Mailing List Etiquette
Help w/ coordinating a camping trip?
I was thinking about planning and coordinating a camping trip for my birthday in December at Jonathan Dickenson State Park in Hobe Sound, FL. Some of the people I plan on inviting are not camping types so they may not have tents and sleeping bags. I want to know as me being the host of the this camping trip, would it be considered good etiquette for me to provide tents and sleeping bags for my guest that don’t have already? Also would mailing invitations be appropriate for the occasion w/ a list of the supplies that my guest should bring?
If you have the equipment to spare and don’t mind doing so then Go ahead and offer up your goods (I have lots of extra equipment for just this purpose, and for youth group trips)
It is not considered manditory for you to do so though. If they accept the invitation, then it is up to them to find the gear they will need.
That said, if they are not camping types, you need to make sure they have an idea of what it is they need, as they might say yes then show up unprepared and tax everyones supplies.
With the invites you could even send out a sign up sheet for gear, and folks with extra gear can put that on one side of the list and folks who are with out can put what they need on the other side. I would only do this if I knew the people quite well.
Make sure on the invite that you get the idea accross that you are able and willing to help them problem solve if they need a hand.
A list is always a great idea, and even those people that regularly camp might pick up a thing or two from the list.
You might also ask (depending on how well you know the people you are inviting) if anyone going has equipment they would be willing to share. I would only do this if it were a fairly tight knit group of people, family or a close church group.
Another option.. some REI stores rent equipment! The nice thing about this is that the wear and tear on your extra equipment is avoided. It has been a long time, but I do remember the prices as quite reasonable.
www.rei.com
go to the store locator and find the nearest location. You will want to reserve your eqipment plenty far ahead of time.
Ask around….some church groups have equipment for loan, and other local outdoors stores might have rentals available too.
Good luck
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