c/camping-gear-reviews

Tried a $12 inflatable pillow on my last trip and woke up with zero neck pain

Been using a rolled up jacket for years and always woke up stiff, but that cheap pillow actually held air all night and felt like a real pillow. Anyone else find that sometimes the cheapest gear works way better than the expensive stuff?

2 comments

evand65•5d ago

Pro tip: That $60 "ultralight" sleeping pad is a total joke

I bought a random off-brand inflatable pad on Amazon back in May for a 3 night trip in the Smokies. By night two it had a slow leak and I woke up on the ground at 3 AM with my hip digging into a rock. Patching it did nothing because the seam split open instead of a pinhole. So I wasted $60 and had to sleep in my car the last night. Has anyone else had luck with those cheap foam pads or is the extra weight worth it?

2 comments

betty_shah•6d ago

TIL my trusted 20-year-old rain fly was just decorative now.

Got caught in a thunderstorm near Lake Tahoe last June and my tent turned into a bathtub - water got in through every seam - and I spent the night with all my gear in the car while the tent slowly filled up, so has anyone else had a piece of gear suddenly fail when they needed it most?

2 comments

joseph_lewis92•8d ago

Worst week ever on the Appalachian Trail changed my gear list completely

Spent 5 days on a section near Harper's Ferry last June when it rained nonstop. My cheap hammock tarp leaked on night 2 and I woke up in 3 inches of water at 4 AM. That experience convinced me to finally buy a proper Warbonnet setup and I'll never cheap out on shelter gear again. Has anyone else had a single trip totally change what they pack?

2 comments

holly_flores79•11d ago

Wrote off those cheap tarps for years till a storm at Yosemite changed my mind

I was camped at Bridalveil Creek last July when a freak windstorm shredded my expensive name-brand rain fly in under 10 minutes. A guy three sites over loaned me his $12 tarp from the gas station and it held up through the whole mess with zero tears. Anyone else found a budget piece of gear that outlasted the fancy stuff on a real trip?

3 comments

reese551•11d ago

That budget camp stove melted its own fuel line on my last trip to Lake Tahoe

I was making coffee Saturday morning and suddenly smelled burning plastic, looked down and the line was literally dripping onto the burner. Did I just get a dud or are these cheap stoves actually a fire hazard waiting to happen?

2 comments

thompson.xena•17d ago

Overheard a guy at REI say he never washes his sleeping bag...

I was looking at camp stoves last weekend and overheard this older hiker tell his buddy he's never washed his down sleeping bag in 12 years. Just airs it out. Made me realize I've been babying my gear way too much with special soaps and all that... has anyone else gone years without washing theirs?

2 comments

tyler822•18d ago

Spent 3 hours trying to pitch a new tent in the dark

Last weekend I got to my campsite up near Lake Tahoe way later than planned, like 9pm late. Thought I'd be fine setting up my new four-person tent in the dark with just a headlamp, but the poles were all color-coded weird and nothing clicked into place. Took me a solid 45 minutes of fumbling before I realized I had the rainfly on backwards and had to start over. Anyone else ever struggled way too long with a tent setup in the dark?

4 comments

green.mason•19d ago

I saw a DCF tent shed water worse than a $50 Coleman last weekend

I've been reading for years how DCF (Dyneema Composite Fabric) is the gold standard for ultralight camping. Everyone swears by it. But I was at a group campout near Table Rock Lake last Saturday and it rained hard for about 3 hours. A guy had a brand new Zpacks Duplex and water was actually beading up on the outside but then soaking through at the seam tape in 3 different spots. Meanwhile my buddy's old $50 Coleman Sundome from Walmart stayed bone dry inside. I looked up the stats later and found out that DCF has a hydrostatic head rating of only around 1,500mm to 2,000mm depending on the type. Most budget silnylon tents push 3,000mm or more. So all that money for a tent that costs $700 and it can't handle a moderate rainstorm without seam issues? Am I missing something or is this just accepted in the ultralight world?

2 comments

the_lee•19d ago

Picked a MSR Hubba Hubba over a Big Agnes Copper Spur last spring

I was stuck between the MSR Hubba Hubba NX and the Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 for a 5 day trip in the Smokies. Went with the Hubba Hubba because I read it handled wind better, and man, we got hit with 30 mph gusts near Clingmans Dome. It held up great, no flapping all night, but the pack weight is definitely higher than the Copper Spur. Anyone else make this call and regret it or feel good about it?

2 comments

anthony165•19d ago

That one comment about my sleeping pad placement changed everything

I spent like 2 years putting my sleeping pad directly on the tent floor and thought I was just a cold sleeper. A guy on a forum told me to put a foam layer underneath and it made a huge difference in warmth. Has anyone else gotten a small gear tip that totally changed their setup?

