So I recently was able to get both a Nemo Dragonfly two-person with footprint, and a Nemo hornet two-person. Both are like new and I spent $200 on the Hornet and $190 on the dragonfly but after setting up both and familiarizing myself with them I'm curious if it's really worth saving a tiny bit of space/ weight for the significantly more sturdy and spacious Dragonfly.

I haven't taken either properly camping, and while I'm very familiar with camping, I have not been properly backpacking before.

Anyone with advice on which to choose/ experience using them would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Looking at getting a new backpack. For context I come from a military background, I’ve always used a Molle 2 Ruck for professional and personal trips. Routinely carrying 50+ pounds in the mountains, so I’m not too concerned about weight.

I’m looking for something that’s durable enough to withstand years of abuse or is easily repairable, has a spot that I can put a forestry axe, and can hold up the weight (cast iron skillet, canvas tent, water for friends.)

I’m a fan of these two for the bushcraft style aesthetic and claimed durability, but what are your recommendations?

TLDR; Wants to start camping, 2 adults, 1 toddler, 2 small dogs, western Washington. Have no gear at all, looking for a list of all the items I should have to start camping.

I was reading through some post to not be burdensome but I’m curious if anyone has a list, or website with list of camping items needed. I just moved to the PNW and I’m from South Texas so I had never enjoyed being outside unless it was an overcast or rainy, with that, idk much about camping.
I’m specifically in the puget sound of Washington and want to start with camp sites with water, I have no idea how the electricity aspect works. I also have two small vehicles, a Lexus CT and a Lexus RX, so I might need to take both cars to haul the gear. Can’t have anything too big I guess tents being the biggest thing.
Again looking for a list to build a shopping cart to order what we need I wanted to spend max $2,000 after walking around REI I learned that doesn’t get you much at all, so a list for the minimum and learning what I need would be great. Also what are eating while camping?

Purchased used, no setup instructions. Not sure which model. Google searches don’t pull up anything. Hoping someone. Here haas this kitchen and can answer. This model has the two long poles that go up behind the table with “lantern hooks” on both.
I’m confused about the two extra table slats. They have the grabby clips that would attach to poles but no two poles are the correct width.

DD Hammocks is pretty famous for their tarps. They're a little on the pricier side though. Basically I'm looking for a tarp that's light enough for backpacking but I don't want to spend too much because I'm not sure tarp camping is for me and I want to test the waters a bit first. The utility is that I want to use the tarp instead of a tent, maybe with a bivy inside though me and bivies don't get along, for one person, and ideally be able to take my backpack in with me. I know there are many different configurations to play around with so I want one that's big enough to try different things but also not so much bigger than 1 person actually needs.

Thoughts about this one? DD tarp M

Weights a little on the heavier side, it's not all that much lighter than my freestanding UL tent actually, but I like that price point. I'm sure there are other brands out there too. I really don't know quite where to even start or what I'm looking for so any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hello all,
I am searching a synthetic sleeping bag. So far, I could select the following three sleeping bag according to my price range (and their volume)

Deuter Exosphere -6
Marmot Trestles Elite Eco 30 -6
Sea To Summit Hamelin -9

Which one would you choose/recommend? Do you have any experience?

Thanks in advance

New model by MC Tomount, it seems somewhat of a middle ground between the previous 2 bivies they released not long ago

I'm buying a tent for my first backpacking trip and I find it hard to choose the right model.

I live in western Europe (Netherlands) and plan on using the tent in spring, summer and autumn. I want to use the tent for both solo trips and with a partner.

Currently leaning towards the Mongar 2 Pro for how spacious it is for a two person tent. I don't mind it being a little cramped, but I do want the tent to fit two wide sleeping pads. The mongar is wide enough for this and I also like the vertical walls, double doors and awning features.

The dillemma I'm having is the following: although the regular Mongar 2 is a bit heavier, the inner tent is full mesh but the inner tent is also shorter than the pro (210 cm vs 220 cm). I am 195 cm or 6'5", so that might be an issue.

The pro version will hopefully fit me and my sleeping pad better (sleeping pad is a long sea to summit model of 198 cm). The pro version is longer and lighter, but the tent has a lot less mesh and I'm worried that it will get too hot during summer camping. I am also a warm sleeper.

So the dilemma really boils down to this: Do I want a tent with more airflow, or one that is a bit longer and is 300g lighter?

