# How do you like to camp?



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

We all have different desires, abilities and needs. No wrong answer here.

-DallanC


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## legacy (Sep 30, 2007)

How do I "LIKE" to camp? I cast a vote for my toy hauler with TV, AC, Heater, Generator, Shower, etc...

But, I really do enjoy the times when I can pack in with my pack & tent and stay in the back country. Seems like with a wife and kids, the toy hauler is usually their vote.

I've had some crap nights in tents, I have nothing to prove anymore. I don't feel any less of a man for enjoying my nice bed in my trailer! 😂


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Last two times I slept in a tent, on the west desert... 1 year apart ironically, we got flooded out by a flash flood soaking everything and ended spending the night in the truck. We were on flat ground away from anything that looked like it could get water... and a good 3" of floodwater blanketed everything just after midnight. Two years in a row. /sigh

-DallanC


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## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

Honestly, I'm completely indifferent. I'll camp, based on what is needed, or most advantageous to me at the time. I might backpack in and hammock camp . I might car camp if I need to cover a lot of ground. If it's cold enough i might hot tent it, either backpacking or car camping, I don't care. No preferred method. All have their pros and cons, i'll just do whatever is best for whatever I'm doing. If its better to backpack in, then I backpack in, if its better to be highly mobile and car camp, then i'll car camp.


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Depends. My outdoor activities that require an overnight or longer stay basically encompass the whole list except the last one. The majority fall under the small trailer + category.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

How is this for a lawyer answer? It depends...

I like them all, depending upon the circumstances. I'm less and less inclined to sleep on the ground as I get older, however.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

legacy said:


> How do I "LIKE" to camp? I cast a vote for my toy hauler with TV, AC, Heater, Generator, Shower, etc...
> 
> But, I really do enjoy the times when I can pack in with my pack & tent and stay in the back country. Seems like with a wife and kids, the toy hauler is usually their vote.
> 
> I've had some crap nights in tents, I have nothing to prove anymore. I don't feel any less of a man for enjoying my nice bed in my trailer!


This is exactly where I’m at. We recently got a 5th wheel camper and it’s changed my thinking. I’ve never enjoyed camping in a tent for the helluva it. I used to really enjoy packing in for the general bull hunt and sleeping in my tent in the back country. The sleep always sucked but I never worried about it and just figured that was part of the challenge. As my bones grow older, sleeping in a tent on the ground is a no go anymore. I can see my brother and I spiking out in the backcountry for a night or 2 if the hunting prospects are worth it, but I’m pretty **** sure we’ll have our campers close by for a base camp from here on out. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Wire (Nov 2, 2017)

I like all sorts of camping. It all depends on where, when, and who is going. Deer camp usually consists of couple trailers and wall tents to accommodate all that may go. When I do my fishing trip to pelican, it's usually just a small tent.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Where is the all above answer? 

For me it depends a lot on where and when I am going camping or hunting. 

My Arizona hunting trips have all been in a motel or at a friends home. This year came close to us camping but we found a room at the last moment. 

I have a slide in camper, a couple of tents, all the stoves, lanterns, and what not to live comfortably no matter how or when I head out. I also have just thrown a tarp down on the ground with my sleeping bag on top of it, this way is great as long as you have good weather. 

Back when we would pack in to get close to a elk herd we would just take a sleeping bag and at times if the weather was good enough just a good wool blanket to keep us warm through the night.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I think it all depends on what the trip is for me.

If its me and some buddies just getting away, then I dont need much to be happy. Just a good air mattress and a small tent will do just fine for me. But if Im taking the wife and kids, then I need the kitchen sink and anything else that I can pack to keep them happy.

But after being turned onto hot tents... man I sure love me a warm tent in the colder months.

I sold my trailer two summers ago and dont regret it one bit.


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## pollo70 (Aug 15, 2016)

Kodiak canvas tent with cots & heater buddy for the colder weather


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

My favorite campground is Mariott. I've spent a lot of nights in tents and but haven't slept in many tents. I was the youngest and that meant I was stuffed in the corner of a tent usually on a rock. We had a tent trailer (pop up) that we drove across the country as a kid. We went to New York from Cache Valley, that was a long trip. I slept ok as a kid.

I don't love sleeping on an air matress, and don't love backpacking pads. I can make it work. If I can take a cot and a pad I can sleep ok- as long as it isn't too hot. That's when things go south for me. 

