Cheap cheap cheapest family camping setup?

I would check department stores for clearace tent and things ,last year I purchased a fairly decent tent at Target for about $38 bucks (it was around $100) and it is quite huge (12x8) and it tall enough to stand and walk around in. I don`t know what you plan on spending but if you look around alot you can get pretty sweet deals.
 
In terms of sleeping bags, go to www.Coleman.com and look at their selection of bags. They have plenty and have several rated down to around 30-40 degrees for REALLY CHEAP!!! They are good quality bags, I recently bought 3 for my home preparedness setup rated for 30-40 degrees and they are a GREAT buy. They also have tents on the site for sale at GREAT prices also. Plus this is all BRAND NEW equipment and good quality. Take a look, you'll be suprised.
 
Katdaddy said:
I should have been more specific on this. I freeze the water in jugs and then cut the jug away and chip the ice up. The larger chunks of ice last longer than bag ice. I agree that leaving the ice in the jug is not the best way.
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Yup, that's what we do too.

1/2 gallon milk cartons work well.
:)
 
Okay... this past year I went camping with two adults, a toddler and an infant, so I know what I'm talking about:

Firstly, the infant is the biggest problem if it's gonna be cold at all. When we went, it was in the low 50's at night. Not very cold, but cold enough. If you're trying to go on the cheap, there aren't any options for sleeping gear for an infant that I know of. There are sleep setups for infants that cost a bit more than we wanted to spend for one camping trip. We ended up putting our infant in a portable crib and she slept in a heavy winter one-piece outfit thing and we put her in a little sleeping bag. She was warm enough, but we were worried about her for the first couple nights.

The toddler sized sleeping bag we got from Walmart would only be good down to maybe 60 degrees. We got a fleece liner to compliment it, and that worked nicely. She slept on a foam pad.

Adults need what adults need. That part is easy. If the tent is big enough, get some cheap air mattresses for the adults.

As for the non-sleeping gear: I'm a fan of big tents. It's very convenient to be able to put all the bags inside the tent along with a lot of room to move around. We got a massive 10 man tent from Costco that was about $140. It's good... unless it rains. Luckily it never rained on us. I don't think they sell it any more. Stay away from Walmart brand Ozark Trail tents. Tried one recently and it really leaks like crazy. I think the Coleman brand should be good enough for what you want.

We also took the following:

7 gallon water container:
773.45735_d.jpg


Coleman Twin LED Lantern (the single LED one is not bright enough):
2000001147_500.jpg


Two burner camp stove:
5430E700_500.jpg


A Pack-n-play for the infant. Be sure to get some mosquito netting to put over the top or the kid will be bug bait.

A portable toilet to put in the tent for the toddler.

LED headlamps for everyone.

Camp chairs for everyone, including a small one for the toddler. We used the infant's stroller instead of a high chair for feeding.

Everything you need for s'mores including extra long forks so the toddler doesn't get too close to the fire.

The rest of the stuff was just clothes and food.
 
Thanks, guys!
Lots of great ideas here.

Looks like the first priority is a nice big tent.
Glad I'm not missing any obvious alternatives like "No, Mike, everybody knows it's just as good to string up a big tarp" or something.

Really appreciate it! :thumbup:
 
Make sure you keep Momma happy! If Momma ain't happy...........well, you ain't campin' much anymore if Momma ain't happy.

SDS
 
SDS said:
Make sure you keep Momma happy! If Momma ain't happy...........well, you ain't campin' much anymore if Momma ain't happy.

SDS
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And keeping Momma happy includes keeping the kiddies happy. Toys. Big tents are great playrooms with a little forethought. If the kids are happy, Momma is happier, Dada is happier.
 
I have a lot of experience with this! Like, down to figuring out 3 days of camp food for $37 because we had exactly 12 bucks for the fees and a full gas tank.


Okay, you want a BIG ASS CHEAP TENT. I found a cheap coleman gigantic 11x13 dome. standing room (believe me, with kids and a wife it's a lot nicer to do) for $50, clearancing last years model. (it was on sale from $139 to $79, but this one was the previous-previous year model sitting in the back that they found)

Whatever, you want big, and cheap. without going ridiculously cheap. craigslit works, too.


air mattress- inexpensive but decent, so maybe coleman or somethign from sierra trading post. queen size works if the toddler is cool with a sleeping bag on a wool blanket (leif prefers that). Don't laugh. I don't use one when it's leif and myself, I don't use one solo. But it's a big help wtih a whole family. Of course, we're crazy insane people who don't take full enclosure cruibs with EPIRBs camping and let the baby sleep in bed with us. YMMV. :D

extra stakes, just getem.

