I wish I where so fancy to roll a roof tent when car camping, but since moving more city-ward I've opted for a more gas-mileage friendly vehicle that has no roof rails. Oh, and who am I kidding, I like sleeping in the dirt. Car camping is a blast. Wherever you can park and setup camp, that's camp. I break my packing list into a triangle: bed, kitchen, and gear. Bed: I have no problem throwing up a tent, but in recent years I've really enjoyed sleeping in the open air, rain being the exception. As such I've got a collapsible cot that's great, but I do enjoy setting up the hammock as well. Recently, I discovered underquilts for hammocking. Those things are great. Keeps your bottom-side far more warm. Kitchen: Roll-a-table, and a plastic bin of cookware, a bin of dry foods, the 5 gallon cooler, and a big old water jug. I'm generally not going for longer than a few days, so that's always been more than plenty for me. I do have a tiny backpacking gas stove that I use to boil water in the morning, but I much prefer cooking on a fire, so I got this great collapsible fire pit if there's no suitable fire pit around. And it's sturdy enough to throw the cast iron on. Gear: small black hole duffel of clothes and sundries, camp chair, camp stool, usually some horseshoes, and depending on where I'm going a NRS inflatable paddleboard. Quality thing to go out on the water with. And all of that gets thrown in the back of the fit. Hatch-backs are great! In 2018 I did a solid 6 day trip through west Texas. Two days out from Austin where I was at the time, two days with some friends, and two days back. It was awesome! Not a single campsite rental and starry skies every night. Also, I was the coolest cat around when we were all waiting for a small town BBQ joint to open and I popped the hatch and pulled out the chair and stove to make some coffee. What do you bring with you? And what's been one of your memorable car trips?
... View more
