Car camping tips.

[Erni]

Last year I started getting out and car camping at the various meet ups I go to. It?s been a while so my car kit is rather bad but I am improving it as I go along. My car is a Suburban so there is a bit of room, unless I overpack like I did the first time.
Since I enjoyed it I am going to keep going but want to improve my kit a little. Not going to overland anytime soon but I could see it evolving into that.

Any of you car camp or overland? Please share your tips and what works and what doesn?t. Any good sites to follow? What I am finding is hardcore dedicated rigs and not weekend warriors like myself who load up their regular rigs and head out.

[Fromk]

My wife and I do a bit of car camping and trying to venture into more dispersed sites this year. We have a ground tent and usually go for one to two nights. Our objective is to get away and relax rather than rough it.

Biggest thing we locked down was getting good sleep. For us that means cots with a pad on them.

Organization has also helped. I have a medium Plano trunk with a couple of those cloth cube organizers for shelves at Target. Our camping stuff just lives in there so when we want to go we can basically toss it in the car with our tent, cots, and chairs and be off.

Last year was the first one with an electric cooler style fridge. I spent about $300 on one which seems like a lot but that's how much most yeti style coolers go for. It also seemed heavy but those coolers are also hefty then you have to add ice. However it was only worth it because I already had a 700wh battery. All that said I love not having to deal with ice and everything getting wet. It easily stays powered for 3 days.

We recently got a table from REI that is metal so we an use our burner on it.

Coincidentally I just got a propane fire pit today. It's good through stage 1 fire bans and won't require a bigger water source to put out safely. Bundles of wood have also gotten pricey lately. Of course hauling propane tanks will be a new thing to deal with.

I could go on and on but I think that's a start.

[battlemidget]

Got an alarm in the vehicle? The panic button is good for scaring things away in the middle of the night. Park so the headlights are advantageous to you.

[encorehunter]

Do you have a roof rack or rails? 4 point LED lights off of it for good lighting at night, something you don't need inside storage or spare batteries for. If you don't want to drill holes, set some up on magnets and have alligator clamps for the battery. Solar panel for the vehicle to keep the battery topped off. Hook an 8'x12' tarp on the roof rack, two light weight poles with ropes and stakes to have a covered awning. I like a 6' folding table for holding the camp stove at the edge of the awning. I prefer an air mattress in the back of the vehicle. It is more secure and better insulated than a tent.
For storing clothes, I keep shirts, socks and underwear in ziplock bags, pressing the air out and sealing them, which takes up about 1/2 the storage area.

[eddiememphis]

I've been camping since I was a little kid. Everything from the bare necessities- a wool army blanket and a case of beer, all the way to class A RVs.

The only thing that will work for you is trial and error. Bring a notepad or use your phone. But write down what works and what doesn't.

I got sick of setting up tents, so I built a bed in the back of my current vehicle. Much nicer than an inflatable pad on the cold ground.

Suburbans are large enough to sleep in and there are a hundred videos on how to make beds for them. Like Fromk says, get some camping boxes and start buying crap for them. The Coghlan's isle at Sportsman's Warehouse has a bunch of interesting thing to buy for cheap.

I have had several different kits over the years for different purposes and the contents are always changing as I find what works well and the junk I never use.

[Erni]

My current setup for camp kitchen and outdoor is a 6ft table and a box with the mess kit. Also a 10x10 shade cover. It?s a bit bulky so I have a few thoughts on lightening it up.
Sleeping is on several pads, my old body needs a good pad or else I get no sleep. Need a better approach to staying warm.
Organization is the next step as it?s been a chore keeping track of things.
I found that my Ryobi 18v batteries and lights work well enough and they are free. But also worried that my truck battery will die. Need to add a top of 20W panel or something.

Thanks for the tips. Sounds like I?m on the path but there is no shortcuts.

