Car camping travel trailer vs tent

[TexasGortex]

As far as mattresses, I like my Exped Megamat Duo

[skaredshtles]

<snip>
A lot of the old pop-ups had tiny wheels, but pretty much all of the ones that are worth buying these days have decent size tires. 14" or 15" rims. Similar to what's on any other trailer.

Well, *that's* good news.

[RShea]

Tent as stated is going to be at best a fair to good weather enjoyment. You mention sleeping pad, I'd also consider the small cots to get off the ground if you are regularly going to be sleeping in the tent with any chance of rain... (Thermarest, Naturehike, short and only a few inches off the ground types)

Food prep and the bath and shower are a big difference, plus having power for things is nice as you know with the camper.... But it has to be used, when I was little and gas was much cheaper, we had camper. Eventually it was parked at the same campground a half hour from home and it was our weekend get away. Pack some clothes, some food and head out on Fri and return home on Sun. and then a few times a year hook it up and tow it somewhere on a longer vacation. That is when the first rounds of Gas crunches started up and a weekend of hauling it around was probably $30 in gas, today that is probably closer to a single night in a cheap hotel room.

Hauling all the cooking and kitchen stuff can be done, but need still a good vehicle that can handle all the totes and storage containers for car camping.

More than one time we would pack up early after seeing it was going to be raining all weekend and and stepping outside in the swamp was not as fun as swimming or riding the bikes (that would fit in the camper) or we would do a small row boat on the car racks if there was water near by and a small motor on it. Even on rainy weekends with a little TV and hopefully close enough to a few towers to pull in a station or 3, plus the card games, board games, etc. usually worked for a longer day of rain and bad weather because you could be out in the picnic table under cover if summer and warmer. Or inside the camper with a propane heater if needed to keep comfortable in the spring or fall months....

[yeahman]

Car camping with a tent sucks for lots of reasons. Keep the trailer. Especially for your wife. Having an easily accessible bathroom makes women enjoy camping a lot more. Plus it is so much quieter. In a tent you are at the mercy of the loudest dbags in the campground. With a trailer you just close it up and shut out the noise.

[Dromond]

Kodiak Canvas tents are heavy, bulky, and way overbuilt but great for camping when you don't have to carry it more than 100 yards. I use mine for surf trips when weight isn't an issue and can't imagine going back to anything else. They're the gold standard in car camping as far as i'm concerned. Biggest downside is that you need to stake them out really well or the design doesn't work, you couldn't easily use it on slickrock for example.

I considered that one but my friends talked me out of it, because of high winds. When camping in Fruita, the wind occasionally roars through, and there isn't much to tie down to. Supposedly those hubs can get pushed in and the whole tent collapses.

Noted! Thanks.

[Conundrum]

Car camping with a tent sucks for lots of reasons. Keep the trailer. Especially for your wife. Having an easily accessible bathroom makes women enjoy camping a lot more. Plus it is so much quieter. In a tent you are at the mercy of the loudest dbags in the campground. With a trailer you just close it up and shut out the noise.

You might find that if you become a tent camper and don't have to pull a camper, you might start camping in more places that are not campgrounds so the other campers' noise is not an issue.

[yeahman]

You might find that if you become a tent camper and don't have to pull a camper, you might start camping in more places that are not campgrounds so the other campers' noise is not an issue.

Done plenty of tent camping in my day. Now I save the joy of tents for the backcountry or river trips. But to your point, it is just as easy to avoid campgrounds with a trailer as a tent if you are car camping. You can legally camp pretty much anywhere on national forest or BLM land, which in Montana means millions of acres. But I somehow doubt OP's wife with health problems is going to love pooping behind a tree in the rain, so I was assuming he was mostly talking about campground stays.

[Alpinord]

I could talk for days on this topic. From tents, to pop-up to trailer, etc

For now, cots make a big difference in tents. Get one you can stand up in. Friends have a sweet and bomber canvas with a vestibule. (Kodiak I think). (Look a Zodi's for hot water). I'd go that route if my wife would let me go back to a tent (not likely)....but

The trailer is a continuing pain in the ass until we are parked in a cool spot for a few days. Then it is real nice. My wife loves to cook and play hostess for everyone in our groups. If she's happy, we're all happy....and spoiled. With solar and unlimited power supply, I can work and charge ebikes, etc. Stay out of weather. Indoor and outdoor showers with a toilet is a big plus.

[Conundrum]

I'll definitely have another van or go with a travel trailer when I have more time and parking at my house.

[Cruiser]

Sell the camper! I loved our trailer but our situation was similar to yours having to store it away from the house. We tent camped more than we took the camper out after we sold it cuz the barrier to entry for spending a night or 2 out was actually lower since we didn't have to go get it, stock it with food and water, dump the tanks afterwards, and clean the whole thing before putting it back in storage.

[skaredshtles]

Done plenty of tent camping in my day. Now I save the joy of tents for the backcountry or river trips.

Yeah - we pretty much don't car camp any more. We either go backpacking (preference) or we stay in hotel/condo's. Tent or trailer, that sort of camping really doesn't hold much appeal for us.

[LHutz Esq]

We have both. We have a 19ft hard side travel trailer. It’s amazing - leave it mostly stocked all summer. Hook up, throw some cloths in, hit the liquor store and grab some groceries and we are gone camping on a Friday night. Can wrangle two kids in about 30 min.

Then we bought a 19 ft boat.

Ya first world problems. But we can’t tow ‘em both cause we aren’t in ‘Berta!

We have the marmot halo 6 tent. And a huge m’fin tarp. With poles and pegs and all the tie down things. We also bring along another kid tent as well as a quality pop up tent and just make a big tent city. It’s a lot more work but completely doable. With a mr buddy heater we can warm up the big tent to dry stuff if needed.