2 comments

grant569•20d ago

Hit 50 nights in my tent this year and something broke

I just passed 50 nights camping in my REI Half Dome SL2 this season and on night 48 the main pole snapped right at the ferrule in a wind gust. Turns out the aluminum got stress cracks I never noticed from setting up fast every time. Anybody else hit a number like this and find out their gear was wearing down way faster than they thought?

2 comments

emmar75•22d ago

Hit 40 nights in a tent last year and it surprised me

I wasn't trying to set any record. I just kept going out every couple weeks, sometimes just for a Friday night after work. When I added it up in December I was shocked. 40 nights. That's more than I slept in a tent in my whole 20s combined. Back then I was too busy with work and life. Now at 57 I'm making time for it. The gear is better sure but I think the real change is me. Anyone else notice they camp more as they get older?

2 comments

jamesblack•24d ago

Last weekend my tent got shredded by a storm at Big Sur and I had to sleep in my truck bed.

The wind ripped through our site around 3am and my Coleman 4-person just gave up on life - pole snapped in two places and the fly flew off into the dark somewhere - has anyone else had their gear just totally fail on a trip and what'd you do about it?

2 comments

robinmason•25d ago

That week in July my tent flooded in Olympic National Park

I set up my REI Half Dome 2 in what I thought was a perfect spot near the Hoh River trail. Woke up at 3 AM to find 2 inches of standing water inside because I didn't check the ground slope. Has anyone else dealt with unexpected puddling and found a good solution for leveling out a tent site?

3 comments

noraj79•25d ago

My $80 Coleman tent pole snapped on the second trip

I was out at Lake Tahoe last weekend and one of the fiberglass poles just cracked in half during setup. I ended up using duct tape and a stick to get it standing for the night. Anyone else had Coleman poles fail super fast like that?

2 comments

logansullivan•26d ago

Found out my sleeping bag was way warmer with a proper pad underneath

I always just threw my bag on the tent floor and froze until I borrowed a friend's insulated pad in Shenandoah last month. The R-value makes a huge difference, I went from shivering to actually comfortable. Anybody else skip this and regret it?

2 comments

zarak18•27d ago

Overheard a guy at REI say his tent flooded because he skipped the footprint

I was in line at the Seattle REI last weekend and this dude was telling his friend he saved $40 skipping the footprint for his tent. Then he woke up in a puddle after a light rain. Has anyone else used a tarp as a cheap alternative and had it work out?

2 comments

webb.xena•28d ago

Walked through Great Smoky Mountains last week and noticed something weird

Half the campsites had those big inflatable mattresses now instead of sleeping pads. You guys seeing this replace foam pads everywhere or is it just the popular spots?

3 comments

perez.cole•28d ago

My tent pole snapped in the middle of a storm at Devil's Lake

I was camped at Devil's Lake State Park last June when a sudden thunderstorm rolled in around 2 AM. A gust of wind snapped one of my aluminum poles clean in half and the whole tent collapsed on me. I ended up duct taping the broken pole to a tree branch and slept the rest of the night half in my rain fly lol. Has anyone else had to MacGyver their tent back together in the middle of the night?

2 comments

faith_smith•1mo ago

Struggled with tent stakes for years and then learned the 45-degree trick

I spent like 5 years pounding stakes straight down into the ground (you know, like a normal person) and wondering why my tent would shift in the wind. A random guy at a campsite in Moab last fall pointed out that stakes should go in at a 45-degree angle pointing toward the tent. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple angle change fixed everything?

2 comments

grant.kevin•1mo ago

Neighbor Dave swore by those cheap tent stakes from the dollar store

Neighbor Dave swore by those cheap tent stakes from the dollar store. He told me last summer that $1 plastic stakes were just as good as my MSR groundhogs for car camping, so I tried his advice on a three-night trip to Shenandoah. After a windy night and a thunderstorm, I woke up with my tent basically folded over me because three of those stakes snapped clean in half. Has anyone else had a well-meaning friend steer you wrong on gear that seemed like a good deal?

2 comments

olivia_barnes97•1mo ago

My sleeping bag got soaked on the third night of a Colorado trip

I was camping near Buena Vista and woke up to a sudden rain leak in my tent that drenched my down bag. Had to sleep in my car with the heater on and it was miserable. Anyone have a good waterproof bag they trust for wet trips?

3 comments

morgan_jenkins90•1mo ago

My buddy Rob told me his $6 army surplus tarp outlasted three of my fancy backpacking tents and I had to sit down.

He said he just patched a hole with duct tape and kept using it for 8 years while I'm on my fourth tent because a zipper broke or a seam gave out, so has anyone else ditched the expensive gear for the boring stuff?

3 comments

roberts.diana•1mo ago

My $30 tarp from Walmart saved my tent from a flash flood last weekend

I was camped up near Big Sur and the sky just opened up at 2 AM. I had always rolled my eyes at people who brought extra tarps and paracord, figured it was overkill. Well, that $30 tarp kept everything bone dry while my buddy's high-end tent got a puddle in his vestibule. Has anyone else had a cheap piece of gear totally save your trip?

2 comments