Camping and Backpacking

[Bosman]

For the best sleep ever while camping

http://hennessyhammock.com/catalog/specs/ultralite_backpacker_asym_classic/

check it out, they have lots of diff stylz.

Let me know what u think.

[col_forbin]

I really want a hammock. gonna have to get one eventually.

 

I sleep in one of these when I tent, and I love it.

 

I go to a lot of music festivals, and the only complaint is that when the sun comes up it gets toasty in there RIGHT quick and you either have to wake up and start drinking or peel the rain fly off and sleep in a screen house (neither of which are bad options!). I love the double vestibule setup (makes a lot of room!), it has great internal pockets for stuff, easy setup, nice and light, small rollup, roomy as f***- so all good things!

 

Edited February 11, 2012 by col_forbin

[Bosman]

I have a North Face 3 man tent that fits two and backpacks nicely but honestly once i slept in a hammock like mine and with such a light load to carry it changed everything from a comfort standpoint. Its nothing like those rope hammocks your neighbor had that were difficult to get on or needed a blanket on it to make it comfy. The tricky part is as far as music festivals go it just wouldnt work but for backpacking and camping trees are usually easy to come across.

 

I really want a hammock. gonna have to get one eventually.

 

I sleep in one of these when I tent, and I love it.

 

I go to a lot of music festivals, and the only complaint is that when the sun comes up it gets toasty in there RIGHT quick and you either have to wake up and start drinking or peel the rain fly off and sleep in a screen house (neither of which are bad options!). I love the double vestibule setup (makes a lot of room!), it has great internal pockets for stuff, easy setup, nice and light, small rollup, roomy as f***- so all good things!

 

Maybe you could tarp over your tent to kill the light and heat flooding in or poss a space blanket attached to your roof

 

This is the backpack brand i use. Go light and you will travel with ease and comfort.

http://www.ula-equipment.com/

[WeetBix KiD]

These are a must have for camping! Camping Aussie style. We have all those nasty creepy crawlies....I think we have the most venomous snakes and insects..

 

.http://www.kulkyne.com/au/Swags/

[Bosman]

These are a must have for camping! Camping Aussie style. We have all those nasty creepy crawlies....I think we have the most venomous snakes and insects..

 

.http://www.kulkyne.com/au/Swags/

 

I like some of those items on the Aussie site. I like the tent cot too. The thing is the Swags look like they would be bulky and heavy to carry on a hike, however i cant tell from the technical data what the pack size is and the total weight of poles, bags, & mattress & tent. For camping where you can pull your car up to a camp site they would work, but at that point you might as wel have a large tent.

For issues with insects the hammock concept works so well i rarely have a bug in there with me unless it was on me when i got inside. When the rain comes i am always high and dry, it could flood under me and i would still be golden. Sommer nights get hot and only the hammock concept brings relief because there is mesh from one side to the other and as air blows beneath you it takes excess heat off you. I usually start the night off with nothing under me and just a light bag on top of me in my hammock, then middle of the night i get inside the bag because i have cooled off. The reason for this is usually because i just left a campfire i was still warm from.

Another thing i like is the hammock snake skins, basically they are like socks for your hammock or a bag to protect your hammock when you pack it. They are made of sinylon and slide out of the way when you set up and when you pack up the hammock its still tied to the tree so you simply slide the snakeskins from each end so they meet in the middle and whala, your hammock is not completely encased in a tube made out of the same material as a stuff sace so it keeps it clean and dry. It basically rocks!

[Thoracic]

Seems like a cool idea for ultralight camping. I just go with regular items but only what you need so my packs are never very heavy. What kind of stove do you use? I need to replace my old one, I've heard a lot of positive comments about JetBoil but I've typically preferred stoves lower to the ground and not so top heavy.

[Bosman]

Seems like a cool idea for ultralight camping. I just go with regular items but only what you need so my packs are never very heavy. What kind of stove do you use? I need to replace my old one, I've heard a lot of positive comments about JetBoil but I've typically preferred stoves lower to the ground and not so top heavy.

i dont use stoves much unless i am cooking with a few people then i use a markhill titanium stove head with a piezo sparker so i dont have to get a lighter out. that brand no longer exists but its pretty much exactly like this one

http://www.snowpeak.com/stoves/backpacking/litemax-titanium-stove-gst-120.html

Snow peak has the best stuff for backpacking cooking. The canisters and the pots all fit into each other and take up very little room in your pack as well as very little weight.

I use a alcohol stove or campfire most the time. I made a stove out of aluminum bottles but this guy makes some of the best around

https://www.minibulldesign.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=2

 

here is a good site for ultralight backpacking and a link to a convo about stoves

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=291

 

here is a good link to all the topics about backpacking

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/index.html

 

here are a few good sites to get backpacking gear from

http://www.antigravitygear.com/

http://www.backcountrygear.com/

http://www.prolitegear.com/site/index.html

http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/

http://www.ultralightdesigns.com/index.html

 

here is a comprehensive list of gear companies

http://www.backpacking.net/companys.html

 

 

Oh and this stove looks like its the Sh**.

http://www.backcountry.com/msr-reactor-stove

MSR combined their fast-boiling stove with a high-efficiency pot to give you a windproof, fuel-efficient stove system. The Reactor Stove boils one liter of water in under three minutes, so you can enjoy a quick, hot cup of tea in the morning before your ascent. MSR's heat exchanger encloses the radiant burner, providing super-efficient fuel burn, and the Reactor Stove's internal regulator puts out a consistent flame throughout the life of the canister and regardless of gusty winds. The 1.7-liter pot's lid and handle lock in place, and the fuel canister (sold separately) and stove fit inside. *Fuel and fuel bottles sold separately.

