Welcome to Camping Guide
Car Camping Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
You may also listen to this article by using the following controls.
Think ‘Wow’ When You Select a New Camping Tent
from:Your excitement about wilderness trips will help you select your next camping tent. When you say, “Wow, I’m going camping,” you’re using a handy acronym that sums up a new tent’s most important features. WOW = Weather + Occupants + Weight. Consider the season and the location. What’s the weather forecast, how many people are going, and how much can they carry?”
Camping tent selection involves tradeoffs between creature comforts and the practicalities of cost, size, and weight. If you’re car camping, you can afford the luxury of a bulky, heavy tent that requires space in both the car and the camp. If you’re a backpacker and/or minimalist, smaller and lighter tents are more optimal.
Weather
Manufacturers’ camping tent ratings reflect the time of year for which the tents are intended: 1-season, 3-season, or 4-season. 1-season tents, for summer use, feature light-colored fabrics, mesh for ventilation, and single-wall construction for protection against light rain.
3-season tents, the most popular, feature breathable fabrics and mesh windows and doors for ventilation and insect protection. Double-wall construction—usually in the form of a waterproof full or partial rainfly—keeps out rain and light snow. A durable, properly pitched 3-season camping tent will usually tolerate more wind than a 1-season tent.
4-season tents emphasize protection against heavy wind and snow. They feature stronger fabrics and sturdier tent poles along with zip-up panels to keep out the elements. Look for tents labeled “expedition” or “mountaineering” for extreme winter weather and/or high altitude conditions.
Occupants
Camping tent capacity ratings (1-person, 2-person, 4-person, etc.) indicate the number of people who can reasonably sleep in the tent. Some experts suggest buying tents rated for more people than you have if you don’t like snug sleeping quarters and want room to store gear, eat and play games. However, creature-comfort space also adds weight and bulk, a concern especially for backpackers.
Car campers can extend the space of a basic tent by purchasing models with multiple rooms and by using gazebos, awnings, and larger rainflies. The 2- and 3-person dome, modified dome, and tunnel-style tents are very popular because they provide enough room for sitting, standing and moving around.
Weight
While you may not mind carrying a heavy tent a few feet from your car to the campsite, you’ll discover that packing the tent into the back country is quite another matter. Most people don’t easily carry more than one quarter to one third of their body weight. While some backpackers favor sunshades and tarps in the summer and bivy sacks/shelters in the winter, you can find good 2- and 3-person tents that weigh only six to eight pounds. When backpacking with multi-person tents, hand out the poles and rainflies to other members of the group to better distribute the weight.
A good camping tent is light, durable, easy to pitch, easy to maintain and repair, and reflects your outdoors style. Remember “WOW,” and you’ll cover all your basic shelter needs.
- 2 -
Car Camping News
Toyota unveils the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car - Examiner.com
Toyota unveils the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car Examiner.com Kyle Busch was chosen to drive the new 2013 Toyota Camry race car at the manufacturer's unveiling announcement Tuesday. Busch has 85 race wins driving a Toyota in the three national touring series, the Sprint Cup, the Nationwide and the Camping World ... |
CUP: A Kyle Busch Breakthrough? - Fox News
 HardcoreRaceFans.com | CUP: A Kyle Busch Breakthrough? Fox News He has won six Nationwide Series and four Camping World Truck Series races at the track. But Cup? Zero-for-forever. This mystery is compounded by the fact that Busch identifies Charlotte as his favorite track, a result of watching many of the ... Kyle Busch looks to finally win at Charlotte |
Gear, gadgets and gizmos for camping - Kansas City Star
Gear, gadgets and gizmos for camping Kansas City Star For $6 (that's the spoiler) it's almost silly to not have one of these flashlights in your camp kit, RV, car, emergency kit or wherever. It contains two LED bulbs and needs no batteries. You crank it for one minute and get up to 30 minutes of light. |
2012 Charlotte: Joey Coulter NASCAR Nationwide Race Preview - PaddockTalk
 SpeedwayMedia.com | 2012 Charlotte: Joey Coulter NASCAR Nationwide Race Preview PaddockTalk Coulter tested a Nationwide Series car earlier this season at Nashville Superspeedway and at Rockingham Speedway, but he will make his first competitive circuits at the 1.5-mile track on Saturday afternoon in the 200-lap event. A Bit of a Change . RCR Team Advance — Charlotte Motor Speedway Coulter set for Nationwide debut at Charlotte |
HAMMOND: That Number 3 Keeps Popping Up - SPEEDtv.com
 FOXSports.com | HAMMOND: That Number 3 Keeps Popping Up SPEEDtv.com Brothers Austin and Ty Dillon are competing with the iconic No. 3 in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series, respectively... Driving the No. 3 car, Austin Dillon is performing well in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. (Photo: LAT Photographic) Now, ... An Earnhardt prepares for a fight of a different kind |