Gear

Camping Gear - Part II

Ok, so you've made it through my previous page; Camping Gear Part I and still have enough money to acquire some more, what I consider mandatory, items, GREAT! Well read on happy campers...

The Water Filter

First, you can't make it very far without fresh water. There are several options here, boiling, chemical tablets and my favorite; the water filter. We are currently using the MSR Miniworks EX Microfilter, which works wonderfully, we really like this water filter. Simply attach your large MSR Dromlite bag and spend a quiet few solitary minutes relaxing at the stream, and presto, you've got fresh clean water!

The Kitchen

Here is our kitchen in the woods. The red canister is a typical 8 oz. fuel canister (typical weight 12.7 oz.) that powers the tiny Coleman F1 Ultralight stove (weight 2.7 oz.!!!). This system works very nice for us. Again, there are as many opinions as there are campers, but this really works good for us and we have no plans to replace it. I always scratch in the dates used and location on the outside of the painted canisters, and as you can see, this canister has provided food for us on our first trip to the Appalachian Trail 9/20/08 (notice my attempt at inscribing the 'AT' symbol)

The stove unscrews from the canister and collapses down small enough to fit in the little bag there. It is very tiny considering its function, we are very impressed with the little guy. Also pictured is our Titanium cooking pot. We did a lot of research on this one, since we had such rigid requirements for our cooking pot. We decided on the Evernew Slick Non-stick Titanium 1.3L Pot from REI. A nice feature to this pot is the small pouring "spout" build into the inside of the pan. It really helps when pouring boiling hot water into the freeze-dried bags, prevents (most) mishaps. The built in contoured handles collapse to the sides of the pan which means, no seperate handles to worry about.

That pretty much wraps up the kitchen, with the exception of a few long-handled Titanium sporks, the dehydrated food bags, lighter, matches (backup) and some plastic nestable cups for drinking. Don't forget hot dogs for the evening campfire! We take the unbeatable Smith's Hot Dogs (grown locally) frozen right from the freezer and pack them. That way they stay fresh longer. Probably doesn't matter, but it seems like it does.

The Comfort

It took us exactly one backpacking trip to realize that one just needs to sit with bent legs after a long hike. Lying down is one thing, but it really feels good to bend the knees while sitting. I suppose the hardy out there would simply use a log, but these lightweight stools (23 oz.) from CampTime (Roll-A-Stool) really are handy and they support up to 250 lbs. Especially useful when pumping fresh clean water down by the river (let's see those guys carry their log down there! :^).

More Comfort

Camping just wouldn't be camping without a hammock! Although it seems the kids use them 95% of the time, these hammocks from ENO are the latest addition to our arsenal. These are very lightweight and pack down to the size of a softball in it's own self contained pouch. We are considering adding a hammock built for overnight as I want to try sleeping in the hammock to see if that is more comfortable than a tent.

We do use air mattresses, and although fairly nice (better than hard ground) but they usually leak a little overnight. Although this could be a sign for us to start losing weight ;-) We are currently using Big Agnes 20" x 70" x 2.5" inflatable. When it doesn't leak it's a really good night. They include a small patch kit, we just need to patch the one, if it is patchable. We've had them for at least three years, I don't know what the expected lifetime is, but feel we definitely got our moneys worth regardless. The pads out there are just too bulky for our taste, and not thick enough for our comfort. But a lot of people must like them, I see them all over the place.

A few parting shots

I hope you've enjoyed the information on this site, and hopefully it will be of assistance to the new camper. Please check back often as I will be adding more content as the revelations come to me ;^) I'd like to leave you with a few parting shots from a recent trip, these bring back fantastic memories that will last a lifetime. We try very hard to make every trip a family trip. Thank you for visiting and have a fantastic day!

Coming soon - Memorial Day Weekend 2009 Camping Pictures!

They're HERE!

Remember, Leave No Trace, Pack Out What You Pack In, Leave Only Footprints, Don't Tread On Me, FULLY Extinguish All Fires Before Departure, Don't Take Wooden Nickels, Don't Pee Into The Wind :^)