Experienced campers

[Indigo Blue]

If Dh and I were to consider buying a tent and two sleeping bags, what would be a good recommendation for these?

Notes:

I can only sleep on an air mattress. No thin pads, cots, etc. 

It would be nice to have a bit of room inside the tent, and not just enough to fit our bodies in. 
 

The conditions under which we would camp would be fair weather and no extreme temps. I would prefer a sleeping bag that trends toward more warmth. 
 

The quality level would be not high end $600.00 tents and not cheap entry level stuff. Something high quality, maybe slightly pricey, but still affordable. 
 

Does something like this exist for all weather camping in this price range? If not, then we would choose something, again, for, mild weather. Not stifling hot.  (Misery). And not too unbearably cold at night. 
 

I would pick a tarp, too, and set it up just outside the tent…like an extension of the tent or a front porch type thing. 
 

Right now, I’m just day dreaming and hoping if I can get out of pain, that we’d be able to do this at some point. ⛺️
 

 

[wathe]

Need more info:

Will you be carrying the tent (backpacking) or not (car camping) or something in between (canoe camping)?

If you want a tent that will be dry, and will work in spring/summer/fall, then you need something with a full fly.  Winter tents are a whole other thing, and not really good for summer.

If you want to be cool in summer, you need something with cross ventilation (many tents with both front and back  door and vestibules do this well)

If you want to be warm in cool weather, you need a full fly and and a small interior space.

Something like a Eureka Spacecamp - decent mid-range 4 person tent with full-fly - is a happy medium 3-season tent that's also very spacious for 2.

[Jaybee]

This is the sleeping bag I bought a couple of years ago: https://www.rei.com/product/167531/the-north-face-eco-trail-bed-20-sleeping-bag We don't backpack, so I could get one that was not a mummy. I like having some space at the bottom for my feet. It's comfy and warm, and if it's too hot, I just don't zip it up.

I don't know the answers to all your questions. Our dd gave us a tent several years ago, but it was for four of us, and it is an 8-person tent; it's great for all of us and the dog, but we need to get a smaller one for dh and me now. We will look at something that sleeps 3-4, probably 4, so that we have room to move a few things inside in case it rains. A lot of tents have an extension for over the entry--our large one does, so we just put down an old washable rug to wipe our feet on. We put a tarp under the tent before we set it up, to protect the bottom of the tent.

[wathe]

Adding: mid-range tents often don't have factory-sealed seams in the fly.  You can fix that with a tube of seam grip.  Use it to waterproof any trouble spots (IME often where lantern loops are stitched into the seam at the same location as a fly attachment point).  You will figure out any trouble spots during your first downpour, and you can fix them on the spot

[wathe]

Sleeping mats:  I like insulated self-inflating ones.  I have a thick one for standing/base camping.  6cm.  It's as good as my bed at home as far as comfort.  But it's bulky and way to heavy for backpacking

[Miss Tick]

It sounds like you want a "4 Man" tent to give you some room to move around. You probably can't fully stand up in a 4 Man, though. Our Eureka fits our double air mattress with some room on one side and by the door for clothes and stuff. I like to have a full fly for rainy nights. You definitely want a tarp for underneath the tent (not sticking out anywhere) and then i also have a small tarp as an entry mat.

I would comparison shop at the Campmor and CampSaver websites. I've bought tents and sleeping bags at those sites.

For sleeping bags you might want to get ones that can do together - or perhaps not. 😀 The warmth ratings will get you in the ballpark, but accuracy is very person-dependent.

[vonfirmath]

42 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

If Dh and I were to consider buying a tent and two sleeping bags, what would be a good recommendation for these?

Notes:

I can only sleep on an air mattress. No thin pads, cots, etc. 

It would be nice to have a bit of room inside the tent, and not just enough to fit our bodies in. 
 

The conditions under which we would camp would be fair weather and no extreme temps. I would prefer a sleeping bag that trends toward more warmth. 
 

The quality level would be not high end $600.00 tents and not cheap entry level stuff. Something high quality, maybe slightly pricey, but still affordable. 
 

Does something like this exist for all weather camping in this price range? If not, then we would choose something, again, for, mild weather. Not stifling hot.  (Misery). And not too unbearably cold at night. 
 

I would pick a tarp, too, and set it up just outside the tent…like an extension of the tent or a front porch type thing. 
 

Right now, I’m just day dreaming and hoping if I can get out of pain, that we’d be able to do this at some point. ⛺️
 

 

The Coleman Sundome tents are very easy to put up, affordable, and good quality for what you want.

 

(I actually just this week picked up a 2-person sundome tent to have as an extra in case needed for our troop when it fell down to $25)

 

They are also tall enough to put cots in should you get tired of blowing up your air mattress everyday (What happened to me) while also fitting your air mattress today.

