what camping gear to keep?

[lockmup68]

what camping gear, if any, do we need to keep?

 

sleeping bags

cooking gear

tent

cots

etc.

 

anything you wish you would have kept?

 

thanks,

Shannon

[orbiker]

That's going to be a very hard decision. I was a scoutmaster, SAR explorer advisor and Ski Patroller at Crater Lake plus another area near Willamette Pass here in Oregon. I was an avid backpacker with many 50 miler trips with the scouts or by myself. I have around a dozen different stoves. I would teach Scoutmaster training sometimes too. What to bring on a backpack outing and why use which stove.

[scouserl41]

We tent camped for decades while riding motorcycles. We went full time 1 1/2 years ago in a MH and I think the only thing we kept (But very rarely use) is a double sleeping bag. We brought this along just as an emergency item incase we ever find ourselves accidentally trapped with no heat or for guests use if they decide to stay over and sleep on the pull out bed.

Never been trapped yet but we've had a couple of guests use it.

BnB

[SWharton]

My question is to keep for what? What are your plans? TT? MH? Fulltiming? Part timing? have an S&B?

[mptjelgin]

It depends on what you plan to do. I don't think that you'll "need" any of it unless you plan to continue to backpack or car camp. Up until a couple of years ago Teri and I took an occasional backpacking or car camping trip from the RV. Obviously we needed all of the usual items to do so. Then we decided that we were carrying around a lot of extra gear that we hadn't used in a couple of years, so we donated it to a Boy Scout Troop.

[Kirk W]

Good advice, thus far. I would answer your question by asking you one. What from that list will you actually use?

 

I too was once a Scoutmaster, back-packer, and even horseback traveler and have used those items extensively. But not once have we done any of that since we went on the road full-time. I recently gave away our last small tent and had given away the other camping gear quite some time ago. We do know some folks who have continued to travel on foot enough to warrant keeping some of that equipment and we also know some who use a FWD vehicle and go into the back-country where they keep such equipment in the rig. But the key to your best answer is to balance what you will use against the space it will require to store it in the RV. Like so much about this lifestyle, each one of us must determine which items will serve us best.

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

We keep, due to my wife's insistence, keep a kit in the truck for emergencies. If one were to be caught in bad weather- tornados, blizzard, flood area etc, what would you need to be comfy for a day or 2 in the truck. Granted with the fridge and microwave some things aren't needed, but the sleeping bags etc might be nice.

Have you overnighted in the truck yet? Before you throw away any mattress pads, spend a night on the truck bunk and see how comfortable it is.

I used to be able to fire up a small Svea 123 and have a cup of coffee before a Microwave would...... might be hard inside the cab though!

[lockmup68]

going FT in 5th wheel. Former scoutmaster myself. We don't backback, but do want to be prepared.

 

Thanks for the advice.

Shannon

[sandsys]

The only thing I've missed was our Svea stove and Sig Tourister cook kit. And I only missed it in my all electric rig during power outages. (Yes lack of sun can cause the equivalent of a power outage in a solar powered rig.)

 

We did keep our fan that runs on 12v or 120v or 8 D cell batteries.

 

We did not keep sleeping bags; we realized that putting a flat sheet on top of a comforter increased its insulating capabilities and zippers are both cold and uncomfortable to sleep on.

 

Linda Sand

[lockmup68]

I think we'll shed most of the gear, but will keep some of the basics like bags and the pop up, camp chairs. We will have a grill/smoker that can be used as an oven as well for cooking off grid and off gas, and I have a jet burner I'm keeping for outdoor cooking, boils, canning, etc., that I will plumb into the propane or carry a 20lb tank as backup.

 

Thanks,

Shannon

[dascott]

Sold the ski equipment and almost everything else. Kept the fishing equipment and gear for minimal camping in cgs that are too small for an RV but offer access to desirable streams. Fulltiming does have some trade offs. Oh, also kept the inflatable pontoon boat for floating streams.

[dascott]

Wife kept two sewing machines and a lot of sewing projects.

It works out that we have about the same amount of space for "our stuff".

Good thing that we have a 42'.

[StarDreamers.us]

Good advice from so many experienced travelers. Interesting how many of us are (were old scout leaders). If you are going to be parting with almost anything, many Escapees RV parks have a table in the clubhouse or at least an area that you can leave items for others. Someone's trash could be someone's treasure!

 

Safe Travels!

[LFDR3116]

We used to tent camp and kept items like the rack to cook over a fire, hot dog forks, seafood basket and our small gas grill. One item we did not keep and ended up buying was a large cooler. It is very useful when grocery shopping and it's 90+ outside and you want to stop at more than one store. I now carry a large one in our Jeep at all times. You can just pile it full of frozen and refrigerated foods and it will stay cold for a couple of hours.

[Zulu]

what camping gear, if any, do we need to keep?

Sleeping bags

[DuneElliot]

Other than all my backpacking equipment/gear, which I use extensively, I plan on keeping my large tent, bedroll and cot for base camping, and my camp box with stove and all miscellaneous camping supplies for road trips that only involve my truck and not the fiver. Of course I am leaving some of the bigger stuff in storage in my horse trailer because I probably won't need it for a while but some of it was really hard to find in the first place (still can't find a large tent I like better).

[SnowGypsy]

We are keeping the backpacking tent and the 20 degree sleeping bags as being frugal, should the trailer need repair, we can stay in the tent and might just decide to throw them in the vehicle for a short trip to a lake!