Amanda L
Ok, for all you seasoned beach campers out there...
I am planning a camping trip for Mustang Island which is north of the Padres in Texas.
I need to know the items I will need to pack (I don't own a single camping item yet) any tips for a fun, non-hectic time, and the know-how on starting a campfire (we attempted one on V-Day and it was a success 4 hours and a bottle of charcoal fluid later).
Any advice and helpful hints would be AMAZING!
THANKS!
Answer
Beach camping is different from other types of camping. Pitching a tent in the sand is difficult. Beside all the normal gear (tent, sleeping bag, clothes, food, etc):
1. Bring LONG tent stakes - 12 inches or more to use in sand
2. Be prepared for a constant wind on or off shore. Pitch your tent with one corner into the wind. Otherwise your tent will lean under the onslaught
3. Plan on finding sand in everything - shoes, crotch, sleeping bag, food, auto, etc
4. You MUST have a wind break for any cooking fire or stove. The wind makes it difficult to keep a stove lit and blows your heat away from the pans and grills.
5. Sunblock - lot of it and reapply regularly and often
6. Watch out for auto/truck traffic. Don't camp your campsite in the middle of the beach. You'll get run over in the middle of the night.
Beach camping is different from other types of camping. Pitching a tent in the sand is difficult. Beside all the normal gear (tent, sleeping bag, clothes, food, etc):
1. Bring LONG tent stakes - 12 inches or more to use in sand
2. Be prepared for a constant wind on or off shore. Pitch your tent with one corner into the wind. Otherwise your tent will lean under the onslaught
3. Plan on finding sand in everything - shoes, crotch, sleeping bag, food, auto, etc
4. You MUST have a wind break for any cooking fire or stove. The wind makes it difficult to keep a stove lit and blows your heat away from the pans and grills.
5. Sunblock - lot of it and reapply regularly and often
6. Watch out for auto/truck traffic. Don't camp your campsite in the middle of the beach. You'll get run over in the middle of the night.
Where can I buy extra long tent stakes for beach camping?
Glenn Beck
Some friends and I are camping at on the beach this summer. Every guide I've read about beach camping says that we must get extra long stakes because of the sand. I'm having a hard time finding these - does anyone know a good store to buy them at, or what terminology I should use to search for them online?
Thanks!
Answer
You need curved or v section pegs, not the straight rod type unless they are very long ....and then you find a rock buried eight inches down just where you're knocking the peg in. Beaches do that deliberate..
If you can find some pegs with a saw-tooth edge, even better.
You can get thick plastic ones like that or straight-edged, quite cheaply, or wide alloy pegs fairly cheap or stainless steel, even titanium...very expensive for those..
Wide pegs can be shorter than thin ones and then you get still more grip in the sand without having to go very deep.
Another trick is to put heavy rocks over the pegs. Bang or push the pegs right in to the sand so they're flush,and use big hopefully flattish rocks so they don't tip or roll, to put some weight on them. Same on snow. Pile some rocks over the pegs and build a bank of snow along the sides and back of the tent for better stability. Some tents have snow valances for doing that...very handy.
You can also use boulders to tie onto, scooping sand out from the base to get low. Sometimes handy for one peg at least to get a good fix in one corner and use the boulder for shelter or privacy. Put the cord through the peg loop and right round the boulder, then tighten up and tie it off. Put the sand over again and you've got a low fixing without using a peg.
Of course sands vary like soils vary. On the west coast of Denmark we drove a convoy of big Army trucks right along the beach for twenty miles on the hard sand ....as good as a road.
Even cycling on it on holiday later was a dream....not hard going at all..
Normal pegs were fine in it too.
Here are some sand and snow stakes...a lot of companies make similar ones.
http://www.buachaille.com/p1852-2-66/Tent-Accessories/Cotswold-Snow-or-Sand-Stake-Alloy.html . . . . . .
You need curved or v section pegs, not the straight rod type unless they are very long ....and then you find a rock buried eight inches down just where you're knocking the peg in. Beaches do that deliberate..
If you can find some pegs with a saw-tooth edge, even better.
You can get thick plastic ones like that or straight-edged, quite cheaply, or wide alloy pegs fairly cheap or stainless steel, even titanium...very expensive for those..
Wide pegs can be shorter than thin ones and then you get still more grip in the sand without having to go very deep.
Another trick is to put heavy rocks over the pegs. Bang or push the pegs right in to the sand so they're flush,and use big hopefully flattish rocks so they don't tip or roll, to put some weight on them. Same on snow. Pile some rocks over the pegs and build a bank of snow along the sides and back of the tent for better stability. Some tents have snow valances for doing that...very handy.
You can also use boulders to tie onto, scooping sand out from the base to get low. Sometimes handy for one peg at least to get a good fix in one corner and use the boulder for shelter or privacy. Put the cord through the peg loop and right round the boulder, then tighten up and tie it off. Put the sand over again and you've got a low fixing without using a peg.
Of course sands vary like soils vary. On the west coast of Denmark we drove a convoy of big Army trucks right along the beach for twenty miles on the hard sand ....as good as a road.
Even cycling on it on holiday later was a dream....not hard going at all..
Normal pegs were fine in it too.
Here are some sand and snow stakes...a lot of companies make similar ones.
http://www.buachaille.com/p1852-2-66/Tent-Accessories/Cotswold-Snow-or-Sand-Stake-Alloy.html . . . . . .
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Title Post: Camping on the beach?
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Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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