 

Normally you want a tent that says it holds at least one more person than what you actually want to put in it for comfortable car camping

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by vonfirmath

[skimomma]

We are huge fans of REI tents of all sizes.  We have a few - everything from a 2-man backpacking tent to a very large family.  All are 100% waterproof and hold up very well.  For "higher end" tents, they are affordable and the customer service is great.  We have also had several cheaper Kelty tents and those also have held up well but are for sure more basic than the REIs we have had.  Ground cloths are a rip-off unless weight (backpacking) is a consideration.  We just cut to fit from old tarps.

Big Agnes and Sea to Summit make great inflatable individual sleeping pads.  We do have a few old school thermarests floating around too and they are bombproof.....but not as comfortable, IMO.  I also feel to shame in dragging a full-on air mattress out when we are car camping.

[City Mouse]

Another vote for REI tents. REI used to rent out tents, if they still do, that is a good affordable way to try out some different options.

[prairiewindmomma]

My best advice regarding sleeping bags is to go to REI and try them out. It took me a bit to find one that suited me. Our bodies are all shaped differently, and sleeping bags truly feel differently from bag to bag.

We have the Coleman mentioned above as one of our spare tents. It’s a decent tent for the rare trip, in good weather.

[Indigo Blue]

2 hours ago, wathe said:

Need more info:

Will you be carrying the tent (backpacking) or not (car camping) or something in between (canoe camping)?

If you want a tent that will be dry, and will work in spring/summer/fall, then you need something with a full fly.  Winter tents are a whole other thing, and not really good for summer.

If you want to be cool in summer, you need something with cross ventilation (many tents with both front and back  door and vestibules do this well)

If you want to be warm in cool weather, you need a full fly and and a small interior space.

Something like a Eureka Spacecamp - decent mid-range 4 person tent with full-fly - is a happy medium 3-season tent that's also very spacious for 2.

We would be car camping. Thanks for the link! I’ll look at that one. 

[vonfirmath]

10 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

My best advice regarding sleeping bags is to go to REI and try them out. It took me a bit to find one that suited me. Our bodies are all shaped differently, and sleeping bags truly feel differently from bag to bag.

We have the Coleman mentioned above as one of our spare tents. It’s a decent tent for the rare trip, in good weather.

Ours has held up in downpours (That flooded another tent) and wind (That uprooted other tents in our troop) as well. (Not my choice. But weather can change fast I've discovered)

We no longer have it -- but only because the poles got left behind at a campout and it was cheaper to replace the tent than replace the poles.

ETA: I would plan on buying more heavy duty stakes than the ones that come with the tent. I purchase mine from Wal-mart. I like the "aluminum" ones but the heavier metal ones work great too.

Edited November 4, 2022 by vonfirmath

[Indigo Blue]

Thanks for all this information! It’s giving me a good starting point. I hate to say that I would need a full on air mattress, but I do. Unless there is some new technology that would be less bulky that I don’t know about. It’s been a long time since the boys camped and they had basic tents and acquired lots of accessories. I do seem to remember buying one of them a fairly decent upgrade one man tent. Seems like it was Eureka. We don’t have it here, though. 

[vonfirmath]

1 minute ago, Indigo Blue said:

Thanks for all this information! It’s giving me a good starting point. I hate to say that I would need a full on air mattress, but I do. Unless there is some new technology that would be less bulky that I don’t know about. It’s been a long time since the boys camped and they had basic tents and acquired lots of accessories. I do seem to remember buying one of them a fairly decent upgrade one man tent. Seems like it was Eureka. We don’t have it here, though. 

I started with a queen size air mattress that I used -- and just made sure I had batteries to run the "Mattress blower-upper" thing every campout.

 

[gardenmom5]

Costco gets decent camping equipment in late winter/early spring.  we've camped, and some of my kids will backpack.  what is needed, is different.

car camping or backpacking?  do you want to stand up in the tent, or do you mid crawling around?   do you want it to only sleep two - or do you want bigger? (which is nicer just to be able to get into your tote bag of clothes. without everything being on your sleeping bag/air mattress.  I also strongly recommend a rainfly for the tent (not all come with them, if it doesn't you can order one.) - it will keep the inside of the tent dry even if it's "just" dew from a cooler night.

as for the sleeping bags - where do you plan on camping?  what are the overnight temperatures?  do you want to zip your's and your dh's together or have them separate?

the warmest are down - but they need to be stored hanging from a hanger - not shoved in their stuff sack.  (we've only done anything like this for backpackers)

we will also bring dense weave wool blankets to throw on top of sleeping bags if it's cooler than they were meant for - and usually just fine.

