When I was a young fella, learning the ropes of camping, my mates and I used to go camping with nothing more than a small tarp each, a poxy yoga mat and a cheapo sleeping bag. It was often pouring rain, freezing cold and howling with wind. So many times I woke up in the middle of the night to a soaking wet sleeping bag and the tarp torn to shreds. It absolutely sucked and while looking back on it now is kind of funny and I guess it was character building. The reason we roughed it like this was because buying good quality camping gear like camping swags just wasn’t an option on the apprentice wages we were on.

That was not until 4wd Supacentre and Adventure Kings came along and changed the game forever. A good quality Canvas Swag used to cost in excess of $400 – $500. Which again was well over a weeks worth of wages and when you’re trying to save up and buy your first 4wd, so you don’t have to keep borrowing the old man’s one, every dollar counts!

I still remember the day I got my first ever canvas camping swag like it was yesterday. My old man scored a bargain at a 4wd show and bought it for me for my 18^th birthday. I was so excited to use it that I had barely got it out of the cardboard box before I was getting the garden hose ready to season it.

Ever since that day, I have been a camping swag fanatic!

Here are a few of my favourite things about camping in a swag which I reckon anyone who grew up camping under a tarp like I did would definitely agree with.

Quick to setup

With the amount of times I’ve set my camping swag up, I reckon I could do it blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back in under 3 minuets. That’s not just me tooting my own horn here- that’s me telling you how quick and easy they are to set up. There are quite a few swags out there which have all these fancy pole systems and guy ropes etc, but I am a very simplistic camper and I prefer the dome swag style. 2 end poles and a centre spreader pole in the middle and a guy rope on either end. That is all there is to it which makes them incredibly easy to set up and pack down with absolutely no fuss.

One thing that makes setting up packing up your camping swag much quicker and easier is leaving your sleeping bag or sleeping bags inside of the swag and storing it inside of an oversized canvas swag bag. This means you can spend less time setting up camp an more time kicking back at camp.

Excellent protection against weather

No matter what the conditions might be- a Camping Swag is the perfect camping companion for just about anyone. The range of Adventure Kings Swags  feature high quality ripstop polycotton canvas which is 100% waterproof, meaning it’ll keep you bine dry even in the heaviest of downpours.

The floor on the swags are made from heavy duty PVC and believe it or not, our Big Daddy Deluxe Swag  is so waterproof it can actually float on water.

A Dome Swag like the Big Daddy Deluxe Swag or the Deluxe Single Swag both feature large, full sized canvas doors on both sides which can be fully opened and rolled up to reveal the high quality midge proof mesh which stops the bugs coming in, but allows the breeze to go through the camping swag. This makes it ideal for hot summer nights where the mozzies are biting and the breeze is nice and cool.

Spacious and comfortable
My Big Daddy Deluxe Swag has so much room inside I honestly feel just as comfortable in it than I do when I’m in my bed at home. We have literally fit a queen sized mattress inside of it just to prove how much space they offer. To give you a better idea of just how much room the Big Daddy Deluxe has- I am 6’8” with broad shoulders and weigh about 95kgs and I have still got plenty of room for my partner if we go away for a weekend. If I’m being completely honest, I reckon I sleep better out bush in a camping swag than I do in my bed at home.

On either end of my Big Daddy Deluxe Swag, there are large storm flaps which can be pegged out with guy ropes to allow the breeze to flow throughout the swag- minimising condensation and in turn keeping the inside of the canvas camping swag bone dry. This especially comes in hand for me considering I sleep with a fan on even in winter. 

Leave it in the garage or shed in between trips to save space
Another awesome thing about a camping swag  is the fact that you can store them just about anywhere after you have just come back from an epic weekend away. My swag is stored upright in my shed out the back, but I keep it on top of a pallet just in case of a decent amount of rain as my shed tents to get a little bit of water ingress after a downpour.

If you don’t have room in your garage or shed to store your swag, try folding it in half and then roll in up. It might be a bit tricky and you may need a mate to help you out because you are now rolling double the thickness, but doing this will allow you to take up half the space you would normally.