c/camping-gear-reviews

That REI clerk in Boulder was right about the tent stakes

They're the ones who test gear in the field, so I should've listened. My buddy's tent with the same stakes held fine, but he'd pre-soaked the ground with water before hammering them in. That extra 15 minutes of prep would've saved me a sleepless night. Has anyone found a stake that actually holds in hard packed alpine dirt without a drill?

my $40 tarp beat my buddy's $200 tent in a tahoe downpour

Camped up near lake tahoe last weekend and we got hit with a solid 8 hours of downpour. My buddy brought his fancy 4 season tent and I had my cheap blue tarp with paracord and trekking poles. His tent leaked through a seam on the top after hour three, I stayed bone dry the whole night. The difference was he just set up fast and never checked the ground slope, I spent 10 minutes picking a spot on higher gravel. Also I tied my tarp lower on the wind side which made a huge difference. Anyone else dump cash on gear only to find the cheap setup works better in real storms? What spots do you guys pick first when rain is coming?

That 2am rain fly failure in Silverton changed how I check stakes now

Last month I camped at about 9,500 feet near Silverton and the wind ripped two stakes out of the ground around 2am. The fly started flapping so hard it woke me up, and then a gust lifted the whole corner and dumped cold water right on my sleeping bag. I didn't have a backup tarp, so I tied the fly down to a nearby log with my shoelaces and paracord, then moved my pad and bag under the vestibule until dawn. It held until 6am but my bag was already soaked through, so I drove into town and bought a $12 tarp for the rest of the trip. Has anyone else had a fly fail on a windy night and found a better fix than just more stakes?

That $12 tarp I bought at Walmart saved my whole trip last weekend

I was up at Lake Ouachita last Saturday with a buddy and a storm rolled in around 3am. We had our tents but the rain was coming sideways and water started pooling under our gear. I grabbed this cheap blue tarp I threw in the truck on a whim, ran a paracord ridge line between two trees, and staked the corners out at an angle. It kept our cooking area and firewood dry for the rest of the downpour. My friend's expensive branded tent ended up with a wet floor anyway while my old Coleman stayed bone dry under the tarp. I guess sometimes the simplest stuff works best. Anyone else got a piece of gear under $20 that saved a trip for you?

Spent $80 on a 'ultralight' camp stove that melted on my first trip

I bought this fancy titanium stove from a gear shop in Denver, thinking it would be perfect for backpacking, but the burner head warped after just one pot of water near Black Canyon. The flames shot out sideways and nearly caught my tent floor on fire. Anyone else had a gas stove fail on them like that or did I just pick a dud?

Rant: The one time I tried to cook chili in a cast iron dutch oven on a campfire and nearly burned down the whole forest

Last spring I was out at a site near Mount Rainier. I thought I was a hotshot with my fancy lodge dutch oven. Got the fire going good, put the pot on, added beans and meat. Then I walked away for maybe 5 minutes to grab some wood. Came back and flames were lapping up the sides of the pot. The handle was red hot. I tried to move it with a stick and the whole thing tipped over. Chili everywhere, fire exploded bigger. Took me 20 minutes and a whole water bottle to get it under control. That was the end of that trip. Anyone else have a camp cooking disaster that turned a weekend into a survival lesson?

That week in June when my tent flooded on day one

I was up at Lake George for a 5 day trip and it rained solid from Tuesday to Wednesday night. My old 3-season tent leaked through the seams on the second night and I woke up in a puddle at 3 AM. I had to pack everything wet and drive 2 hours back home early. The floor had been fine for years so I never bothered with seam sealer. Has anyone else had a tent fail on them after trusting it too long?

Changed my mind about down sleeping bags after talking to a hiker on the Long Trail

Serious question, is there a right way to review a tent in the rain without sounding like a complainer?

I was at REI in Boulder last month and this older guy in the camping aisle told me he wouldn't trust any tent review that didn't mention how it handled a full night of steady rain. He said most people only test them in light drizzle or dry conditions. Made me wonder, do you guys think a tent needs to get soaked for a real review, or is that just gatekeeping how we share gear experiences?

I was dead wrong about those cheap camp chairs

For years I refused to spend more than $20 on a camp chair because it's just meant to hold you up around a fire, right? But after my third one snapped a leg at Timothy Lake last summer while I was sitting down, I finally caved and bought a $70 chair from a brand my buddy swore by. That was 8 months ago and it's been through 12 trips without even a wobble. The fabric is still tight and the cup holder actually fits my big hydro flask. Has anyone else had a cheap chair fail on them in a way that made them upgrade?

My trusty old sleeping pad started leaking air after 5 nights in the Smokies

I’ve been using this Therm-a-Rest pad for like 8 years and figured it was tough enough for anything. Last month I did a week-long trip near Gatlinburg and by night 3 I was waking up on the ground every few hours. I patched it with some gear tape but the leak kept coming back in a different spot by night 5. Turns out the foam inside just wore down from all that use and no patch was gonna fix it. Anybody run into old pad foam crumbling or did I just get a dud?

Just learned my sleeping bag was rated for survival not comfort

Been using this mummy bag for like 3 years and always wondered why I was freezing at 30 degrees when it said 20 degree rating. Read something on the REI blog last night that explains the EN rating system. Turns out that 20 degree number is the lower limit where you won't die, not where you'll be comfortable. For comfort you need to add like 10-15 degrees. Kinda mad I didn't figure this out sooner. Has anyone else had that rude awakening with their bag?

Took me 4 hours to set up a tent that should have taken 15 minutes

I bought this cheap Ozark Trail tent from Walmart last summer, figured it'd be a quick setup. Got to the campsite at Lake Tahoe around 6 PM and unrolled everything. The poles didn't match the color coded sleeves at all, so I spent like an hour trying to force them in before I realized I had the whole frame backwards. Then the rainfly was somehow sewn on inside out and I had to rip out a seam to fix it. By the time I actually got the thing standing it was pitch black and I was covered in sweat. Has anyone else dealt with a tent that was just put together wrong from the factory?