[HazelAnne]

Agree with the others on being happy with REI tents (and sleeping bags), and also would suggest a 4 person tent for two people. 

[skimomma]

27 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

Thanks for all this information! It’s giving me a good starting point. I hate to say that I would need a full on air mattress, but I do. Unless there is some new technology that would be less bulky that I don’t know about. It’s been a long time since the boys camped and they had basic tents and acquired lots of accessories. I do seem to remember buying one of them a fairly decent upgrade one man tent. Seems like it was Eureka. We don’t have it here, though. 

Camping mattresses have come a long way.  I would check out the ones I recommended, Big Agnes and Sea to Summit.  Both have models that are very thick, single and double wide.  They have two big advantages over a traditional standard air mattress.  1.  They have some closed cell foam which makes them warmer.  2.  They are very compact and come with these nifty air filling bags that eliminate the need (and potential technical problems) for a pump of any kind.  

For us, car camping means less concern over weight and bulk but that is still finite.  A big traditional air mattress takes up a lot of space. As I said, I am known to still haul my own but I have to bring extra layers for under my sleeping bag because I am basically sleeping on air.  My preference is to use one of the thicker Big Agnes mattresses we have but sometimes those are in use by others and I am stuck with the big mattress.

[Indigo Blue]

This one is at the very top end of the price range I had in mind. Maybe even a tad over. But I like this one. It seems to be versatile for a wide range of temperatures. Easy setup. I think you can stand up in it. It has good reviews. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B2FGLV8/?coliid=I1GOTBCVFY5B6L&colid=ME3QPO9L7H58&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Edited November 4, 2022 by Indigo Blue

[Indigo Blue]

We have a Coleman camp stove, really good lantern, two good camp chairs, and a little camp table that I just bought ….that I absolutely love. And we have an REI air mattress. 
 

That’s a start. Oh, and nice quality tent stakes leftover from years ago when boys camped. 
 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Indigo Blue

[Indigo Blue]

17 minutes ago, skimomma said:

Camping mattresses have come a long way.  I would check out the ones I recommended, Big Agnes and Sea to Summit.  Both have models that are very thick, single and double wide.  They have two big advantages over a traditional standard air mattress.  1.  They have some closed cell foam which makes them warmer.  2.  They are very compact and come with these nifty air filling bags that eliminate the need (and potential technical problems) for a pump of any kind.  

For us, car camping means less concern over weight and bulk but that is still finite.  A big traditional air mattress takes up a lot of space. As I said, I am known to still haul my own but I have to bring extra layers for under my sleeping bag because I am basically sleeping on air.  My preference is to use one of the thicker Big Agnes mattresses we have but sometimes those are in use by others and I am stuck with the big mattress.

Thanks. I will look at these. 

[Carol in Cal.]

If you're car camping, the most comfortable camping trip we ever had was with this equipment:

Tent from Costco.  It was one that you could stand up in, and it had a hook at the top middle that we could hang our lantern from.  It set up easily like a dome tent but it was big.  It had a rain fly, and if you left it off, netting on parts of the ceiling to see the stars and let the air flow through, or if you put the fly on it was warmer and protected from rain.  And there was a little anteroom at the entrance that was kind of like a tiny covered porch.  We put a tarp under the whole thing, bought that separately, just to protect it from any twig punctures.  We brought a broom along and swept the tent out before we left.

Queen size fat air mattress with a chargeable pump. This saved my husband's back.  It was not a camp mattress, but more the kind that you would keep at home to use for overnight guests if you didn't have a guest room.  We charged the pump at home and it was easy to inflate the air mattress when we arrived.  But the pump also could operate with your foot, or charge in the cigarette lighter slot in the car if it ran down.  When an air mattress says queen sized it's not as big as that size mattress at home.  Key:  We brought normal bedding--king sized sheets and a comforter plus our robes and a little stack of army blankets just in case.  

Since the car was right there, we didn't have to carry all this stuff very far, and it was no problem to leave the cooler in the car (to avoid tempting bears or raccoons into our tent.)  We have a Coleman camp stove that works great.  We brought our plastic Melitta coffee cone, and ground up a bunch of coffee beans in advance and brought them along in a canning jar.  When we used them up, we used the canning jar for left overs.  We did the same thing with granola and with sugar.  And we brought some of our homemade chili, spaghetti sauce, and bean soup, frozen in canning jars, as the ice packs for the cooler.  

Edited November 4, 2022 by Carol in Cal.

[Rachel]

This is my car camping tent: Lynx 4 person. It’s held up through a pretty tremendous storm at Mt. Mitchell in NC along with many, many fair weather camping trips. I have a couple expensive backpacking tents, but this one is great for our family when we car camp. 

