I feel like in Australia it would be horrible. I want to go tarp camping but scared about the bugs that would crawl on me

I recently moved to Sydney from overseas and have been loving the outdoor lifestyle here! As far as I know, there are a lot more things to look out for in the Australian bush compared with where I am from. I know ants, spiders and snakes are some of the big ones.

What tips do you have for newbies like us to stay safe while camping in summer?

More leaning towards the multi day hiker/campers but open for anyone! What’s the one bit of outdoor kit that you’ve bought that you’ve been constantly impressed with or has been very useful for multiple trips? Tech, clothing, lighting, tools, chair?! As someone that’s always looking for new kit I’d love to hear them. Cheers.

I don't necessarily want to subject myself to a long drive if I'm going camping / walking, but I want to go somewhere different, as I spend quite a bit of time in the Blue Mountains due to its proximity to me.

Therefore, what are some good outdoors places accessible by public transport in NSW (and not just around Sydney) aside from the Blue Mountains. I'm interested in both day trips and weekends away

Hi everyone,

Looking to take two little lads gold panning and camping in the not too distant future. Been looking at Diggings Campground on the Turon River and have three questions for anyone that is familiar.

My primary question is whether this campground is easily accessible by an AWD, and what would be the easiest path in?

Second question - is this place suitable for kids, will they be able to play in the river (and they will if they can, regardless of the temperature) and not get washed away.

Third and final - for those who have panned or looked for gemstones in the area, are we likely to find any colour? Doesn't need to be nuggets, just alluvial and pretty rocks is fine.

Thanks all!

G'day everyone,

I'm trying to find a hand pump tap attachment for a 20L water drum. This is the closest thing I could find so far but am wondering if anyone has found something cheaper?

Thanks!

We are mostly overnight hikers, so have used lightweight tents. We have an 18 month old who we want to take car camping, and hopefully more kids along the way.

We're looking for a 6 to 10P tent that will come with us as the kids grow. We have a 2WD van. And we're looking for a 3 season tent.

We recently tried the Naturehike Kota 8 (we have the Cloudup 3 from overnight hiking days), and it didn't seem like a good fit. For starters the mesh got torn up very easily, and we don't think it would survive young kids, and it leaked overnight. Apart from that the sloped entrances made opening and closing zippers pretty hard. However on the flip side it has something like 15 square metres internally which was fantastic, and it only weight 8.5 kg. And it was less than $400 which seems like a bargain in this category of tent.

So it was definitely on the right track. Is there a high quality, light (if possible) tent of roughly the same size that you'd recommend for Australian conditions?

Hi everyone, I’m starting to prep and gather my gear for the overland track in November.
On the safety checklist it specifies the sleeping bag to have a minimum temperature rating of -10C.
When completing the checklist there, do the staff actually check?
Also if my sleeping bag is rated -1C but has an extreme temp rating of -11C would that count?
🙏Thankyou for any pointers.

Any recommendations on how to put a rooftop tent on a JetSki trailer? Anywhere sells a rack I can buy? Preferably WA

Hey all, looking into getting into camping in Aus/Queensland and wondering if a 4x4 is really necessary? Can you still get away with 4x2 for some good camping spots chill with open fire for overnight weekend stays?

Hi everyone,

Wanting to do an overnight hike in Victoria at some point in September, and are leaning towards Cathedral Ranges as we've not been to that area much before. If people have alternative suggestions please let me know (happy to do a 2 nighter as well).

But back to the cathedral ranges... We're thinking of doing the ridgeline circuit. Seen a lot of things saying it can be done in a day, or split into 2 days with an overnight stay at the Farmyard campground. We're happy to take our time and do it as an overnighter.

A few questions:

1) how long will day 1 take you from the start point (Cooks Mill) to the Farmyard camp ground? We are thinking of driving up, staying one night at Cooks Mill, then starting the hike the next day. Is that almost too much time to just get to the Farmyard? Could we drive up from Melbourne and get to the Farmyard comfortably all in one day?

2) Seen a few things about the scrambling aspect to get to the ridge. How hard is this gonna be with a bag containing overnight gear? Both our fitness is sound and we have good hiking experience.

