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I"ve been reading through this camping and RVing thread and seems like everybody has an RV or some type of big camper to call "camping". That aint camping! That's taking your house with you! When I camp, we pack the tent, a wooden camp kitchen my dad made about 40 years ago, the lantern and stove, and the rest of the gear we need. No TV, no radio, no microwaves, nothing electrical. We still camp in the regular campgrounds, but with no electricity, $12 a night is nice! An old friend told me they started to go camping for the weekend but had to cancel. Something was wrong with the microwave in the camper. Am I the only one who still tent camps? I know I'm not because my wife and I went last month (her first camping trip in 31 years and she loved it) there were quite a few tents in use.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
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There is nothing wrong with camping, but I make no bones about it, I hate to camp. I don't like to sleep on the ground, I prefer my mattress. I prefer pushing a few buttons and having my room slide out than having to set it up. I prefer my facilities over an "outhouse."
Like one of my teachers at college said," Opinions are like rear ends (Not the word he used but I'm being nice. lol). Everybody has one and some of them stink!" lol
That's a queen size mattress my wife is sleeping on. One of those that has the pump built in. Just plugged it into the convertor in the cigarette lighter to pump it up.
Tent camping is great. Tents beat the heck out of a garbage bag for keeping the rain, wind and snow off your sleeping bag.
My first "camper" was a shell on the back of my pickup. I built a 40" wide shelf across the width of the camper, threw an 8" pad on it, and my wife and I were in heaven. We were forced to snuggle, but hey.
Then I got a bigger camper -- a slide-in. It had a furnace. Woohoo! And the stove and ice box were built-in. Now that was handy! It also had a table so we could sit and have our coffee inside out of the rain. And it was much better for the cold. We could camp in that thing when the outside temps were -40. The furnace brought the inside temp above 20F -- toasty!
Then I got an even bigger slide-in. It actually had a refrigerator and a porta-potty. I added a water heater and a makeshift shower if you didn't mind straddling the potty. Hot damn! I was in hog heaven!
As my wife's arthritis got worse, she had problems climbing into the over-the-cab bed. We traded it for a little 25-foot 5er. Whoa! Momma Mia! That sucker had air conditioning!!! And holding tanks!
Then we spotted a bigger 5er. We could stand up in the bedroom. Nice!
A few years ago it broke an axle while we were traveling. Rather than wait three days to have it fixed, we traded for a new one. It has a slide-out. Cool!
Now we're wanting to retire and hit the road for a few years. That's going to take a bigger camper -- much bigger.
We still have the tent and will keep it. It's great to keep the grandkids out of our camper.
I"ve been reading through this camping and RVing thread and seems like everybody has an RV or some type of big camper to call "camping". That aint camping!
Camping: a place where an army or other group of persons or an individual is lodged in a tent or tents or other temporary means of shelter.
We started out in a tent - we still go on overnighters on the river in our driftboat and bring a tent. Or we will go for a 4 wheeler ride for a few days and bring our tent or even when we go hiking.
So we still use a tent now and then. We spent plenty of nights in our tent when all our friends had a tent trailer which I think is just one step above the tent.
We found an 8' Jayco Tent Trailer and loved it. We have since moved up to a 12' Coleman with a bump out dining room, but it does not have a toilet or shower. We bought a tent/shower from Cabela's and use that. In a year or so we are going to trade that in on a 5th Wheel.
We still cook over a fire, pee in the woods and fish the creeks. Where I am when I close my eyes doesn't matter as long as I am with the one I love. That's what it is all about...not what size the "tent" is.
The way I see it...Rv'ing is traveling, nothing more. Tent camping is camping. I can see where those older folks or if someone has problems might use a RV..but again, it ain't camping. 'Least not in my book... It kinda galls me, reading some of these posts about crowded rv camps, or the air smells....etc. Get a life, people! Before anyone thinks I am some young guy...I ain't. I'm 70 years old, go hunting, sleep on the ground, and am not overly concerned about "cleanliness" or germs, for that matter. Sheesh!
What can I say? We humans love our comforts. In my RV I can travel or park in any temperature. I cant do that in a tent. If I cant find an RV park I can not pitch a tent in Walmart but Walmart welcomes my RV. I can still park my RV in the wilderness and sit or play outside in the great outdoors all day but when it's time to make passionate love to my pillow I can just step inside where I feel safe from Bears and bugs. Many RV parks do not allow tents, my RV is welcome in all RV parks.
My LP fridge can keep drinks cold forever, an ice chest can only do this for as long as the ice stays ice. A day and a half maybe? And all tents leak, RVs dont.
And if I am parked in the pacific north west I feel safer from Big Foot with some solid walls around me !!
Last edited by desertsun41; 06-20-2009 at 06:09 PM..
Reason: spelling
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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The thing I have against tents is dew & rain. I would rather sleep in the car than wait till noon, when the tent dries off to get rolling. That said... I use a tent a lot when I'm staying somewhere for awhile. They work nice when traveling via airplane / rental car, which I do a lot, as it's cheaper than driving my own car. They are also a lot easier to pack up a wilderness trail than carrying an RV (even tho my RV is small).
Quote:
if I am parked in the pacific north west I feel safer from Big Foot with some solid walls around me !!
We have always camped with a tent. With a family of 5 the tent has gotten a bit bigger.
Gotta have my air mattress~otherwise everything else is pretty roughing it.
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