A bunch of my friends went deer hunting out here in Nebraska and had a giant wall tent with a stove. Had a good cot and pad, that was pretty nice. I've done a lot of camping and hunting/fishing. I've never understood the idea of camping just for the sake of it. I want to have a gun or a fishing rod to make the trip worth it. 

I haven't ever loved backpacking- even as a scout. I loved going in, and loved the fishing. But hated the pads and tent. I about got hit by lightning (like crazy close- my back went numb) as I screamed through a meadow in a thunderstorm that I ignored because fishing was that good by Red Castle in the Uintahs. 

As I get a little older, I don't mind creature comforts. I have enough Mariott points that I can usually stay for free, which offsets the cost of the vehicle and trailer. 

That being said, I've slept in some crappy conditions and will continue to do so in pursuit of fish and critters.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Vanilla said:


> How is this for a lawyer answer? It depends...
> 
> I like them all, depending upon the circumstances. I'm less and less inclined to sleep on the ground as I get older, however.


I concur


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## legacy (Sep 30, 2007)

pollo70 said:


> Kodiak canvas tent with cots & heater buddy for the colder weather


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Wall tent and stove are what I like during a fall or late season hunt. A smaller wall tent or heavy duty canvas tarp made into an EZ-Up type style shelter to cook out of. 

It sucks when your hunt or camping adventure comes to an end and your pulling it all to head home. Then you get home, set it all up again, clean it and let it dry before storing it for the next year. I'd like to find a small 8' slide-in camper for the truck to have in these situations. It's not such a time consuming task as a wall tent.

When I had horse, it was a slide-in 8' camper with the 4 horse slant load trailer behind it heading up the hill to hunting camp. Camped in the same spot for 8 years and used the same highline for the horses and mules.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I started with a tent, then a 14' trailer, then a tent trailer, then a 25' 5th wheel then a 22' trailer. I am currently using a Kodiak 10x14 tent with cots, heavy sleeping bags and a Buddy heater. My favorite out of all of them was the tent trailer. So easy to tow, easy setup/take down, easy to store and very comfortable to camp in. 

I am looking for an older camp trailer right now. One I can leave on the farm year-round. Anyone selling?


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

I like a nice hotel, comfy bed, hot running water - however, this camping excursion was pretty comfortable:


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Vanilla said:


> How is this for a lawyer answer? It depends...
> 
> I like them all, depending upon the circumstances. I'm less and less inclined to sleep on the ground as I get older, however.


We are 4-6 man tent people but I'm eventually going to burn out on sleeping on the ground. 

Until we choose otherwise we upgraded to a 4" self inflating double mattress that has been a lifesaver. Great R-value and so comfortable.

I don't know if I can go back to backpacking after this.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

How long do those Mr Buddy heaters burn with a standard Coleman cylinder?


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## legacy (Sep 30, 2007)

Bax* said:


> How long do those Mr Buddy heaters burn with a standard Coleman cylinder?


Depends on the heater and what setting you have it on. I have the 4,000 - 9,000 BTU unit. Seems like it always runs out at about 3 or 4 in the morning. Been pretty nice to have. I even run it in my trailer at times so I don’t run my trailer batteries down using the furnace.


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

Bax* said:


> How long do those Mr Buddy heaters burn with a standard Coleman cylinder?


What I like to do is run the buddy heater before I got to bed, then turn it off. I then turn it on before I get out of the sleeping bag for a bit to warm the tent up. I like the cold to sleep in. 

However, I do have a propane tank and 10' hose to hook up to the buddy heater in my goose blind. I get tired of changing propane tanks. You could do the same thing if you wanted with a tent. They'd run a long time on a propane tank. I ran mine all season without filling up.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Bax* said:


> How long do those Mr Buddy heaters burn with a standard Coleman cylinder?


Mostly depends how low or high you run it. I’m guessing maybe 8 hours on low? I have a hose for my 20 lb.tank, but never use it. I picked up a fitting to fill the 1 lb.bottles myself. There’s a trick to it, but it works great and a lot less expensive.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Fowlmouth said:


> Mostly depends how low or high you run it. I’m guessing maybe 8 hours on low? I have a hose for my 20 lb.tank, but never use it. I picked up a fitting to fill the 1 lb.bottles myself. There’s a trick to it, but it works great and a lot less expensive.


