Hi everyone

I'm a European student planning to hike some of the GR 131 trail across the Canary Islands this January, specifically Lanzarote-Fuerteventura-Gran Canária-Tenerife. From what I've read, wild camping isn’t officially allowed on the islands, but it seems to be somewhat tolerated if you follow Leave-No-Trace principles, such as setting up camp late and leaving early.

I’m hoping to minimize any legal issues, so I’m wondering if anyone here has experience with this. Are there any permits I need to obtain, or tips for ensuring I stay out of trouble while camping along the trail? Unfortunately, I can’t afford a few weeks on the islands without using a tent, so I’m trying to find the best way to approach this responsibly.

Hey all, Im a bit decision-paralyzed and cant pick a campground I want to gisit for a few nights in Outer Banks, NC. This is my first solo trip camping so I am leaning towards a more casual experience, but I dont mind doing some roughing-it-out... I will be taking a V2L EV with me. There is sufficient fast charging nearby.

It will just be for 2-3 nights with my telescope, and some hiking or long walks with an audiobook. Might stop into some local towns if i get bored though I doubt I will. But my main focus is finding a dark sky of bortle 3 or lower so I can see the Milky way and mess with my telescope at night.

Also, are mosquitos a big issue at most of the campgrounds here? I keep seeing people complaining about bugs in reviews. Is it any worse than what people usually experience on campgrounds?

Ive been eyeing:

• Cedar Creek,
• Oregon Inlet Campground,
• Jurniman's,
• Cedar Island Ranch
• Frisco Woods Campground
• Cape Hatteras KOA
• Hatteras Sands Campground

If anyone knows which of these would suit my needs best, or has better locations in OBX please let me know. Thanks!

Trying to organize a TENT camping trip for 2nd or 3rd week in October of 2025, looking on suggestions of where to camp in NY/NJ/PA, within 4-5 hours of NYC, the closer the better.

Personally I can go live in a field, in the dead of winter, NY/PA, alone and be fine but that's not the case with the ppl who are coming.

Multiple ppl, multiple camping styles, most are experienced but spring/summer campers/RVers, few of us are all season campers/hunters, others are newbies/glampers but want to "rough it a little" lol.

The more experienced tent/cold weather ppl will buddy up with the less experienced, and handle the tents/heating/cooking for the group.

I need suggestions for a tent campground that is open to the 2nd-3rd week of October, clean, has bathrooms/showers, place to get ice/firewood. Great scenery to hike, everyone loves lakes

We did something similar with a group years back at Fahnestock State Park in NY , but their tent sites are awful, The ppl who run it were lovely and moved all of us to a back empty spot, we luckily all had bathroom set ups of our own but they cannot guarantee that spot will ever be available so I can't chance it there.

Any suggestions or help would be great.

Went on a hike today in upper New Jersey and 4-5 hours after I got home I felt a tickle by my abdomen and picked up a tick when going in for an itch. The deer tick looking critter was still crawling on my finger so I'm assuming he hadn't found a place to settle yet but he had made a small red dot mark on the site which I was able to squeeze blood out of, so definitely a puncture there. Am I screwed or will I be probably be fine? Wondering if a doctor trip is necessary

Hi, Im posting this message here to see if by a slight chance there is a group or simply someone elses who plans on hikking the 5-9 days dusky track in the fjordland region of new zealand in the coming weeks that I could join. Im fully prepared for that (beacon, good tramping gear etc...), but my main problem is that Im alone (always done hikes alone so far) but its not recommended for this track because of safety reasons as its really remote and isolated, and its less likely to find random hikers on it. Also to plan the boat trip start, also I have fot a vehicule to get to the start. Its maintained by the department of conservation tho with hutts, even if its rather early in the season and may be even rainier than usual In any case I would really love to do it as I cant do it later, its now or never for me (even if this will likely mean waist height mud). And also because its basicly impossible to do the milford track, and the others arent as satisfying. I know I could have done it earlier sure, but my trip to new zealand was a bit improvised as I just got 3 month of vacations at the last minute in mid season. Or if anyone knows a communauty or reliable forum etc... I take anything; by advance thanks.

