Clearly you have not seen the menu plan for the next car camping trip that I and seven friends are embarking on in August. One week, eight people (5 of us enthusiastic cooks), one beautiful mountain lake full of trout, bass and catfish, five canoes and kayaks, 40 miles of hiking-biking trails. And wi-fi at the camp store (and this is a state park, not a KOA).

We'll be catching a few Z's between fun times. I'll be sleeping atop a Thermarest "Dreamtime" air mattress.

There will be tree branches overhead so if there's a storm I'll be a little more attentive that usual to the trees.


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Bingo. Maybe that's it right there. It was just shy of being a homeless dude as far as I was concerned.

I've been thinking about it more, and I actually think that it's a matter of how I was both over and under equipped for the trip - I suspect that car camping with an RV or backpacking in a Bivvy would have been better than the mish-mash of heavy "car grade" stuff (massive tent, too much kitchen stuff) and backpack grade camping stuff we threw into the canoe.

The kids ranged in age from 5 to 13, that was a factor too - quite honestly, it's easier when they are younger and unaware of what a howling wind in the forest means - my daughter, who has seen what happens when a large branch falls on my car (happened twice) knows that the tent isn't going to stop any of those big branches way up there - she clung to me like a little monkey all night long.

it all depends where you camp!

Sadly, there was a fatality along these lines just a few days ago.

"GRAND FORKS, B.C. - An 11-year-old boy is dead in British Columbia's southern Interior after trees crushed his summer camp cabin during a severe storm.

Police say the accident took place Friday afternoon at the Pines Bible Camp in Grand Forks, B.C., 523 kilometres east of Vancouver and near the border with the United States.

They say that during the storm, winds snapped off trees, causing two to fall through the roof of a hut, crushing the boy who was inside.

Police say several other children were also injured during the incident."

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Fa...0543/story.html

I have been camping for many years, and I still enjoy it - primarily because camping, specifically backpacking, it the only way to access the spots I am interested in. I appreciate the solitude as well.

We are car campers and still enjoy it immensely. Our fav is beach camping and state parks.

Could someone please explain to me exactly what a car camper is? Do you sleep in your car or just go there in a car with all your camping gear? Please enlighten this newbie, lol.

Camping in the immediate area around your car where you can take as much bulk and weight as your car can manage; as opposed to backpacking.

Car camping for us means bringing a couple of tents (one for me and my wife, one for the kids) and a whole bunch of other stuff. We often go on hikes, climbs and other activities, but our campsite is all within ten or twenty yards of the car.

For others car camping means a van or pickup that has room in it to sleep. Some tow a popup camper, others tow or drive a full RV.

Car camping for me means making enough room in my Jeep Cherokee to sleep in it. Because I'm travelling in the Jeep I can carry a lot more stuff and heavier than if backpacking.

I can move locations daily if desired (4WD trails) and don't have to be very picky about finding level rock-free ground for the night.

It makes a sturdier shelter for snow,hail, windstorms.
2 trips ago I was sound asleep and comfortable while my buddies were blown out of their tents by a t-storm (that also produced a tornado within a few miles). One spent the night in the cab of his pickup, the other I think spent the night in the outhouse......