Hi,
Weather becomes warmer and warmer. Want to go camping with my family. But I never have this kind of experience. What should I do to prepare my trip?
Anyone can give me some advice? Thanks a lot. 
Calie from (Li)ghts(ca)stl(e)?
Your are so brilliant , You know her?:bigsmile:
Don’t pick a site downwind of the toilet facility. Be sure to have a waterproof tent not set up on a low spot. Bring a good sleeping bag or a better friend. Food. Pee just before going to bed. Beer. Don’t forget the pee thing. Fishing gear and license. Coffee. Something in which to make the coffee. Something on which to heat the coffee water. Toothbrush and toothpaste. Biodegrade able soap and a washcloth. Camping is a dusty business. Frisbee and hackysack. Antihistamines for bee sting, scorpion stung or plant allergies. Sunscreen. Aspirin or other pain meds. Book to pretend reading while you nap under a tree getting sunburn and bug bites.
Headlamp torch and flood torches! SRK, MM15, TN36 etc
Camping is a great experience. Be careful if you take any real bright lights. They can really irritate other campers.
If it will be sunny and reflective surfaces are around (like a lake), take UV protection for your eyes and skin. Take plenty of fluids (to drink) and easy to prepare foods. Mostly just relax, fall into the rhythm of nature, and enjoy yourself.
+1
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I’ve contemplated taking a monster thrower and frying some of these clowns in their tracks, but then it would just be a race to see who can be the biggest A**hole.
If you use the lower modes it shouldn’t be a problem, and you get days of light, especially from a multi 18650 light
Take what you need to make the family comfortable, take some food that will be fun and give them memories, for instance tin foil and baked potatoes in the fire, roasting marshmallows, bacon and fried potatoes in the morning, no matter if you have ever cooked over a fire before, the smells and the adventure of it will be nice.
Depending on where you are, be prepared for bugs, and when you take everyone hiking, remember to look back frequently to know what going back to camp looks like, and always know in which direction the big road, or river, or interstate, or whatever, is.
Since you want your family to get hooked on camping, stay in a good mood and remain cheerful the entire time, stay tuned in to them, the first camping trip can make or break their attitude towards the outdoors for the future.
Once you get the basics down, camping can be the best bonding vacation there is for families and for couples, and for friends, it is also excellent for learning about and bonding with the children’s friends as they start reaching the drifting away ages, and can become little 2 day micro weekend vacations, and it is cheap and healthy, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Good camping trips burn in memories of dad, forever.
Some warm clothes. It's very easy around this time of the year to go out during the day in a Tshirt, and be fine during the day, but at night, at least here in the northeast, it's still quiet chilly, especially when you're outside.
If you're buying a tent, whatever number it supposedly fits, cut that by 2 if you want to be comfortable.
Leave the tent window flaps open a bit, otherwise humidity will build up.
Cards against humanity, and a bottle of tequila doesn't hurt either. Though I wouldn't suggest the game for younger campers.
Bring whatever it takes to be comfortable and slowly minimize what you need as you gain more experience. Don’t try to climb any gigantic mountains with just an ultralight camping setup the first time around. For the first timer I would suggest finding somewhere where you won’t be around other people, but still can drive in and out easily. It’s nice to be able to run to the store if you forgot something critical because you’ve never done this before (but certainly try to improvise), and if you have cell phone or radio service that’s a big plus as long as you turn them off or leave them in the car. Get disconnected, but still able to get help.
Be sure to have:
Lights and batteries
A good pocketknife, or even better is a sturdy multitool
Warm sleeping bag (even in summer it’s nice to have a backup) and a ground pad.
Shelter - This can the back of a car and a few blankets, a hammock with a tarp, tent, etc, just be sure you have somewhere warm, windproof, waterproof, and comfortable
Many sources of fire - I like to have several lighters and matches as well as some sort of fuel in case tinder isn’t available. If I have my stove a dash of denatured alcohol makes using a ferro rod super easy, if not I usually have an esbit tab in my pack.
Saw and hatchet or similar to process firewood. Make sure it’s legal to burn where you are going.
Have a shovel to put out the fire, even the ground under your tent, dig out rocks, rescue a stuck car, etc.
Warm and waterproof clothes - Keep warm and dry, hypothermia will ruin your trip. Avoid cotton if possible. I like to have a t-shirt and cargo pants, fleece jacket, rain jacket, beanie, shemagh, gloves, wool socks, and waterproof boots even in the summer.