Only things I miss is how easy the trailer is.

And the toilet. The toilet is very nice.

[Danno]

Done plenty of tent camping in my day. Now I save the joy of tents for the backcountry or river trips. But to your point, it is just as easy to avoid campgrounds with a trailer as a tent if you are car camping. You can legally camp pretty much anywhere on national forest or BLM land, which in Montana means millions of acres. But I somehow doubt OP's wife with health problems is going to love pooping behind a tree in the rain, so I was assuming he was mostly talking about campground stays.

Pulling a trailer down a forest road that you're not familiar with is taking a risk; turning around isn't always easy. And around here at least, having a reserved campsite for a weekend is hudge. Yes, you can camp in a trailer away from a campground, but it very much depends on a lot of factors. I wasn't gonna go hunting for spots down unfamiliar roads on a Friday night with a kid in the backseat.

[adrenalated]

Pulling a trailer down a forest road that you're not familiar with is taking a risk; turning around isn't always easy. And around here at least, having a reserved campsite for a weekend is hudge. Yes, you can camp in a trailer away from a campground, but it very much depends on a lot of factors. I wasn't gonna go hunting for spots down unfamiliar roads on a Friday night with a kid in the backseat.

Hell, hunting down unfamiliar forest roads on a Friday night without a trailer or a kid is a fkn pain in the ass right now. All the goddamn work from homers head out Wednesday midday and snag all the decent sites.

Signed,
a soon to be work from homer

[XXX-er]

I picked up one of those old FG trailers really cheap, it was a 13' Trillium which is kind of a Boler copy, but everything was in rough shape which is why it was so cheap, people really want those things so I made some money selling it and i decided I'm not really a trailer person

[yeahman]

Pulling a trailer down a forest road that you're not familiar with is taking a risk; turning around isn't always easy. And around here at least, having a reserved campsite for a weekend is hudge. Yes, you can camp in a trailer away from a campground, but it very much depends on a lot of factors. I wasn't gonna go hunting for spots down unfamiliar roads on a Friday night with a kid in the backseat.

Okay, if you are in unfamiliar territory maybe that's true, but I can think of 3 dozen places I can go within an hour of home where dispersed camping is allowed and there are no issues with pulling a trailer, turning around, etc. Most forest roads have numerous pullouts, and there's usually a trailhead at the end with a turnaround for horse trailers, etc. We're getting kind of off topic here anyway. Having done just about every type of camping (tent, van, pop up trailer, hardside trailer, RV), my preference after all that is a 20 foot hardside trailer that is light enough to pull with my Tahoe.

That said, everything is a tradeoff when it comes to various camping methods. Nothing is perfect for every situation.

[skaredshtles]

Hell, hunting down unfamiliar forest roads on a Friday night without a trailer or a kid is a fkn pain in the ass right now. All the goddamn work from homers head out Wednesday midday and snag all the decent sites.

This is true... we went out for a mt biking weekend last fall to Crusty Butt and ended up MILES up Cement Creek.

[schindlerpiste]

My wife and I empty a two tent method. We sleep with the dogs in a Base Camp 6 with rainfly. I like a cot, camping mattress and 15 degree sleeping bag. We place a suitcase-type toilet in the vestibule. Our "kitchen", (which is nothing more than a Teton camping stove and three jetboils, a couple of coolers, a picnic table and chairs) is set up in a screen tent with roll down sides. We place a solar shower on a tree. If the kids come, we have an extra 4 person tent.
It works well for us.

[toast2266]

Hell, hunting down unfamiliar forest roads on a Friday night without a trailer or a kid is a fkn pain in the ass right now. All the goddamn work from homers head out Wednesday midday and snag all the decent sites.

Signed,
a soon to be work from homer

Very true. Also another upside of the pop up. Those things are short enough, they can be turned around in pretty tight places.

[yeahman]

Very true. Also another upside of the pop up. Those things are short enough, they can be turned around in pretty tight places.

Yah, pop ups are easy af to pull and maneuver--we pulled ours to Mexico and back and I hardly knew it was even back there--but most pop ups lack the #1 benefit of having a camper in the first place, a working toilet. Not a big deal if there are no females along.

[J. Barron DeJong]

Another vote for a pop-up.

We had a big instant up tent for car camping, and the wife wanted a pop-up. I thought she just wanted it because it’s what she had growing up, and I thought it was just going to be a waste of money, but it’s actually pretty great.

It’s nice always having a flat bed to sleep in, somewhere to sit inside, could potentially cook inside (but we don’t cause we’re in bear country). Most of our camping stuff is stored in it, so it makes it much easier to pack up and go compared to tent camping, and it’s better organized when you get there.

My parents had a regular trailer growing up, and my brother has one now, but I really don’t have any desire to own one myself.

Of note: we’re pretty much only using it in California during the dry season. I might have a different opinion if I camped in the rain regularly.

[Danno]

Every system: hard side trailer, RV, pop up, slide in, large tent, has its pluses and minuses, just gotta decide which things you can and can't live without.

[indyjones]

Car camping folk: any organizational tips/best practices? We've got limited space even with roof box and it all turns to fcking mess in short order.

these look useful and hip, but too much $$ https://rux.life

[davjr96]

Car camping folk: any organizational tips/best practices? We've got limited space even with roof box and it all turns to fcking mess in short order.

these look useful and hip, but too much $$ https://rux.life

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/frakta-...blue-17228340/

No Joke. I can fit an entire weekend's worth of camping gear for two people in one. Another contains toys (ski gear, bike gear, etc) and a third for kitchen and food.

[Danno]

I'm back to car camping after being camper guy for years, but Rubbermaid bins is how I organize (similar to the large Ikea bags except more weatherproof). Two for kitchen/miscellaneous and one for dry food.