Family Camping Advice

cjfj80

Active Member
Location
Midway
I know a bunch of you do some family car camping. This Last weekend I took the wife and 3 kids on a camping trip. Note: kids ages 5-3-1. We started out in Price to Buckhorn wash and somehow made it to Capitol Reef NP. From there we went to Calf Creek Falsl, then on to Bryce Canyon then home from there.
This was the first with three kids.
What I am looking for is advice on making this easier.
Camping, feeding, packing, and the works for a multi-night trip was almost more work than relaxing.
So what do you do?

Do you pull a trailer for gear? or a roof box?
Are Camp Chefs worth the $$ over my trusty green coleman?
What else makes life easier?

Thanks.
 

Skylinerider

Wandering the desert
Location
Ephraim
I've got 2 ages 4 and 1.5. Things I've found that work well:

Take pit stops every couple hours, let everyone get out and hike around.
I give my son a disposable camera and let him take pics of whatever.
Anything over 2 nights, and I pack up the tent trailer and haul it.
Unless I have a big group, the camp chef stays home and I use the coleman, and maybe a dutch oven.
We pack light, I don't pack a ton of clothes for the kids, I figure they can be dirty. It's camping after all.
Food, I do a good breakfast, light lunch and then dinner. Usually we stock up on snacks, like fruit snacks, and capri suns. keep em happy and it makes things go better.

Anytime we hike as a family, I let my son set the pace. If the kids wanna stop and look at rocks or flowers, we stop.
I have learned to be very flexible with my itinerary, and not rush at all.
 

DOSS

Poker of the Hornets Nest
Location
Suncrest
Camping with my 2 girls has been a learning experience for sure. My suggestions are as follows.
Keep meals simple, quick to cook and foods that the Kids are used to.
Get the kids involved with the normal camping chores (firewood collecting, help set up camp etc)
don't stress about dirty kids.. they don't care and it is part of camping :)
Try to keep the trip as simple as possible, minimize clothes, gear etc and take a couple extra games to play with the kids
I have taken to pulling a trailer for gear.. with my XJ I had a trail trailer.. now with the Subaru I have another trailer I am fixing up to do the job.
Everything Curt says I agree with as well
 

jeeper

I live my life 1 dumpster at a time
Location
So Jo, Ut
We have twin 2 year old girls. They have been camping since they were 4 months (broke them in on a week long Easter trip :D We have done many trips with them.
We have found taking lots of toys, coloring books, etc. help on the long road sections.
We also take them to a cheap store at let them pick a new toy for the road ($1-$2) This gives them something NEW to focus on instead of a toy they are used to... kind of like a new 4x4 magazine is more fun to read than the one we've read 20 times.
My wife says having extra stuff is better than packing light, you never know what you'll need with kids.
We have a camp chef and would never trade it. It cooks much faster, and provides a greater cooking space. This makes food prep much easier. However it does weigh a bit and takes up room.
Lotsa gold fish snacks.....
We also let them have their own small sized camp chairs, sleeping bags, etc. This lets them feel like they have ownership and importance while camping.
 

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
I agree about the Camp Chef being irreplaceable. The only thing that would get me to camp without a camp chef is being in a trailer, and even in the past when we were trailer camping, we still brought it and used it.
 

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
We pull a trailer with our gear. It's probably morphing into a different trailer pdq, though.


We did the tent thing for six-eight years, moved to a camper, then a tent trailer, now we've got a hard side trailer. I flirted with a rooftop tent and an expedition trailer. I think we're just getting a thirtyish foot fifth wheel and calling that good. It should be flexible enough for our needs.


I still use my camp chef a lot, but I still like to cook over a fire on a grille as well
 

eatrocks

Registered User
my now 11 yearold ran hole in the rock her first time at 1.5 she loves camping her sisters did there frist trip at 5 or 6 months. I trailer helps if you are taking more than one even if you are useing tent the amount of things you take get to be alot. with the twins for a week on the trail the amount of dipers alone filled up alot of room. Yes some toys and books and such are a must. The camp chef is a must if its cold at all trying to boil water for the twins bottles would not have happend as we were at 10000 feet and a colman just would not do it.
 

MOODY

Bald Guy
Location
Sandy
Check out the website www.adventureparents.com

Mark and Brooke have put together a great website with a lot of great information.

I think you must continue to take your kids and learn what you need and don't need. The Ex. Portal thread is good, lots of good ideas.

