Our Camping/Exploring Gear

Here is what we travel with on many of our trips and some of the ways we procured them. Almost all of them will get used as we check out the National Parks.

Camp Gear

Yakima Space Booster- we bought this on Craigslist before we moved from Massachusetts to California. We needed extra space for the gear we didn’t pack in the moving container. We decided to get one so we could pack things up top and give the dogs as much room as possible to spread out in the back over a seven day journey. It attaches easily to the roof rack and holds a lot of stuff.  

Tent: Coleman Ara 4

When we got married in 2009, my coworkers at OmegaFi chipped in and got us a Target gift card. We took that card and loaded up on camping gear. The tent is very easy to set up and has served our needs well. It can hold our full size air mattress now that we have the girls with us.

Sleeping bags:

Coleman – Autumn Glen 40 Sleeping bag –  We just got this one in June when a sporting goods store was going out of business. We got it to match our other Coleman rectangular bag (model unknown) so we can zip them together to create a large sleeping bag for everyone. Before, I had a mummy bag that worked well for me, but isn’t as useful now. We think it will be good to have the “big” bag option.

Air mattress – We got this during the Target camping gear stockpile in ‘09 as well. It works very well and inflates quickly.  Because we aren’t doing any backpacking trips right now, we don’t have a lightweight sleeping pad that can be carried easily. Maybe in the future as the girls get older.

Camp Stove – Two burners, simple and reliable. I love it and have had to use it in our house when the power went out during a blizzard. Yes, I know that’s highly frowned upon, but we needed some hot chocolate to go with the Baileys.

Cast Iron Skillet – Mary is a sucker for campfire cooking. Her family used to do it for every meal when they went camping, so we try to do it as much as possible when we go. The cast iron skillet is great because it heats evenly under an uneven fire and is very durable.

Baby Adventure Gear

Mary has documented our stroller and Ergobaby setup previously, so many of the things we think we’ll need, we already have. However there are a few things we expect we’ll need in the future. The main item is a child carrier. The Ergobabies work well, but over a long hike, both the parent and the baby  get hot and bothered up on each other. We learned that when we went to Torrey Pines.

We are shopping around now and will make the decision soon. Quick research shows that some, such as Osprey or Deuter or Kelty, require the baby be at least 16 pounds. They are a big investment too, so we are trying to figure out which one will be best.

Do you have a baby carrier? What brand and do you like it?