re: FDCC
It's a great time to do just what you're talking about. I take out my "battle gear" and wear it through the day and on the different courses of fire. I've used the meets to learn that a number of pieces of my gear are not suited to me for one reason or another.
As far as camping goes, as I stated on the Survival thread, the meets are at Osceola forest and myself and a few others have camped there from time to time...nights before the meets usually works pretty well!
Stephen