Car Camping Questions

My first post requesting input.

My wife and I are about to fly to Seattle to pick-up a 2008 4Runner and drive it home to Juneau, AK. Well, we will drive to Skagway and then take the ferry. We will be following the Cassiar and Alaska Highways once we get to central British Columbia, a total distance of about 2,000 miles.

This will be our first joint car-camping trip, as well as our 10th anniversary celebration. We have never spent a night in a regular campground, even the kind that we expect to find in British Columbia, which I assume would be considered “rustic” anywhere else outside of Alaska.

Some background. We are experienced long distance sea-kayakers -- trips range from 150 – 500 miles, unsupported and cover the most remote areas of Southeast Alaska (and the Canadian High Arctic back in the day). When it is too cold to kayak, we backpack/bushwhack. We don’t carry a lot of gear in our kayaks, and try to keep our base weight -- excluding ocean related safety gear and a shotgun -- the same as our backpacking base weight of about 10 pounds. We use tarps and bivies instead of tents and cook over fires. I’ll bring a small canister stove for this trip.

See Flickr: Umnak's Photostream for images of our trips.

Questions:

1. Anyone ever use a tarp (either a 7x9 rectangle or a 9x9 catenary ) tied off to the roof rack? How did that work for you?
2. Aside from what one would normally carry in a backpack, what do you all see as essential gear for car camping?
3. I've read the threads about sleeping in the truck. Would like to hear from those who have done so with two people ( 5'9" and 5'3").
4. And I would welcome any campsite suggestions for the Cassiar. We are probably more comfortable in least developed sites.

Thanks,

Joseph

If you're as accustomed to backpaking and kayaking as you say...this should be like sleeping in the Hilton.

I would think the following:

-a small plastic or aluminum -4' fold up table for food and meal prep inc. two comfortable folding camp chairs

-Solar Shower

-PETT toilet system

-a couple of cheap poly tarps, maybe 8' x 10-12' to make a dry spot or a shower/potti enclosure, don't forget parachute chord

-A good quality 48" wide tri-fold matress to sleep on, and some sleeping bags

-probably a Thule type roof bubble to keep clothes and other non-essentials handy but not cluttering truck

-large, loose pcs. of screen, fiberglass type, to lay over the windows for ventilation at night, aand keep bugs out

-some sort of plastic container to keep the kitchen/cooking goodies all in one spot

-Engel/ARB 12v fridge

-watertight, airtight food containers, practice safe food storage to deter nosey bears

-lots of bug spray and some bear spray just in case

-2-5 gal. water recepticles

-wine and cheese (hey, just coz we're in the woods we don't have to live like animals)

I have lots and lots of links if you need them....good luck on your trip

Pat

That is quite the list of gear. Probably more than we would want but I can see a few things that would come in handy and fit our light weight approach.

thanks

and Joesph, please excuse my rudeness, by not welcoming you to the T4R forums....my apologies:hello:

For me the biggest difference between car camping and backpacking is food. When I car camp, I usually bring along what amounts to a camp kitchen:

-small table
-2 burner stove
-couple of pots and pans
-limited spices
-fresh food
-small grill

While backpacking food isn't bad, it's not as good as fresh-cooked stuff and it's often a lot more expensive. The two-burner stove opens up a lot of options cooking-wise. This way you aren't limited to one-pot meals or cooking things one after the other (and letting them get cold).

Good camp meals include hamburgers and beans (get frozen, pre-formed patties and cook them any time before they're thawed or make them at home out of fresh ground beef and cook them in the first night or two), spaghetti (pre-cook the ground beef at home and toss it in a ziplock), and stir-fry (another one you want to cook in the first few days - use minute rice or bagged rice). Hot dogs and sausages are also popular, with whatever you want to do on the side.

I also pack a lot of fresh fruit and such.

For other gear:

-Tent: it's more comfortable than a bivy and keeps the bugs out better than sleeping under a tarp or in the open. If you're sleeping in the truck, you'll probably want some screening as TitanPat said. You'll at least want something screened in.

-If you're sleeping in the truck, you'll want some sort of car-top carrier, or it's going to get real crowded, real fast.

-If the campgrounds don't have bear boxes, then airtight food containers are a must. Different people will say different things about where to keep your food, but the fact is, if it's there, the bears will smell it. I've listened to them break into cars in neighboring campsites, and they send out the cubs to knock down your hanging food bags. Built-in bear lockers are about the only sure thing. The airtight containers will at least help mitigate the scent.

-the solar shower is a nice luxury, but not really necessary. As long as you have clean clothes every day, you won't really need a shower. Of course, it doesn't take up too much space, so if you'd like to have the option of washing your hair, go ahead.

-I'll echo the plastic tubs thing. I have a dry food tub and a kitchen tub. The kitchen tub holds pots, pans, utensils, paper towels, trash bags, matches, basically everything I'll need for the kitchen. Dry food tub is self-explanatory.

