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The thing I have against tents is dew & rain. I would rather sleep in the car than wait till noon, when the tent dries off to get rolling. That said... I use a tent a lot when I'm staying somewhere for awhile. They work nice when traveling via airplane / rental car, which I do a lot, as it's cheaper than driving my own car. They are also a lot easier to pack up a wilderness trail than carrying an RV (even tho my RV is small).
Try packing in to the mountains horseback with an RV..........but to set up a proper tent camp, I expect to be there for at least a week, maybe two or more. Dig a latrine, set up the shepherd stove, pitch the 12x18 wall tent, get the mattress set up, locate and patch any leaks, set up your shower, rig your cache so it's bear proof, clear the burn area of debris, gather firewood (get a three day supply, and refill every day), set up the picket line for the horses, string a meadow so they can graze on a hobble....setting up a good camp is a good half days work, and worth every minute whether you fill your license or not.
OTOH, in an area for a night or two, tired of eating greasy fried "home style" diner fare? Need to stop for lunch? take an RV or a trailer......pull over to a pleasant park or lakeside or streamside or roadside park and fix a nice lunch, grab a nap, hit the road and get where you are going not totally exhausted. If I have to chose one? give me a good trailer........if I need to sleep on the ground, I can do that under the awning. In the meantime, a hot shower is nice.
My LP fridge can keep drinks cold forever, an ice chest can only do this for as long as the ice stays ice. A day and a half maybe? And all tents leak, RVs dont.
And if I am parked in the pacific north west I feel safer from Big Foot with some solid walls around me !!
A good hint on the ice. When you buy a bag of ice, you'll notice it starts to melt before you get to the cash register. My dad always took the ice home and put it in our own freezer for a couple days. That way it would be frozen solid and last quite a bit longer. When I was younger, my dad would buy the block ice. Freeze it at home and it would last 4 or 5 days.
I have yet to have a tent that leaks. That includes one in my garage I've had for over 40 years.
As far as Big Foot, I'm not too worried. I divorced her daughter 10 years ago and haven't seen her since.
A good hint on the ice. When you buy a bag of ice, you'll notice it starts to melt before you get to the cash register. My dad always took the ice home and put it in our own freezer for a couple days. That way it would be frozen solid and last quite a bit longer. When I was younger, my dad would buy the block ice. Freeze it at home and it would last 4 or 5 days.
I have yet to have a tent that leaks. That includes one in my garage I've had for over 40 years.
As far as Big Foot, I'm not too worried. I divorced her daughter 10 years ago and haven't seen her since.
Take one gallon or 1/2 gallon milk cartons or jugs fill them with water and stick them in the freezer. Free block ice and no need to go to the store.
I have done a lot of tent camping over the years. Boundry waters, Backpacking in Glacier, Isle Royal, Rainer, Point Reyes and even packed horses in CO for elk season. Lot more work, but you get a lot of satisfaction seeing what there is to see along the way. Had a few encounters with bears and a moose walked into my camp one morning. Common sense with your food storage and reaction to animals goes a long way. A good tent pitched properly and maintained properly will not leak.
RV is fine for a lot of people. The RV parks and campgrounds are too crowded for me. I did build a cabin in Northern MN a few years ago, so I am not doing as much tenting as I used to.
Boat camping is a good time if you ever get a chance. Nothing better than finding a great remote site you can camp at for a few days then getup every morning and fish as long as you want.
I"ve been reading through this camping and RVing thread and seems like everybody has an RV or some type of big camper to call "camping". That aint camping! That's taking your house with you! When I camp, we pack the tent, a wooden camp kitchen my dad made about 40 years ago, the lantern and stove, and the rest of the gear we need. No TV, no radio, no microwaves, nothing electrical. We still camp in the regular campgrounds, but with no electricity, $12 a night is nice! An old friend told me they started to go camping for the weekend but had to cancel. Something was wrong with the microwave in the camper. Am I the only one who still tent camps? I know I'm not because my wife and I went last month (her first camping trip in 31 years and she loved it) there were quite a few tents in use.
Ha! You cheater --- after reading your post I would have thought you slept on horsehair and strawfilled bags but no, you have an air mattress
My family and I started out with a tent. It lasted two nights and we traded up to a pop up camper. But to be fair, we just had sleeping bags and we didn't put the outer cover of the tent on so we all woke up covered in dew Not a pleasant experience.
Now there are plenty of times I wish we would have stuck with the tent and bought air mattresses, but with six of us I can't even imagine how we would have fit with our beds and gear. Still, any camping is good camping. Plus, I have a hybrid trailer - see, I sleep with canvas over my head, does that count?
It's been a few years, but I love tent camping. Now that you've mentioned it, I think I might plan a trip for my kids and the grandkids this fall. It would be great fun!
yes, tent camping is special...but i have a bad back and have had no luck with any air mattress or pads i've tried. my current endeavor is fixing up an orange '75 VW pop-top camper van. i found it in montana and it is actually rust free. new engine just in and we are about to turn the key. saving my pennies for a good paint job, but i will be camping in it soon!!!
I loved tent camping, my hubby not! I miss just the campfire, cheated and had a 2 burner stove and the porta potty for Mui. Too many poison ivy episodes. Been a long while since camping but we used to have the best sites way back in the woods from NJ to Maine. My son now tent camps along with canoe, 4x4 and quad, carryin on a family tradition. Spent many a night in pouring rain with bees wax stick plugging up the leaks, just never touch the canvas. We had a great cabin tent, with a front porch and the best times of our lives. We did step up to a pop up, just was never the same. Our neighbor just bought a 28' with big screen, microwave, stand up shower and queen bed. Very nice and great for taking your time to see our country along with family pets once kids are grown.
The best thing about a tent is you can avoid those noisy parking-lot like RV parks, which I try to avoid like the plague. Those people aren't campers and they aren't in nature. But hey, if they have fun that's fine. And they are, like, kind of in nature (they can see it from the window I guess).
But a tent allows you to camp, even in a car, where those deisel spewing monsters can't get to. I moved from hardcore backpacking, to car camping and walk-in campsite. I can't see myself getting an RV, but who knows as I get older.
And, like someone said, an RV is more about travel than "camping".
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Not a pleasant experience.
