Family camping

Xpedition Outfitters

Xpedition Outfitters

Adventurist
So at MRV this is the first time my family will be camping "overland" style since my 2yr old was born. We have camped a couple times with him but it was in actual camp sites.

So I'm curious on how you guys camp with a family. Do you guys tent it? Trailer ect. We are a family of 5 ranging from 2yr old all the way up to a 14yr old so for me a roof top tent is not an option.

At MRV I'll be bringing my big tent with us but I wish there was something that went up quicker and fit us all without costing an arm and a leg
 
For your crew, I would recommend a mixed setup. Maybe an RTT for you and your wife + youngun. Add a ground tent for the older kids to have fun in and you'd be golden - a flexible setup is ideal since you can tailor what you bring to the mission.

For or a ground tent only solution that is easy up/down, the Oztent RV-5 is best of breed IMO.
 
They are not the cheapest around, but the Springbar / Kodiak tents have a ton of room, and I can put up our 10'x10' model by myself in 5-10 min depending on how many stakes I use. It might be a bit crowded, but I think you would all fit in the 10x10, and they do make larger models.
 
BlkWgn said:
They are not the cheapest around, but the Springbar / Kodiak tents have a ton of room, and I can put up our 10'x10' model by myself in 5-10 min depending on how many stakes I use. It might be a bit crowded, but I think you would all fit in the 10x10, and they do make larger models.
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This was the route I went. I agree very easy to put up. Stakes can range from 4 to a metric f ton lol weather depending on need of course. I'm like you haven't taken the FAM camping since my kids started being born and now that they are 5 and 3 i think they are ready.


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We use a CVT rooftop tent with our 10 month old, and it's a VERY quick set up and take down once you've gotten the hang of it (under 3 minutes from start to finish with opening, maybe 5 minutes to close if you're tucking and closing carefully). It's really comfortable.
 
I figured i would add something to this. We just spent the weekend at Mountain Rendezvous and it was an amazing fun trip. Sleeping on the other hand was horrible. My 14yr old slept on the tent cot on the roof and she probably had the best sleep out of all of us. I had set up a ground tent and my Wife and our 8yr old said they were going to sleep in it and me and my 2yr old were sleeping in the back of the bed. Well that didnt end up happening. All 4 of us ended up in the back of the bed and we were packed like sardines. Now i did add a 3" memory foam mattress on top of the Decked system and it was very comfortable but there just wasnt enough room.

Both my wife and i have decided that we need to do something about the sleeping situation before we go on our next trip. Im not sure what we are going to do. im not sure if i want to start a trailer build, RTT or get better sleeping situations for the tent so that its warm and comfortable. I would love to get into a offroad pop up or trailer but im not sure that is in the budget.

Anyways. i figured i would throw in my experience from this weekend...
 
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Could be on a trailer, or on top of your truck.

http://www.cascadiatents.com/CVT-Mt-Adams-Roof-Top-Tents-(RTT).htm?m=87&s=615&&id=158

There was one at MRV on Sean's truck (All-Pro Offroad guy), in fact, that's Sean's rig in the picture from their site.
 
Raul you should have come by and seen the Kodak tent we use. It's 10X10 floor plan witu a 6 foot ceiling. It has hammocks to put gear and wall hangers for more stuff. Then we use 2 Cots for Jacki and I and we show the heavy stuff under us and the boys sleep on thermarests on the ground. Still a ton of room and easy to put up. Plus it's canvas so it's warmer or cooler depending


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SFSMedic said:
Raul you should have come by and seen the Kodak tent we use. It's 10X10 floor plan witu a 6 foot ceiling. It has hammocks to put gear and wall hangers for more stuff. Then we use 2 Cots for Jacki and I and we show the heavy stuff under us and the boys sleep on thermarests on the ground. Still a ton of room and easy to put up. Plus it's canvas so it's warmer or cooler depending


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I totally meant to walk around and mingle but I just ended up relaxing in our spot with the Lil one the whole time.
 
Raul, we did an article on basecamp shelters in our charter issue with a focus on a large surface area to accommodate families (I have a family of five as well). Everything noted above is excellent input and if you go the ground tent route, look at the options we noted in our article: http://issue1.outdoorx4.com

- - - Updated - - -

Dave mentioned the OzTent which is the tent we chose as the best overall option. However, Black Pine Sports makes an incredible tent that's comparable to OzTent for several hundred bucks less: the Pine Deluxe 6. Check that one out and if you go that route, give them a call and ask for Steve and tell him OutdoorX4 sent you. I'm sure he'll treat you well. :)
 
So our next outing will be the Toys for Tots event in Dec. Now im still not sure what direction we are going to go with for a permanent camping situation. I would love to get a RTT but its not in the foreseeable future since my wife is going to stop working and be a stay at home mom (equals less income but better for the family). I have done a lil bit of research and saw that the Coleman instant 8 person tent got pretty decent reviews and its only about 200 bucks. Has anyone had any experience with these? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=comparaboo_origin1-20&ascsubtag=155222802056

also my wife is a lil concerned its going to be really cold so my other question is how do you guys keep warm other than sleeping bags? I have seen those portable heaters but have never used one and they honestly make me a little worried.
 
