Solo Camp Setup

When camping solo, my camping gear is very different from my general camping gear. There is some shared gear, but a lot of is is centered around 1 or two people.

Tent

My favorite tent while solo camping is my Coleman Instant Pop up tent. A link to details can be found here. It’s a 4 person (ha!) tent, which fits 1 or two people and their gear comfortably. It’s the perfect one person car camping tent, as it is pretty heavy. That’s due to it’s pop up nature.

The tent claims to have a 60 second setup, which is accurate! It sets up super quickly, and is ready to stake down in no time.

The tent has great ventilation, with large windows that can be zipped shut or left open as needed. Additionally it has a vent port on top.

I cannot speak to the tent’s OEM waterproofness. After purchasing, I read reviews that spoke poorly to it’s waterproofness, and as a result, i treated the entire tent with 303 fabric guard as a preventative step. It has not leaked on me, but that’s after the waterproofing treatment.

Teardown is another beast. It takes a bit of coordination to line things up to fold up properly, and evenly spread out the tent material to make fitting into the bag easier. It is a bit of a tight fit, but it goes in without too much fuss. Give yourself about 5 minutes to get the tent put away into the bag after some practice.

It’s about 8ft x 7ft. That’s enough to fit a queen mattress, or a good sized cot, which is what I use.

Bedding

When solo camping, I rock a Coleman Trailhead II cot. Details can be found here. Pros are that It’s sturdy, comfortable, and seems well built. Cons are that it’s SUPER heavy, and can be a pain to get back into the bag. Also setup and teardown can be a bear, as there are two bars for tensioning the top. They mount into dowels at each end of the cot. The first side you set up is easy enough, because there isn’t any tension on the bed. The opposite side, however, takes some muscle to get into place. I’ve only set the cot up a few times, and it seems to get slightly easier each time, so perhaps as I continue to use it, it will get easier as the cot stretches out.

For sleeping it depends on the season. In warmer weather, a pillow and light sheets are sufficient. In colder weather, I have a 32 degree bag that I’ll use. Below that, things get serious! I have a large, two person sleeping bag, that i’ll put on the cot and drape over the sides. Then I’ll put my 32 degree bag inside. That, plus my light down jacket, two pairs of socks and balaclava keep me warm down to the teens. Also I’ll occasionally use the Hot Hands hand warmers, and put them in between the two sock layers to keep my feet warm. I could probably benefit for a better 0 degree winter bag, but for now my setup works. We’ll see how things change in the future.

Heating

For the super frigid temps, I’ll run a Mr Heater Buddy Heater in my tent. Here’s a link with details. It’s a small propane heater. Using one of these takes some consideration inside of a tent. First is oxygen. Propane and oxygen combust to generate heat. That results in oxygen depletion in a sealed environment. For this reason, never sleep with the heater on. I only use it to pull the chill out of the tent occasionally, or right before or after sleeping. The heater has an oxygen sensor that is quite sensitive. In an enclosed tent, it will trip rather quickly. In my Coleman Instant tent, it cut it self off after about 5 minutes runtime. If you crack open a couple of vents in the tent, however, it will remain on, because of the increased airflow in the tent. But once again, never run the heater while sleeping. It is also a combusting heat source, so if it were to fall over or tip, it could burn you or the tent. It has a tip sensor, and will shut off if jostled or tipped, but be careful, it gets hot (it’s a heater!). I have a small folding metal table that i rest it on, keeping it off of the tent floor, and giving it an even place to sit.

Lighting

My favorite camp light is this headlamp from amazon. It’s a great dual ended headlamp, with a light on the front, and a light in the rear. The rear light is detachable, and can be hung up in the tent to provide ambient lighting. It also provides red lighting, which is great for retaining more of your night vision, which is useful for stargazing. Also, it’s USB rechargable, making it easy to keep it charged and ready to go!

Additional lighting is usually handled by these switch lights. They are battery powered, and are very bright. They are also quite affordable, usually under 3 bucks each.

My general recommendation is always have a good headlamp. They free up your hands, and are just as bright as handheld lights in most cases.