[Indigo Blue]

31 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

If you're car camping, the most comfortable camping trip we ever had was with this equipment:

Tent from Costco.  It was one that you could stand up in, and it had a hook at the top middle that we could hang our lantern from.  It set up easily like a dome tent but it was big.  It had a rain fly, and if you left it off, netting on parts of the ceiling to see the stars and let the air flow through, or if you put the fly on it was warmer and protected from rain.  And there was a little anteroom at the entrance that was kind of like a tiny covered porch.  We put a tarp under the whole thing, bought that separately, just to protect it from any twig punctures.  We brought a broom along and swept the tent out before we left.

Queen size fat air mattress with a chargeable pump. This saved my husband's back.  It was not a camp mattress, but more the kind that you would keep at home to use for overnight guests if you didn't have a guest room.  We charged the pump at home and it was easy to inflate the air mattress when we arrived.  But the pump also could operate with your foot, or charge in the cigarette lighter slot in the car if it ran down.  When an air mattress says queen sized it's not as big as that size mattress at home.  Key:  We brought normal bedding--king sized sheets and a comforter plus our robes and a little stack of army blankets just in case.  

Since the car was right there, we didn't have to carry all this stuff very far, and it was no problem to leave the cooler in the car (to avoid tempting bears or raccoons into our tent.)  We have a Coleman camp stove that works great.  We brought our plastic Melitta coffee cone, and ground up a bunch of coffee beans in advance and brought them along in a canning jar.  When we used them up, we used the canning jar for left overs.  We did the same thing with granola and with sugar.  And we brought some of our homemade chili, spaghetti sauce, and bean soup, frozen in canning jars, as the ice packs for the cooler.  

This sounds like exactly what I have in mind! The tent I linked above sounds exactly as you are describing. 

[Indigo Blue]

29 minutes ago, Rachel said:

This is my car camping tent: Lynx 4 person. It’s held up through a pretty tremendous storm at Mt. Mitchell in NC along with many, many fair weather camping trips. I have a couple expensive backpacking tents, but this one is great for our family when we car camp. 

This one looks good, too. Thanks. 

[livetoread]

I have had excellent luck with Kelty tents and REI tents. I have a Mountain Hardware one now that I've just started using and so far, so good. Wouldn't recommend LLBean tent as the poles kept breaking and they were hard to replace. I do like my flannel LLBean sleeping bag though. I use my down mummy REI one when backpacking but I prefer my LLBean one otherwise. If I'm camping in cold, I just throw a down comforter over the LLBean and I'm toasty. 

I want to echo the camp mattress recommendations. I have a 4 inch thick extra wide and long sized one and it is one of my most prized possessions, lol. So comfortable and warm. I got the big size even though I'm average size so I don't feel like I'm sliding off when I toss and turn. You never wake up wondering why your butt is on the ground or shivering because the temp dropped and your air mattress is channeling the cold right to your bones.

[Ottakee]

Check out zenbivy Moto bed I love their backpacking pad and quilt system….as comfortable as my bed at home and the mat is insulated for cold weather.  But you might like the moto bed system….heavier and bigger but supposed to be super comfortable and easy to use.   Not the cheapest option though.

[ScoutTN]

6 hours ago, skimomma said:

Camping mattresses have come a long way.  I would check out the ones I recommended, Big Agnes and Sea to Summit.  Both have models that are very thick, single and double wide.  They have two big advantages over a traditional standard air mattress.  1.  They have some closed cell foam which makes them warmer.  2.  They are very compact and come with these nifty air filling bags that eliminate the need (and potential technical problems) for a pump of any kind.  

For us, car camping means less concern over weight and bulk but that is still finite.  A big traditional air mattress takes up a lot of space. As I said, I am known to still haul my own but I have to bring extra layers for under my sleeping bag because I am basically sleeping on air.  My preference is to use one of the thicker Big Agnes mattresses we have but sometimes those are in use by others and I am stuck with the big mattress.

Seconding these Big Agnes combo air mattresses.

Seconding REI for the educational value of their sales people.

Seconding extra waterproofing on tents! 

Dh and I require a tent we can stand up in. We have a 10x10 dome tent with a fly that comes to the ground. Copycat of the Big Agnes and REI ones, but less expensive. (Can’t remember the brand off-hand; it’s not where I can see it right now.) Works great for the 4-5x a year we camp.

 

[livetoread]

Forgot to say big yes on the fly to the ground (really it's almost to the ground with a couple of inches clearance). I wouldn't buy a tent that didn't have it. You'll be glad when the wind is whipping rain around.

[ScoutTN]

7 hours ago, livetoread said:

Forgot to say big yes on the fly to the ground (really it's almost to the ground with a couple of inches clearance). I wouldn't buy a tent that didn't have it. You'll be glad when the wind is whipping rain around.

Absolutely!