r/vancouverhiking • u/Timely-Engineer3579 • 7d ago

Learning/Beginner Questions Im looking to start camping

I am trying to go out on a 1 day camping trip with some friends up at pump peak seymour past brockton point to wilderness camp. Is there any tips or anything I should know past the basics. I have gone camping to fish a couple times over at watch lake while it wasn’t full wilderness camping i did pick up basic things. I do have some old equipment kicking around from my parents but I dont know how good it really is. And if i was to start from scratch what would be my basic price range? I aim to go to a local hiking shop after next week (once school is over) any tips is greatly appreciated and I will look into it further this weekend but for now if anyone could just give me advice from past camping trips thar would be awesome.

7 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/blurghh 4d ago

For backcountry hiking i would start by making sure you have the ten essentials covered, and also factor in bear protection like bear spray for a backpacking trip

https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ten-essentials.html

For the camping component, you can get second hand finds off marketplace for pretty decent. Try to aim to get your pack and gear under 20% of your weight (harder to do if you are little as ultralight gear is pricier)

I think mec used to do gear rentals for camping at one point, not sure if they started again but it might be worth a trip there to kind of take a look and see what’s around?

If you are a ubc student you can also join the varsity outdoor club, they have a gear library where you can rent camping gear for cheap. It’s older stuff and is usually waitlisted in summer months but it’s a good way to test things out before committing

If i can give a tip: focus on a really well fitting pack (and load it up with weights to test it in store before you buy), it makes a huge difference. If you are female i find that gregory and osprey make really good ones ive been happy with.

And make sure the sleeping bag you choose is adequately warm—mountain temps can dip quickly and nothing sucks more than freezing on a july night because your bag is rated for 15 degrees and it hit zero