Stove, single burner with stand. cheap, easy. cook on the fire all you want, but wife, kids, early wakeups. coffee. hot cocoa.

inexpensive windup flashlights, 1 for everybody plus 2 spares.

That's it, you have the rest at home already.
 
MSCantrell said:
Glad I'm not missing any obvious alternatives like "No, Mike, everybody knows it's just as good to string up a big tarp" or something.
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The cheap big tent is definitely the way to go, but a big cheap blue tarp can be a godsend, depending on weather. In summer weather, the tent will be crazy hot during the day, and a tarp can provide some much-needed shade, and in rainy weather, a tarp is nice to get out of the cramped confines of the tent for things like eating meals and cooking. Depending on where you're camping, scavenged sticks and tying off to trees can work really well to pitch your tarp. A tarp plus some rope will cost you less than a decent dinner at a chain restaurant.


I personally rarely touch a tent anymore, but for family camping it's definitely tough to beat.
 
IMO, definitely go for the cabin style tent. Low profile dome tents look cool and will do better in high winds, but assuming your aren't camping out on an open plain or moutain top, you just end up with way less interior space. Some big cabin style tents do still use long curved poles, so I'm not saying to avoid those, just get something you can stand up in and is rated several people over the number of people you will actually put in it. One other tip, mesh is your friend, the more the better. The ability for tents to hold in heat and humidity is unreal.
 
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Just for the heck of it I bought a walmart family size dome tent for 49.00 and pitched on a ridge above my moms house to see how long it would last, it was up for about 4 months when we had a huge storm, when I checked on it a few days later one of the fiberglass poles was split but the tent was still standing. I pitched it in aug. and it lasted till late spring the next year when a wind storm ripped a corner stake tieout point off, over all I was very impressed with how it held up.
 
Here's a list of goodies that give an example of what you will "need" to keep mom and the little ones happy :)

Tent: The biggest, most spacious thing you can find that will take you 2+ hours to build but will keep everyone happy, especially at night :D
$78 at wally world
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-16-x-10-Dome-Tent/14089867#ShortReviewTitleBar

Portable Chairs: You and Mom will appreciate a good chair or two when trying to relax. This includes meal time, fishing, sight seeing, something portable to pile stuff on to keep things off of the ground, etc....
$8 each at wally world
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-Deluxe-Blue-Chair/14089864

Sleeping: Even though You and most of us here would be happy with a ground tarp and sleeping pad, Mom and the little ones will appreciate a nice queen size air mattress. A plus to having an air mattress is that you can simply bring blankets and pillows from home instead of worrying about buying sleeping bags.
$28 at wally world
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-Queen-Air-Bed-Kit/14119035

Cooking: For cooking you could get a small bar-b-q pit unless the park or location you are staying at provides one (most state parks have built in pits near picnic tables). An inexpensive pit matched with some cooking utensils will have everyone happy. Use for charcoal or firewood. I actually own the grill shown below, it cooks fast, doesn't need much wood/charcoal, and is very light weight.
$20 at wally world
http://www.walmart.com/ip/18.5-Charcoal-Grill/13996116

For drinking water, you can load up on gallon jugs from your local grocery store (maybe $1 per gallon I believe). Buy as much as needed and only use for drinking and cooking. There's also one of those 6 gallon jugs that you can buy and fill up with a water hose. It works great for putting out fires, bathing, washing hands before eating, etc....
$14 or so at varying locations (mine was from wally world)
http://www.google.com/products?hl=e...esult_group&ct=image&resnum=3&ved=0CCQQzAMwAg

That should be everything that you would "need" to keep everyone happy and fed :thumbup:

Here's your grand total:

If you get 1 tent, 2 chairs, 1 queen size mattress, 1 BBQ pit, 1 six gallon jug, and 6 individual gallons of water, your total is about $162 That leaves enough for a tank of gas and some food :p

I hope this helps, J.
 
I agree with J in every particular but one.

the air mattress- get the best you can afford, even if it's just a coleman instead of OT. YOU REALLY, REALLY don't want it to leak. Really. I know this.
 
I have to say that craigslist is a very good place for unwanted gear . TONS of people buy tons of gear for one time camping and then hawk it.

as well, local Church groups are EXCELLENT sources of FREE or extremely cheap camping gear. We did a drive at our local church camp for low income people and it was amazing the amount of stuff people donated.

wish you were more local to me, I could outfit you nicely.
 
I'd just add a leaky tent needn't be the end of the world, just get a tin of silicon tent waterproofer. :)
 
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