Overestimate water if you will be around the vehicles, if not figure about a gallon per person per day plus whatever you need to cook.
Bring good campfire food like potatoes, hot dogs, marshmallows, etc, but also have enough food to get you through a day if your campfire cooking fails. If you don’t eat enough you will feel much colder at night and not sleep as well. Bring foods that will settle well so you don’t get an upset stomach. Nothing kills camping like shitting in the woods. Bring toilet paper!
Disposable plates and silverware are good for car camping with groups and make sure you have whatever you need to cook. Bring trash bags to take home dirty stuff.
Tarps and blankets you don’t mind getting dirty are always a plus. Ropes to tie things down or make a shelter are quite handy
Plenty of first aid stuff.
GPS and ham radio are nice if you have them, but not essential
Just remember you’re out there to enjoy nature, don’t get too caught up on the details.
Be safe and have fun.
Actually, especially for a first camping trip, I would suggest a well developed campground (speaking from personal memories of my camping trips when I was young... I did NOT like roughing it).
There are tons of options out there where you have power, a shower, and bathroom within walking distance. Depends on you of course, but if you're a creature of comfort, sleeping on a mat may leave you less then happy in the morning, meanwhile you can grab an inflatable mattress, and you'll barely be discomforted vs sleeping at home. If you don't have power, but still want to blow up a mattress, get a pump, or buy an inverter. You're still in the woods, usually in a great place to start the rest of the following day activities.
There those that decry that kind of car camping, but to me it's all about just having a good time, and that can be roughing it, or just having a beer (or a few dozen) with friends around a fire.
All depends on the kind of trip you have in mind, who is going, how long it will be, etc,. Go camping for at least two nights, more if you can, but 2-3 nights is perfect imo. Leave on a thursday or friday evening, get there, set up camp, get a fire going, cook food, drink, etc, sleep, then wake up with the sun.
I see batteries and lights mentioned a lot, but please also make sure you bring a battery pack to recharge or charge your phone. Definitely helps.
On the off chance you decide to venture into water (although it's still too cold for that imho) please also bring sandals/swim shoes. You don't want to cut your foot on a sharp rock. Just isn't worth it.
Camping is also very weather dependent... if it's been pouring for 2-3 days before your planned trip, but sunny weather is promised, you may still want to reschedule the trip, or you may find yourself slogging through mud. For myself, I kind of gave up on getting good weather, and now make sure to always have a waterproof jacket, and rubber boots in the trunk.
Question for everyone here... what are you choices for waterproof pants?
Breatheable, and light as possible, but that will hold up in pouring rain. I've been using a jacket, and rubber boots, wearing regular jeans, and it's inevitably the jeans that annoy me after getting wet.
I have a pair from Helly Hanson, but they definitely aren’t breathable. I generally just wear my LA police gear operators pants and let them get wet. Of course it helps to live in the southwest where it isn’t a very common problem.
I know some of the budget ultralight crowd likes using tyvek lab pants. They aren’t very durable, but price and weight are both very low.
Waterproofing spray is your friend. You can turn a pair of pants somewhat water repellant for only a few bucks
Breatheability is an absolute must for me. If I'm moving I'm sweating, and tend to perspire quite a bit.
Just bought a pair of Propper lightweight pants for myself, so will give those a shot, but it never occurred to me to try applying water repellent to jeans... will also try that with a pair of old pants. One good thing about dropping a ton of weight recently is I have a surplus of pants that I can experiment with.
Since you only mentioned that the weather is warmer in your area I’ll limit my suggestions to clothing. Bring at least 3 extra sets of underwear and socks for each person. Bring at least one heavy / cold weather jacket, one medium weight jacket, one sweater / sweatshirt, two pairs of gloves, 4 quart freezer bags (use as shoe liners), and plenty of 33 gallon heavy weight trash bags (instant poncho) for each member. Wool is your friend, it will keep you warm even if wet. Bring paracord (at least 50’) to hang wet clothes inside your tent for drying. Hang the clothes as high as you can manage, they’ll dry quicker.
Hope you and your family have a great adventure.
BTW, the earlier posters have really covered most of the ‘essential’ info so I’m just adding my $0.02.
For wet weather, we keep a few cheap plastic ponchos handy. They take up little room and cover you more completely when sitting.
http://www.dollartree.com/Clear-Plastic-Rain-Ponchos/p336370/index.pro
If you’re backpack camping, never misplace the shovel.
Camping where?
Thanks for your adding advice. Warm clothes is essential for camping. The temperature comes down in the evening in this season.