3) Would a backpack be able to fit through the narrow rock gap found on the Wells Cave track? Or is the canyon track better for bigger bags?

Any experiences or insights into the hike and area would be amazing.

Cheers!

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Specs:

• D2 steel, professionally heat treated

• 80 mm blade (175 mm overall)

• Acid-etched stonewashed finish

• Rock-textured G10 handles

• Thin, slicey geometry

• Custom Kydex sheath with UltiClip

If you've got any questions, send me a message.

I was looking at an Australian brands lightweight 1 person tent, then by coincidence stumbled on a UK brand with the exact same design:

https://altongoods.com/products/lightweight-tent-1p

https://otimos.co.uk/product/otimos-x-lite-nomad-solo-lightweight-1-person-camping-tent/

Is it common for different brands to sell the same designs?

Hi everyone, I'm a high school student without a job at the moment but I love the outdoors and would love to buy a van and travel the country after I graduate (probably after a few years of working to save up) and was wondering if there's things that I should start doing now to prepare apart from saving? I know I want to build it myself but I'm also not sure what van I want or the kind of setup that would work best for me and input would be helpful.

Questions:

• First steps? I want to get started in this process fairly soon after high school so I'd like to to as much prep as possible now
• Good camping spots in a van here in Aus that are dog-friendly?
• What should I know about living with dogs in a van?
• I'm not sure if I want to do this for a couple years then go to uni etc (I do quite decent in school with mostly A's or B's and am interesting in medicine among other things) and use the van part-time or more long-term and get a remote/seasonal job. What are the pros and cons of each?

Any help or advice on anything is much appreciated thought I'm particularly looking for prep I can do right now without a van and where I should travel to <3

Edit: To the people telling me not to get a dog: I recognise that it isnt a commitment to be taken lightly but it’s also something I’d quite like to do. i love dogs and will only get one if it’s the right fit for the both of us so please don’t comment on it unless you have constructive feedback/advice.

Hey Legend, I am from Perth and currently in the market for a reputable second hand daily driver under 16k AUD. The primarily purpose of the car will be running around town for work during the week but it needs to be capable on a weekend trip to the coast for a few days camping - including gravel tracks, bush sites and soft beach sand (like, Lancelin, Wedge Island, anywhere south) My dilemma is between the two established platforms - - Suzuki Grand Vitara (2012-2015, 2.4L Petrol 4WD), or - Nissan X-Trail (2008-2013 T31, Petrol or 2.0L Diesel) Long-term reliability, cheap to run, and good resale in WA. Cheers, your local m8

Gday guys, just picked up a new TJM camp chair but it unfortunately didn’t come with one of the most important functions of a camp chair, a cup holder. Just wondering if anyone has found an aftermarket option to fit? Cheers!

Has anybody bought either of these? They keep popping up as ads and because I’ve paused on them once, they never go away. Looking due to the compactness and light weight. Would love to hear opinions or comments on flimsiness or quality?

Good afternoon.

I'm new to camping, have literally no gear nor do I have the right type of vehicle to get my bush bashing - any one have tips on starter gear and equipment for basic camping?

Looking to get started for myself (31m) and my son (2.5yrs old) so we can start spending some quality time together.

Located in Queensland in the Moreton Bay region

Hey guys, I'm thinking of solo climbing Feathertop on my birthday which is near late September. I recently just summited Bogong & Kosciuszko with my friend in late July & early August and he taught me basic mountaineering skills, I also have crampons and an ice axe. However I no longer have my helmet as my friend borrowed it for his South America trip.

So I was wondering what the conditions would be like around near late September, will it still be icy and snowy or would it have mainly dried up by then? And will I need my mountaineering equipment, and have to buy a new helmet? (not sure if I want to spend an extra $150 on a one off occasion)

My plan is to ascend via the Bungalow Spur then finish the hike via the Razorback. I don't plan to do any "hard" mountaineer stuff, I'm just planning to follow the usual route up.

Any advice would be great, thanks!

Thinking about going camping with a few others at Mount Banks in the next couple months. Are there any flat areas on Mount Banks that are suitable for setting up a tent? Any advice about the trip would be helpful as well. We will be leaving no trace. Thanks

So, I'll put the story below, but here's the summary.

