Camping considerations for the heavy / obese camper, gear for the coffee lover.

Part of the reason behind our working this Wildersport Outdoors thing, is to use our love for the outdoors and outdoor adventures to get out, and get more active. Basically sneak in workouts without them being drudgery. And we have found in past experience, when we go camping, our diet improves greatly, and our activity level goes way up.

We both love camping, however as larger people, we have some issues with regular camping gear that cause certain concerns / considerations.

Any of you that have shared an airbed with your sleeping partner knows what happens when one of you rolls over, or gets out of bed, and it isn't pretty. So we wanted separate beds that we could scoot together in a sort of makeshift amber king bed. So we went and grabbed a pair of Intex 18" raised twin air beds. Unfortunately one of us is over the 300lb weight rating on the bed. Now the queen size of this same bed is weight rated at 600lbs, and the materials and methods seem to be identical aside from the scale of the mattress itself. So honestly, we are going to wing it.

I am planning on packing the Therm A Rest camp rests with us, in case my air bed fails due to my weight, and hoping praying for the best.

Sleeping bags obviously can be a consideration. Coleman, Slumberjack, and others make King size sleeping bags, the extra room is well worth the extra money. There are so many options and temp ratings I can't really link here.

The Therm A Rest Camp rest self inflating pads we have are over 25 years old, and out of production now. Once we find a suitable replacement I will link them here for your convenience.

We do have an option that would take more packing space, and space in the tent, but we do have Stansport BigXL cots, and with the Therm A Rest they are actually decent to sleep on. Stansport no longer manufactures this model, but it looks like Teton sports makes a similar cot that I will link below.

Honestly I am hoping the airbed will hold up to my weight. 

Second issue is probably related, but I don't function well without coffee. Years ago, we bought a Coleman stove top drip coffee maker, which I love, but am always scared to take camping with me because of the glass carafe. Well, while perusing Coleman for parts and accessories, and double checking on Amazon, we found the Coleman Quick Pot Stainless Steel carafe. Basically a direct replacement carafe but in stainless steel instead of glass. SOLD! No chance ever of it breaking.

Now I know, I can use a percolator, and I do own a stainless steel Texport percolator. But have you ever tasted percolator brewed coffee? While it is certainly better than instant, it is far below my standards.

And the last upgrade / replacement we are going for in regards to camping gear is coffee related again. I have gotten a big taste for Hot mochas and cappuccino, Meaning coffee, sweetener, and frothed milk. Sadly our milk frother at home is glass, and VERY fragile glass at that. So instead we are going to go with a Stainless Steel, or Acrylic frother. I typically don't like anything plastic touching foods or drinks if they get hot, but in the case of the frother, the milk stays cold....

So with this stuff in the inventory, and ready to go, it is time to dig down the rest of the gear, I have a park in mind to camp at, with full, nice bathrooms, water, and power as well as a covered picnic table at the sites. So with that knowledge safely tucked away, time to sort out my lists, sort out the gear, and pack accordingly... 

Soon you will see some video from the trip we are prepping for, and will get video reviews of the gear in question. But until then... Get out there and find your own... road less traveled.