Now what the hell could the title of this article mean?  Well, unlike the Europeans who have made camping into a science expedition (World Explorers etc.), Americans never really GO camping because they live in a constant camping mode.  Think about it, our country was settled by folks from other countries who had to plan a camp trip that would endure for a life time.  Its in our genes!  And so what do these genetic based campers take with them?  Well, if it can be crammed into the trunk of the car (or on top) it is useful camping equipment!  That might include such camping items as TV sets, IPods, Laser engravers and other such essential camping items. 

Without the need for a two hour discussion with tent experts the American camper is likely to use something like the 7ft x 7ft Prospector dome tent that you can pick up for less than 35 dollars. The point is that you don’t have to lay out a lot of money for a simple tent.  Its not a fashion statement and if it actually lasts more than one season you can consider yourself lucky.  And putting up the tent is no big deal.  Just thread the poles through the outside sleeves, clip on the plastic snaps to the poles  and secure at the corners.  The corners have a metal shaft that slips into the bottom of the poles.

This tent comes with a rain fly but because my wife and I used to do a lot of backpacking we use our old emergency shelter 9 x 9  nylon tarp.  One end tied to a tree and the other to a four foot pole that is staked down with a heavy metal tent stake .  We do carry along the rain fly because most of our camping is now limited to flat as a pancake state parks or private campgrounds which rarely have anything we can tie onto.  Longing for a bit of our backpacking adventures we decided to camp at the South Fork national forest campground (elevation 7500 feet) close to Bonito Lake New Mexico.  A really great tent area if you’re 25 years old and have the lung capacity of an Elk.  You would think that the entrance to the tent site, requiring a climb down to the tent area, would have warned off two 65 year old grandparents.  But we were undaunted and sort of forgot that we usually run out of air just walking around Wal Mart. 

The only way we could pack out without passing out was to haul our gear up a few steps at a time.

If you decide to brave the outdoors with a spontaneous camp trip, use the inexpensive Sterilite containers.  These can be left out in the rain without worry that the contents will get soaked.

Unless you’re planning on camping in the outback of Australia, stick with the simple propane camp stove.  The expensive liquid fuel stoves are more practical in remote areas but not necessary for most US state parks or national forest camping.  For cooking all you need is a 30 dollar Ozark Trail 2 burner propane camp stove.  These are really light weight, easy to use and the fuel cells (small green propane bottle) are readily available in every Wal Mart across the country. Always keep an extra propane bottle.  Under normal circumstances, two adults can get one full weekend of cooking out of one these green propane bottles.

I took the following photo from our car just before packing up to leave.  While we remain young at heart it is a great reminder for us to stick with those flat as a pancake state park campsites and leave the remote national forest campgrounds to younger folks.