c/camping-gear-reviews

Finally broke my old camp stove after 8 years of abuse

Last weekend I was out at Lake Anna and my trusty old Coleman started sputtering real bad. The fuel line had a tiny crack I never noticed before and it just gave out mid-boil. I tried patching it with electrical tape but that lasted about 30 seconds before it caught a little flame. Luckily I had my backup stove in the car, so I finished making coffee on that instead. Has anyone found a good fix for those old green propane bottles or do you just toss em?

Just hit 50 nights in my hammock setup this season

I've been tracking my sleep system nights since April and last weekend I rolled over to 50 nights in my hammock instead of a tent. I started this just to save weight on the Appalachian Trail but now I actually prefer the comfort. My back doesn't hurt in the mornings like it did on the ground. The real test was a storm last month near Grayson Highlands where I stayed bone dry while my buddy in a tent got flooded out. Anyone else track their shelter nights or am I just a nerd with a spreadsheet?

I finally fixed my tent leak with a cheap tarp trick from a ranger at Yellowstone

Last summer at Yellowstone the rain came down so hard my seam sealant gave out on day two. A ranger named Dave showed me to put a cheap blue tarp UNDER the tent footprint, not over it, to stop groundwater wicking up through the floor. It worked Perfectly for the rest of my 5 day trip. Has anyone else tried this or do you use something different for wet ground?

Nearly got fined $200 at Yellowstone because some ranger saw my old camp stove

Guy at the check-in station told me my 6 year old Coleman couldn't pass the new fire safety rules, and he wasn't kidding about writing me up. Has anyone else had a ranger call out their gear for being too old?

Unpopular opinion: Those ultralight backpacking chairs are a total scam for most people

I see everyone raving about those 1-pound camp chairs that cost like $150. Bought one last spring for a trip in Shenandoah and it sank into the dirt every time I sat down. After three nights I gave up and just used a log. Am I missing something or are these things just for posing for Instagram photos?

Overheard a guy at the REI return counter say he returns tents every season

I was standing in line at REI in Portland last Saturday and this dude in front of me was literally bragging about buying a new tent every spring and returning the old one before the warranty ran out. Said he's done it 4 times now. It got me thinking though - are companies gonna start cracking down on return policies because of people like him? I already heard some brands are tightening up. Anyone notice return policies getting stricter at certain places?

I finally hit 50 nights in my tent this year and it felt way bigger than I expected

Honestly, I just wanted to get out more after a rough spring, so I started tallying nights on a sticky note in my truck, and somehow hitting that 50 mark last weekend made me realize I actually stuck with something for once instead of burning out by June.

Replaced my old tent poles after a nasty storm in the Smokies

Camped at Elkmont campground in the Smokies last October and a sudden windstorm snapped two of my aluminum tent poles at 3am. Had to pack up in the dark and drive down the mountain to find a hotel. That experience convinced me to swap my old poles for a set of DAC poles I found online. Anyone else upgraded their tent after a similar failure?

That 60 year old camp stove my uncle handed down changed my mind about new gear

I was at my uncle's place last Saturday helping him clean out his garage, and he just handed me this old Coleman camp stove from like the 1960s. It's all beat up, rust spots on the legs, and the pump feels stiff as heck. He said 'this thing will outlast both of us, trust me.' I've been using a $120 brand new propane stove I bought two years ago from REI, and honestly it's been finicky on windy days and the regulator started acting up last trip. That old stove got me thinking about how I just assume new stuff is better without really checking. My uncle told me he's cooked over 300 meals on that thing from Canada down to Mexico without a single breakdown. So now I'm torn between sticking with my modern stove or giving this relic a chance at my next campsite near Big Bear next month. Anyone put an old white gas stove through the wringer recently and had it hold up better than a new one?

Can we talk about how my $80 sleeping pad went flat at 2am in the Smokies

I was sure that expensive inflatable pad was just hype, but after waking up on cold hard ground with my hip aching for three hours, I'm now sleeping on a closed cell foam pad and never looking back.

Learned the hard way that my sleeping bag rating is a lie below 40 degrees

I froze my butt off at Big Sur last month in a bag rated to 30 and realized those ratings assume you're wearing base layers and inside a tent with a good pad, so has anyone else found a brand that actually tests their bags in real conditions?

Switched from a foam sleeping pad to an inflatable one last summer. Never going back.

I used to haul around this bulky foam pad for years because I thought it was tougher. Last June on a trip to Smoky Mountain National Park, I woke up on hard ground three nights in a row. That foam pad just wasn't cutting it anymore. I finally bought a cheap inflatable one for 30 bucks and my sleep changed overnight. Anyone else make the switch and find a big difference in how rested you feel the next day?

Borrowed my brother's old coleman stove from 2007 last weekend

I pulled out his old green Coleman two burner from the garage, the one with the peeling decal and rust around the valve. It fired right up after I cleaned the jets with a paperclip, same as it did when we took it to Yosemite like fifteen years ago. Has anyone else noticed that the newer stoves don't seem to hold up as long as these old tanks?

