This past weekend was a holiday weekend here in Canada. Mrs. SPF and I went to a folk music festival with Mrs. SPF and her boyfriend. We have a lot of camping gear so instead of having our guests bring everything with them in duplicate it only makes sense for one couple to provide re-useable supplies. For instance, we have lots of older pots, pans and cooking utensils in addition to lots of little juice cups and things like can openers, cork screwed, cutting knives etc. So instead of my sister-in-law and boyfriend buying this camping gear they could simply re-use ours. That and my 16’x24′ tarp that kept us dry when it rained and out of the evening dew – no need to replicate such an item!
Do you share camping gear?
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We also went camping this past weekend. We had just awesome weather. We got to get our kayaks out and got a few hikes in. It was great. We are hoping to get a few more weekends in this year.
We often share things with friends and family. We borrow a lot of yard tools from my parents because it doesn’t make sense to buy something for one or two uses. We haven’t needed to share our camping stuff yet but I am sure the day will come.
Tools make a lot of sense as well. We have great neighbours for sharing tool, and, I needed a thermarest so the family who cared for our dog for the 5 nights lent us one!
We’ve acquired tons of camping gear over the years, but my husband is a bit fanatical about keeping his stuff brand-new. I can see sharing equipment when camping with others, but he’d never let friends or family borrow any of our gear without him being there. However, our stuff should last a lifetime based on how he treats it. ;)
I’ve had my smaller tent and coleman stove for about 20 years now. The tent is still waterproof and no tears. Love it, but it is small (3 people tent means 1 person comfy!).
The stove has a bit of rust but works perfectly. I had it as a teen so I abused it some and never cared for it properly – but it should last another 20 years!
A few of us have common gear. We have our individual tents, but share other things like camping stove, grill, cooking/serving gear (can opener, knife..). Either we camp together or only one of us is camping that weekend. So far it has worked. My sister’s university lends them to the students. She doesn’t even own a tent, they give her the whole package. Good quality too.
Wow that is new to me – the school provides camping gear?