I live in Dominican Republic and do outdoor adventure trips to hidden spots around the country that I found, right now it’s mostly culture and mild adventure for tourists.

I’m just getting back from a multi day trip of camping/hiking/spearing/scuba and it’s a super cool trip. I want to sell this trip but don’t really know how to connect with people that would want something like this and willing to pay the thousands of dollars that it costs to do it. So here are my questions:

For those of you who pay for an experience of hiking and camping, how do you find your guide/trip etc?

Do you generally travel somewhere just for a 3-5 day trip or is it more like you’re looking around your own area?

What do you expect when you do a guided hike/camp? What level of comfort? How much do you expect the guide to have, vs you yourself.

For the guides here, how do you find clients? How do you do your marketing?

Looking for any and all perspectives so thanks in advance to anyone the contributes!

Here you can find it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did: link

In the case there is a fleece blanket, sometimes I wear a field jacket there. I carry this aluminum bottle more often in my belt pouch than on my backpack. Irkutsk region

Hello!

I am in the market for a 0 degree down sleeping bag. I have a 20 degree one (Marmot trestles elite eco 20 womens) that I've used for the past 5-6 years and love but now that I'm getting into more fall/winter camping and backpacking, I've spent enough frigid nights that I'm ready to invest in a warmer down bag (the bag I have is synthetic).

For me, my main desires are the following:

• rated around 0 degrees
• down filling
• less than $700
• packs down small enough that I can backpack with it

For context, I am a geologist and I often take students on trips to various locations around California, most recent was Death Valley. Even though I'm not doing any crazy alpine mountaineering (yet?) I'm still getting quite cold -- the 20 degree bag didn't keep me nearly warm enough in the high 30/low 40 nights in DV (I also kind of run cold in general). I tried a sleeping bag liner (Sea to Summit Reactor Thermolite) and didn't like it/was still cold.

I was looking at the Mountain Hardwear Bishop Pass 0 sleeping bag and the Sea to Summit Spark 0F down sleeping bag since they both have good reviews on REI (and are on sale!). Does anyone have any recommendations? Is getting a gore-tex bag worth the extra $$$?

Thank you ! :)

I recently brought myself an Alpha sv jacket (Goretex pro) and it's been a couple weeks of wearing it in NON wet conditions and today I left the house in light rain and my jacket of choice was the Alpha sv, after about 5-10 minutes of walking I noticed that the jacket had already started "wetting out" in places, keeping in mind this is the first wear in any kind of rain. Should this happen this early into the jackets life knowing it's only been worn less then a handful of times ?

My brother and I are hiking the Outer Mountain loop in Big Bend National Park this December. We both have some experience doing backpack camping trips before but this is both of our first multi-day trips. (more than 3 days) Any advice you all have for the loop in December? Expected temperature, packing list, and strategies to complete the loop?

Thanks!

I am looking to get a more backpacking-friendly sleeping bag (and perhaps pad if i am annoyed by my current one) but almost everything that I am looking for as far as temp rating is still quite a big packed size.

I have a car camping mat similar to a mondo king that I don't mind attaching to my pack and taking it a short distance, but that plus a big synth bag rated for -18C is approaching "too much" The pad has a pretty good warmth (3 inches foam core situation) as well. I sleep cold even on a lot of summer nights so I use the mondo then as well.

So, lets get to the meat of the question. Do sleeping pads and bags stack their warmth (assuming I am wearing appropriate sleeping layers etc? or is the comfort rating the best it will be at the listed temp WITH a sleeping pad.

I appreciate any articles or links you may have on the subject.

This thread is part of an attempt by the moderators to create a series of weekly/monthly repeating posts to help aggregate certain kinds of content into single threads.

​

If you have any 'noob' questions, feel free to ask them here. Please also remember to visit this thread even if you consider yourself a 'professional' so that you can help others!

