We went and bought some camping equipment this weekend. The weather is crap, but I'm excited.
Everyone got a new sleeping bag. Only the boy and I had a sleeping bag before. And even then, I'd bought them for summer camping in St. Louis. They would be too cold at night here. So now we all have light-weight three-season sleeping bags. GBP 110.80.
For our first camping trip, we will go car camping. We have an air mattress that the boy and I use for camping. Amanda and I can use that. Bought two backpacking air mattresses for B & G. 39.90.
The backpack I liked was on sale. A lot. I think it's last years model, and they were dumping it for clearance. So I bought my new backpacking backpack. 60L capacity (3600 cu. in.) internal frame backpack. While we were at it, we bought a 50L for Amanda. I had her try on the "Mens" model, because she does have a longer torso (plus if she hated backpacking, I'd have a 50L pack also!), but the "Womens" model fit her hips much better. The waist belt does have a different shape to it and that made a big difference. So we have our packs! 94.90.
I also looked at tents. My thought was that if we really did go backpacking, we would need a backpacking tent. A four person backpacking tent is a bit of an oxymoron, since "real" backpackers try and keep the load down, and don't carry more than a two person tent. I had weighed the camping tent that I had, which is really a three man tent, but could fit two adults and two kids just. It came in at 5kg (about 10 lbs), which was not much heavier than the larger 3 man backpacking tents that I've looked at, but my tent's bag is this monster canvas job. When I got home, I unpacked the tent from the canvas bag and looked at how it might pack tighter. I was able to re-roll the tent and fly into a nice tight sausage. For this I bought a new stuff sack. The tent poles fit nicely on the side of the backpack and the stakes can pretty much go anywhere. 3.95
We also picked up some other miscellaneous stuff. Little flashlights for the kids. A backpacking stove and mess kits. inflatable pillows. Stuff like that. 35.55
I very clearly remember camping with my family growing up. I know I have memories of it from when I lived in Colorado, so that makes me not much older than the girl at the time. I've had a great time camping with the boy, and the girl really wants to go too. So, (I know you saw this coming) camping with the family, Priceless!
2 comments:
With a heavy tent, you can split up the weight between you and Amanda by putting the poles in one pack and the tent in another, etc. Leeann and I did that when we went down the Grand Canyon. I'm looking forward to backpacking stories as this is something we want to do with Rachel.
5 kg isn't that heavy is the cool part. I thought about splitting up the weight, but my goal is to keep Amanda's pack as light as possible. I think with two sleeping bags, two ground mattresses, her cloths, and some food, she will be loaded down enough.
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