-tarps make great emergency shelters

I would also research the route you're going to take and figure out which campgrounds you're likely to stop at. That way you can figure out what amenities you'll have available. Most campgrounds have toilets and running water, but you'll want to be prepared just in case one doesn't. Knowing ahead of time is better than pulling up with empty water jugs and finding out that the campground has no water. A shovel and a roll of TP will suffice for caps lacking a bathroom - no need to pack a chemical toilet.

Ditto to earlier posts.Welcome and you got some coll adventures kayaking- I love sea kayaking also.
Wife and I have been truck camping for years. Some in a campsite and some more in touch with nature . As others said Tent, sleeping bags, Gas burner, Cargo box, Sleeping mats and we organize our gear in large Tupperware boxes so stuff isn't floating around in the truck. If there's no bear proof garbage nearby we keep our garbage double bagged in the truck-much better than keeping it outside the vehicle as some campers do. Use your experience you already have in what you want your experience to be and have A GREAT mini Vacation and congradualtions on your new family member!

welcome aboard. Seeing as how you are flying to go pick up the 4Runner taking a table or anything else that is large that won't fit into a backpacking backpack is probably out of the question. Of course you could make a stop at walmart or its equivalent to pick up a few cheap larger things. I highly recommend bringing some screen for the windows. The air circulation is a great relief from the stuffiness and moisture that two people sleeping can produce. Plus it keeps bugs out and folds up small enough to fit in a bag.

A tarp and some pole sections could also fit in a backpack and would be helpful when needing a break from the sun/rain/etc.

Have fun and take lots of pictures of your trip.

Titan5at57, Geolander, Aquabear and SoCal:

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. We will definitely look for some screening before we leave Seattle. At this point we have our gear in waterproof duffles, but may look for a tub once we see how that works the first night out.

I could probably put up a good argument on the advantage of a bivy and tarp against a tent in humid climates -- we live in a rain forest -- but have decided to throw ours in the gear bag to provide some privacy in camp grounds.

I'm hoping we will be able to find more remote "recreation areas" ( the British Columbia term for simple campgrounds that don't have showers etc) and I assume they won't have bear boxes. We use an odor proof liner in our Ursacs (Spectra bear bag) that seems to work well around bears here in Southeast Alaska. They are called OPSaks you can buy the pair at Ursack : Bear resistant canister for outdoor activities. I'll just tie the Ursacs to a tree or hang.

I can see that we are going to have to broaden our thinking about the amount of gear we bring. I do like the idea of a table for meal prep and will look for something along that line WA or southern BC.

We bought the 4Runner as an opportunity to expand our range for kayaking and will outfit it for extended use for a longer trip next year on the Dempster to the area around Inuvik in the North West Territories. Juneau, where we live, is not accessible by land, and we have just about 40 miles of road in the Borough.

Again, thanks for the suggestions.

Missed the part about you guys flying to pick up the car first - that does complicate things I guess.

Umnak said:

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. We will definitely look for some screening before we leave Seattle. At this point we have our gear in waterproof duffles, but may look for a tub once we see how that works the first night out.

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That works too. The main point of the tubs is to separate things and make them easier to find. The only real advantages I can see of a tub over a duffle (something like Watershed bags, I assume) are that softer foods like bread and such won't get crushed if you put something on top and the tub can't get torn or punctured if you have something sharp in it.

I could probably put up a good argument on the advantage of a bivy and tarp against a tent in humid climates -- we live in a rain forest -- but have decided to throw ours in the gear bag to provide some privacy in camp grounds.

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Having done nearly all of my camping in the Southwest, I can't really speak for camping in humid climates lol. Just use whatever you find most comfortable.

What do these systems run?

Whatever you do, do not forget a Coffee press For the morning and Whiskey for the night!!

4Runner7 said:

What do these systems run?

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You mean everything that we've mentioned? Depending on what you get, anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to thousands. Most people build up their camping equipment over time, so it's hard to estimate the total cost. I started with stuff "borrowed" from my parents' stash of equipment, and as those things failed or I got the money for my own, I slowly replaced them.

If you want to put together a set of car camping equipment, I'd start with the essentials:

Tent ($50-??): Which price range you should be looking at depends on how big of a tent you need, how often you plan to use it, and what conditions you plan to use it in. For the average family, camping out once or twice a year in the summer, an inexpensive Coleman or Kelty tent (you can get them at Walmart, Target, pretty much anywhere) will be enough. If you plan on doing more frequent trips or trips to places where the weather might turn really nasty, you'll want something a little higher quality. REI is a good place to check out higher quality tents, though their prices aren't always the greatest. They'll let you try out the tents in the store though, so you can get a feel for how to set it up and for how well everyone will fit. Then you can shop around at other stores or online for the best price. If there's just one or two of you, you can also just sleep in the back of the truck. For that, you'll probably want some sort of rooftop carrier so you can store your gear somewhere while you sleep, especially if there's 2 people in the back. Some mosquito netting or screening is also a good idea so you don't have to seal up the truck to keep out the bugs.

