Equipment Suggestions for Airplane Camping

I am finally getting my plane sorted, and I basically want to spend my spring and summer camping at a new spot every weekend (this may be a bit optimistic).

I am currently in a position where the only camping equipment I have left is a cot pad and a camp stove (due to moving, job changes, giving stuff away, loaning equipment and just not camping for a few years).

So, starting from scratch, what equipment would the more experienced airplane campers suggest?

I have a Grumman AA1C (Yankee/T-Cat). Most of my camping will just be me, but I would like the option of bringing a date for an overnight (again that optimistic side).

Get a name brand, aluminium pole, low profile 3 person tent (which will work well for 2), some lightweight air mattresses off of Amazon, and a couple of lightweight folding chairs off of Amazon. I prefer to bring sheets and blankets to camp under, but a sleeping bag of equal warmth will usually be much lighter.

Just about everyone in our crowd uses the Cabelas Arctic Guide domes. They will stand up to an Oshkosh thunderstorm.
I bring an Aeropress and a JetBoil.

Gear made for backpacking is light and compact, making it good for aircraft, especially something like your Grumman. My "air mattress" choice would be a Thermarest, which is light, comfortable and self inflating (unroll it and give it a few minutes). Stores such as REI have quite the selection, though of course you can find some form of camping gear at Walmart and such, but Cabelas, Sportsman's Warehouse and such can be a decent source, but tend to be aimed more towards hunters and fishermen, so their stuff may not be as light and compact.

I agree with Larry. You have a couple of challenges.

First, shop for gear that is light weight and packable. Almost all stores and online sources cater to back packers for lightweight gear. Like he said you can buy a sleeping bag at Walmart but it rolls up into the size of a 5 gallon paint bucket or you can spend a few extra bucks and buy a compressible bag that is the size of a football or less.

Second, AV, SNF, Triple Tree and the like all have great amenities that you won’t find elsewhere. I know that that there is one state park in our area you can fly into but its primitive camping. That means dragging along food, snacks, maybe even water etc. If you’re lucky the FBO might let you have access to restrooms and water overnight. Try finding a bush pilot group and see what products they recommend. As a fellow Atlanta resident you get the weather variability thing. Oh yeah, don’t forget the tie downs.

If you want to eat hot food or drinks your going to need something to cook with. You can spend $150 on a multi-fuel stove so you can burn auto fuel or Avgas but for just a few overnight trips you might try a AOTU Portable Camping Stove. It uses the disposable butane fuel canisters which I'm sure some folks will object to. Many of those objections would be legitimate if you were backpacking, but your not. This stove will have it's limitations but your not going to find a smaller lighter stove and you can buy it on Amazon for $10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ripTTB6CcU

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Try finding a bush pilot group and see what products they recommend.

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So long as he doesn't try to treat the AA1 as a bush plane, especially at higher elevations. That laminar wing can be treacherous, as one of our instructors discovered on a warm Albuquerque day. He landed in a cemetery just off the runway end).

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Originally Posted by FlyingRon

Just about everyone in our crowd uses the Cabelas Arctic Guide domes. They will stand up to an Oshkosh thunderstorm.
I bring an Aeropress and a JetBoil.

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Ron, doing a search, I find "Alaska Guide" but no "Arctic" guide tents, do you have a link? Thanks, Glenn

It's Alaska guide. My mistake.

What Larry said, backpacking gear is going to be lighter and better quality. I don't use a tent; instead I use a bivy sack (a gore-tex sleeping bag cover) and sleep under the wing. But if I was going to be camping someplace busy like Oshkosh I'd bring a tent for privacy, might also consider a tent in bug season.

When I flew my Starduster home over 4 days (3 nights camping) this is what I brought, much of the same stuff I use for backpacking. Of course my baggage space was a lot smaller than an AA1's! I only cooked breakfast (oatmeal and coffee), had snacks for lunch and got dinner along the way, otherwise the cooking gear would be different.

• Hyke & Byke 32° down sleeping bag
• Outdoor Research bivy sack
• Therm-a-Rest NeoAir air mattress
• Marmot inflatable pillow
• Trangia-style alcohol stove
• Bottle of fuel for stove
• MSR Seagull cook pot
• Collapsible silicone cup (for coffee)
• Plastic spoon
• Paper cups (for oatmeal, saving cleanup)

Dana with your list and a tent one can easily come in under 15 pounds. Camping in the southeast in the spring and summer.....definitely bug season. However if it doesn’t stop raining here in Atlanta were all gonna need float planes ;)

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Originally Posted by Airmutt

Dana with your list and a tent one can easily come in under 15 pounds. Camping in the southeast in the spring and summer.....definitely bug season. However if it doesn’t stop raining here in Atlanta were all gonna need float planes ;)

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So true. Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'm hoping once the weather clears up I can finish out my kit and give it a try.

There are times when I attended Oshkosh I wished I had a boat.

Here's a link to a Youtube video that discusses advantages/disadvantages of backpacking tents, tarps, bivy sacks and hammocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P5yypHZ-5A

For the type of camping you describe in your original post, the Cabela's Alaskan Guide tent is going to be more than overkill. If you want to spend that much money have at it but a decent tent can be found for around $100. Take a look at "cheaperthandirt.com" It's true the discount tents will not hold up as well as a premium tent but it's not like your going to be camping in extreme conditions out in the wilderness.

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It's true the discount tents will not hold up as well as a premium tent but it's not like your going to be camping in extreme conditions out in the wilderness.

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While that statement is true, as far as it goes, there is a reason to get metal poles for the tent, rather than fiberglass or plastic of some sort. We've encountered winds there (usually during a storm) that almost laid our REI tent (with metal poles) flat, but it bounced back up as soon as the wind eased off. That same wind caused a lot of other tents around to lay flat, too, but many of those had the fiberglass poles that broke while laid down.

