Camper vs Tent?

[jpmulk]

The little family is growing and our previous, minimalist camping style is not going to work anymore. We used to just run our backpacking tent and gear. But now we have a little guy with another on the way.

For others who have gone through the young family growth on a budget, what did you do? Canvas tent? Pop up camper? Looking for good ideas with pros and cons.

Currently leaning toward a kodiak tent with cots, buddy heater, and lanterns.

 

[jimh406]

For ease of setup while still being very mobile, it's hard to beat a roof top tent. However, you are obviously in the air which is both good for views and bad because you have to climb up/down. There are some huge rooftop tents now, so depending on what you drive, it could be an option for you. Fwiw, some have privacy spaces to place a portable toilet, and can go up/down in a minute or two.

 

[Bland316]

We literally just bought a jayco 294j. It's definitely way bigger than a pop up, but man it's nice to have a bathroom with 2 kids

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

 

[TxxAgg]

We're a family of 4 plus a dog. Kodiak canvas tent 10'x10'. I wouldn't go any smaller. One size up would be ideal.

We likely won't camp under 40* or over 90* so it works fine for us. It's always pretty easy to get a camping spot. The camper/electric spots always fill up first at state and national parks.

 

[rickjames80]

We went small travel trailer (19ft). Fridge, beds, bath tub and A/C for nap time in summer. Made it so nice with little ones. Tents are great, but if the weather turns campers are just more comfortable

 

[def90]

If car camping they make those tents that have multiple rooms. Usually each room is big enough that you can put an inflatable full or queen size matress in them. Or do a wall tent with cots or matresses or whatever.

If backpacking.. well, nothing is going to be easy with kids.

 

[ODB]

We had an 8' jayco pop-up - easy peasy. We slept on one side, the gear went on the other, and the kid slept on the little bed between the seats. As she got older, she just slept on the other side. We had the whole thing down to a science.

BUT - you had to be able to find a space and deal with people if at a campground. For more dispersed camping, a Kodiak 10x10 is nice. I will say I kind of wish I bough their 10x10 with the straight side walls for a skosh more room. One thing about camping in a canvas tent - use an elevated cot. When you elevate your bed, you create storage space under it for your junk. Floor level cots can't do that.

 

[huntineveryday]

We have 3 kids, wife got tired of splitting up between a 2 and 3 man backpacking tent. Plus, when weather rolled in there isn't much you can do in those small tents. Last year we got a kodiak canvas 10x14. It's been great. Plenty of room to move around and hang out if weather rolls in. Pretty quick to set up. They are heavy, but I can still throw it in the back of the van and be on our way pretty quick. They have to be dried out before storage though, so a little bit of work to take care of.

If you are going to be in cold weather a lot springbar has a hot tent that has a zip-in stove jack and wood stove. They are quite a bit more though, and springbars are tough to get purchased with limited runs only available once a month.

 

[thegrouse]

We went from a tent, to a popup, then a 29' TT now back to a tent. We just do not camp in Texas between April and November anymore. I have several tents and one is the Kodiak.

 

[lonedave]

When my kids were 2 and 4 (1988), we bought a new Jayco 806 pop-up tent trailer. It's called a deluxe model with a little nicer interior, heater, and small Dometic refrigerator, but it's still pretty basic. It weighs 985# dry and has a 150# tongue weight if I remember right. I pulled it with a variety of vehicles from a Bronco II to an F150 and camped everywhere from pay campgrounds to fairly sketchy out of the way spots in the mountains. I even slid backwards down an icy mountain road and jack knifed it once. Basically it never has failed me though and I still have it. After 30+ years, it needs a little help, which I intend to do this spring, but it has served us well and I'd recommend at least looking at them or renting one to try out.

 

[RyanShields]

I went with a canvas spike tent from the Wall Tent Shop. It has a sewn in floor and screen windows and doors. With a wood stove it's comfortable all four seasons. I prefer it to a camper because I can fit everything I need for a trip into a truck bed and I don't have to deal with towing a camper down a poorly maintained road. When I'm done using it I store it in a closet in a spare bedroom away from mice and mold.

No mechanical parts to maintain. The best part for me is being able to tow a boat because my tent is in the truck bed. I already have two boats and a trailer so the last thing I needed was a camper taking up room in my driveway.

 

[CoStick]

8 person REI dome, could put play pen in for them to sleep. Now 8&5 they get their own 2 person tent, wife me, dog 3 person as we have started to go more backcountry here in CO.

 

[cnelk]

I wouldn’t ask Rokslide.

You better ask the wifey.

 

[DunnCoHunter]

I will second what cnelk said… it’s kind of up to your wife if she wants a bathroom and shower. We have both a camper and a wall tent. I would prefer to just use the wall tent and not mess with towing the big camper around. Especially with today’s gas prices. But my wife is much happier when we have the camper.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Centralcoastca]

We tent camped for years and then got a pop up cabover for the tundra we had at the time that was neat with all the amenities like a fridge stove etc but in a regular campground wasn’t better than a tent for noise since the top 2’ was canvas. We ended up getting rid of it and got a nice used roof top tent for the shell of the tacoma we now have and it was awesome for off-roading and towing the boat but it sucked to get into when it was raining and muddy having to drag it all into your bed. My wife got tired of climbing up and down the ladder to use the bathroom and wasn’t fun if we happened to stay in a noisy campground. We bought a Winnebago micro mini 1700bh a couple years ago and that’s worked out perfectly for us. It’s only 7’ wide and about 4k lbs loaded so the taco tows it fine even in the mtns. It has a full size bed and two bunks with a decent size bathroom and a shower that’s big enough for me(6’4”) we bought it stupidly thinking the kids would would want to go, but our teenagers had zero interest so the dog gets the bottom bunk and the top bunk is storage. It’s small enough that it’s easy to get places on dirt roads big trailers can’t and fits into just about any campground spot. We camp together way more now since she has has a few extra comfortable luxuries. It’s nice and quiet if we happen to stay at a campground and if someone’s getting too rowdy we can watch a movie or turn on the white noise machine and go to bed. I like being able to set up camp and leave it and take the truck to go wheeling, hunting fishing etc.

 

[CoStick]

I wouldn’t ask Rokslide.

You better ask the wifey.

I wanted a camper, wife called me soft!

 

[cnelk]

I wanted a camper, wife called me soft!

You married her

 

[CoStick]

You married her

Thank God.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Go with a canvas tent. They are so much easier to hear, keep cool, keep from sweating, etc…. A Kodak is a nice option.

 

[BLJ]

5 of us = (2) Kodiak Canvas 10x10.