Do you freeze your bottles first?


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## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

I got bored. If a picture is 1000 words, a video should be worth 2000.








All my camps 2021


I'll camp based on what is needed, or most advantageous to me at the time. All have their pros and cons, I'll just do whatever is best for whatever I'm doing.




www.bitchute.com


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Fowlmouth said:


> Mostly depends how low or high you run it. I’m guessing maybe 8 hours on low? I have a hose for my 20 lb.tank, but never use it. I picked up a fitting to fill the 1 lb.bottles myself. There’s a trick to it, but it works great and a lot less expensive.


I have one of those tiny adapters, it was a PITA to fill up, hard to get the full 1lb in there. 

Built myself a better one, you can fill one to the brim in no time, no freezing, tilting / tipping... nothing. Bulk bottle sits upside down, green bottle hangs vertically. Fill'em up fast. I might tweak the design and add a brass ball valve to turn off the flow vs using the bulk bottle valve. Make sure you weigh-em. Its very easy to overfill... and you wont know it until they get warm and leak from the over pressure valve. Write on each bottle the proper filled weight with a sharpie. Definitely let some out if you over fill (use the cheap adapter to let out pressure). Check over pressure valve with soapy water for leaks. Recheck a week later

I have 6 or 8 green bottles, just pile emptys up and fill them all up at the same time. I refill the 5lb'er manually too.

But... I bought a 5lb small bulk bottle off ksl ($10!!!), I've taken it with me ice fishing but never actually used it. Green bottles last well enough for the big buddy. If I did an overnight thing like Burbot at the Gorge the bulk bottle would be fine. Typically we limit out long before we run out of propane.

This reminds me though, I have 4 empty 20lb'ers to go get filled up. At any given time we usually have 250-340lbs of propane (one of our prepper staples lol).

-DallanC


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I at one time went to the trouble of refilling those 1lb bottles. 

Then I went out and bought the hoses and adapters to just use a propane tank and never looked back. 

Even the lanterns that I have that run on propane I use the larger tanks and a riser to get the lantern up into the air a bit. For lights inside of the tents we just use battery operated ones.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Is staying in a motel/hotel actually considered camping?


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

ridgetop said:


> Is staying in a motel/hotel actually considered camping?


Depends if your wife is with you. 

-DallanC


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

ridgetop said:


> Is staying in a motel/hotel actually considered camping?


Right above 
*I dont camp, I'd rather drive back home each day*


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

I just just stayed at this place over the weekend and I definitely wouldn't call it camping. It's called being on vacation but not camping.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

ridgetop said:


> Is staying in a motel/hotel actually considered camping?


I’ve stayed in motels in small towns that could be considered camping. The bugs were out in force and there was dirt in my bed.

This has happened several times to me. Yes, I’m cheap and find “bargain” places to stay sometimes.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Last year heading out for the GS Elk hunt, I passed an outfit on the freeway that I consider the most fantastic camping rig. It was a cream colored F-250 high boy (74-76) with big mud tires just singing. This guy had an Alaskan pop-up camper on the truck, a Honda trail 90 on a bumper wrack in the front. I'm sure he had a 390, 460, or maybe a 429 powerhouse pegged out at what sounded to be 6000 RPM and going 65 MPH. I had to slow down and when he came to the side of me, he looked over at me and I gave him the thumbs up. He smiled and gave me thumbs up back and I let the turbo in the Cummins wind up and before long he was only a memory. 

If I could have found out where he was camped, I'd have offered him 10K for the rig. I loved it!!! Love seeing "old school" rigs.


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## BGD (Mar 23, 2018)

As I get older, I like my pad and my cot. Most comfortable and enjoyable camping I have done in awhile was wall tent, cots, a chair to sit in, and a heater. It was with my dad and son on the deer hunt. Nothing much better than having a nice comfortable camp to come back to after a long day hiking around the mountain.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Bax* said:


> Do you freeze your bottles first?


Nope, the trick is getting all the air out of the bottle. Hemostats work for pulling the stem up on the bottle.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Fowlmouth said:


> Nope, the trick is getting all the air out of the bottle. Hemostats work for pulling the stem up on the bottle.