Check Costco or Walmart on line they seem to be the best I got my 6 person InstaTent for 99
 
A Catalyst heater works really well. Either the Coleman kind or the Mr Buddy. We have the Coleman, and it works great. We've spent an entire night with it on in the tent, and we're still here.

They're not 100% efficient at removing burning off the CO2, so you want to make sure the vent at the top of the tent is open.

I know you're on a budget, so I won't suggest the Propex heater (beginning at $700~), but that is the ultimate heater.
 
x2 on the Mr. Heater "Buddy" if you're on a budget. I'm assuming you read my post on the open ended thread about the Instant Tent 8. What I forgot to add is that the 8p model can be divided into two sections via a hanging wall. This way can separate the sleeping area from the porch part. You can tell which ones which since the porch section has taller windows its where the main entrance of the tent. You can easily fit a double size air bed or two cots depending on your preference. Since I find it difficult sometimes to get up from the floor, we decided to try the double cot from Cabelas where you insert the airbed on top. See image below.

The floor of the tent spans the length of both sections unlike others wherein the porch part doesn't have a floor. At the time that we tried it, the winds particularly at night did not allow us to eat out under the canopy so we setup a small table and two chairs which allowed us to enjoy our dinner and hang out a bit w/ plenty of room to walk around. There are different versions sold at stores such as Walmart and Sam's Club, than the ones at Sports Chalet or Coleman.com but with very subtle differences. Overall, I am quite happy with the tent for the price I paid.

Look around for the best price and if you happen to find it cheaper at the Coleman site. Use this link and type in "family" w/o quotes in the promo code box. And if you want good quality air mattresses take a look at the Truck-bedz brand. They sell vehicle specific mattresses and plain rectangular ones. Just make sure it'll fit the tent. Sorry I don't have a promo code for them ;)

http://www.coleman.com/family

http://www.truck-bedz.com/

Good luck sir!
 

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So i have been thinking of the whole cot thing. at this time i can prob afford to either get a diff tent that is easier to put up or i can invest in some cots. To maximize space im thinking of getting one of the bunk bed cots from disc-o bed for the kids. has anyone have had any kind of experience with this brand?
 
Raul B said:
also my wife is a lil concerned its going to be really cold so my other question is how do you guys keep warm other than sleeping bags? I have seen those portable heaters but have never used one and they honestly make me a little worried.
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I am sort of a minimalist when it comes to this kind of stuff, but I have a few suggestions. Always put on clean socks at night, not the ones you wore all day and they will keep your feet warmer. Some one told me this and it works, not sure why though. Also, if I'm in a rectangle bag my feet are always cold. I use down booties (I think they were about $40). My mom uses a sleeping bag liner to warm up her bag. She has a silk one that was about $75, but it seems to me that a home made fleece one might be better, and you could do a triple layer for the feet. Also, I keep two packs of hand warmers in the tent pocket. If I wake up cold I turn them on and place them strategically in my bag. I also wear a beanie to bed, pulled down over my ears.

ETA: I forgot, because I haven't done it in a while: boil water and fill a nalgene bottle, put that in your bag. The water is still good for using after :)
 
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We have a Coleman 6 person insta-tent. And the rainfly. For the cost it has worked surprisingly well. We have about 25 nights in it this year. It only let us down once in SD, outside the Black Hills in a hail storm and huge t-storm where we got about 2" of rain in 2 hrs. Other than that is has done well - the winds in CO, the cold in upstate NY and VT, a fair bit of steady rain and gusting winds. It isn't the sexiest setup around and won't win you any cool points, but works well for our family of 4 plus large dog. Setup is quick with 10 stakes including the rainfly, teardown isn't too bad either. The real hassle is all the sleeping gear, 4 pads, 4 bags, the tent and all the other associated gear makes setup and t/d too long for single day trips.

Here is a thread with more input from others: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/42096-Coleman-Instant-Tent


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One more comment, It is a huge jump in price from the Coleman to the Oztent. $210 for the Coleman and rainfly on amazon, $1099 for the Oztent (might be able to find cheaper, this looks to be the MSRP).

Also consider that the oztent is really big even when packed up. So you need to also consider where you will store/transport the tent in/on the truck to and from camp sites.
 
fireball said:
One more comment, It is a huge jump in price from the Coleman to the Oztent. $210 for the Coleman and rainfly on amazon, $1099 for the Oztent (might be able to find cheaper, this looks to be the MSRP).

Also consider that the oztent is really big even when packed up. So you need to also consider where you will store/transport the tent in/on the truck to and from camp sites.
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Very true. I still have a Wal-Mart 8 person tent that we bought almost 15 years ago. It still works and is the "go to" tent when the kids or friends need a tent for play or a loaner. It's showing it's age in the bug screen and zipper department but we only paid $88 so I'd say it was money well spent - it was the catalyst for a whole series of events that led to this forum really. :)

That said, it's quite a bit of work to set up, and that's where the Oztent rules over all others. It really is an amazing bit of engineering design with a huge cup of common sense in the design. And well made to mil-spec standards IMO. Your grand kids will inherit an Oztent. So yes, they are a bit of money up front and yes they are large to store or carry but if I were to buy a ground tent today I'd be saving my pennies for an RV-5. Buy once, cry once you'll have zero regrets with anything made by Oztent.

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