​

Check out our wiki for common questions. 'getting started', 'gear', and other pages are valuable for anyone looking for more information. https://www.reddit.com/r/CampingandHiking/wiki/index/

​

Note that this thread will be posted every Monday of the week and will run throughout the day. If you would like to provide feedback or suggest another idea for a thread, please message the moderators.

My husband and I want to get into backpacking/camping… HOWEVER…… we each went camping 1-2 times as young children. We don’t know how to get started. There’s been a few times where we spent the day hiking, but we have never camped on our own. We are open to any suggestions, YouTubers to watch, must have gear, what kinds of places are beginner friendly (like RV parks??), etc. How did you as an individual get started on camping/hiking? What are some things you wish you knew sooner? That kind of thing :)

We have hiking boots and hiking backpacks, a water filter, and some battery powered lanterns, but that’s about it! We are located in the central US if there’s any site recommendations. Eventually, we would love to travel to many (if not all) the national parks in the US.

TIA!

Anyone have any recommendations for the best four seasons/ winter sleeping bags? Looking to upgrade my current one. Cheers Edit: looking at winter hiking around the UK, including northern Scotland. So needs to be decent up to about -10 degrees C.

TL;DR: I washed two expensive down jackets (Montbell) together with 200ml Nikwax Down Wash and 150ml Nikwax Down Proof using a Siemens outdoor gear cycle. They came out covered in white hydrophobic residue and smell awful. Ran 3 rinse cycles and hand-rinsed for 30 minutes—nothing worked. Machine drum is also coated in residue and reeks. Currently running a 90°C empty wash to clean the drum. Stressed because I have an exam tomorrow and no time to fix everything. What did I do wrong, and how do I save my jackets and machine? 😭

Hey everyone, I’m in desperate need of advice. I washed two of my expensive down jackets (Montbell Plasma 1000 and EX Light Anorak) and something went terribly wrong. Now I’m scared I’ve ruined both the jackets AND my washing machine. Here’s everything I did:

Washing Setup: I have a Siemens washing machine with an outdoor gear setting (https://www.siemens-home.bsh-group.com/ae/inspiration/innovation/highlights/outdoor), so I used that. According to the bottles, each jacket needs 150ml of down proofing and 100ml of down detergent, both Nikwax. The bottles clearly state you should do one jacket at a time. Big mistake I made, I know. Clearly my fault.

Initial Problem: After washing, both jackets came out covered in white residue that feels hydrophobic and smells terrible. The entire washing machine drum was coated in the same residue, and it reeks of a weird synthetic smell.

Attempts to Fix It: I ran 3 rinse cycles in the washing machine (extra water and 600-800 RPM), but the jackets were still covered in residue. I tried rinsing by hand for about 30 minutes on one jacket, but it still smells bad and feels sticky. The washing machine is currently running a 90°C hot wash cycle (2 hours, EMPTY) to clean itself. I’m hoping this removes the residue from the drum.

Current Situation: I feel super overwhelmed. I have an important exam tomorrow and I’m stressed out because I’ve spent hours rinsing these jackets with no success. I don’t want to ruin them by leaving soap in, but I also need to study. The jackets are just sitting there wet while I try to figure out what to do next.

I’m so fucking upset because now I’m scared my jackets will be ruined, and also the washing machine might smell terrible and it’s all my fault. And if I don’t want the jackets to be ruined then I have to rinse them by hand to get the soap out, but I’ve been doing that with one jacket for like 30 minutes and there’s still soap or whatever on it and it still smells weird. I also have to study for the exam tomorrow and I don’t have time. I’m literally crying in because I feel so stressed for the exam, so dumb and upset about the ruining the jackets, and overwhelmed because I need to study but I don’t want to leave the jackets to rot with soap because I didn’t rinse them. What should I do. Like there's still like 40 minutes left in the washing machine for the super hot wash, so I could wait until that's done and then rinse them in the washing machine, but will that even work because I tried that like 3 times already and it didn't work at all. 

