New to Car Camping

[perrito]

I've been to a bunch of group hangs now and after seeing what others haul to these outings, I want to start purchasing my own stuff. I've got a 2 night outing planned for September to introduce some family members (2 teen boys, 2 young adults and on other old man) to camping out. I hope for it to be a nice guys weekend hanging out.

I bought a nice Camp Chef 2-burner stove this weekend as my first big purchase. I plan to get a Cabela's cast-iron starter set soon too. I'm also eyeing a 18x24 tarp from Home Depot and wanted to ask:

Is there a specific type of rope that works best for setting up one of these big tarps? Is there a rope type I definitely should avoid? Is, say, 30 feet for each tie-out a good length? Recommended knots?

At a recent outing, njredneck had a cool "chuck box". It looks like this one, not sure. I think the idea is pretty cool. Gotta make me one.

All car-camping suggestions and pointers welcome.

[Nodust]

The 10'x10' or 12'x12' pop up canopies are tough to beat. You can find them fairly cheap at Academy or any box store.

Have things for the kids to do. Fishing, day hikes, etc... We always bring cards.

Have fun.

[Zilla]

REI has a nice 2 burner stove on sale in the rei outlet for just under 60 bucks, its does not have legs, it's the tabletop kind but more portable and will take up less room, as you start to aquire things room will become very limited

[MAD777]

I had to laugh at your thread title because I've been a backpacker or paddler all my life. In my 50's I stumbled upon HammockForums and attended my first group hang (in Texas) which was a car camp.

I showed up with a small backpack, dehydrated food, a Pepsi can alky stove and solo titanium pot. I felt like I was on Mars! I had NEVER car camped and couldn't believe the food that these people were preparing. I can still taste that cherry cobbler!

Many hangs later, I've purchased a Dutch oven (ultralite anodized aluminum, of course), a small bag of self light charcoal and a box of matches. Oh, a folding chair and a cooler in the car. But I will never get the hang of car camping: There's just too much STUFF to keep track of.

Even so, I'm always looking forward to the next hang because of the awesomeness of the people!

[rexberger]

Hi there,
A good rope would be paracord or Zing it http://dutchwaregear/tarp-and-quilt-stuff/ this stuff is great. As for knots a truckers hitch or getting a figure 9, or some dutch clips work great. Avoid thick heavy rope from places like home depot and stuff like that it just isn't necessary. Hope you have a good trip.

Rex