Well... lets clarify this a tad. There's no air in a propane bottle. You can only get so much liquid in before the "Gas" portion of the propane increases in pressure to stop the flow. You vent off the gas via the overpressure valve, to allow in more liquid. Be really careful with the valve though... they are cheaply made and often leak. I pull them out and let go, letting them snap back down to try and seal up.

-DallanC


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Welp, I guess I hijacked the thread on the refilling propane cylinders topic. Sorry Dallan.



Fowlmouth said:


> Nope, the trick is getting all the air out of the bottle. Hemostats work for pulling the stem up on the bottle.





DallanC said:


> Well... lets clarify this a tad. There's no air in a propane bottle. You can only get so much liquid in before the "Gas" portion of the propane increases in pressure to stop the flow. You vent off the gas via the overpressure valve, to allow in more liquid. Be really careful with the valve though... they are cheaply made and often leak. I pull them out and let go, letting them snap back down to try and seal up.
> 
> -DallanC


I ran down this rabbit hole a while back because I use a lot of propane and propane accessories (insert Hank Hill voice) and thought it would be worth it. Seems that a lot of people were suggesting freezing the green canister and then turning the donor upsidedown to ensure that liquid was being pushed in to maximize the fill.

We might have to dedicate a thread to this....


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Freezing the green bottle just slows the liquid propane from turning to gas, taking up the space that liquid needs to take up. On that note, I don't understand how well propane augers work... if its well below zero ice fishing, you need some heat in the bottle for the propane to turn to gas to power the motor. 

-DallanC


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

DallanC said:


> Freezing the green bottle just slows the liquid propane from turning to gas, taking up the space that liquid needs to take up.
> 
> -DallanC


interesting, I was under the impression that the temperature differential helped fill the canister more efficiently


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Bax* said:


> interesting, I was under the impression that the temperature differential helped fill the canister more efficiently


You are right, its more efficient due to the propane not turning to gas as fast as it would in a warm bottle. Think of an empty cylinder, its at near zero psi, filled with propane vapor. If its cold, propane stays liquid longer so you can add alot more of it until it reaches the pressure of the main tank. If its warm, the first liquid propane entering the bottle immediately starts to turn to gas and raises the pressure. You get less liquid in there before the bottle pressure equalizes from both added vapor and gas.

If you vent off the gas by the over pressure valve, it will be replaced with more liquid... some of that will also turn into gas, at a rate determined by its temperature. If the bottle is cold enough to really slow down the liquid to gas transition, you get mostly liquid in there.

It really comes down to how much propane you are willing to lose when you vent to allow more liquid to enter.

-DallanC


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## MrShane (Jul 21, 2019)

Bax* said:


> Welp, I guess I hijacked the thread on the refilling propane cylinders topic. Sorry Dallan.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You honor me by giving me gas.


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## Rasster (7 mo ago)

I always take at least a sleeping bag with me to hike, knife, mobile phone, matches or cigarette lighter to make a fire, canned food and some tools that may come in handy when camping or relaxing outdoors. Also, I'm in love with my LED headlamp that I recently bought from hokolite . I believe that it can be unsafe in the forest or in the mountains at night in the dark (besides, it's very uncomfortable for me), so I decided to take advantage of the discount from the online store and buy a modern, reliable rechargeable flashlight for hiking and camping. It works really well and I'm surprised how rarely I need to charge a new flashlight. I rather like to combine technology and outdoor recreation, using modern quality camping equipment to make my every trip more comfortable and safer. I'm well aware that I couldn't survive in primitive conditions, but at the same time I don't believe that modern life should be separated from nature. Of course, the main thing here is not to overdo it ...


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## Smokestestack (6 mo ago)

Most of all I like the equipped campsite. Organized campsites, in addition to parking, can provide travelers with a range of services: toilets, showers, water, electricity, and so on. On their territory, there are zones for setting up tents and parking, and for a fee, travelers can use the services of a shower, bath, dining room or kitchen. It even sounds great and you really feel that you are on an active, but holiday. When it comes to camping outfit, I prefer synthetic materials as they retain heat more effectively even when exposed to damp or cold environments. You can also wear a sun hat, camping gloves and a raincoat, which together will completely protect you from any bad weather.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

When I was a younger man I just had a coupla packs of smokes and some jerky. Now that I'm older I carry all manner of stuff, even a tent. Although I only put the tent up if it's snowing or raining.


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