As for what size, for comfort purposes, you should always get one sized for at least one more person than you plan on sleeping in it. A 4-man tent will sleep 4 people, but only if you really like all the other people in the tent and don't mind snuggling.

Sleeping bags ($20-??): same applies to sleeping bags as tents. For infrequent summer use, inexpensive bags from Walmart or Target will be enough. You could even get by with just some blankets from home in a pinch. For colder weather or more frequent use, shop around for something a little higher quality.

Ground Padding ($0-$100): You can sleep on the bare ground if you like, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's cold and uncomfortable. The least expensive option is simple foam padding, which adds some cushioning and traps some of your body heat underneath you. You can also get inflatable foam pads that do a better job (like Thermarests) or even down-filled pads. You can also just get an air mattress. This provides the most comfort by far, but takes up more space. It also makes sleeping in a tent with more than two people rather difficult.

-a couple large rubbermaid tubs to put stuff in ($5 or so each at walmart)

-camp stove ($50-$100)

-plastic tarp and rope ($10-$20)

That's all you really need. You can borrow pots, pans, and utensils from your kitchen. Eventually, as you replace pots and pans or find cheap old ones at garage sales or in thrift shops you can put together a set of dedicated camp cooking equipment.

I really hope that's what you were looking for...if not, maybe someone will need this eventually lol.

MT Tatman said:

Whatever you do, do not forget a Coffee press For the morning and Whiskey for the night!!

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The two most important things in any set of camping equipment: morning caffeine and evening liquor! :beer:

coffee vs tea

MT Tatman said:

Whatever you do, do not forget a Coffee press For the morning and Whiskey for the night!!

Click to expand...

Confession time, and probably a sense of how obsessed we are about weight and gear. We switched from coffee to loose leaf tea four years ago when we were preparing for an unsupported 500 mile kayak trip. A quart bag of good black tea will last a month compared to pounds and pounds of coffee. Factor in the accouterments for coffee and you would need almost a full hatch. We just throw the tea in the bottom of the (titanium) mug and let it rip. We ended up doing the 500 mile trip in 14 camps so it may have been moot.

I will bring a supply of B&B as part of the medical kit.

Umnak said:

Confession time, and probably a sense of how obsessed we are about weight and gear. We switched from coffee to loose leaf tea four years ago when we were preparing for an unsupported 500 mile kayak trip. A quart bag of good black tea will last a month compared to pounds and pounds of coffee. Factor in the accouterments for coffee and you would need almost a full hatch. We just throw the tea in the bottom of the (titanium) mug and let it rip. We ended up doing the 500 mile trip in 14 camps so it may have been moot.

I will bring a supply of B&B as part of the medical kit.

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Lol, I'm a tea person as well, which is why I didn't specify the type of morning caffeine

Geolander said:

Having done nearly all of my camping in the Southwest, I can't really speak for camping in humid climates lol. Just use whatever you find most comfortable.

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We will probably do the next five years worth of road-trips in the Yukon, Territories and Alaska. Will use our floorless pyramid and tarps above 58 north because it makes sense to car camp in what we will be using once we are in our kayaks.

That being said, we have already talked about running to the Southwest once we have the time. My wife wants a car top tent for those trips because she would rather face a bear than a snake or large spider.

Umnak said:

That being said, we have already talked about running to the Southwest once we have the time. My wife wants a car top tent for those trips because she would rather face a bear than a snake or large spider.

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Honestly, in over 20 years of camping around California, Utah, and Arizona I've seen only a half dozen snakes at most and never shared a tent with one. Only seen one or two tarantulas as well, and again, never had one in the tent. Most I ever get in there are ants, the occasional fly, and mosquitoes.

Geolander said:

Honestly, in over 20 years of camping around California, Utah, and Arizona I've seen only a half dozen snakes at most and never shared a tent with one. Only seen one or two tarantulas as well, and again, never had one in the tent. Most I ever get in there are ants, the occasional fly, and mosquitoes.

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No snake trouble, but I've had scorpions in the tent and in my boots.

Our setup is simple . 2 plastic boxes where in one we have technical things and second is kitchen. Gas owen, camping kitchen set, plastic plates, some food , 18 ltr fridge, 20 ltr water + drinking water , 2 chairs + table.
This works for week in Ukraina mountains
Ukraina pictures by consigliero1 - Photobucket
Baltic countries
Litwa pictures by consigliero1 - Photobucket
Sardegna 10 days
sardynia pictures by consigliero1 - Photobucket
Greetings Marek