David just finished a week at Boy Scout camp. I went up on Wednesday to look around (okay, so I’m an overprotective mother and wanted to make sure he was okay. It rained for the whole week; no sunshine whatsoever. What a week to be camping outside!
I expected to find these twenty boys, mostly 11 and 12 years old, soaked to the skin, cold, shivering, and miserable. Instead, they were all happy, in good spirits, and for the most part, DRY. Yes, their towels from two days ago were still hanging on the line, unable to dry out in the moist air. But their gear was dry and in the vestibules of their tents. Their Scoutmaster made buying good quality tents a top priority. That they were warm and happy was a testament to his drilling in their heads how important a decent sleeping bag is. I could hear the shouting and arguing from the troop across from us. I’m sure it had a lot to do with the fact that they had not prepared for rain, and were in the state I had anticipated.
Camping can be so much fun! IF you’re prepared. Camping on the fly rarely works. Unless, of course, you have those rare children that never complain (I don’t!). As a child, I don’t think I had any clue how much preparation my parents went through to get us all camping at Yosemite or Sugarloaf or any of the other beautiful places we saw. If you’re the one making the preparations for your family, Amazon has some pretty good deals going on right now.
First, the Coleman Taos mummy sleeping bag is on sale for half of list. Okay, so we all know list prices are inflated. It’s still a very good deal. Mummy bags keep you a lot warmer since so much of your heat is lost from your head. Many of the reviews are saying that it’s really for people under 6’ tall, but I’d guess that’s most of us! The nice thing is that it stuffs into a very small stuff sack, so it’s perfect for hiking.
Put your sleeping bag into a good quality tent at a low price. The Prospector Moon Shadow 8×8 tent is on sale for $34. It sleeps three comfortably, or four squished. The top is vented for summer camping (zips for winter), and the rain guard is generous. You’re really not going to find another tent this good at a lower price. Our troop paid $160 apiece for their tents. They’re probably two steps up from this, but they get used a lot. For most people, this will definitely be sufficient. Why spend four times the price?
Link to Coleman Taos mummy bag at Amazon.com
Link to Prospector MoonShadow tent at Amazon.com