Found out my cheap sleeping pad has a lower R-value than a cardboard box

Honestly I was just browsing gear forums last night and stumbled on someone's breakdown of sleeping pad insulation. They actually tested common materials with a thermal camera and found that a standard cardboard box has an R-value of about 2.5. Meanwhile my $30 foam pad from Amazon clocked in at 2.0. I literally checked my own pad's specs and yeah, it says R-2.0 right on the tag. No wonder I froze my butt off last October at that campsite near Lake Placid when temps dropped to 38 degrees. I just figured sleeping pads were all basically the same. Has anyone else bothered to check their pad's actual R-value or am I the last person to realize this matters?

The night my camp stove became a flamethrower at Yosemite

I was cooking dinner near Bridalveil Creek campground when my little butane stove started shooting a jet of flame sideways. Turns out I didn't seat the canister right and the valve seal was loose. I panicked and kicked the whole thing into the dirt, which actually put it out, but then my pasta was covered in gravel and pine needles. Has anyone else had a stove do something goofy like that?

Can we talk about that old guy at the campsite who fixed my tent pole with duct tape?

I was at Shenandoah National Park last October and my tent pole snapped right at dusk. An older camper next to me just walked over with a roll of duct tape and fixed it in about 2 minutes... he said he's been using the same trick for 30 years. That tape held up through a night of gusty wind and rain no problem. Has anyone else had a random stranger save their trip with some simple fix?

Lost a tent stake in the dark at Joshua Tree last month. Found a system that works now.

Was setting up camp late at Joshua Tree. Dropped one of those cheap aluminum stakes. Gone forever in the sand. Next morning I bought a set of orange MSR Groundhogs. Bright color. Hard to lose. Plus they hold way better in loose dirt. Anyone else switch to colored stakes after losing gear in the dark?

Got caught in a downpour at Yosemite last spring and my $50 tent flooded in 20 minutes

I was up near Tuolumne Meadows, thought I had a solid 3-season tent. First real storm hit and water was pooling under my sleeping pad. Turns out the factory seam seal was garbage. Had to hike down to the valley in wet gear. Now I seam seal every new tent myself before I even take it out. Anyone else learn that lesson the hard way?

That $40 tarp I bought at Walmart tore on the second night of a week-long trip

Last month I drove up to the Smoky Mountains for a 5 day solo camping trip. On day one I set up my cheap blue tarp as a rain fly over my tent, seemed fine. By night two a storm hit and the wind ripped a 6 inch tear right through the corner grommet. I had to pack up early and drive home in the rain. Anyone else had bad luck with budget tarps or is there a decent one under $50 that actually holds up?

Stopped buying expensive camp pillows after a disaster last trip

My inflatable pillow popped on night two in Shenandoah and I spent the rest of the trip using a stuff sack stuffed with my fleece jacket. It worked so well I haven't bought a camping pillow since. Anyone else found a random item that beats the gear you already own?

Overpaid for a tent footprint I didn't need

Last weekend I was at REI in Denver and heard a guy tell his friend you absolutely have to buy the brand specific footprint for your tent or you'll ruin the floor. I bought one for my Big Agnes a few years ago and it cost like $50. Then I realized a piece of Tyvek cut to size does the exact same thing for under $10. I even tested both side by side on a gravel site last month and my homemade one worked better because it's tougher. Has anyone else just made their own instead of buying the overpriced one?

My buddy's tent story made me rethink how I pack

I was talking to my friend Dave last weekend after a trip up near Lake Tahoe. He told me he spent 20 minutes looking for his rain fly in the dark because he just shoved everything in his bag without a system. It hit me that I do the same thing (just hoping I remember where stuff is) and that's not really a plan. Has anyone else had a moment where a simple conversation made you change your whole packing system?

Tried a whisper fan in my tent and it sounded like a jet engine all night

Picked up this little battery fan last summer before a trip up to the Dolly Sods area. The packaging had a picture of a quiet campsite and this fan promising barely a hum. First night I set it on low and it made this high pitched whine that cut through everything. I thought maybe it was defective so I tried the medium setting and it got worse. My buddy in the next tent texted me asking if I was running some kind of generator. Tossed it in the trash the next morning and just used a bandana to catch the breeze from the tent flap. Did I just buy a cheap model or do all these little fans make that racket?

Got into it with my brother over MSR vs Big Agnes tent quality after a rainy trip in the Smokies

Last October me and my brother did a 4 day trip in the Smokies near Clingmans Dome. First night a steady rain started around 2 AM and lasted till dawn. I had my MSR Hubba Hubba and stayed bone dry. He had a Big Agnes Copper Spur and woke up with a wet sleeping bag and puddles along the seam tapes. He blamed the site for being too sloped but I saw water dripping from his inner wall. I told him the Copper Spur is fine for fair weather but not for real rain. He got defensive and said I just got lucky and his tent has never leaked before. So now I'm wondering if I'm being too harsh on Big Agnes or if he just got a bad one that day. Anyone else had a similar experience with either tent after a solid night of rain?

Is a heavier tent really more durable or are we just making excuses for bad gear choices?

I keep seeing people in forums say you need a heavier tent to get something that lasts, like 4+ pounds for a 2-person. But I owned a $150 Alps Mountaineering Mystique tent that was 5 pounds and it ripped a seam after 8 nights in the Adirondacks. Meanwhile my buddy's lighter Big Agnes Copper Spur at 3 pounds has held up for 40+ trips. Am I wrong for thinking weight doesn't automatically mean quality here? What's your experience with that trade off?