Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

[renodesertfox]

What have you purchased that you don't use or haven't used nearly as much as you thought you would? And you found out that it really was a waste of your money and time? C'mon fess up! We're only human!

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

1) The Coleman rugged rechargeable latern that I bought last fall. It is dim and junk. Wont even make it make one camping trip. Wish I could return it, but I bought it at a Coleman factory clearance store that was in a temporary location.
2)The Intex extra high air matresses. I have bought more than 1 of these things and they all end up with holes in them. One got a hole the first night. I hate those things.
3)Cots. I picked some up to use when camping. I got two from Walmart and one Slumberjack. The two Walmart cot's got returned, the sumberjack used on one trip.
Probably more things that I will remember later.

[Joyous56]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

Coleman fluorescent lantern; should have known better. The light level was too low and one of the bulbs blew after one year, and the unit did not lend itself to replacing the bulb. Live and learn...but this is a great thread, provided others let us know about their 'mistakes'.

[tplife]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

Coughlan Camping toaster...this is a folding plate with fold-up wires that carry the bread at an angle over the stove burner. Great under IDEAL conditions, but horrific under real-life scenarios. Luckily I bought on clearance at a local Wal-Mart, so the loss wasn't significant. My daughters still rib me about it (as a tender memory), because of it's performance, so I guess that after all, it was worth a lot more than I paid for it.

[fantomas]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

3)Cots. I picked some up to use when camping. I got two from Walmart and one Slumberjack. The two Walmart cot's got returned, the sumberjack used on one trip.
Probably more things that I will remember later.

Whats the reason for not liking the cots?

[Mike]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

A BIG box of Band-aid bandages - all one size.

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

Whats the reason for not liking the cots?

They didn't seem stable enough. I move around a lot at night. Go from sleeping on my back to my side, back to my back, to the other side. Plus I had to have a self inflating pad under me to keep warm. Just seemed like a hassle, so I ditched the cot and went with the mat on the ground. I still move around, just not worried about tipping over. Plus worried about damaging the tent floor. I tried the tennis balls as well. Just didn't like it.

[GlitterHiker]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

My small Yeti cooler. (Well, I had won a gift certificate so this was essentially "free", but if I had bought it I would not be happy because they are so expensive.) The small one is essentially too small to be useful, even solo camping. Once I get an ice block or 2 in there, or bagged ice cubes, in sufficient quantity to keep food items cold, there is very little room for the food itself.

[actad]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

One of my very first camping purchases was a closeout aluminum roll up table from Camping World. It got great reviews. The top is aluminum slats and the table structure folds up so it all fits in a tube type bag - kind of like the Coleman camping chairs. It is a beautiful color and is lightweight. I thought I would have one multipurpose table for outside and it seemed a wonderful buy at half price.

One of the aluminum slats got a ding in it the first day. The slats are spaced just a tad too wide and allow stuff to fall through. It is an awkward height - too low for a person standing to use, too tall for a person to sit to use. It is a bear to close up since two of the legs fold one way and two fold another way and it is not an intuitive process (two legs fold down, and two legs fold in and it has to be done in the right order). It became entertainment value as I would get frustrated and just throw the whole thing in the rig and fold up once I got home.

[DxAxN]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

I bought a propane lantern over 10 years ago...its still in the box. I take it with me and never end up needing it

[adkRoy]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

Coughlin magnesium and flint fire starter. THe magnesium is a pain to "shave" and the flint needs to be bigger to produce better sparks.

[Joyous56]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

Dang. I just bought one of those fire starter thingies.

[terasec]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

for the mag fire starters
recently someone posted video comparing chinese mag starters to US made starters,
basically the chinese made starters were junk,
if your going to buy mag firestarters dont try to save a buck by buying chinese ones

[adkRoy]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

I just bought this firestarter as a back up to matches and a lighter:

http://www.basspro.com/Light-My-Fire...product/97534/

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Camp Gear: Useless & A Waste of Money?

Camp pie irons?!
Bought em last year and the grrlies would have nothing to do with 'em.
Gonna try one more time and see if I can make 'em more enticing with homemade pop tarts.
Otherwise CL here they go.