Tent And Car Camper's Handbook: Advice for Families & First-timers (Backpacker Magazine) [Paperback]

Buck Tilton (Author), Kristin Hostetter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006 | Series: Backpacker Magazine

From Backpacker magazine: the lowdown on family car camping and tent camping—no experience necessary! • Easy-to-use guide for families and first-time campers: how to do it, what to buy, best places to go, and what to do when you get there • Visual, user-friendly design provides quick-access information • Tips on keeping kids happy, healthy, and motivated during the trip plus how to engage them in the natural world Buck Tilton has set up camp with his family too many times to remember. Whether you’re headed for the desert, the seashore, or the mountains, he’ll help you minimize the fuss and maximize the fun—no prior camping experience needed! You’ll learn about picking the best spot, setting up camp, cooking on a camp stove or campfire, enjoying family activities in and around camp, providing first aid, and more.

This friendly guide looks at various areas of your campsite like they are important rooms in your home—the bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom. Tilton considers factors such as time of year, how many people you’ll bring along, how much you want to spend on gear (it doesn’t have to be much), and how technological you want to be (or not). He addresses the special needs and concerns of camping with children but also the joys of introducing them to the outdoors. Additional topics include packing the car, the characteristics of a good tent, sleeping warm, camp hygiene, and camp fun and games.

A contributing editor for Backpacker magazine, BUCK TILTON, M.S., is director of curriculum for the Wilderness Medicine Institute of the National Outdoor Leadership School. He is the author of sixteen books, including TrekkerÂ’s Handbook and DonÂ’t Get Bitten: The Dangers of Things that Bite or Sting. KRISTIN HOSTETTER is BackpackerÂ’s Gear Editor and the author of DonÂ’t Forget the Duct Tape: Tips and Tricks for Repairing Outdoor Gear.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A contributing editor for Backpacker magazine, Buck Tilton, M.S., is director of curriculum for the Wilderness Medicine Institute of the National Outdoor Leadership School. He is the author of sixteen books, including TrekkerÂ’s Handbook and DonÂ’t Get Bitten: The Dangers of Things that Bite or Sting, as well as hundreds of magazine articles on the outdoors. Kristin Hostetter is BackpackerÂ’s Gear Editor and writes an outdoor column for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. She is the author of two popular books, DonÂ’t Forget the Duct Tape: Tips and Tricks for Repairing Outdoor Gear and Adventure Journal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594850119
• ISBN-13: 978-1594850110
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #636,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Way to Get Started and More, November 2, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tent And Car Camper's Handbook: Advice for Families & First-timers (Backpacker Magazine) (Paperback)

I've been camping for forty plus years. Obviously a simple little book like this had nothing to teach me. Then I picked it up.

The first thing I saw when I picked up this book was a small sentence on the back cover. It said: 'Tip: You can set up a tarp as an extension of your vehicle in a heavy downpour.' At the time I was camping on the coast of Oregon. As I live in the desert, camping in the rain was new to me. But I had a tarp, I had a few bungie cords, and back at camp I soon had a 'porch' I guess you'd call it with a good sized space away from the rain. That alone was worth the price of the book.

Obviously there are some areas that I view somewhat differently than the writers. For instance they say you can use any pots and pans you have. Nonsense. They do say that cast iron cookware, especially a Dutch oven is the best. More than the best, in my opinion, cast iron is the only kind of cookware to use. Of course I think that cast iron is the only thing to use for cooking at home as well. They don't say that since cast iron lasts so long, you can get some really good buys at thrift shops and the like. Modern housewives seem to want teflon instead and donate them.

The big, important, single message is simply - 'Go Do It.' And I can't echo this any more strongly than what the book says. It's a pretty good little book that clearly shows the writers have a good bit of experience. As the book says, it's got 'Advice for Families & First-Timers' -- and still a few things for us old greybeards.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource for those new to camping, August 30, 2006

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tent And Car Camper's Handbook: Advice for Families & First-timers (Backpacker Magazine) (Paperback)

As an avid camper who enjoys any excuse to get out into the wilderness from the mountains of the Rockies to the Boundary Waters canoe area to the wilds of the Everglades. So, a book on camping needs to come up to a certain level of quality before I can recommend it. Recognizing that wilderness camping is not for everyone the authors of this book not only discuss the needs and techniques of primitive camping but cover the whole gamut up to the more modern camping with landscaped sites, running water and hot showers. They do an excellent job of providing detailed information on tents, sleeping gear, pads, clothing, cooking, and other camp gear. This is a great collection of a lot of the things that experience teaches after the fact but now you can have it to help plan beforehand. It's like having a very experienced guide to walk you through everything you need to know and do in order to have a great camping experience. Where do you go, what questions do you ask, what you should expect at National forests, state parks, or private campgrounds. There is a great section on setting up camp from pitching the tent, setting up your bedding, setting up your cooking area, hygiene issues, and dealing with animal visitors. There are even sections on camping with kids, various easy camp recipes, basic first aid, and suggested activities.

The book concludes with several excellent appendixes including one that covers the ultimate standard in primitive camping - leave no trace philosophy. Additional appendixes include a list of the top 100 campgrounds around the U.S., activities to deal with boredom and children, and a camping checklist. Backpacker: Tent and Car Camper's Handbook is an excellent resource and a highly recommended read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful recommendation for those who have discovered competing books usually assume a foundation of camping knowledge, August 18, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tent And Car Camper's Handbook: Advice for Families & First-timers (Backpacker Magazine) (Paperback)

Whether you're camping via car, tent or a combination of both, the latest publication from the Backpacker magazine series TENT AND CAR CAMPER'S HANDBOOK is for you: it uses a visual design with black and white photos and sidebars of information to make it easy to access details, it covers all the basics from equipment to what to pack and it is packed with ideas on how to include the kids in a family camping trip. In fact, families and non-campers are the focus here, making it a delightful recommendation for those who have discovered competing books usually assume a foundation of camping knowledge.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch