Camping College Style.

Although I have only been camping once in my life, I understand why people enjoy it. There’s nothing like the sense of peace that comes from a quiet night around a campfire with good friends. Fresh air, s’mores, and reminiscing about old times are a recipe for achieving serenity.

Finding a place to camp in the piney woods isn’t really a problem-Camp Tonkawa is right down the street from SFA. The bigger issue is costly equipment. Tents and other accessories can be very expensive, causing me to want to forget the idea of camping in the first place.

The one time I did go, it was with a friend whose parents are SERIOUS about camping and already had everything.

But there’s no way someone with no equipment and little outdoor knowledge could pull off a camping trip right? Wrong.

Campus Rec Outdoor Pursuits program has everything you need whether it’s rental equipment or even someone to talk to for suggestions. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and loves what they do.

I googled “rental camping equipment,” and it turns out OP offers their stuff for about half the price of other retailers.

For $4 on a weekday, and $10 on a weekend you can get a two-person tent with all parts included.

Now that money is out of the way, I’m wondering how on earth I’m going to figure out how to pitch a tent.

I went to seek out OP staff member, Wendy Whipkey, to find the answer.

The common phrase, “you learn something new every day” can get annoying but always rings true in my life. A good quality tent is actually simple to assemble. Yes you read me: SIMPLE.

“There’s probably not an easier tent,” said Whipkey.

Putting up an OP rental tent can be broken down into four steps:

1. Clear your campsite and lay down the “floorsaver” tarp.

2. Lay down the tent and line it up accordingly with the “floorsaver.”

3. Snap poles together and secure them in tent clips.

4. Place the ends of the poles into pins at the tent corners while lifting the tent.

Stake everything down for security, place the flysheet over the tent if it’s raining, and BAM! You’re done.

I put together a short video so you can visualize each of these steps.

If you’re looking for other fun campsites here are some recommendations from OP assistant director Michael Maningas: Davy Crocket National Forest on the way to Crocket, Martin Dies Jr. State Park in Jasper or Cattle Lake toward Marshal.

OP summer hours: Monday- Friday 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.

www.sfasu.edu/campusrec/outdoor

YOUR inside connection to Campus Rec- Steph