efficiency above 9,000 feet

Was reading some specs on the MSR WhisperLite last night. Turns out the fuel mix actually burns different at altitude. Nobody at the store told me that when I bought mine. Been up at 8,500 ft in Colorado and it was sputtering. Now I know why. Anyone else run into this with their stoves?

After 10 years of camping I finally ditched my heavy coleman stove for a tiny alcohol burner

I was boiling water for coffee last weekend in the Smokies and watched a guy pack up a whole meal setup while my stove was still heating up, and it hit me that I had been lugging around a heavy tank and regulator for no reason when a $12 bottle of denatured alcohol could do the same job in half the time - has anyone else made the switch to alcohol stoves and found a specific brand that doesn't soot up your pots?

My buddy in Colorado said my sleeping bag was way too heavy for backpacking

He pointed out my old Coleman bag weighed like 6 pounds and took up half my pack. Switched to a 30 degree down quilt that weighs under 2 pounds and it changed everything. Has anyone else had someone call out their gear and make them rethink their whole setup?

My $30 sleeping pad upgrade changed everything after one night

I swapped my old foam pad for a Klymit Static V2 last weekend on a trip to Big Sur. The difference was wild - I actually slept through the night without waking up sore on my hips. For 30 bucks, it made my whole trip way better. Anybody else have a gear swap that surprised them that much?

That guy who swore by a tarp instead of a tent was totally right

My buddy Mike kept telling me to ditch my tent and just use a tarp for solo trips. I thought he was crazy, especially when I saw him set it up wrong the first time. Last month I finally tried it on a 3 day trip up near Flagstaff after my tent zipper broke. Set it up right with a ridgeline and some trekking poles, and honestly I slept better than in my tent. Has anyone else switched and found it way lighter or is this just a summer thing?

Met a guy who pitched his tent over a fire ant nest at a site in Asheville

Dude spent 20 minutes yelling at his tent for moving before we realized the ants were carrying it away. Has anyone else dealt with critters straight up stealing your gear?

Got some advice from a park ranger about my sleeping pad and it saved my back on a 3 day trip

I was up at Yosemite last month and a ranger at the visitor center told me to put my sleeping pad on top of a foam pad for insulation. I thought he was just trying to sell me more gear but I tried it anyway with a cheap Walmart foam pad. The ground was way colder than I expected and my old inflatable alone would have been freezing. It actually worked so well I slept through the night for once. Has anyone else tried layering pads like that?

Tested a propane fire pit on a damp night and got way less heat than I expected

I tried using my new propane fire pit during a rainy evening in the Smokies last month and the flame kept flickering low, so now I always dry off the burner ring with a towel before lighting it - has anyone else noticed how much moisture messes with propane output?

Warning: my old sleeping bag rating was a total lie

I was cleaning out my gear closet and found the tag on my old 20-degree bag from a big box store. Out of curiosity, I looked up how they test those ratings. Turns out it's based on a 'standard' man sleeping in long underwear, on a pad, in a tent. The real kicker? That 'comfort' rating is for women, and the 'limit' rating is for men. So my bag that says 20 degrees is really only comfy down to about 32 for me. I found this on a blog by a gear tester who explained the whole EN/ISO testing system. It makes so much sense now why I was freezing my butt off that one trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Has anyone else had a bag that just didn't live up to its number? How do you figure out what you really need?

My buddy in Bend told me to skip the footprint for my new 2-person tent

He said it was just extra weight and cost, but after a weekend at Crater Lake, the bottom of my tent had two small tears from sharp pine cones. I spent $45 on a patch kit and now I'm buying the footprint anyway. Anyone have a good fix for small floor rips that doesn't add much weight?

Am I the only one who saw a huge difference in my sleeping bag after washing it with a tech cleaner?

I used Nikwax Tech Wash on my 3-year-old bag and the loft came back almost like new. Has anyone else had a specific product bring old gear back to life?