Camping products for the heavier among us...

Before anyone fusses, I know people are sensitive about this, if you haven't been reading my posts, I am very overweight, obese. And one of the big reasons I am into camping is that it is an activity that helps me lose weight, and keeps my head in the right space as it were.

However much camping gear most notably things that have to fit the camper, or support the camper, is not suited for larger people, and can easily break, or just doesn't fit...

Here is a short list of products I have personally used, and had good success with at my highest weight of 410lbs that I am down a bit from now, and still going!

Item #1. Shelter. Assuming you have a Pop up, you are golden, or are you? What about sanitary facilities? I use, and HIGHLY reccomend the Cabelas Deluxe shower shelter if you don't have a built in bathroom. The big thing for me is space, and strength to have something to grab onto and balance while I am washing things like feet, tailbone etc... Cabelas does not offer my model anymore, but the newer EZ set up model has the same amount of room, and is likewise very strong and person / wind resistant...

Item #1B. Assuming again no pop up, you need a tent. I don't have specific make and model recommendations other than to recommend features. They are as follows.
- Plenty of room to set up your bed(s), and not be into the side of the tent.
- Plenty of headroom.
- No, or at least absolutely minimum need to stoop. This is VERY hard on the back!
For this we have 2 tents, a Coleman Sundome 6 10x12 with a 6' 4" center height. I loaned this to a friend to take his wife and kids camping last year. I doubt we are getting it back. No problem though, This same friend used his airline miles to send me to my Dads funeral so happy to let him have it! My other tent is a Swiss Gear Appenzell 10x20 with a 6' 2" height in the side rooms, and a 6' 6" center section height. This tent has a couple of advantages, and a couple of disadvantages. The disadvantage is that it takes something like 8 poles to support it, and as it shipped from the factory, the seam sealing was horrible. I got rained on inside the tent during a particularly hard storm the first year we had it. Camp Dri used in excess fixed that...
The advantage of this particular tent is space. It has space to burn. It also has 2 doors, 1 on each side of the center section. And lastly, this tent has "Eyebrow Windows" which are large screened side windows angled outward in such a manner that it is a trivial matter to mate a small window unit AC to the tent and get / keep the bedroom area nice and cool.

Item #2. Bed. I have mentioned this in another thread. But I have some older cots, seems this model name was reused with different specs, but my model has a 500lb weight limit, and when topped with a 3 inch thick Therm A Rest, and a 6 inch thick cut to match memory foam mattress topper, this thing is pretty comfy, but bulky. No worries about failure at all. However you WILL get some sag in the middle your back may not like.

An alternative I have found is even though. the published weight limit of the Intex Double High Dura Beam twin airbed is listed at 300lbs, it is the same construction, and materials as the queen size, and my experience shows no failures with me at over 400lbs on it... Risks are pump failure, leaks, and you running into one that makes a liar out of me and flat out fails. Fallback plans are good.

Item #3. Camp Chairs. Most folding camp chairs simply put don't put up with a lot of weight. I have found a few that do... Most notably the Quick Shade "Quick Chair", specifically the model #150239 linked, which are not only very rugged, but also inexpensive at Amazon. They have a maximum weight rating of 500lbs, and are a bit on the tall side so getting in out is pretty easy. Another good one is the Bass Pro Shops Big Boy chair. Mine are old, and after a decade of abuse needed a couple of screws replaced with rivets due to rust, but other than that worked flawlessly. It looks like Cabelas might have bought out Bass Pro Shops as they now feature Cabelas chairs which are pretty good too with a rating of 400lbs...

 

That's exactly the sort of contributions to this discussion I was hoping for. Helping people out!

 

Left one out, and hugely important if facilities at the campground either are non existent, or just plain gross..

JAXPETY 5 Gallon 20L Flush Porta Potti. This one was recommended to me by a member here and has been a lifesaver. I need to note that MOST campground bathrooms aren't cleaned often, and, well... ewww.... I am not exactly squeamish, but for Pete's sake I don't want to see human waste all over the place! That private Privy tent and toilet go a long way to making me comfortable in camp....

The 440lb rating is considerable enough for most. And the price is certainly right. No leaks, no stinks, and noone else's waste on the seat, or the floor, or whatever...

And yes, heat has something to do with it, but just activity. I tend to walk around the campround taking photos of the trees, flowers, lake etc... we just, enjoy being outdoors and it makes us more active without trying...

Seriously Every time I go camping, 10 - 15lbs will drop off the week of the trip. We have been known to camp in parks close to cities we want to explore, and drive into town to explore to come back to camp at night. Sure beats a hotel!

Yes a Pop Up is a better solution, and one we are working toward, but for now, we have what we have...

With the milk crate you can use that as a table like you mentioned above And you can use it to keep your propane cylinder from rolling around in the back of a truck car whatever

 

More items to consider.

Should weight issues come with other issues, like Sleep Apnea, you will want power, clean power.

For me, I use an EverStart 1100 amp starter pack which will power my CPAP for about 3 days / 8hrs night without the humidifier, or 1 8hr night with before I need to recharge it.

To recharge off grid, I have a Harbor Freight Tailgator 900w max / 700w running 2 stroke generator. Not the best, but it works. Do NOT use this during what should be quiet hours...

 

That is a good reason why I didn't mention the Walmart chairs. I'm short legged, and even I find those chairs annoyingly low... The Quick Chair is at a fairly normal "chair height" for me at least which makes it much easier to get in and more importantly, out of.

 

Just to note for folks reviewing it, the Faulkner chair linked has a 300lb capacity.

 

And that chair has a 400lb weight rating. Awesome!

 

No worries, just updating info for folks. Bad back and hips are common, and weight issues tend to go hand in hand with that for many people which is why I list it...

They were listed above, if you like the idea of heavy duty milk crates, they can be a pain to obtain. It looks like Amazon has them out now...

A 2 pack is going for $9.99 now on Amazon.com, and can be used for carrying your stuff to camp so you aren't taking up much if any extra space.

 

I hadn't considered load in / load out, and I should have. Very good catch! Although not specifically for those of us that are overweight, with weight, back issues tend to be related. These really make the loading and unloading a lot easier!