That $20 camp stove repair kit saved my whole trip

I was three days into a week in the Smokies when my little propane stove started sputtering and then just died. Figured I'd have to eat cold beans the rest of the time. Then a guy at the next site over handed me a cheap repair kit with a new valve, cost me $20 at the ranger station. It took like 10 minutes to swap out and the thing ran perfect after that. Anyone else carry one of those kits or just me?

Overheard two dads arguing about tent stakes at REI last Saturday

Ngl I was just trying to grab a new sleeping pad when these two guys got into it over MSR Groundhogs vs the cheap spiral ones. One guy swore the $3.50 plastic stakes snapped after 2 trips in rocky soil near Yosemite. Tbh it made me realize I've been overpaying for titanium stakes when aluminum works fine for 90% of my trips. Has anyone else noticed a real difference between stake materials?

Lost a whole weekend to a tent pole that kept snapping

I was setting up my old Kelty tent last Friday and the shock cord inside the pole finally gave out. Figured I'd just replace the cord and be done in an hour, but nope. Took me three trips to the hardware store because I kept getting the wrong diameter cord, then another two hours fishing the new line through the poles. Has anyone else had a simple gear repair turn into a whole day project?

Dew from the tent fly almost soaked my sleeping bag every morning until I tried this one thing

I was camping in the Smokies last fall and every single morning I woke up to water dripping off the inside of my rain fly. It kept pooling and then running down onto my bag near the foot box. I tried tightening the fly more but that just made the condensation worse because there was no air flow. Finally on the third morning I grabbed a couple of small carabiners and clipped the fly to my trekking poles on each side. That lifted the fly away from the tent body just enough to create a tiny gap for air to move through. The dew still formed but it ran down the sides instead of dripping on me. Has anyone else found a good way to stop the condensation drips without buying a whole new tent?

Spent 45 minutes trying to get my tent poles sorted on a windy night

Was setting up alone at a site near Moab last month and that first pole kept snapping out of the grommet every time I turned around. Any tips for keeping them steady when the wind kicks up like that?

The tent sites at Clear Lake State Park are basically gravel pits now

Switched from a cheap Coleman stove to a MSR WhisperLite after one trip in the rain

Last summer up in the Sierras my old Coleman took forever to boil water and the wind shut it down completely. Borrowed a buddy's MSR WhisperLite for a trip to Yosemite and it boiled a liter in under 3 minutes in a mild breeze. The pump system is fiddly but the reliability is a game changer for colder weather. Anyone else found a stove that handles wind better?

Finally tested my stove's boil time after 2 years of guessing

Timed my MSR PocketRocket against my buddy's Jetboil at a campsite near Tahoe last weekend and found out mine boils water in 3 minutes 20 seconds flat. I always assumed it was slower, so now I finally have a benchmark. Has anyone else been shocked by their gear's actual numbers after never testing it?

Debate: Lightweight tarp vs heavy tent for solo backpacking? I went back and forth for weeks.

So I spent like 3 weeks trying to decide between a 1 lb tarp setup and a 4 lb 2-person tent for a 5 day trip in the White Mountains. Ended up going with the tarp because I thought I'd save weight and be all cool. First night was fine, second night a storm rolled in at 2am and I spent 3 hours holding the tarp edges down so I didn't get soaked. My buddy with his old 5 lb tent slept through the whole thing. Now I'm wondering if the weight savings is even worth it when you factor in setup time and risk of bad weather. What do you guys prioritize - comfort or pack weight? Has anyone else made the switch and regretted it or loved it?

That fancy titanium camp cup I swore was a gimmick

I bought a Snow Peak Ti-Double 450 mug last summer just to see what the hype was about. Turns out it actually keeps my coffee hot for the whole morning, not just 10 minutes like my old plastic cup. Did a 5 day trip in the Smokies and it held up fine to getting knocked around on rocks. Has anyone else caved on an expensive piece of gear and been surprised it worked?

Vent: Bought a $50 'survival' fire starter kit and it was worse than my bic lighter in the rain last weekend

I was up near Lake Tahoe doing some car camping and figured I'd finally use that fancy ferro rod and magnesium block I got online. Figured it would be great for wet conditions. Nope. Took me 20 minutes to get a single spark that actually caught. Meanwhile my buddy pulled out a cheap plastic bic and had a fire going in 2 minutes. I got scammed hard. Anyone else have a piece of gear that totally failed when you actually needed it?

A guy at the trailhead told me my tent footprint was too small

He pointed out that my footprint was about two inches shy of the actual tent floor, letting water pool under the fly. I swapped it for a proper sized one from the same brand, and my floor stayed bone dry during a downpour in the Smokies last month. Has anyone else had a piece of gear that was almost right but caused a big problem?