[Frac]

I car camp at various times throughout the year. It ranges from a full camp setup with canvas tent, sun shade, and a pit toilet/tent to a sleeping bag in the bed of the truck. What/how you pack depends on what you want.

I would rather pack simple. I take 2-3 30qt sterilite containers with lids. One is a dry box for food. One is my kitchen (paper plates, silverware, small skillet, etc.). If I take a 3rd box, it is usually another dry box for food like granolas and snacks.

I have a 2-burner propane stove and a 1 burner stove. The 1-burner is stored in a 6-quart Tupperware. If I?m nomadic, I take the 1-burner. If I take a full camp setup, I might bring both.

I always have a shit shovel, 1-burner stove, and a blanket in the truck. I add to that as I need.

Organizing like that makes it easy to grab and go. I do a lot of weekend trips in the upland hunting season. I like to be mobile so I can sleep wherever I ended the day. All I need to throw in the truck is a cooler, my sleeping bag, the kitchen box, a case of water, and the food dry box.

If my wife is along for a few days of camping, I?m taking everything, including a separate ?privy? tent and a toilet. I also have a buddy heater and CO detector if I want to stay warm. I use a cot in the tent and add a 3? memory foam pad. With a pillow and a sleeping bag, I sleep pretty well for a couple days.

This method works for me. The boxes keep stuff modular and when I need something I always know what box it is in. I can take fewer boxes for a light camp, or take everything plus the kitchen sink if my wife is coming along.

[rondog]

Thankfully (?), I'm too old and broken-up for camping. It would give me nothing but pain & discomfort.

[Frac]

Nothing like cooking on the tailgate.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230122/a826bfaed2cdeef6a36aa4d874c8d5e0.jpg

[Erni]

Nothing like cooking on the tailgate.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230122/a826bfaed2cdeef6a36aa4d874c8d5e0.jpg

Suburban lacks a tail gate. =(. Working on a light weight table that I can hang on the side of the car now.

[earplug]

I'm a gasoline two burner Coleman guy. I use a Wok as clean up is easy and the lid stores inside the bowl. It is always level when your using the ring base. Two burner means your coffee and dishwater are getting hot while your food is cooking.
A electric 12 volt refrigerator and a decent solar panel and battery set up means you never run out of ice or cold stuff.
One of the new fold up cots with a a rain cover work really well. Set up on rocks or stumps and your back is off the ground. I keep mine in the van for emergencies.
Add some tie downs to your vehicle and you can add a tarp really easy. Shade can be hard to find.

[00tec]

I use a small blackstone to cook.
Packs in a bag and covers the bases

[JohnnyEgo]

I go camping once a month because my kid is in scouts. 8 of the 12 are essentially drive-up car camping events, one is bicycle camping, one is canoe camping, and the other two are hike-in backpacking trips. For the eight car camping trips, I usually just throw a couple of dedicated bins in the back. One is for cooking and cleaning gear, one has camp equipment, and the other is food. I found we don't need very much for most two day trips. Some things make life a little more convenient, but at the end of the day, if you are dry, warm, fed, and get some sleep, you don't need much else beyond that.

There is one piece of equipment that I spent a lot of money on, and have never had a moment's regret. That is an Exped Megamat. It's about 4" thick when inflated, and heavily insulated. I find that with a good night's sleep and a couple cups of coffee, I can put up with nearly any shennanigans a group of 10-12 minimally supervised teenagers can throw my way. The Megamat is too big to hike with, so it is car only. The insulation factor makes a tremendous difference in sleeping comfortably from September through March. In my smaller tent, two of them take up the full floor space, so there is nowhere for my kid to roll off. They were something like $300 a piece, and as far as I am concerned, worth every penny.
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/vincent/scouts/2022curtgowdy/curtgowdy03.JPG


For the backpacking trips, mostly I am just boiling water to rehydrate meals, so a JetBoil is plenty.
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/vincent/scouts/2021emmalinelake/20210918_172753.jpg

