Category Archives: Camping

Best 4×4 for camping — Toyota Prado or Hilux?

I am in the market for a new car. The car will primarily be used around town for business and the school/childcare run. However, we are planning to buy a four wheel drive for the few times a year we plan to go beach camping or head bush. Our preference is to buy a Toyota. Many farmers tend to use Toyotas, so if we break down out bush, at least we know parts will bemore »

Loading your car with camping gear

Going camping, but don’t want to tow a trailer? Fitting your camping gear in your car is only half the challenge – staying under the car’s maximum load rating is the other challenge that a lot of people do not consider. When you do the math, a dual cab ute starts to make a lot of sense as a family camping vehicle. Surprisingly, it is relatively easy to overload a vehicle. Not onlymore »

An alternative tarp setup

I am always looking for faster, better ways of doing my camp setup. In the past, I have used an OZtrail UltraRig 20′ x 24′ poly tarpaulin over my camp site. This has been fantastic for providing shade and shelter from rain, but the ridge pole is time consuming and awkward to put up — particularly for one person. But who says that you even need to use a ridge pole? Most people set upmore »

How to clean a Burke & Wills swag mattress cover

My Burke & Wills Ironbark swag is easily my favourite piece of camping equipment. I have stuffed a queen sized cotton doona and full size pillow into it. The swag is so comfortable, I have been known to leave my bed and sleep in it at home when my partner is sick – perhaps a little too willingly at times! While I use my swag in a tent, it is rugged enough tomore »

Camping jokes, stories and humour

Following are a few jokes, stories and one liners that have given me a bit of a laugh. I thought I would share. Joke: Bad mosquitoes Pat and Mick were camping in the bush. The mosiquotes were so bad, they decided to pack up camp and move to a new site. But they decided to do this in the dark, so the mosiquotes would not know where they had gone. They stumbled aroundmore »

Which camping tent style is right for you?

What is the best camping tent? That depends. You need to match your budget and needs to the right style and brand of tent to identify the best tent for you. I am not going to try to tell you what your camping needs are, and therefore what the best tent is. Instead, you can assess your own needs. Questions you might want to ask yourself are: What style of camping am I doing?more »

The rich man buys once, the poor man buys twice — camping wisdom, or not?

“The rich man buys once, the poor man buys twice.” In other words, the rich man can afford to buy quality gear that performs its intended function and lasts a long time; the poor many buys cheap gear that either breaks or does not work and needs to be replaced after a short period. I see/hear this saying touted around the camping scene quite regularly. Quite frankly, it annoys me. If we all waitedmore »