Following the lead of your kids is extremely good advice.
 

cjfj80

Active Member
Location
Midway
Thanks! I'll check those sites out. We do have the things like little camp chairs and lots of toys. I'm not sure how I feel about a tent trailer yet but a small gear hauler might be in order. I think one of the hardest parts was packing everything in.

Anyone used that Camp Chef Yukon? Any good? Smaller which appeals to me more.
 

ret32

Active Member
Location
Midvale
I've got a 6 yr old and a 2 yr old, both have been camping since they were little (6 mos. for one and 3 weeks for the other). A lot good advice has already been posted. Here's what's worked for me.

-Keep it simple and cut back on gear. If you are frustrated because of the amount of time it takes to set up and break camp, it ruins the trip for everybody. Although we have a ton of gear in our storage closet, we've cut back significantly over the years as far as what we consider necessary. For example, even though we have 3 tents that zip together into a gigantic 10 person compound, we've found it plenty comfortable (and a ton more practical) to just cram all 4 of us into our smallest tent.

-Just because you packed it, doesn't mean you have to set it up. When I get to a campsite, I set up my tent, put the bedding in it and that's it. I keep all the luggage, cooking gear, etc in the back of the Jeep. We change our clothes and cook our meals at the back hatch of the Jeep and then put it all right back as soon as we're done using it.

-Prepare as much food as you can at home and freeze it. I practically refuse to cook anything when I'm camping, I merely reheat stuff that was cooked at home. If you freeze things in gallon ziplock bags and lay them flat in the freezer, you end up with a bunch of thin 12" x 12" frozen squares. These are very easy to pack into a cooler and will warm up very quickly on the stove. For certain meals (mac n cheese, stew...) you can even break off small chunks and heat up just one or two portions at a time. Use bagels instead of bread (doesn't crush). Collect single serving condiment packets every time you buy a hot dog from a gas station, use them camping instead of bringing bottles of ketchup, mustard, etc. We even did a full Thanksgiving dinner one time (turkey and all) by freezing everything into disposable buffet pans. We used rocks to suspend the pans over sterno cans. It took about 30 minutes to warm up our entire Thanksgiving dinner and we didn't have to tend to it at all. We threw rocks in a nearby stream and played in the sand while we waited for dinner to warm itself. Be creative, do anything you can to make your meals quick and easy to prepare.

-Figure out your kids' breaking point with respect to being couped up in the car (for my kids it's about 3 - 4 hours) and stop BEFORE that (I stop at 2 hours). If you let them out before they go nuts, you can make your stop shorter and they are easier to get back in. Combine gas stops with potty/play/snack/meal etc. I like to drop my whole crew at a city park with some snacks or their sandwiches, then I go get gas while they play. When I come back, we play another 15 minutes and then everybody's ready to hit the road again. That also keeps them from nagging you to buy junk food at the service station.

-Buy $5 worth of toys from the dollar store. Keep them hidden. When the kids get restless, break out a new toy and you've just bought yourself an hour or so of peace and quiet. If you're traveling Southern Utah (or anywhere sandy), bring a small bag of beach toys. The kids can play in the sand at camp, off the side of the trail, anywhere you stop pretty much, and they'll be less prone to wander off.
 
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offroaddave

It's just one term!
Location
sunset
We hotel it if were going to be putting on the miles like that.
Otherwise the camper is the only way my wife will do it now days.
Before kids, drive till dusk, tent, dinner, breakfast, and go. :)
 

ret32

Active Member
Location
Midvale
One more thing, we fit all of our gear in the back of a Grand Cherokee (being good at Tetris helps). Sometimes (if it's a very long or very remote trip) we'll put a few things on the roof.

If it doesn't fit, it doesn't go. I've been known to carry stuff from the "to load" pile out the front door, then carry it right around to the back porch rather than argue with my wife about what is necessary and what isn't. If it somehow comes up during the trip that such and such is missing and we really needed it, I own up, tell her there wasn't room, promise to bring it next time, and take my lashings. More often than not, nobody ever notices we didn't bring it: it obviously wasn't needed.
 