For the car camping trips, we actually cook four hot meals and have to follow the scout dish washing and sanitizing procedures, which involve a lot of boiling water. Two miserable camping trips with high winds above 8000 feet taught me that my Coleman two burner wasn't going to cut it. Hard to stay lit in high wind, and it took forever to boil water. I switched to an Everest camp stove and have been very happy for three years now. The thing puts out 30k btus, will stay lit in a wind storm, and will heat a stock pot full of water to a boil very quickly. Doesn't care if I have to dust off a layer of snow to get it lit. Best thing in the world for preparing hot meals and drinks for a group on snowy mornings.
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/vincent/2019/fallfest/fallfest12.JPG

[Little Dutch]

There is one piece of equipment that I spent a lot of money on, and have never had a moment's regret. That is an Exped Megamat.

Thanks for the tip on the ground mat.
I don't camp nearly as often as I used to and very recently, suddenly, and unexpectedly got too old for the thin self-inflating ground pad I'd used without issue for the previous 20 years. A cot made things better, but my cot needs better padding too.

Unfortunately, general advice on what works is so wildly different between people, seasons, and conditions that I don't think I can help much.
Some of my camping gear is extremely useful while elk hunting. Some of it is worthless for elk hunting but is awesome while car camping on a fishing weekend. Some of it isn't worth taking for a 2 night trip. Some of it isn't worth taking based on location and/or season. Some of what I take changes based on how often I expect to move camp; am I in one spot for 3 days or moving every night?. What I take on any given trip can vary wildly.

With that said, I have lots of opinions on specific pieces of equipment. Many of which are probably going to diverge from others who have used the exact same gear under different conditions. Or completely different gear under similar conditions. If you have any real specific questions though, I can offer up an opinion or option.

With that said:
I like my JetBoil. I sometimes use it to make a super quick cup of coffee using the tea-bag style coffee. I've used it for canned soups and Ramen in a pinch too. It's great for cold camping when I don't want a fire. But I could live without it and not miss it much.
In winter I take two wool blankets. They get used more often than I thought they would. Extra ground insulation and/or extra blanket on extremely cold nights mostly. I've considered abandoning my tent on very cold nights and crawling under them both in my truck before as well...
A Coleman catalytic heater has proven very useful for me when winter camping on several occasions.
Any small grill set-up is sometimes useful. I've often found it's not worth taking on short trips where a cooler of premade sandwiches (or whatever) suffices.
I recently bought the Coleman Battery LED lantern. It's proven useful and is much less fragile than the gas lanterns I prefer. Especially useful for the camp sites on the far side of really punishing roads that cause lanterns to break and soda cans to burst.
https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-2000024375-Twin-LED-Lantern/dp/B001TSCINE/ref=asc_df_B001TSCINE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167126940649&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=185483743468695053&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029027&hvtargid=pla-275680417598&psc=1
I'm old now and taking a pillow with me. The MyPillow pillows are machine washable.

[Wulf202]

I did a lot of camping in a suburban. I used a popup screen enclosure and a couple of tables for a kitchen and slept in the truck. I used some surplus shelter halfs to create curtains. I attached a window screen to the magnetic weather strip from a freezer door and put that over a window for airflow. I had 2 smaller coolers and put those in the front seats/floor to keep critters out of my food. My bedding was a thermarest under some foam and blankets. Rolled up nicely.

[Erni]

The stove is something I am still dialing in. I have a single burner butane stove. And also a Coleman white gas two burner. I prefer the butane stove but when temps reached 40s in Moab getting good heat was an issue. The Coleman is large and takes a bit to warm up. But the larger size and two burner is what keeps me keeping it home. Probably will get a propane single burner so I can get some morning coffee.

[Frac]

I use a Jetboil for coffee. I have a full coffee kit in an army surplus mre pouch (I think that?s what the bag is). Offer mug, instant coffee, creamer, sugar. I take that bag in hotel trips, too.