Car camping and comfort go together nicely with just a few simple tweaks to your equipment.  Keep yours on track, more comfortable, and infinitely more enjoyable for everyone with these equipment tips.

CAR CAMPING – COMFORT:  EQUIPMENT OPTIONS

Camping with a Portable Canopy:  Shelter for the Picnic Table

Set up over a picnic table, a portable provides shade, protection from rain, and helps keep most falling debris off your table.  Adding even more comfort, those with sides, screens, and zip open doors are especially popular where mosquitoes or flies are pesky.  However, they will NOT keep squirrels, raccoons, or other small rodents out.  As such, always store food items securely to prevent them being nibbled on by these would be visitors to your table.

Folding Camp Chairs:  Better than Rocks and Logs

Folding camp chairs make sitting around the campfire enjoyable.  Period.  For camping comfort, they hands down beat standing, sitting in the dirt, or using logs or rocks as seats.  When it comes to camp chairs, there are options to fit not only every budget, but every butt as well.

Outside Mats:  Add Inside Comfort

Keep dirt outside the tent with a fake turf grass rug outside the entrance.  They are affordable, and it’s okay to get them wet!  As the rug accumulates the dirt scraped off of shoes, simply shake it out. Further, it won’t turn into a huge disaster if it gets wet!  Water flows through without turning the whole thing into a nasty mess or a huge puddle.  Do yourself a favor, though, and use a bin to store it for transport.  If it is muddy or exceptionally dirty when you break camp this will keep it from trashing your vehicle.  Once home, take a hose to it and let it air dry.

CAR CAMPING – COMFORT (AND FUN):  POWER OPTIONS

Camping With Electric

Although some like truly roughing it, camping with electric is preferred by others.  For those who enjoy electric in camp, lots of things become possible.  For instance, having a drip coffee maker in camp makes getting going in the morning a pleasant experience.   Electric allows others to make the campsite a party atmosphere with string lights!  We have seen many fun sites set up this way, but we are happy to simply add task lighting over the picnic table and in the tent to make things more comfortable.  We use portable work lights, and swear by them.

Camping Without Electric

When electric is no on site, batteries rule.  Battery operated lights are plentiful, inexpensive, and safe.  Those with LED technology provide bright light and have long battery life.  One on the picnic table and one in the tent generally do the trick.  Alternatively, use portable headlamps.  Strapped on your head, they provide precise lighting just where you need it.  If more dispersed lighting is desired, try this hack:  strap the light with the light facing inwards to a gallon water jug filled with water to disperse the light over a greater area.