Camping and Backpacking

 

Tents:

 

We have 4 different options for tents. They are all great as long as they are used for their intended purposes. ORP DOES NOT CARRY ANY 4 SEASON TENTS. Please do not use any of our tents in heavy snow conditions as they will not hold the weight of snow.

 

Coleman Sundome 6

 

Cost:

day: $4

weekend: $8

week: $15

 

This is our biggest tent option for the number of people it can house. As it says in the name, the Coleman Sundome sleeps up to 6 people. It is a great tent for car camping under moderate weather conditions. We would not recommend this tent for a backpacking trip due to its weight and the lack of ability to withstand severe weather conditions.

 

Pros - Our biggest tent | Easy setup | Cheap rental cost

 

Cons - Not great under severe weather conditions | Heavy for backpacking

 

Our recommendation:

This tent should be used exclusively for car camping. Under most PNW weather conditions, this will be more than adequate on campgrounds. Great for when you are expecting a large group of people.

 

REI Camp Dome 4

 

Cost:

day: $ 7

weekend: $10

week: $15

 

This 4 person tent is great for car camping, and while not ideal, you could also use this for short backpacking trips. This is extremely easy to set up and will do great under most weather conditions in the PNW, particular on the campgrounds where you are decently shielded. However, if you have 4 people, this will be a little tight as it doesn’t have a vestibule system.

 

Pros - Simple design | easy set up | Great ventilation

 

Cons -  No vestibule | Not designed to withstand high wind/rain

 

Recommendation:

This tent is great for car camping. You could also use this tent for backpacking, but you would want to make sure you have less than 3 people. Without the vestibule, it would be hard to put 4 people in this tent and all the gear.  

 

REI Half Dome 4

 

Cost:

day: $7

weekend: $10

week: $15

 

This is our 4 person tent that is bomb proof. As long as you stake down all corners and sides, and use the guy lines to keep the rainfly taut and off of your tent, you will be protected from wind and rain. The vestibule allows you to store things outside of your tent for more space, and the ridge bar creates more height in the tent all around. However, this tent is slightly more expensive to rent, and the set up for this tent is slightly more challenging.

 

Pros - Great design for 3 season weather | Vestibule for more room | Great vertical room

 

Cons - Slightly higher rental cost | Complicated set up

 

Recommendation:

If you are car camping, borrow a Camp Dome 4, and save a few dollars and headache of figuring out how to set up this tent. If you are backpacking with 3+ people, take this tent with you. It will keep you protected from the elements.

 

REI Half Dome 2

 

Cost:

day:$4

weekend: $6

week: $10

 

Everything about Half Dome 4 also applies to this tent. The only difference is how many people this tent sleeps.

 

Sleep System

 

Sleep system refers to a set of gear that enables you to sleep in the outdoors with reasonable comfort and warmth. There are two aspects to consider for your sleep system, which are your platform and cover. The platform refers to the gear you sleep on, typically a sleeping pad, cot, air mattress, or hammock. The cover refers to what you put over your body to keep warm. The sleeping bag is the most common, but depending on the situation and/or preference, people take blankets or elephant’s footbag,

 

Therm-a-Rest Z- Light Sleeping pad

 

Cost:

day: $2

weekend: $3

week: $5

 

This is a lightweight sleeping pad with a huge upside for warmth. It is a closed cell pad with heat reflective surface…. In short, this is the best pad for warmth. If you are winter camping, this pad is a must. Plus, this is made of foam, so you’ll never have to worry about air leaking or malfunctioning valve. However, it will not provide the comfort of air pads.

 

Pros - Best performance under cold conditions | Simple design| Light | Virtually no chance of failing

 

Cons - Doesn’t offer a lot of comfort | Bulky

 

Recommendation:

If you expect to sleep on snow or ice, take this with you. While some of our other pads are rated high enough to handle snow and ice, this pad will never leak air or fail you when you need it the most. You can put an air pad on top of this for added comfort.   

 

REI Trekker

 

Cost:

day: $3

weekend: $4

week: $6

 

This is a self-inflating sleeping pad that offers a lot of warmth and comfort. The R-value is at 5.6 (R-value ranges from 1-9.5, and R-Value of 5.6 should be ok in the -4 F weather assuming you have a good enough sleeping bag to go with it). This sleeping pad should be more than ok in every weather condition in Washington, even on snow. The only downside is that it is not a small packing pad. We recommend this for car camping or short backpacking trips.

 

Pros - Warm | Comfortable

 

Cons - Bulky | On the heavy side of pads

 

Recommendations:

Take it on car camping situations. We have smaller pads for your backpacking adventures.

