Inexperienced Camper Seeks Advice

I would rethink the whole no toilet thing. What does the GF say about that? There are plenty of rustic campgrounds with a toilet. Catholing in the woods with mosquitoes biting your ass as you try not fall in your own crap might not make for a good weekend. YOu can learn a lot at a regular campground with the basic amenities. THings like campfire starting, campfire cooking, setting up your gear etc. Make sure dogs are allowed before you go as well. How big is your tent? If it is small you, the GF and 2 dogs are going to make for some cozy quarters. I would bring your own firewood also. Most areas around campgrounds/sites are picked clean by now. As for starters get the firestarters from Walmart. THey light easy and go pretty good.
 
coastie said:
I would rethink the whole no toilet thing. What does the GF say about that? There are plenty of rustic campgrounds with a toilet. Catholing in the woods with mosquitoes biting your ass as you try not fall in your own crap might not make for a good weekend. YOu can learn a lot at a regular campground with the basic amenities. THings like campfire starting, campfire cooking, setting up your gear etc. Make sure dogs are allowed before you go as well. How big is your tent? If it is small you, the GF and 2 dogs are going to make for some cozy quarters. I would bring your own firewood also. Most areas around campgrounds/sites are picked clean by now. As for starters get the firestarters from Walmart. THey light easy and go pretty good.
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i don't like to crap in the woods much either. i bring a 5 gallon bucket and trash bags. bucket comes in handy for many things.i'm talking car camping not hiking camping
 
JCV said:
My brother was just there with about 15 other friends. All underage (19), all shitfaced and having the time of their lives.
I've heard some awesome stories though.
Just not what i'm looking to do with my gf and dogs. Maybe a group of people though.
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heh, him and every other highschool/college kid in NE. Some people I went to highschool with (class of '01) still go and get whicked fawked up goin down tha rivah khed! I out grew that years ago.

The only thing I will add is if you don't have access to a place to rinse off, add baby wipes to your shopping list. Ever since going 2 weeks on a ship with out fresh water, I will always have a package near by.
 
I would check with the missus... Her idea of camping might be resort-style "car camping"... Normandy Farms in Foxboro is great for that kind of thing... Most KOA sites are pretty good too..
 
Introducing Insta-Beer: Coming This September (And This Time It?s For Real) | KegWorks Blog (ideal for camping!)


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JCV said:
My brother was just there with about 15 other friends. All underage (19), all shitfaced and having the time of their lives.
I've heard some awesome stories though.
Just not what i'm looking to do with my gf and dogs. Maybe a group of people though.
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Beach 1 is where the party is at. we were at beach 8, very quiet and the exact opposite of beach 1.
 
CoastieRon said:
So here is another question to answer: fuel for fire (wood) fire starters. Fuel is readily available depending on if it hasn't rained recently. Firestarters come in all shapes and sizes.
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An easy fire starter is cotton balls saturated with petroleum jelly.
 
Op, don't know where you are, but Harold parker state forest, Andover N reading line is nice, quiet, has a pond, usually has plenty of room.

Sent using Tapatalk.
 
I camp in the middle of the woods with no facilities and no one else around for miles. There is no toilet, but I hate crapping in the woods. I bring a bucket with the seat cover built in.... You can buy those for $17. The "double doodie" bags to go with it are expensive though... You can use regular 10 gallon trash bags but it'll be grosser.

I don't know how people crap without something like that. If I pull my pants down to my ankles and squat, the point of exit happens to be located directly over the pants at my ankles. Plus, the pants around ankles prevent me from separating my feet far enough apart. If I try to deposit in front of or in back of my pants, then I am unbalanced and just fall over. I've tried holding a tree and leaning back... That sucked. And I'm not getting naked in the woods with the mosquitos biting.

This is also why I find Asian style toilets horrifying.
 
Prepper said:
I camp in the middle of the woods with no facilities and no one else around for miles. There is no toilet, but I hate crapping in the woods. I bring a bucket with the seat cover built in.... You can buy those for $17. The "double doodie" bags to go with it are expensive though... You can use regular 10 gallon trash bags but it'll be grosser.

I don't know how people crap without something like that. If I pull my pants down to my ankles and squat, the point of exit happens to be located directly over the pants at my ankles. Plus, the pants around ankles prevent me from separating my feet far enough apart. If I try to deposit in front of or in back of my pants, then I am unbalanced and just fall over. I've tried holding a tree and leaning back... That sucked. And I'm not getting naked in the woods with the mosquitos biting.

This is also why I find Asian style toilets horrifying.
Click to expand...
use compactor bags
 
Prepper said:
I camp in the middle of the woods with no facilities and no one else around for miles. There is no toilet, but I hate crapping in the woods. I bring a bucket with the seat cover built in.... You can buy those for $17. The "double doodie" bags to go with it are expensive though... You can use regular 10 gallon trash bags but it'll be grosser.

I don't know how people crap without something like that. If I pull my pants down to my ankles and squat, the point of exit happens to be located directly over the pants at my ankles. Plus, the pants around ankles prevent me from separating my feet far enough apart. If I try to deposit in front of or in back of my pants, then I am unbalanced and just fall over. I've tried holding a tree and leaning back... That sucked. And I'm not getting naked in the woods with the mosquitos biting.

This is also why I find Asian style toilets horrifying.
Click to expand...

