My husband and I had a week free in August, and after much vacillation (Mexico? Florida? Maine?) we (I) decided to go to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Ok, great, decision made, destination chosen! Wait ... hotel rooms cost $300/night? SAY. WHAT.
All righty, how about this here "car camping" that I have heard people speak of. No, husband, I do not want to use your 10-year-old tent. If I'm gonna go car camping, I want some small luxuries, including not hauling gear from the San Francisco Bay Area to Wyoming.
Enter Google and "rent camping equipment" = Sunlight Sports. I placed an initial order, doubling up on tents because I had no idea what I was doing, and eventually had helpful conversations with the rental folks who (1) educated me (2) soothed me (3) freebied me with sleeping bag liners. I didn't know what that was, but I appreciated it.
We flew into Cody on a Saturday morning, got our rental car, and made our way to Sunlight Sports without GPS. It turned out to be not that hard when there is effectively one main road in town, and the store is on that main road.
I had rented 1 tent, 2 sleeping bags + 2 pads; we ended up buying (not renting) a stove, since my husband wanted to reuse it. (He thinks we are going car camping again. So cute. I kid; we had a really great time! But, after 6 days straight, I'm not jonesing to go again any time soon.)
I forget the name of the woman who helped us, but she was nice and patient and helped demo the tent set-up in the store, which was great. She also recommended those instant "meal in a bag, just add hot water" from Backpackers Pantry, but some were $6.50 and some were over $15, which caught us by surprise.
Our "TeaHouse" tent performed well overall ... well ... except for the last night, when it rained, and water leaked through one zipper, on to the floor, and part of my sleeping bag. That wasn't cool. We hoped that Sunlight would give us some kind of discount when we informed them, but although the guy made sympathetic noises, no dice.
They were friendly and competent otherwise, and I also really appreciated that they give 1-day leeway on either side of your rental period, allowing for a pick-up and drop-off cushion. I had started my reservation from Sunday but intended to pick up equipment on Saturday, and they were totally cool with that, which was a lifesaver. Check this before you rent, however.
Overall- renting good quality gear from friendly and knowledgeable people made our YELL/GRTE trip immeasurably better. My husband was nervous- he saw I was both optimistic and naive about car camping- but we had a great experience overall, and in no small part that was thanks to Sunlight Sports.
I'll edit this with our total spend for the rentals. read more