"Larry L" wrote in message
...

Fellow roffians ( ok I'm just a fringe roffian, but you get the idea ) how
about a car/tent camping check list? Be specific if a particular brand/
type of item is preferred

Hey Larry:
I went through a similar metamorphosis. Spent my 20s doing the 45-pound
Kelty Backpack thing, with ensolite, MSR (Svea actually, back then), bivvy
sack, headlamp, down bag that doubled as a cooler (wrapped around the cold
items).

Then I moved into canoe camping, where it was a 150 pound kit. Larger, more
comfortable tent, thermarest pad, coleman propane stove, candle lantern,
fold up chairs, roll up tables, Igloo cooler.

Then I moved into car camping, and have discovered that a lot of my canoe
camping gear is perfectly suited. It stows down very compactly, covers the
comfort criteria, and I don't have to carry it in. My current car camping
set up has the following:

-Tent: a Latvian version of a northface VE24, 4-man tent with the external
vestibule and lots of little pockets and an overhead net. Under it a
'footprint', and inside it a blanket that serves as a carpet. There's also a
carpet outside the front vestibule to wipe off my feet. And a portable
radio/tape deck with little battery-operated speakers, and two battery
lanterns. I also keep a small dustpan and brush to get out the grit. I hate
grit.

-sleeping bag: a Northface fiberfill BigFoot, with a pillow, a sheet and an
extra-thick Thermarest pad.

-stoves: a Coleman 3-burner propane stove, with pisoelectric lighter, and
also a portable barbeque grill that folds in on itself to store no larger
than a briefcase.

-Kitchen kit: pots, pans and plates that nestle easily, cups and mugs.
Regular kitchen style (not camping gear) cutlery and utensils. It all packs
into a meduim-sized action packer, along with the stove and a cutting board,
the washing up liquids and a few odds and ends like beer coolies.

-Table: from CampMor, a blue roll-up table with aluminum legs. This thing is
excellent! When stored, its about the dimensions of your leg, but it unrolls
and makes a table that is about 1x1 meters, with lots of room for cooking,
eating, etc.

-chair: fold up 'captains chair' with fold up footrest. Ahh.

-lantern: Coleman gas lantern as well as several flashlight lanterns.

-cooler: I know about these; we used many brands on the rivers, and my
experience is that nothing, (nothing!) beats the Igloo brand. The others
either warm up too soon or leak or only last a few seasons, but the Igloo
coolers are the best quality out there. I freeze several platic jugs of
water for the ice and drink them when they melt. I put a large rectangle of
ensolite in the cooler to section off a bottom (long term storage) part and
a top (in and out) part. I also have an electric cooler that runs off the
car battery so I can refreeze stuff on long trips, and have a cold drink
when I'm driving in.

Goodies: solar powered blender, frisbee, fly tying kit, etc, extra tarp to
cover kitchen..

All this stores neatly in an average trunk.

Have fun!

--riverman