Has anyone dealt with this before? Will rinsing them in the washing machine again after the 90°C cycle work? What should I do if the residue and smell won’t go away? Any advice would be greatly appreciated—I’m at my wits' end. 😭

https://preview.redd.it/qtufctxoii1e1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62e001b4ce1d1f8bdd08d926f1146b74a177d954

https://preview.redd.it/2lxgasxoii1e1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a33fa4ceb65c26663e4caac33e046fc9c4e8f961

https://preview.redd.it/oxofhtxoii1e1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a50eb9ca49b50a7f657c5c4ebaed31f87f2db5c4

I am going to be going shopping and trying on boots. I do have rhuematoid arthritis and live in rainy state. I went hiking this past weekend and the trail had a lot of rocks and the bottoms of my feet were killing me, (I had on waterproof trail altras) What have you tried or what would recommend trying?

Hi, i was told earlier today that there was a website (personal i think) based on locations which tells you the type of gear you will need to hike under different weather conditions and time of year. mot very descriptive i know, but if anyone knows of such a site, that would be Ace Cheers

https://preview.redd.it/2csw20nhdh1e1.png?width=1151&format=png&auto=webp&s=19aef57c5118fdf99a189080685ee34492d2af90

Is this Jacket warm for winter ? someone has used it?

Hi, I'm walking the West Highland Way in Scotland next year, and I'm a bit lost on what tent to get. I need one that's pretty light (max 2.5kg, if possible under 2), resists to heavy rain, but also pretty affordable (~350€). I intend on using it on other backpacking trips after that one. Also, I'd prefer a 2P so i can put my bag in it
i read great things about the Marmot Tungsten, Vango Banshee, MSR hubba hubba and others, but i feel like every time i see a comment from someone who didn't like it i get scared that it's not good.

Do you have any recommendations ?

I need some help picking a camping trip for Christmas, I usually do day camping in break neck ridge and was wondering if there are any overnight camping sites in nyc that offer something similar to that but also allow fire. I’m very used to the wilderness but I’m f to along two city boys so I want them to have fun but not be in to much danger so less animals would be good

I was in Croatia last summer and thinking to go camping in Bosnia and Herzegovina next year.

Any recommendations and tips?

When you are looking for new gear, are there any specific influencers or people that you usually turn to for advice?

Hello, My wife and I are planning a trip to Seattle, WA the week of Thanksgiving and were hoping to hike the skyline loop trail. We understand there is a lot of snow already, and we plan on having chains and snow boots. Both my wife and I are in good shape and love hiking and wanted to do a snowy hike on a mountian. We recently did the chasm lake hike in Colorado this past July and are looking for something a little more challenging. Is this a good option for us?

Hello, in April me and my girlfriend are planning on going on a 5-7 day trip in the U.S. and want to drive somewhere that has some beautiful sceneries and mountains. I live in Wisconsin so we were planning on only driving up to 15 hours so ideally somewhere in the east coast. We were thinking maybe somewhere around the Appalachian Mountains but I’m not familiar at all with that area so was wondering if anyone knew of any cool mountain hiking towns and trails you would suggest. Let me know!!!

I'd get the most comfortable sleep pad and bring my blanket and pillows from home.

I'd also bring a cast iron pan - will make most things taste better, and something about campfire and cast iron seems right.

I'd also bring my own water - some mountain water tastes good but some I can't really handle the taste of.

Parkas or ultra light down jackets often have a noisy trash bag sound that irks me. Also I have a need to have a warm sweater indoors and I’m on the hunt for a sweater that isn’t waterproof / wind resistant / needed for rain. Just a down-filled sweater or zip up that I can wear indoors in a cold environment. I’m looking for the exterior to be cotton or corduroy or even polyester. Would looove the interior lining to be cotton. Does this exist? I’ve tried searching for down sweaters and I can’t find anything.

Bottom image is the general look I’m going for. The top is the noisy style i’m trying to avoid