Camping with our Coleman lantern and other outdoor gear.

Believe it or not, our eight year old son Nathan has never been camping. This summer we made it a point to take him camping at least once before sending him back to his Mom’s. I am a big fan of Coleman camping gear and each year I make it a point to add at least one item to our camping gear.

The first step in going camping is to research a cool campground. Pitching a tent in the backyard is always fun, but the whole point of camping is to get away from home. Do you want to camp in the wilderness, close to a lake or maybe camping by the ocean is your thing.

With a break in the weather we ventured off to a nearby county park near Brandon, MN. We chose Chippewa Park, it is surrounded by corn fields on one side and Little Chippewa lake on the other. There are a total of 15 camping sites without electricity, a toilet facility, a storm shelter and 2 beaches.

By the time we arrived early Saturday afternoon, there were only 2 open spots left at Chippewa Campground. We pitched our three man tent at number 8 and headed to the beach. We’ve gone swimming at several different lakes this summer and the Little Chippewa proved to be the cleanest lake with the nicest beaches.

After working up an appetite we headed back to our camp site to get our camp equipment sorted out and to rustle up a snack.

We are lucky to own the following Coleman camping gear:

• Coleman 4 person tent
• Coleman air mattress with a Coleman pump
• Coleman sleeping bags
• Coleman stove
• Coleman light sticks
• and my latest acquisition a Coleman lantern.

The Coleman NorthStar propane lantern with Perfect Flow and InstaStart comes with a hard carry case and is one of the handiest things I’ve added to our camping gear in a while. It’s easy to ignite! There is no need to mess around with matches, it has an adjustable ignition and brightness knob. So Cool!

At it’s highest level you can illuminate an entire camp site area with the Coleman lantern.

We even joked about it being so bright that planes might mistake our site for a runway.  This lantern proved it’s worth during our first camping trip with Mark in Wisconsin earlier this spring. We arrived late at night and relied on this lantern very heavily.

It was a wonderful evening for camping, with good food, fun stories and a beautiful full moon.

Of course, no camping trip is complete without S’mores and all three of us ended up with sticky fingers. The only downfall was everyone being serenaded by the loud generator that the campers at site number three felt the need to bring with them so they could watch TV. Is that really necessary?

Find your must-have outdoor equipment

All in all Nathan enjoyed his first camping experience, and so did we.

What is your favorite camping gear and/or campsite? Please share it with us by leaving a comment below.