First family camping trip - gear suggestions needed

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cnice_37

cnice_37

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Going camping this weekend with the wife, kid (2 yr old), and dog. My nephew will join us for a night as well.

I don't think I can bring in firewood, and also can't even think of paying $5 for a bundle of 5 splits... so I need some hand tools.

Who makes a nice hand saw? Fiskars products haven't served me wrong, so I was going to start my search there.

I've got a hatchet, double bit axe (don't think I'll need to fell anything, but you never know), small (7") brush saw, pocket knife...

What else for firewood purposes? Is the axe even useful?

And since we're on the subject of camping... what gear do y'all find essential and conversely useless? i.e. cooking grate vs. propane grill, or whatever.

I'll be packing a Subaru Outback with the passenger compartment full of, well, passengers. Have a roof basket, and the rear hatch. So gotta be a minimalist but prepared. This is our first trip, so its only for 4 days, but there's still plenty to pack.
 
+1 TP :clap: (put in waterproof bags!)

Sometimes overlooked items:

bowsaw

chairs for sitting around the fire

your favorite quick fire starters (fatwood, vaseline in cotton balls, et al.)

dining tarp & camp lantern

heavy duty aluminum foil (lots of cooking uses)

cast iron dutch oven (can cook just about anything)

extra rope (tarps, tents, tie downs, etc.)

insect repellent

sunscreen

first aid kit

camp shovel, fire bucket (put local water in it) and fire extinguisher

left handed smoke shifter
 
Is that your wife in the avatar ? Can I go too?

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
 
firmwood said:
Is that your wife in the avatar ? Can I go too?

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

Not with a handle like "firmwood." :msp_angry:

And, of course that's my wife. She splits too! :msp_tongue:
 
cut some wood noodles before you go for kindling. Lint from the dryer also works good for starting fires.

Get one of the fold out bow saws. it's good for small compact trips and I've been using mine for camping and hiking trips for many years now. I just inherited grandpas fold out bow saw in fact.
Coghlans Folding Camping Wood Saw 21"

we usually take our fishing buckets to sit on. You can stack them for space saving, pack up gear in them and go fishing with them, and sit around the fire with them. And use as a fire bucket.
 
For small quantities wood, any bowsaw will work. If you want to go nuts and spend a little more, a bohaco or silky handsaw, then you got something quality

skeeter spray

the above good list ^^^

Flint and steel and tinder (bic brand lighter, accept no substitutes)

Flashlight, lantern, battery all band with weather radio, toys for the little guy (anything that is his fav incase you get stuck in the tent raining, etc), good medkit is tops

Anything in 50 BMG, because ya never know when out in the wyldienezz....;)
 
Depending on where you go camping, all the firewood starters and wood preparing stuff probably won't do you any good. Public campgrounds generally prohibit any woodcutting, although they usually encourage "harvesting" the stuff that falls on the ground. Bottom line: there isn't likely to be any wood in your public campground.

That being said, I have a very reliable solution available to most any worthy tree professional: Take your throwball and high-strength string, and get all the wood you need from the dead branches that haven't fallen out of the tree yet. Campsites generally don't have any professional trimming going on, so there are dead branches all over in the trees. Toss a weight, then pull down all the seasoned firewood you need.

I don't generally even bother with my handsaw, I just bust up the branches by beating them on a tree trunk. It usually takes me about 45 minutes to get a weekend worth of firewood to support cooking on. Keeping warm for a whole weekend would be more trouble, but it's summer time.

Last time I went, there was a pristine dead tree about 100' from my campsite. I was easily knocking off stuff too big to break up on the tree trunks, and I had lots of firewood. I shared with some of my neighbors, even though they stood a long ways back. I think they thought I was a bit psycho, but they still took the wood.

Other camping gear:
One good, sharp, sturdy knife. Make SURE you don't forget it. If you don't know why, you'll find out when you go camping.
Lots of aluminum foil. You can cook almost anything you want, grill or no grill. Roll up your own tv dinner, slow cook it on the coals, pull it out whenever you want to eat, or just back it out to keep it warm.
At least one good tarp. They always come in handy, and they don't take up much space.
Apples. Always good to have around, cooked, uncooked, cold, hot, rain, hailstorm, cooler got dumped in the river, or whatever... last ditch this campout sucks, all the food is ruined...at least we have something to eat.
 
Last edited:
pdqdl said:
Depending on where you go camping, all the firewood starters and wood preparing stuff probably won't do you any good. Public campgrounds generally prohibit any woodcutting, although they usually encourage "harvesting" the stuff that falls on the ground. Bottom line: there isn't likely to be any wood in your public campground.
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head. State park, no firewood (nor alcoholic beverages) to be brought in. We'll see about that ;)

My throwline is made out of masonry string and my dogs solid rubber ball - seriously! It's not yanking down much, but a solid idea nonetheless. Hey, it works, quit laughing.

OK, the axe is outta the car. Bowsaw is in. Dutch oven is in the Amazon cart and I'll hit up my old man/ in-laws for old camping gear like lanterns, griddles, percolator, etc. before buying. Where does a guy get kerosene nowadays?

Also good call zogger on enough "stuck inside" stuff. I've got a canopy on the list as well, but definitely hoping for good weather. It's hard being stuck in the house all day with my daughter, nevermind a tent or 10'x10' glorified tarp on legs.

Thanks for all the ideas, really appreciate the veteran's advice.
 
pdql pretty much nailed it.

My experience in Southern New England campgrounds, the woodboogas pick the forest floor within a reasonable walking distance of the campground clean of deadwood like carrion beetles cleaning a carcass. So I would expect to have to buy wood but be pleased if I was actually able to scrounge up the wood instead. Opening day of fishing season, Memorial Day, and July 4th are already behind us so you've already had 3 of the 5 busiest weekends worth of folks scrounging up wood. (Labor Day & Columbus Day are the other 2 biggies if you're wondering.)

Also, having worked once many, many moons ago for CT State Parks...they'll know what a saw is and just walking with one will attract the Tree Troopers annoyed to be on campground duty & Paul Blart Mall Cop wannabe seasonals likes bees to flowers. But they'll have no clue what a throw line is unless they see you using it...and keeping a low profile is 99% of the battle when testing the technical limits of the rules.
 
That's the beauty of the throwball plan! The Park rules encourage scavenging, 'cause it cleans up the grounds for free, and reduces fire risk. So collecting deadwood is ok in every park I have been in. Chainsaws are out, because they disrupt the peace. Handsaws and axes are ok, I think.

Nobody gets up in the tops of the trees to scavenge, and there is invariably a dead tree somewhere to make generous donations to your campfire.

Just come prepared to make the harvest.
 
I used to use (many years ago) a Coleman stove for cooking and it worked quite well. I guess you can still buy them. They're compact and don't take up much room. A grill with a burner is good but it doesn't sound like you have very much room.

Before I got a camper I made a list and added things to it later on when I thought of something else that I might need. I kept that list and used it every time we would go camping and checked things off when loaded to make sure that we didn't forget anything.
 
danrclem said:
Before I got a camper I made a list and added things to it later on when I thought of something else that I might need. I kept that list and used it every time we would go camping and checked things off when loaded to make sure that we didn't forget anything.
Click to expand...


My mom kept a list of what we forgot to pack every year (along with the list of what we were supposed to have packed).

Don't forget batteries, camera, matches, and a couple books.
 

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