Family Equipment

[Fowldarr]

I'm sure I'm not the only one on here that hauls my family around on adventures. In some ways this poses some inherent limitations on what vehicles I have, how much gear I need, how much gear I can leave behind, how I haul my gear etc. so my question is, what are your essential pieces of family gear, what things have you discovered do not work, and what other general family adventure camping advice do you have. Wasn't sure where to put this on the forum so if it needs moved, move it, or let me know.

Here are some things I have learned for my family of 6 (two adults, 4 kids)

Unless your prepare do sacrifice adventure for a camp trailer, a ground tent is the Best solution. Roof top tents are cool, but I haven't found one big enough or affordable enough for my needs, adventure trailers that go where I want are inherently too small for all of us, and a ground tent takes up less room in the vehicle and does not mess with you COG from being mounted up high.

Water. You need lots of water, or a water source. Lots of options out there, I'm thinking of trying the water bricks (there is a thread in them on here) but I currently use 5 gallon jobbers that I bought at walmart.

Cheap plastic totes are not a good replacement for higher quality ones. They break, let dust in etc.

Vehicles....I have large vehicles, a tundra and a sequoia to be specific. They do a great job for my needs. Of course I live in the great wide open wyoming where we have few tree lined trails where width becomes an issue. There are some trails I can't go on that I would like to mostly because of rocks and tight switchbacks.

A trailer, we discovered for long trips (week or more) we need extra gear capacity, we bought a cheap $500 home built enclosed trailer. It is a POS but works for my needs. It will likely get upgraded in the future to something different.

Camp chef. Great stove. Cooks everything we need. We have a Coleman for backup.

 

[Fowldarr]

Also, always have baby wipes, for the kids and adults, and extra water.

 

[Herbie]

I built a van with a comfy bed and a porta-potti inside specifically for my wife and daughter. That was really the only amenity that seemed to matter to get buy-in for the build and the subsequent trips.

In practice, here are a couple of other good ones:

I carry one of those "patio mats" for RV'ers. It folds up to about 12"x6"x36" or so and sheds sand, etc. through its loose-ish weave. Laid out, it's about the same size as the shaded area the awning creates, and it helps to define a bit of outdoor living space. The practical consideration is that it lets us camp while still maintaining a "clean-ish area" just outside the van. I'm all for kids getting dirty when camping, but just prior to bed, meals, etc. it can be really tricky trying to keep a minimum amount of cleanliness. This gives us an area where we don't have to worry quite as much about bringing large portions of desert or mountain into the sleeping bags, etc.

The other key piece of gear is a low table and a well stocked kit of crayons and other toys to enable solo play. With a single child, we tend to normally be pretty involved with her, but during our trips there are times when we need her to be actively engaged in something else while the adults are setting or striking camp, prepping a meal, etc.