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
I've got no children but I think ret32 has nailed it spot on, keep it simple. We had a family of 4 (and a dog) come on the Relic Run last summer in an FJ40 and another family of 4 come in an FJ40 with a small off-road trailer... both have it nailed as far as family camping and honestly make it look no more difficult than camping individually or camping out of a giant tin trailer yet had all the mobility for day to day traveling. We grew up camping out of a cab-over camper and while I definitely remember some awesome 4-wheeling to get to camp its no where near the sites we camp at now with the easy of mobility too.

I'm actually working on my next 'backcountry tech' article about packing and more specifically efficiency in packing. Its by no means aimed at packing for children but just packing and gear choices in general. I've found that personally by and far the most stressing part of camping is packing particularly if your packing/unpacking each and every day as we often do on our trips. Its one thing to pull into a single camping spot and set up each day, its another to repeat each morning and night and if your spending more than 30 minutes setting up camp from the time you turn off the key until the time you land in your camp chair around the fire... your spending way too much imo. For my wife and I were are at ~10 minutes, that is tent set, kitchen setup w/stove, sleeping bags laid out in tent, etc. Obviously kids will have a major impact but based on my experience from camping with families is that it can be nearly duplicated.
 

mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
What I am looking for is advice on making this easier.
Camping, feeding, packing, and the works for a multi-night trip was almost more work than relaxing.
So what do you do?

Do you pull a trailer for gear? or a roof box?
Are Camp Chefs worth the $$ over my trusty green coleman?
What else makes life easier?

Thanks.

Let the kids be part of EVERY part of the trip. The planning stage, the packing stage, the itinerary, camp set up, meals, fire building, breaking camp, putting stuff away. It will be a super huge pain in the rear for awhile. You will hate this advice and think I am crazy because you can do it 5 times faster without them helping. If you can gut through the initial pain and anguish it will be worth it. The responsibility grows as the kids get older. My 5 year old boy has a lot more to help with than the 2 year old girl, but they both do something. If they feel like they have a little bit of control, even if it is just perceived control, they will enjoy it more. Now my son is actually a help when getting packed. He packs his own bag! He gets 3 bags. One os the hiking backpack with a H2O bladder and some snacks and essentials. The second one is his toy bag. He takes whatever he wants in there. Anything at all I don't even check it, but it must fit in that bag or it stays home. The third is his clothes and stuff like that. My wife goes over it with him before we leave but generally we don't care what he wears as long as he is warm enough. Now he is to the point were he can competently pack himself saving us a lot of stress. Getting to that point was a pain. My little girl gets 2 bags to pack(with guidance of course). One little pink camelbak and one toy bag. We talk with them about were we are going and what parts they will enjoy. We let them choose hikes and things like that. My wife takes them shopping so they can help pick out food and snacks. Being needed and having some say in what happens helps my kids get excited.

If we get to camp and there is one of his friends there he hasn't seen in awhile then it is really tough making help set up camp, but he will at least do some small part like carry the pillows to the tent. otherwise he helps a lot.

I love camp chef products, but I hate packing them around. They are awesome and have really high BTUs. I sell them so I should probably buy another. They are just not worth it for me unless I am staying in the same place for a week. I take the fake coleman or a backpacking stove usually. I really like the partner steel stoves http://www.partnersteel.com/?prod01

It is cool you are getting the kids out camping. It gets easier as everyone gets used to what it takes. They will remember these trips forever and will forget the times mom and dad fought over what to pack:D.
 

Houndoc

Registered User
Location
Grantsville
We start our kids camping young- week in a tent at Lake Powell at 8 months, snowcaves before 2 for our youngest.

I agree with keeping things simple- fancy meals don't impress kids and just take up parents time. I would rather be playing with the kids than cooking.

Frequent breaks when on the road is also right on track, and while out recognize that with little ones you need to spend far more time out moving around than you do in the car.

I love my little equipment trailer, find that much easier than piling stuff in and on the car. Just keep snacks, toys etc handy.
 

ret32

Active Member
Location
Midvale
As to the subject of a stove, I don't really care for unnecessary bulk (Camp Chef et al) or unnecessary cost (high dollar backpacking stoves). We use one of those 1 burner stoves that threads onto the top of a 1lb propane bottle (like this one, except ours was $10 back in the day). In 15 years, that's the only stove we've ever used (other than the experiment with sterno cans for Turkey day). It fits easily into into our small "dishes" bag and is very efficient on the propane. We only have to bring one spare propane bottle (which further cuts down on bulk) and have never had issues with needing more fuel (other than a time or two when we've brought two near empty propane bottles :ugh:).
 
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