# Car Tent Camping Tips and Tricks.



## Swampfoxoutdoors (Sep 28, 2015)

I have been camping all my life. Usually Truck camping at deer camps and camping while hiking part of the AT. 

I now have a 4Yr old and wife that I am trying to get into camping. But when camping in a *CAR* its hard to pack all of the items one needs. 


We manly use a Toyota Camry I do have a hitch on the car and one of those cargo carriers. Thinking of getting a really small utility trailer but I will have to get a trailer wiring harness first and all the ones I have seen look to be a pain to install. 

If any of you have any tips, tricks or suggestions on tent camping in a small car please share.


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## Chris92 (Sep 28, 2015)

May be able to find a plug and play for the trailer light it will plug into your tail light wiring took me about 5 or 10 mintues to install check out etrailer


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## Swampfoxoutdoors (Sep 29, 2015)

Yea I did one like that for my old F150. The bad thing about the toyota you have to run a power line from the battery all the way to the back.


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## seeker (Sep 29, 2015)

Just a suggestion.  If you're familiar with backpacking, why don't you just go with that type of equipment.  Tent, stove, food ect.  A Camry could carry a weeks worth of stuff in it's trunk.


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## greg_n_clayton (Sep 29, 2015)

seeker said:


> Just a suggestion.  If you're familiar with backpacking, why don't you just go with that type of equipment.  Tent, stove, food ect.  A Camry could carry a weeks worth of stuff in it's trunk.



What I was thinking as well. But I would thank you would need to be sure to keep the wife comfortable when sleepin' and warm. If not, she will get her fill of campin' on the first outing !!


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## Bama B (Sep 29, 2015)

Go to uhaul they will install the wiring harness pretty cheap. Pull small utility trailer. Did it for years with a Honda Acord. Worked great. we would even take the golf cart sometimes.


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## riprap (Sep 29, 2015)

greg_n_clayton said:


> What I was thinking as well. But I would thank you would need to be sure to keep the wife comfortable when sleepin' and warm. If not, she will get her fill of campin' on the first outing !!



This...throw a woman and a 4yr old in the mix and your gear triples.

I would try a campsite close to Wal-Mart, Hampton Inn and Chik fil a on the first trip if you pack lite just to be safe.


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## T-N-T (Sep 30, 2015)

I used to camp out of a Honda back in the day.
Took a tent, bedding and food for the weekend.  
Some firewood,  usually packed everything I "needed" and then filled the holes with wood.  Then I would buy the rest of the wood once I got where I was going.

Weather reports are the most important.  If no rain, then less stuff is needed.


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## Swampfoxoutdoors (Oct 3, 2015)

I have decided to just bite the bullet and buy the wiring harness. My fire chief has a car lift so I can use that to get under the car and run the power cable. 

I have found a cheap utility trailer at Lowes for $450.00 which is made by Carry On trailers. They are based out of Lavonia, GA about a 10 Min drive from me. Going to see if I can buy it their cheaper.


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## Swampfoxoutdoors (Oct 3, 2015)

greg_n_clayton said:


> What I was thinking as well. But I would thank you would need to be sure to keep the wife comfortable when sleepin' and warm. If not, she will get her fill of campin' on the first outing !!





Yep that is so true, My wife is pretty cool about most stuff. When It storms while camping she thinks its fun. All she ask is to have a Air mattress. NOW the 4 Yr old Daughter is a little different.  I want her to enjoy herself so she will not get burned out.  So we pack a ton of extra stuff for her.


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## Semi-Pro (Oct 3, 2015)

smores, bug catcher, net, small kids bug lantern, couple glowsticks. She will have a blast, this is what my daughters ask for most. too cold to play in the creek or that has its own list. Don't overcomplicate it. Where are you going?


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## Oldstick (Oct 3, 2015)

Agree with all the others above.  Your knowledge and experience from backpacking will give you a leg up because you already know the basics.  

Taking less experienced wife and/or kids the first time in a tent, you probably need an air mattress or comfortable cots plus enough warm covers if cool weather.  And tarp covers if a lot of rain is predicted.  Have a backup plan to bug out to the car if weather gets too rough.


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## 7Mag Hunter (Nov 16, 2015)

Kinda late to the thread, but i hunted/camped on the ONF
out of a Honda Accord for 2-3 yrs.....
Small tent and tarp for rain...Marine battery or jump box for
tent lights and small fan for hot weather...Firewood can be
picked up from the woods and 2 small/med coolers were all i needed
for 3-4 days camping and boned out venison....Water/ice were carried
in frozen gallon milk jugs, and hunting gear was carried in the back seat...


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## 3ringer (Nov 19, 2015)

Buy a little lightweight camper. I used to have an old Apache camper. It probably weighed around 6 to 8 hundred pounds.


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## 3ringer (Nov 19, 2015)

Here ya go


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## NCHillbilly (Nov 20, 2015)

Get a tarp. A huge one. A half-acre tarp will fold up to nothing, but on a rainy weekend it can mean the difference between a fun, pleasant weekend in camp and a miserable, nasty, fight-starting ordeal.


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## Artfuldodger (Nov 20, 2015)

When I was growing up my family switched form an Army tent to a modern Nimrod tent trailer;

http://www.popupcamperhistory.com/nimrod1960brochure.html


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## Artfuldodger (Nov 20, 2015)

NCHillbilly said:


> Get a tarp. A huge one. A half-acre tarp will fold up to nothing, but on a rainy weekend it can mean the difference between a fun, pleasant weekend in camp and a miserable, nasty, fight-starting ordeal.



Good advise, maybe three or four half-acre tarps. Went camping a few years back with a crowd of about 10. It rained all week. The tarps definitely made the difference between a fun week vs a miserable week. 
It would have been better if it hadn't rained, but with the tarps we were able to gather under them, cook, sit around, and play games.


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## Oldstick (Nov 21, 2015)

Artfuldodger said:


> When I was growing up my family switched form an Army tent to a modern Nimrod tent trailer;
> 
> http://www.popupcamperhistory.com/nimrod1960brochure.html



We did exactly the same thing.  The Army tent was a loaner from one of my uncles, then my parents bought the Nimrod.  Kept it a few years then traded for a deluxe sized 1970 Starcraft popup.


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