Family of 4, mum (me) outdoorsy person, multiday overnight hikes back in the day, dabbled with DIY gear, married to dad who prefers indoors and even better own bed. Two kids 6&4 who love camping. He's a sweetheart and indulges me even though it's not really his thing. We have some events coming up where we need to camp.

Need: simple camping set up (that's ours!). Sleeps us all together off the ground. Fast to set up. Vehicle is aging Holden Commodore 07, so needs to be lightweight. As budget as possible - hoping around the 5k mark. Would be nice: standing room, kids in separate space to parents but still inside.

Crazy idea: roof top tent and trailer??

What we've done before:

Pre kids we've swagged up the centre to the top end with friends. We have also done kids inside the house (one in a porta cot) with us outside in a swag when visiting friends. Now I want us all together.

We were given a huge tent that has 3 rooms + Annex, standing room and room for the kids, but it's huge, takes up a lot of space both on the ground and in the boot. Long and complex set up and pack up.

Borrowed a camping trailer. It's possible it is a badly loaded dud trailer but the car really struggled to tow it. Not an option for the 3 hour + trip we have coming up. Faster to set up, but the Annex wasn't fun to set up and didn't like having one kid outside on the ground. Felt heavy and cluttered. But hubby loved having a real bed.

Found the Kerfton. Looks amazing, but well and truly out of budget - but ticks all the other boxes except maybe towable by the Commodore. Other camper trailers are still expensive and potentially too heavy?

Then I joked if we are taking the tent we need to get a trailer for it. What if roof top tent on trailer? We can control the weight (we don't need a fancy pull out kitchen, plumbed water or epic lighting), put our gear in tubs and have the tent popped up in minutes, and be off the ground. A con would be it would be a bit squishy for all four of us. Can find a 4 person roof top for about 3 grand and about the same for a trailer.

But in researching it I feel like it's not quite landing and hence I'm coming to Reddit to see if I'm totally off base or if it's worth pursuing.

I've seen a few trailers online with 2 person RTTs. The two biggest but not too expensive (and not sold out) 4 person tents seem to be the Canyon 4 person and the Darche Basecamp. The Darche is absolutely massive but seems to be a bit more complicated to set up and take down, but the Canyon (a hardshell) is 2.1*1.9 and I measured it out on the living room floor and it seems a little small.

The aim is to avoid complications of annexes, being able to get away for even an overnighter.

Has anyone put two 2person RTTs on a trailer ? Am I just diying a worse version of a camper trailer? We have DIY skills and friends. So I'm not worried about the technical feasibility but if it's worth doing at all.

I've accepted it will need to be a 7*5 trailer not a 6*4.

I feel like this has been swirling in my head for weeks, hope this post isn't too unhinged. Please help 😂.

Me and some friends are planning a 2D1N hike of Feathertop in September. Completed the AAWT this year so I’m comfortable in alpine conditions during Spring/summer/Autumn. Wanted to get some advice on gear/advice we might need if still snowy conditions so close to the end of winter?

My husband is just getting into camping and I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for a good birthday gift for him? He seems to have all the right tent and kitchen accessories. He needs clothes for cold wet weather ie Merino wool gloves, socks, thermals. He likes hiking and running.

Any I better to get him a voucher than guess the beat thing myself? If so, which stores have the best range?

Thank you!

Update - I got him a PLB. thanks for all your tips! it's also father's Day soon, so there are heaps of great ideas for presents. ☺️

Hi everyone,

Looking to do a several day trip starting at Harrietville moving up to Mt Feathertop and then making my way down to Mt Mckay and then on to Falls Creek or just going back the way I came back to Harrietville. I have experience in hiking and navigation due to work, so not to concerned about overall fitness or essential gear, but this is the first multi day trip I'm doing outside of it so if there's any equipment you recommend specifically for this trip would love to hear it.

I'm trying to plan the route at the moment that I'll take and saw that there is a track between the two mountains on the high country, but was wondering if it is possible to pretty much just B-Line it from Feathertop to Mckay passing just by Jaithmathang or is that terrain not suitable and/ or not allowed to camp out in those areas all together.