A-Camping We Will Go…
There’s no doubt that our high-speed, high-tech life can be stressful and unnerving. This is especially true in urban areas, where constant traffic, light pollution, billboards blocking the view, road rage, etc. threaten to wear your nerves down to a nub. You long for those precious few weeks a year – particularly in the summer – where you can enjoy a breeze whistling through the woods, sitting next to a campfire, and being a few feet away from a placid body of water. When those weeks come, your first thought is, “where can I find family campsites near me?”
A camping trip can be a fun and bonding family experience that can be the soothing reprieve that you need from busy and daunting work and home schedules. Before the question, “where can I find family campsites near me?” can be answered, you will need to make sure you take every precaution against the elements and bring everything you need: plenty of food, sunscreen, bug spray, appropriate clothing, hats or visors, and most importantly of all, a sturdy and comfortable tent.
For a camping trip, your tent is your home, and you want it to have reasonable comforts without having to worry about it collapsing, leaking, or yielding to swarms of mosquitoes. As any wise consumers know, no two tents are built – and sold – the same. There are a few key features that make some tents superior, and worth paying attention to because selecting the wrong tent for the climate or size of your family can result in the spoiling of your precious vacation time – even if you’ve found the best campsites near me to camp at. To prevent catastrophes, here are some features of the best tents to keep in mind before you head off:
1) Sturdy Poles.
Just like your home needs to be well-founded and framed to be sturdy against the elements, so too does your tent need to be supported by the best poles. One of the questions you should ask yourself is, “are the family campsites near me close to water, prone to wind, or will it rain?” Even if elements aren’t an immediate concern, a sudden rain burst can come out of nowhere, bringing with it unpleasant winds that will beat hard against an unattended tent. So, where it is possible, favor aluminum tent poles for increased strength and durability over fiberglass or carbon composite poles.
2) Good, Sizable Zippers.
A sturdy, heavily constituted zipper can make a lot of difference in the long run. Tents aren’t disposable, and most people who do camp make a point to do it often, especially when they’ve found the best campsites near me, so you want to make sure that your tent is a well-made piece of equipment built to last. This means you should pay close attention to your zippers since they are among the most vulnerable components of your tent. You want a zipper or a double-zipper that can open on both sides, preferably with larger teeth – made by YKK. These will last longer, and the parts are easier to replace.
3) Reinforced Stitching.
When it all comes down to it, tents are just sheets of material stitched together, so if you’re concerned your favorite “family campsites near me” might be in for a soaking, make sure you won’t get any leaks by paying attention to the seams and their stitching. You want to make sure the seam stitching is at least four layers thick – that’s both pieces of material doubled over and stitched – and that all stress points (such as grommets) are reinforced, preferably with an additional supporting piece of material, such as webbing. Even if you take great care of your tent, it will not survive any more than a few trips if the seams are inadequate.
4) The Rainfly.
A rainfly is the waterproof outer layer of a two-layer tent (the inner being the tent body, where you sleep) that is pitched over the inner layer. Many tents do not come with a rainfly, but if you can get one that does, or buy it separately, it can save you a huge headache. A rainfly is designed to keep battering winds, rain, and snow from beating against the tent body while the best campsite near me is dealing with some potentially unfavorable weather.
Conclusion.
Now that you’re set up and raring to go, you can easily answer the question, “where can I find family campsites near me?” and if you’re in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the instant answer should be Burleson, Texas, home of North Texas Jellystone Park™ where you will find vacation cabins, RV rentals, RV and tent sites, and much more. Contact us for more details.
