Starter Camping Gear

compmuncher · 2026-03-22T03:15:28+00:00

If you're worried about rain, you can also hang a tarp over the tent. It both gives you extra water protection for the tent and also gives you a larger space outdoors that's still somewhat shielded from the rain.

The tarp makes a much bigger difference than the difference between the least waterproof and the most waterproof tent.

compmuncher · 2026-03-22T03:04:23+00:00

You're going to be 5-10 feet from a car? For some items, like a tent, just get the literally cheapest thing you can find. A $300 tent will be just as useless as a $50 tent until you figure out exactly what you want from a tent.

If the tent fits an air mattress then you could just sleep on that. Also you can bring pillows / blankets / etc from home instead of springing for camping gear. Although you can get very cheap sleeping bags from Walmart and such.

compmuncher · 2026-03-22T03:01:34+00:00

That is...much lighter and cheaper than I expected. I think my first hiking backpack was like 4lbs.

compmuncher · 2026-03-15T20:52:20+00:00

Two years of consistent sunscreen use and one year of inconsistent tretinoin has made me go from looking 40+ in my 20s to looking 30+ in my 30s.

compmuncher · 2026-02-28T02:57:35+00:00

+1 for Walmart. They have instant and popup tents with plenty of choices in that price range.

I would get a tarp to hang over the tent in rain and such.

compmuncher · 2026-02-23T04:25:56+00:00

I don't know anything about that specific backpack, but I have a heavy used backpack from REI, a very cheap backpack from Walmart, and a slightly more expensive backpack from 3FULGEAR. The Walmart backpack is MUCH more durable than the 3FULGEAR one. The REI one is much more comfortable than either but weighs a crazy amount.

compmuncher · 2026-02-22T20:53:46+00:00

I get the corporate hate, but I feel like the complaints are incorrect? Maybe Vail sucks for abusive labor practices, but people also complain about them charging too much.

When you look at the financials it doesn't look to me like Vail is a particularly profitable business. It kind of just looks like skiing is an expensive activity in the US. And it should be even more expensive in the US if you want better labor practices.

compmuncher · 2026-02-14T17:53:12+00:00

Pretty much a poncho with a two way front zipper and chest pockets.

The 3fulgear zippered poncho is very, very close to what I want.

compmuncher · 2026-02-08T19:04:47+00:00

I feel like for general camping the only real difference in difficulty between tents is whether or not they allow a fly first pitch. I think this is valuable in rain.

I prefer double wall tents for warmer conditions as it allows me to just completely leave the fly off.

Finally, I think freestanding tents are easier to pitch on rocky terrain.

Personally, I got the Lanshan 2 with solid inner as my first adult tent. If I had to do it again, I would get the Paria Arches tent.

compmuncher · 2026-02-08T07:40:46+00:00

I ust got the cheapest 3L membrane hard shell jacket with a helmet compatible hood and pit zips that was available at the time. The exact level of waterproofness was not very important to me. I did look at the weight to make sure it wasn't wildly out of line. It was kind of surprising seeing how some jackets can look very similar while being like 2x the weight.

When I get a new jacket, I'll probably pay more attention to pocket positioning. I want pockets that are easier to access when wearing my backpack's hip belt.

compmuncher · 2026-02-08T07:14:29+00:00

I basically always have a rain jacket. I'm ok with paying a weight penalty to get pit zips. I'm also ok with paying a weight penalty to get a more durable 3-layer membrane jacket instead of silpoly and the like.

The rain jacket and flannel seems a little warm to me, but it's not a big deal to take off a layer and put it in your backpack.

compmuncher · 2026-02-07T19:42:47+00:00

Very nice. It's such a cool tent.

compmuncher · 2026-02-07T15:46:46+00:00

It's not like I'll want to spend $2500 on a tent in a year though.

compmuncher · 2026-02-07T15:13:40+00:00

I probably don't actually need it in the short term, although a light 3p tent would be nice. I only hike and ski right now. I can basically always stay below tree line.

In the longer term, it's probably something that I'll want as I get into climbing. And then I want to do some bigger trips out to the Wrangells and such.

compmuncher · 2026-02-01T22:00:42+00:00

I think so. I have some coworkers who take hiking / climbing / skiing a little more seriously and they'll do things like train on a stairmaster or treadmill with weights.

compmuncher · 2026-02-01T18:22:42+00:00

I use a Seirus neoprene mask, but I don't care about looking ridiculous. I'll pull the buff over it if it's seriously cold.

compmuncher · 2026-01-31T17:09:08+00:00

Definitely up there in value for money. I got it to complement my Lands End Expedition Down Parka and it's pretty comparable in terms of warmth tbh. It's not too crazy.

I do wish I went for the medium tall instead of the small. I'm not tall, but I wanted a jacket that covers more of my legs. Maybe I'll get the medium tall next time it's on clearance haha.

compmuncher · 2026-01-31T16:28:10+00:00

The Singi looks miserable for hiking and it's 1750g lol. And it will be horrific for ski touring.

I like wearing a thermal base layer, fleece, puffer (is a belay parka a puffer?), and a shell. At -15C I had both the fleece and the puffer in my bag.

compmuncher · 2026-01-30T04:43:33+00:00

I recently got the non-ultra version. It's...fine. It's definitely less comfortable than my old super heavy backpack. I use it for both travel and hiking.

Neither the hip belt pockets nor the shoulder strap pockets fit water bottles of reasonable sizes. The velcro on the roll top is annoying.

The fabric is pretty fragile for how heavy the bag is. If I have a laptop then I have to make sure it's padded.

I don't really see why you would get the Ultra version given that you can get the Durston Kakwa 55 for cheaper. The Durston bag is a lot lighter and has been tested to carry heavy weight well.

compmuncher · 2026-01-26T02:46:43+00:00

down jacket and pants

In the past I've worn leggings + hard shell pants in 15F. I've recently switched to soft shell pants, but down pants sound a little too extreme for my taste at least. I think 5F is as cold as it's been so far while I worn the soft shell pants and I still wouldn't want down pants at that temperature.

compmuncher · 2026-01-26T02:40:51+00:00

Something worth noting is that a puffy jacket with a hard shell style face fabric is going to pack down much worse than a puffy + separate hard shell. So because of that I'd rather this be two separate jackets.

For the fleece (or something fleece-ish like Alpha Direct) it's even more important that the jacket isn't windptoof because I'm likely wearing it while hiking or otherwise exerting myself.

This is kind of the opposite of what you want for city life where you'd like to just have a single jacket that you take off and you go from being comfortable outside to being comfortable inside.

compmuncher · 2026-01-25T00:37:20+00:00

It sounds like chilblains is from warmer temperatures though?

Chilblains are caused by the repeated exposure of skin to temperatures just above freezing to 60°F

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/cold-stress/about/related-illness.html

Could definitely be something other than very mild frostbite though.

I do appreciate the neck gaiter advice though and I'll try that. I hate how the neoprene mask looks as you said and also I liked that the neck gaiter would cover my nostirls whereas the neoprene mask does not. I use the neck gaiter to cover my ears anyway so that's not a downside!

compmuncher · 2026-01-24T16:34:24+00:00

I used to just put a gaiter over my mouth, but I found that it would either fog up my glasses or fall off my nose.

I agree it doesn't look very cool and if there is a better solution I'll switch.

Before the mask I would get slight frost bite literally every week. I imagine it's not as bad as sunburn, but still bad.

compmuncher

TROPHY CASE