Welcome to Camping Guide
Camping Trip Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
You may also listen to this article by using the following controls.
Think ‘Wow’ When You Select a New Camping Tent
from:Your excitement about wilderness trips will help you select your next camping tent. When you say, “Wow, I’m going camping,” you’re using a handy acronym that sums up a new tent’s most important features. WOW = Weather + Occupants + Weight. Consider the season and the location. What’s the weather forecast, how many people are going, and how much can they carry?”
Camping tent selection involves tradeoffs between creature comforts and the practicalities of cost, size, and weight. If you’re car camping, you can afford the luxury of a bulky, heavy tent that requires space in both the car and the camp. If you’re a backpacker and/or minimalist, smaller and lighter tents are more optimal.
Weather
Manufacturers’ camping tent ratings reflect the time of year for which the tents are intended: 1-season, 3-season, or 4-season. 1-season tents, for summer use, feature light-colored fabrics, mesh for ventilation, and single-wall construction for protection against light rain.
3-season tents, the most popular, feature breathable fabrics and mesh windows and doors for ventilation and insect protection. Double-wall construction—usually in the form of a waterproof full or partial rainfly—keeps out rain and light snow. A durable, properly pitched 3-season camping tent will usually tolerate more wind than a 1-season tent.
4-season tents emphasize protection against heavy wind and snow. They feature stronger fabrics and sturdier tent poles along with zip-up panels to keep out the elements. Look for tents labeled “expedition” or “mountaineering” for extreme winter weather and/or high altitude conditions.
Occupants
Camping tent capacity ratings (1-person, 2-person, 4-person, etc.) indicate the number of people who can reasonably sleep in the tent. Some experts suggest buying tents rated for more people than you have if you don’t like snug sleeping quarters and want room to store gear, eat and play games. However, creature-comfort space also adds weight and bulk, a concern especially for backpackers.
Car campers can extend the space of a basic tent by purchasing models with multiple rooms and by using gazebos, awnings, and larger rainflies. The 2- and 3-person dome, modified dome, and tunnel-style tents are very popular because they provide enough room for sitting, standing and moving around.
Weight
While you may not mind carrying a heavy tent a few feet from your car to the campsite, you’ll discover that packing the tent into the back country is quite another matter. Most people don’t easily carry more than one quarter to one third of their body weight. While some backpackers favor sunshades and tarps in the summer and bivy sacks/shelters in the winter, you can find good 2- and 3-person tents that weigh only six to eight pounds. When backpacking with multi-person tents, hand out the poles and rainflies to other members of the group to better distribute the weight.
A good camping tent is light, durable, easy to pitch, easy to maintain and repair, and reflects your outdoors style. Remember “WOW,” and you’ll cover all your basic shelter needs.
- 2 -
Camping Trip News
Parents convicted after boys die during camping trip
A mother and father both were convicted today of two counts of child endangerment and involuntary manslaughter after two boys died during a June camping trip. Kasey L. Klein, 25, and her husband, Richard H. Klein Jr., 38, were sleeping at the campsite they set up –– about 25 feet from the water at Muskingum River State Park at Ellis Dam –– when the boys disappeared.
Read more...Outdoor enthusiasts converge on Bangor Camping and RV show
People check tents displayed by Epic Sports at the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center during the Camping and RV Show in Bangor Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. After a two-year hiatus, the show is back for the 23rd time this weekend.
Read more...Family camping time gets pretty wild
Family camping time gets pretty wild Express-News Copyright 2012 Express-News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 07:51Â p.m., Monday, January 9, 2012 It took some coaxing for Heather Duke to persuade her husband to go on a family camping trip. "He'd rather stay at the Hyatt Regency," Duke, a stay-at-home mother of two from ...
Read more...Carry on camping in the beauty of Brittany
It is no surprise that France’s north-west region is a perennial favourite with British holidaymakers and families in particular, writes Jim Wildman.
Read more...Search for US trio near Mt Kosciuszko
Police are searching for three missing Americans after the trio failed to return from an overnight camping trip to Mount Kosciuszko.
Read more...searchers can’t find pair on snowy rainier
A San Diego man and his companion who have not returned from a winter camping trip under severe weather conditions on Mount Rainier in Washington state have not been located, authorities said Wednesday.
Read more...Search "scaled back" for Surrey man who disappeared during Fraser Valley camping trip
AGASSIZ - Mounties have "scaled back" their search for a Surrey man who went missing during a camping trip in Agassiz last weekend. Christopher Hannaford, 27, of Guildford has been missing since Saturday.
Read more...