Also, the better tents will have a well designed rain fly that helps keep the inside dry, while a lot of the inexpensive ones, if they have a fly at all, have one that is poorly designed, letting water in during high winds/heavy rains. So yes, you might get a decent tent in the $100 range, but all too many folks seeing this discussion will think they can get by with a $20 Walmart special. Those work fine when conditions are mild, but they don't hold up at many OSH conventions, since the thunderstorms almost always visit sometime during that week. Of course if you want a new tent every year (perhaps more than one) and don't mind things in the tent getting wet a time or three during the week...

I have to say that I'm more in Tralika's camp (sorry...). I'm a bit mystified by the 'aluminum only' concept. I camped for years at OSH & SNF in dome tents for which I never paid more than around $60 (Admittedly, it has been a while), none of which had any aluminum except the fittings for the poles. On multiple occasions, the cheap tent weathered OSH storms that destroyed tents around me that cost multiple hundreds of $, and this was back in the 1990s & early 2000s. One year, we parked the RV4 at the end of a row next to the flight line, and during one of the storms that was destroying hi-$ tents, we lay in our sleeping bags as the wind gusts repeatedly pushed the tent down on top of us, but we never had a failure of tent material or fiberglass poles.

Back when they were available, I'd buy a tent with a nylon (basically the same fabric as the tent sides/top) floor. Not the glorified blue tarps that they use in inexpensive tents these days. The nylon was much more tolerant of sticks/stones; just forming around them instead of spanning them and getting holed. But even the blue tarp floored cheapies have worked well for me. Now, my camping frequency was typically a week at OSH, a week at SNF, and maybe a couple of nights a year on a canoe trip, so not a lot of wear and tear.

I'm also impressed by guys who can spend an airshow week in a body bag..uh, I mean, tiny tent. I always bought a dome tent that was big enough to at least crouch in, at almost standing posture. A '6 man' tent is *almost* big enough for two people (especially if one of them is a woman). I never found the bulk or weight penalty to be that bad, even in an RV4. Most of the tents I used weighed around 10-12 lbs. I think I went through maybe three tents in about 20 years of airshows, but the 1st one had about 10 years of canoe camping in it before the 1st OSH.

Just another opinion... :-)

Charlie

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Originally Posted by rv7charlie

I have to say that I'm more in Tralika's camp (sorry...). I'm a bit mystified by the 'aluminum only' concept. I camped for years at OSH & SNF in dome tents for which I never paid more than around $60 (Admittedly, it has been a while), none of which had any aluminum except the fittings for the poles.

Charlie

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I've seen fiberglass (or maybe plastic) tent poles shatter. They can't be repaired at that point. Aluminum poles usually kink instead of break. In an emergency, you can splice one with duct tape and a couple of popsicle sticks.

But I've seen a buncha flattened tents at Oshkosh, complete with wet, cold people who had nowhere else to spend the night. That's the worst possible outcome, so do what you can to avoid it.

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Originally Posted by Kyle Boatright

I've seen fiberglass (or maybe plastic) tent poles shatter. They can't be repaired at that point. Aluminum poles usually kink instead of break. In an emergency, you can splice one with duct tape and a couple of popsicle sticks.

But I've seen a buncha flattened tents at Oshkosh, complete with wet, cold people who had nowhere else to spend the night. That's the worst possible outcome, so do what you can to avoid it.

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Mother Nature is a mean, cruel, spiteful woman who takes no prisoners. About the only weather condition I've not experienced volunteering at AirVenture has been snow...…… and even then I pack a warm coat in the car - LOL ALWAYS expect at least one day's weather will be beyond brutal and you won't go wrong.

Being from the south, I never experienced sun poisoning until I went to A/V in 2011, yep, it got me, swollen lips and face, looked like I had been stung by a bee. In 2018 it got down right COLD for a day and night, but having been a Boy Scout for many years, I was prepared, long pants, long sleeved shirt, jacket and sleeping bag. And of course, it's gonna rain at some point so I carry a couple of disposable rain ponchos that I can fit in my pocket.
Bob "Yippee Ki-Yay"

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Originally Posted by CHICAGORANDY

About the only weather condition I've not experienced volunteering at AirVenture has been snow...……

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With the current state of climate change, you might not be able to say that sometime in your future.:>)

The other reaction at Airventure is that the grounds are treated with some chemical that many (such as me) are sensitive to and it is photoactivated. I showed up at the medical center many years ago with this terrible rash and the doctor said "You've been sitting on the grass directly, haven't you." They apparently see a bunch of it.

My "bivy tent" was $22 at Walmart.com. Weighs 3 pounds. I pack it up each day so it won't blow away. Works as a bivy sack if poles are not used for whatever reason (paved ramp)
84" long. I prefer a private tent and if a friend ever travels with me I will get him one also.

Flying Ron, had never heard of this occurring, so a couple of questions......

Where did you sit directly on the grass? North 40, Camp Scholler, Antique Area, Flight Line, etc
Did they state it was a chemical reaction or from something else such as a vegetation?
If chemical, did they tell you what it was?

If the county or EAA are treating the grounds sure would like to know what from an exposure stand point. I don’t don’t get a reaction when sitting on the grass but sure don’t like the black field ants.

Flightline area in Vintage primarily. No, he didn't say what it was, but I was given to believe it was something sprayed either during or after the field is "hayed" before the show. He did say it was photoactivated. I still have scars on one hand from it. I always use a chair now.

Know what you mean. Three summers ago I got tagged by some wild yellow parsnip while cleaning up some brush on my property just NW of KOSH. It too is photo activated and developed some really nasty blisters. Still have scars on my forearms.