chefisaac

I have decided to dive into touring and will be using my mountain bike that I use for commuting. Its a sweet set up but still need some tweaks but will work on it soon.

*I apologize for all the questions. I know nothing much about touring and tend to do a lot of homework before diving in so I use this forum to learn a lot*.

I have some money to invest in touring and camping gear. I am interested in, for my first tour, a short tour that is not supported. Credit card touring is OK but we have to watch what we spend so there is not a lot of money to spend like a vacation per say. Also not interested in motels, etc at this point because of the cost.

So I wanted to see if I could do a self supported tour.

I would like opinions on tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads. It will just be me in the tent but my wife expressed the interest of camping sometime so I am thinking of a four person tent. I am a big guy as well. The important thing for my wife and I when camping is the tent needs to be waterproof. And we need to feel comfratable when sleeping.

Any recomendations on tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping mat?

Or any other advice??