Camping is an exciting and enjoyable experience, but have you ever done it in your car? That’s right folks, camping in your SUV is a great way to enjoy the outdoors and the open road without bringing a whole motorhome with you. You can buy tents for SUVS and all sorts of other gadgets to make your experience a truly memorable one.
Let’s face it though – most people don’t know a lot about camping with an SUV. That’s where we come in! Read on for our top tips for camping with your SUV!
Your Options
When it comes to camping with your SUV, you have two main options: you can either bring a tent with you and sleep in that, doing most of the rest of your activities from the car, or you can camp in your SUV. Pretty versatile, right?
An SUV tent will attach directly to your SUV, kind of like an awning for a caravan. They’re very spacious too, which is ideal for some fun lounging around in the shade on a summer’s day.
You can also camp in your car without a tent. You’ll have slightly less space to lounge, but you won’t need to carry quite so much in your car. It’ll just be you and the open air. Sleeping under the stars, anyone?
Get Your Gear Sorted
If you’re camping in your car, one thing is for sure: you need to have the right gear with you. This is true for camping in general. There are a few key things to take with you. For starters, if you’re going to be exploring the wilderness you should at least have some form of navigation. This could be something as simple as the GPS on your phone, or something more old school like a compass and a paper map.
You should also have some form of light, like a headlamp. If it’s electronic then you should also bring some additional batteries. In addition to this, you should bring a first aid kit, some additional food and water, and some more clothes in case you get wet or dirty.
Another gear you should always carry around is a two-way radio such as a compact citizens band radio (CB radio) for communication. Mobile phones are of no use in no-network areas, and their batteries don’t last long. A CB radio will come in handy during emergencies, especially because authorities do check Channel 9 on CB radio for communications in case of accidents, medical issues, and natural disasters.
Make Sure Your Electrical Items Are Charged
When you’re camping in your car it can sometimes be a little tricky to keep your electronics well charged. Of course, it’s possible to plug electronics into the car’s charging system, but you also don’t want to burn your car battery out. At the same time, it’s important to stay connected to the world if you can, and it’s also important to have your basic necessities with you.
So how can you keep your electrical items charged when you’re off the grid? The first thing to do is to invest in a portable solar panel, and then put it on your dashboard or your rood. You can also use a small portable power station, such as a Jackery Explorer 160, which can be charged with a solar panel, and then store the power and charge your devices. These are very popular with people camping or travelling by campervan. You can connect devices such as tablets and phones to it for easy charging whilst travelling. This way, you’ll still have your phone if an emergency situation occurs.
Bring Something Comfortable to Sleep On
When you’re doing things like hiking and you need to camp for a night, you usually need to keep your camping gear on your back so you’re limited in what gear you can bring with you. Thankfully, this is most certainly not the case with camping in your car. You can bring all of your most comfortable camping gear such as comfortable blankets and pillows. Make sure that you bring comfortable gear so that you can have a restful night’s sleep. You may also want to bring an air mattress so you aren’t sleeping on hard surfaces all night.
Crack a Window Open
One of the biggest issues with camping in your car is that the windows can start to steam up a lot because of your breathing. For this reason, you should try to open up the sunroof of your SUV a little so that you can keep the car well ventilated. To avoid pesky bugs making their way into your sleep fortress, you can buy some affordable mesh and just cut it a little bit bigger than the opening of the sunroof. In addition to this, if you’ve washed any clothes or if they’re wet, you should try to dry them out as much as you can before you go to sleep so that the moisture doesn’t seep into your car.
Conclusion
Camping in your SUV is a really fun and enjoyable way to experience the outdoors, but it isn’t without its challenges. Thankfully, by following the above tips, you can have a successful camping trip with your SUV!
