Written by Traill Howman, a passionate camper and full time Tentworld staff member.
My Camping Setup if heading away for 1 night.
If my wife and I are just going somewhere for one night we like to keep our setup and packdown time to a minimum yet with enough creature comforts to make it enjoyable. We also look at the size and weight of things so that it's easy to carry everything from our vehicle to non car-camping spots. It's always a work in progress as each time we go for an overnight trip we look at how it can be made easier and therefore more enjoyable.
This is the setup we have at the moment:
Malamoo 3 Second X-Tra Pop Up Tent (3 Person)
This tent is an absolute breeze to put up - simply take it out of the bag & let it pop up! It already has the inner lining attached to the waterproof fly so you don't even have to worry about throwing a fly over your tent & pegging that down separately.
The
inner lining is breathable so it provides great ventilation
whilst
still preventing condensation build up in cooler weather. Large
windows all round also means that you will remain cool in warmer
weather & the side windows are designed so that you are
still
getting ventilation even when it is raining thus helping to
prevent
condensation build up (which is often mistaken for a leaking
tent in
wet weather).
I
only wish the Malamoo Mega tent had been out when I was buying my
overnight tent!
I personally got a lot of practice popping up
&
packing this tent away at last years October Camping &
Caravan
show when doing demo's for customers – it really is a mega sized
pop-up tent!
Whilst we squeeze two king-single Oztrail Leisure mat's
into the X-tra with only the small vestibule & excess room
around
our feet for gear this tent provides plenty of room for your
mattresses & a large vestibule area for stashing your gear
out of
the elements. It also packs down into a flat disc about the
diameter
as the X-tra due to an extra fold when packing up!
These
tents are great time-savers – if the weather is going to be fine
&
not too windy I'll just put about 8 ground pegs in & be done
with
it! If it's looking a bit windy or like rain I'll put out the
attached guy ropes too. All in all it'll take me about 5 minutes
at
worst to set up my tent!
Our Bed
As I said before, we use 2 king-single Oztrail Self-Inflating Leisure mats. We've had an inflatable
mattress
before but after an unpleasant experience with a slow leak one
night,
plus the fact that I'm a lot heavier than my wife and was
sending her
bouncing all over the place every time I turned over - we
decided to
go with this option.
The
self inflating leisure mats are great for a number of reasons –
you
will never end up on the floor, even if you do manage to puncture
your
mattress, you don't have to blow them up – just undo the bungs
&
the hard work is done for you & they are very comfortable
with
the foam inner providing great support.
When
put together these two mattresses are actually the same size as
a
regular queen bed – so we just use a fitted sheet from home and
it
works perfectly.
We chose to go with 2 King mattresses as
opposed to
1 Queen size for a number of reasons: Ease of packing – it
always
seems easier to fit in a number of small items as opposed to one
large item. Flexibility – if just one of us is going away we
don't
have to take a large queen sized mattress. No bouncing! I can
flop
around to my hearts content without disturbing my wife's sleep
&
I'm sure we've all heard the saying... Happy Wife = Happy Life!
Sleeping
bags
Oztrail Explorer Campers for warmish to cold weather
&
Coleman Pilbara C5's for warm weather. As far as I'm concerned
you
can't go past the comfort & quietness of cotton outer
sleeping
bags & we normally just open one out and use it like a doona
with
a spare incase it gets a bit cold and we want to put it
underneath
us, join them together if it's still cold or just sleep in our
own if
it is really cold.
Pillows
Old faithful's from home. Although I have been tempted by the
Blackwolf Deluxe self-inflating pillow as a space saver &
because
they feel damn nice! They are pretty close to a full size pillow
so I
will definitely be looking at these down the track.
Bags
I don't use any particular bag when going on overnighters. However, I always try to ensure that we pack as light as possible but still bringing the appropriate gear to suit any potential weather conditions that could present themselves.
Shelter - Gazebo
I normally always take a gazebo because it's always good to be
able to get out of the sun or rain & they are so quick to
put up
or down. For an overnight stay I'll use our Oztrail compact gazebo –
its super compact & light weight so it's a breeze to pack. I
also
always take a couple of solid walls to block off the sun or wind
&
4 mesh walls incase the bugs/flies/mosquito's are bad.
Cooking
When cooking I will use my
OZtrail Single Burner with Piezo ignition (Or I have a Butane Cartridge stove – I just prefer to use non-disposable methods
where
possible) – simply screw's onto my small 2kg gas cylinder &
provides a simple cooking surface for a pan or my kettle for
that all
important morning coffee.
Frypan
I use the
Campfire 28cm round ceramic coated frypan, it has a removable handle which is handy for packing & has a great non-stick surface.
Kettle
Oztrail Whistling Kettle (Campfire are now producing a similar
high quality offering)– simple & effective kettle – handle
folds down which is great for packing, whistle's when ready,
plastic
handle so you won't burn yourself, & also has a plastic
handle on
the lid which I like because I prefer to open the lid of the
kettle
to judge how much water I am using.
|
The OZtrail Whistling Kettle is a great camping companion. |
As a side note – if I am
trying
to preserve gas or boil water as quickly as possible for my
morning
cuppa – I pour the water I am about to boil into my mug before
pouring it into the kettle so that I know I am only boiling just
the
right amount of water that I need.Washing
up –
Campfire 10L Collapsible Tub – A well sized tub for washing
up that compacts nicely for ease of packing. We also have an
Oztrail
dish rack with drip tray for drying but if we're just going for
the
night we usually just leave things on a dish towel to dry.
|
The Campfire 10L Collapsible Tub (Sink) folds flat for easy storage! |
Cutlery
& crockery
One of our best purchases! The Primus 4 person deluxe picnic set – it has everything we need packed into a
small
bag that also gives us room for most of the food we usually take
that
doesn't need refrigeration. We have only added a good sharp
cooking
knife in a sheath & we usually take a larger cutting board.
Plus
we have extra's for friends or if we're too lazy to wash up
after
every meal!
Water
Coleman 19L Beverage Cooler – I used to use a
regular 20L water cube with a tap but after chasing the shade around all day on a
number of occasions we invested in this beverage cooler so that
we
don't end up with really warm water on hot days. On longer trips
I
actually just sit this on an
Oztrail aluminium stool so that
it's not
taking up table space but is still off the ground for easy
pouring.
|
The Coleman 19L Beverage Cooler helps keep your drinks cold with an insulated container. |
Table
Oztrail Easy Table 4 – packs away into a really compact
package,
is nice and sturdy but provides enough room for basic cooking.
|
The WAECO Cool-Ice Icebox is far superior to your typical cooler bought from Bunnings & Kmart and when packed right ice will last for days! |
So
there you have if folks – there are a few bits & pieces not
listed but I will be back soon with a copy of my "Camping
Equipment Checklist" which is easy enough to tailor to your
individual needs & requirements. I never leave home without
going
through it as it is often the most obvious things that get left
behind... such as chairs. Yep, that was fun I wont forget chairs again!
Happy Camping,
Traill