tent camping with small kids image
Mysteryous
I am a single mother of 2 and would like to take my kids "car camping" for a few days. I have never gone on my own before and I have never been responsible for booking campsites for group trips I've gone on in the past.
In trying to make camp site reservations, I noticed on the park map on Reserve America for the park I want to go to that there are "tent only" and "standard" campsites side by side sometimes. The "tent only" sites seem to still be close to the road so it doesn't look like a hike-in type of detail and it says there is a driveway.
If someone could clarify the difference, so I understand the kind of site I should reserve, I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you!
Answer
Tent only is usually just a very short walk or right next to a parking area to small for rvs. Sometimes that short walk can be quite a ways more than a 100 yards or so. These sites are low cost or free as some are also considered a "hike in" meaning that it could be more than a mile to the site. They often don't need reservations either.
Standard sites are generally car camping sites where you park your car or RV right next to or on the site. Sometimes these may also have electric, water and sewer hook ups for RVs, when they do expect to pay even more. These are also the most popular and will often require reservations and get booked early by as much as six months in advance.
If you are a newcomer to camping and don't have an RV, I would recommend a standard site or one with the upgraded features to have direct access to water and power. This gives you the ability to have it all right where you are and not make that long run to the car for things you store in it. As well as bringing all the possible comforts of home.
Be sure to use a checklist for what to bring so you don't forget anything. Here is a good one,
http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/family-camping-checklist.html
Tent only is usually just a very short walk or right next to a parking area to small for rvs. Sometimes that short walk can be quite a ways more than a 100 yards or so. These sites are low cost or free as some are also considered a "hike in" meaning that it could be more than a mile to the site. They often don't need reservations either.
Standard sites are generally car camping sites where you park your car or RV right next to or on the site. Sometimes these may also have electric, water and sewer hook ups for RVs, when they do expect to pay even more. These are also the most popular and will often require reservations and get booked early by as much as six months in advance.
If you are a newcomer to camping and don't have an RV, I would recommend a standard site or one with the upgraded features to have direct access to water and power. This gives you the ability to have it all right where you are and not make that long run to the car for things you store in it. As well as bringing all the possible comforts of home.
Be sure to use a checklist for what to bring so you don't forget anything. Here is a good one,
http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/family-camping-checklist.html
What do you advise for a good four person tent?
bruar02
I don't want anything too heavy or bulky, our apartment is small. We have a two person tent, sierra designs lightning. It's too small for two adults, two smaller dogs and our stuff. I was looking at the mutha hubba 3 person tent, it seems nice but I don't want to outgrow it (what if we have kids) so now I'm thinking about a four person tent.
Answer
Depends on how much you want to spend. You have already mentioned two high priced tents of which are really no better the the colman brands or eureka and kelty brands. All three of these tent makers make quality family size tents that fold up into nice convenient size packages. Of these I recommend the Colman sundome series these are nice three season tents that come with a stay dry guarantee that the other three tent makers don't have. And the prices are a third of those high end tents you mentioned.
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=2000001976&categoryid=11020&brand=
In the high end category where price is no object I recommend the REI base camp 6 it is a really strong three season maybe four season, pending on where your camping, multi pole and full rain fly tent. Room enough to stand up in, yet an aero dynamic design for windy weather. Its highly rated for multi use and great for base camps.
http://www.rei.com/product/777755
Now for the Taj Mahaul of family size tents where room is of the utmost importance and yet the price is still affordable I go back to Colman tents. I prefer the WeatherMaster 10 its their biggest tent and again the stay dry guarantee.
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/detail.asp?CategoryID=11020&product_id=2000001598
Bottom line you can spend a lot and get just as much if not more for a lot less. so shop around
Depends on how much you want to spend. You have already mentioned two high priced tents of which are really no better the the colman brands or eureka and kelty brands. All three of these tent makers make quality family size tents that fold up into nice convenient size packages. Of these I recommend the Colman sundome series these are nice three season tents that come with a stay dry guarantee that the other three tent makers don't have. And the prices are a third of those high end tents you mentioned.
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=2000001976&categoryid=11020&brand=
In the high end category where price is no object I recommend the REI base camp 6 it is a really strong three season maybe four season, pending on where your camping, multi pole and full rain fly tent. Room enough to stand up in, yet an aero dynamic design for windy weather. Its highly rated for multi use and great for base camps.
http://www.rei.com/product/777755
Now for the Taj Mahaul of family size tents where room is of the utmost importance and yet the price is still affordable I go back to Colman tents. I prefer the WeatherMaster 10 its their biggest tent and again the stay dry guarantee.
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/detail.asp?CategoryID=11020&product_id=2000001598
Bottom line you can spend a lot and get just as much if not more for a lot less. so shop around
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Timber Ridge Family Tent For Camping from Bizarkdeal
ReplyDeleteThis thing is massive. I've seen other people on here saying that it's not as big as they expected. It was the complete opposite for me. Timber Ridge states it fits 8 people, and while it might be a little tight with 8 full sized adults, I don't think that's what was the intended use saying 8 people. But it could easily fit 4 adults and 4 children. I'm confident that you could even get two queen sized air mattresses in this thing, I believe one will fit in each half of the tend with the room divider up. One thing that stood out to me while setting this up is the thickness of the tent poles, they seem very durable and don't seem that they would break easily which is a problem I have had with tents in the past. Another awesome feature is that the tent also has these convenient cubbies, or pockets, around the entire top of the inside of the tent for storage. I shot the video and took the pictures in my yard for the purpose of this review. I will update soon once we actually get to take it camping hopefully in the next few weeks.
From my first impressions I would not hesitate to recommend this to friends or family.