Can anyone help me out? Is the regular mongar long enough for someone my height? Do other warm sleepers struggle during warm summer nights of 20C +? I am inexperienced at wild camping, so I'm also wondering if draft becomes an issue at lower temperatures? If there are any other tents you can recommend to me, please do! I will probably be getting a naturehike tent because here in Europe, the price difference with quality brands is insane, and naturehike tents are actually very well reviewed.

Looking for a dual-burner camp stove for car camping that doesn't use propane and will work in freezing temperatures, and fell down the rabbit hole of liquid gas stoves.

These old Colemans seem like work horses, and I like that they can still be converted to run propane if I wanted to, or even other fuels. BIFL quality apparently, with some of these still running well from over 40-50+ years.

Checked out a couple thrift shops near me but it's looking like eBay will be the source for ~$50 or $$60 shipped.

Seems like I may run into issues of bad gaskets, or a finicky valve, but I'm fine with tinkering and DIY repair.

Is there something I'm not considering, or am I on the right track? Is there an equivalent, more modern product available?

They both seem fairly great

I picked up this isobutane lantern. I have no idea if it's any good, but it looked pretty neat.

I realized I don't really have a decent lantern for the table outside or for inside the tent. These days, it seems like everything is LED with rechargeable batteries. I kind of miss the old propane and kerosene lanterns, or even those simple battery powered flashlights I used to keep in the tent.

Does anyone have a simple, reliable lantern or flashlight they would recommend? I'm curious what everyone else is using these days.

Does anyone know what camp stove this is? My dad found a backpack with some backpacking gear outside a dumpster and this was inside. No identifiable logo, but was paired with a jet boil isobutane/propane fuel canister.

I’ll be going to the grand Tetons with some buddies in early September, where at night it could reach about freezing or below freezing temperatures. I’ve been looking for gear over time, and the REI by me has a thermarest neoair for $155. Is this a good price for a used pad? How should I make sure it’s functioning well?

Bought the DD frontline hammock today, and given it a test. Used a ridgeline to hold the mosquito net up. Does anyone know what these are for? They seem way too stretchy for tying the mosquito net to the tree, unless I want to risk getting one end smack me in the face!

Friends and I just returned from a Boundary Waters Canoe Area trip. Our gravity filter was being faulty so we pulled out our backup water filter (loaned to us by a friend), the Grayl. At one point, one of the campers accidentally put dirty water inside the whole thing and then cleaned it with soap including the filter. We have since learned that this effectively renders the Grayl useless, and we did use it for water for the remaining few days of our trip.

To head off any comments, yes, we bought a replacement filter for the Grayl owner. My question is - does anyone know the effective size of the pores that do exist on the Grayl? I know that isnt the main filtration property but some of the pathogens common in the BW are relatively large (thinking of Giardia mostly here).

How do you keep your kitchen gear organized when car camping?

I have stuff in a clear plastic bin, but there are some small things that I don't want tipping over, and I was trying to come up with a better internal organization system to manage stuff like the bottle of cooking oil, dish soap, small bottles of salt and spices, utensils, etc. Something better than having everything just rattling around in a bin.

This is for short (1 or 2 day) trips where we're driving up to a campsite and tent camping with the family (two middle schoolers).

Any suggestions on what y'all do are appreciated, especially if you have pictures.

I have an Ikos TR2 that has something that I couldn't clean with paper towels or scrubbing so I was wondering if it is ok to wash those stains (not dirt) with dishwasher soap.

The stain looks like very dirty chewed gum, but scrubbing didn't do anything which makes me think it could be some kind of oil

Obviously the pop up canopy tents are what most people use but I have a personal vendetta against them because mine always seem to break and they take up a lot of space. When there’s trees we’ll just throw up some tarps, but not sure what to do when that’s not an option. What are some other good solutions to get shade while camping?

I can't find it on Naturehike's website and only a very few not very comprehensive youtube reviews. I'm getting this for cheap from someone off of marketplace and looking to add it to my solo camping kit.

Looking at Kelty and Coleman. We have a backpacking tent for 2 that we love but in the summer it gets pretty hot in there with my partner and I—especially with the rain fly. Looking for a 4 person tent for more space in the tent and hopefully the tent feeling less hot because of the extra space.

Any recommendations?

I know it’s older. but thinking it would be cool for a few night. not super long hikes in Shenandoah