 

Rei Lite Core

 

Cost:

day: $3

weekend: $4

week: $6

 

This is a self-inflating sleeping pad that offers comfort and pack-ability. The R value on this is 3.2, which is still adequate for below-freezing temperatures. (again, this assumes you have a good sleeping bag). This pad offers comfort, warmth, and pack-ability. We would recommend this for both car camping and backpacking trips.

 

Pros - Warm | Comfortable | Packable

 

Cons - Much smaller than the Trekker, but still not the smallest for backpacking purposes

 

Recommendations:

This is a versatile pad for any use outside. Take it on car camping or backpacking. You won’t be disappointed.  

 

REI AirRail

 

Cost:

day: $4

weekend: $5

week: $7

 

This is a self-inflating sleeping pad that offers comfort and packability. The R-value is 4.2, which is more than enough for below freezing temperatures. This is probably our best sleeping pad for everything. It has a “rail” design to keep you on the pad. The R rating is higher than the Lite Core, yet it isn't much bigger.

 

Pros - Warm | Comfortable | Packable | Great design to keep you on the pad

 

Cons - Higher rental cost

 

Recommendations:

This is a versatile pad for any use outside. Take it on car camping or backpacking. You won’t be disappointed.  

 

Sleeping bags

 

Most of our sleeping bags are versatile enough to be used for backpacking and car camping. When looking at our sleeping bags, consider the temperature rating, insulation, and pack-ability.

 

• Temperature - The temperature rating is set for survival, not comfort. For example, our Cats Meow bag is rated at 20 degrees. You are most likely to survive 20-degree weather with this bag, but you will be absolutely miserable. In a 20 degree bag, you won’t be comfortable/warm until the temperature reaches about 35-40 degrees.
   

• Insulation -  Generally speaking, sleeping bags are either filled with a synthetic material or down. The synthetic bags are cheap, warm, and great under wet conditions. The drawbacks are that they are heavy and bulky. Down bags are warm, light, and packable. However, they are expensive and not great under wet conditions.  
   

• Packability - This is one where we could give you the packed dimensions/weight, or just tell you “bruh, don’t take this on a backpacking trip, it’s too big”

 

Northface Cats Meow

 

Cost:

day: $5

weekend: $6

week: $10 

 

Temperature rating: 20 degrees | Synthetic | 

Recommendation: Great for car camping. You could take this on a backpacking trip, but not ideal. Ask for our Marmot Trestle if you are backpacking.

 

REI Polar Pod 25

 

Cost:

day: $5 

weekend: $6

week: $10

 

Temperature rating: 25 | Synthetic | 

Recommendation: Great for car camping. Ok to backpack with, but not ideal. Ask for our Marmot Trestle if you are backpacking.

 

REI Polar Pod 10

 

Cost:

day: $5

weekend: $6 

week: $10

 

Temperature rating: 10 degrees | Synthetic |

The warmest bag that we offer, but the downside of this bag is that it's a little bit bigger while packing and heavy.

Recommendation: Only for car camping. This bag is huge however, you could snow camp with this if you plan to pull a sled/toboggan behind you.

 

Marmot Trestle

 

Cost:

day: $5

weekend: $6

week: $10

 

Temperature rating: 20 degrees | Synthetic |

one of our most preferred sleeping bag while backpacking. It is a light-weight, warm and a comfy bag for backpacking

Recommendation: Great option for backpacking. It packs small and light for a synthetic bag. PNW is mostly wet while SPU is in session, so this bag will be great.

 

REI Igneo

 

Cost:

day: $  6

weekend: $ 7

week: $ 11

 

Temperature rating: 17 degrees | Down |

This is one of the best sleeping bags that we offer, it is super light and awesome for multiple day backpacking trips

Recommendation: Great for backpacking in dry conditions. It is our only down bag option, and we don’t have many. Be warned, you will get a lot of questions from us before we lend this to you.

 

Snowshoes vs. Microspikes

 

Snow shoes Cost:

day: $6 

weekend: $8 

week: $15

 

The best way to think about snowshoes is that they are a flotation device. The wide surface area of snowshoes allows you to talk in the snow without sinking in, which helps you to preserve energy and time. All of our snowshoes are mountaineering snowshoes, so they have integrated crampons at the bottom, so they are good on hard snow as well. I’d say they are not great on ice, however. Snowshoes are big and clunky, so if you need traction on ice, opt for microspikes.

 

 

Micro spikes Cost:

day: $2

weekend:$4

week: $8

Microspikes are good to be thought of as a traction device. They help you to gain footing on ice or hard packed snow. They will not help you much on fluffy snow. They are light and packable, so there is no reason for you to leave them out of your pack when hiking in the winter time. If you suspect ice on your hike, they are a must.