LOL. This might qualify for the best TMI post of the year!

A bit off topic, but a friend of mine was setting up operations in china about 25 years ago. Only the 'western' hotels, like a hilton had 'real' toilets. The standard way to go was a hole in the floor. Over the toilet at the hotel was a picture of a person standing on the seat squatting with an X through it as I guess too many toilets were being broken from the natives standing on the seats.
 
Prepper said:
I camp in the middle of the woods with no facilities and no one else around for miles. There is no toilet, but I hate crapping in the woods. I bring a bucket with the seat cover built in.... You can buy those for $17. The "double doodie" bags to go with it are expensive though... You can use regular 10 gallon trash bags but it'll be grosser.

I don't know how people crap without something like that. If I pull my pants down to my ankles and squat, the point of exit happens to be located directly over the pants at my ankles. Plus, the pants around ankles prevent me from separating my feet far enough apart. If I try to deposit in front of or in back of my pants, then I am unbalanced and just fall over. I've tried holding a tree and leaning back... That sucked. And I'm not getting naked in the woods with the mosquitos biting.

This is also why I find Asian style toilets horrifying.
Click to expand...


excellent, i can't stop laughing.....
 
Are you hiking or car camping? How much does your pack weigh when fully packed if you are hiking? What percent of your body weight does that make? Same for the GF. Now strap all that on and go walk around town for a couple of hours and see how you feel. Now imagine doing that up and down hill in whatever type of weather. Then get home and see if you could enjoy your evening and that you have what you need to do so if you were in the woods, in the cold and rain and bugs all over you and now you need to go get water and cook and clean your dishes, etc before going to bed. And yes, you have to set up that tent and your sleeping bags and maybe you are already soaked through. Or maybe it was high 80's all day and you have a headache now because you got dehydrated. Then you have to get up in the morning and pack all that stuff up and carry it out wet after you make breakfast and clean the dishes again.

I love hiking! But the first few times were miserable.
 
just my $.02

the old colmen white fuel cook stoves and lanterns are the best. didn't touch mine for years and they both started up right away. if you are doing it at a campground, bring a 25' extension cord and/or an inverter for your car. It helps with the air mattresses and what not. hard core (hiking 2 miles in from the car) is a different story, but not what anyone should start off with... stick to a camp sight close to porcelain, power and water. not to mention a car to go out and get stuff if you forget something....

oh and for a fire starter, just get a can or two of sterno... guaranteed to keep a fire going for hrs and easy to light first time, every time
 
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You say the lady used to do this as a kid? How long ago was that? A lot of the "details" get lost in the nostalgia. Do you have a back yard? Get a tent, and try backyard camping for a night or two. You don't know how the dogs, and the people will react to the new noises, sleeping surface, etc. You might just be surprised how small that big tent can become!

Better you find out when a bug-out to home is a walk inside, as opposed to a new journey.

MsHappy was quite pleased with the pop-up camper...until nature called at 2 AM, it was raining, and the bathroom was 150 feet away.....Now, she's an Indoor girl, but the theoretical romance and adventure were less than the reality....

You can go absolutely nuts getting stuff...and getting rid of stuff that you really don't need. The weight of stuff increases with the distance that you have to carry it.....

One of your items is "weapons" - be advised that, depending where you are, and when you are, having a gun may run afoul of hunting regs.
 
Prepper said:
I don't know how people crap without something like that. If I pull my pants down to my ankles and squat, the point of exit happens to be located directly over the pants at my ankles. Plus, the pants around ankles prevent me from separating my feet far enough apart. If I try to deposit in front of or in back of my pants, then I am unbalanced and just fall over. I've tried holding a tree and leaning back... That sucked. And I'm not getting naked in the woods with the mosquitos biting.

This is also why I find Asian style toilets horrifying.
Click to expand...

If you can find a tree that's fallen over and is above ground level, you can sort of sit down on it enough that you won't crap on your pants or the tree. Another technique that works really well but requires more prep time is to make a sort of seat out of wood. You need to find a few pieces that are about 2-3" in diameter and then arrange them 'log cabin' style. actually makes for a pretty comfortable seat, if your only other alternative is to squat or find a tree. If you have some time before nature calls, it helps if you can notch the sticks so that they don't roll.
 
LOL, just thought of something I have two folding 'camp stools' with old mildewed fabric on them, cut a hole and they would make great 'stool stools'.... If anyone wants them they are in taunton (or they can be in Braintree behind my office)
 
spcantwell said:
LOL, just thought of something I have two folding 'camp stools' with old mildewed fabric on them, cut a hole and they would make great 'stool stools'.... If anyone wants them they are in taunton (or they can be in Braintree behind my office)
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That is actually a good, yet somehow disturbing, idea. Too bad I tossed the mushroom chairs when I moved.
 
If nothing else...

WET WIPES.

Dry ice if available. Nothing worse than meat flavored water garnished with floating burgers in a cooler. Have a layer of water bottles on top of the dry ice. Then put your beer, devil juice and perishables (if you can fit it [wink]) above it all. You'll be set all weekend with a 5lb block in a cooler with this method. And no soggy dogs.
 
Thanks for the tips everyone.
I made a list of supplioes you had suggested that I don't currently have and will make sure to pick them up.

Looks like we're heading up to Tripoli Road 9/7
Should be fun!
 

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