[Thoracic]

Thanks for the ideas, I'll skip the alcohol and new 'clean' type stoves even though they are an interesting idea. I agree the MSR does look good, have to see if you can actually cook on it, seems like most stoves are meant to only boil water and not allow a pan to simmer. Backcountrystore is a good company used them before.

[rolf]

Let's start easy, where do you hike, for how long (days) what (and weight) do you carry?

 

I hike around with approximately 15~18kg, which includes water for the day and food up to 8 days. But let's be honest:

~2kg tent (Northface tadpole 23) (can be ~1)

~1kg sleeping bag (can not be much less)

~1kg sleeping mat (can be less, but that really is less comfort)

~2kg evening dinner (can not be less)

~2kg breakfast/lunch (can not be less)

~2.5kg water (can and will not be less, unless continues water supplies guaranteed to be available, which is never)

~2kg backpack (empty, can be less if I carry less)

~1kg clothing (shorts: 1 per day, t-shirt: 1 after washing + 1 for switching every day, socks: 1 for switching every day + 1 backup, will not be less)

And then you get a lot of additional stuff like rain clothing, entertainment (book...), flashlight, gsm, maps, camera, cooking stuff, toothbrush, etc which gets you quite easy to the 15kg.

 

I've seen many people on ultra light weight backpacking, but many of those don't encounter the problem of more than a 3 day hike, hot meals, spare clothing, etc. And ofcourse, you can less weight, but not on your sleeping bag, water or food. Which is half of your weight.

 

I hike in Europe through forests which small 'mountains' (not more than a few hundred meters climb a day). For example, the GR57 from Liege to Diekirch (Luxembourgh) and I've done parts of the coastpath in England (although due to medical issues stopped during the hike itself). I try to get every end of the day at a camping, where it is not often possible to make a camping fire (so, I'll need a stove). Indeed it is possible to get a lower weight, but if you want to hike approx 180km, where you walk about 20km a day, you know you'll get issues eventually. For my sisters, which also hike mainly in Scotland, that is even worse; there are black territories of a couple of square miles where if you get stuck, you don't call general emergency but coastguard, if you can get some cellphone signal! In those places, if somethings goes wrong, you really need to have sufficient supplies.

 

Ow, and occasionally I hike with others, and in that case I get about 1~1.5kg less weight; we share the tent and/or cooking stuff, the rest is always your own stuff which -obviously- you carry yourself.

 

Of course, I've been looking into other (lightweight) tents. For example the http://www.tarptent.com/contrail.html, which is still reasonably priced. For a sleeping bag I haven't looked quite well yet, nor the sleeping mat. I can't get food cheaper, but I hope to get more than 20km a day eventually. The backpack should be lighter of course, as well as bringing less stuff with me. First thing will be no camera and lighter cooking stuff. I've also got lighter shoes (I come from B/C, but now I carry A/B if that says anything to you). But I really don't want to bring less food, water or clothing, I'm already hiking on low.

[Bosman]

Thanks for the ideas, I'll skip the alcohol and new 'clean' type stoves even though they are an interesting idea. I agree the MSR does look good, have to see if you can actually cook on it, seems like most stoves are meant to only boil water and not allow a pan to simmer. Backcountrystore is a good company used them before.

The thing is most canister burners do allow adjusting burner output and this MSR is prob the best at it since it is converted to like a radiant heat rather than flame and the heat doesnt get lost to blowing wind and if you have done much backpacking you know wind can be an issue when it comes to heating food with burners. My Snow Peak titanium pots go right in the campfire with no problems of warping whatsoever. They will probably outlive me!

[Bosman]

Let's start easy, where do you hike, for how long (days) what (and weight) do you carry?

 

I hike around with approximately 15~18kg, which includes water for the day and food up to 8 days. But let's be honest:

~2kg tent (Northface tadpole 23) (can be ~1)

~1kg sleeping bag (can not be much less)

~1kg sleeping mat (can be less, but that really is less comfort)

~2kg evening dinner (can not be less)

~2kg breakfast/lunch (can not be less)

~2.5kg water (can and will not be less, unless continues water supplies guaranteed to be available, which is never)

~2kg backpack (empty, can be less if I carry less)

~1kg clothing (shorts: 1 per day, t-shirt: 1 after washing + 1 for switching every day, socks: 1 for switching every day + 1 backup, will not be less)

And then you get a lot of additional stuff like rain clothing, entertainment (book...), flashlight, gsm, maps, camera, cooking stuff, toothbrush, etc which gets you quite easy to the 15kg.

 

I've seen many people on ultra light weight backpacking, but many of those don't encounter the problem of more than a 3 day hike, hot meals, spare clothing, etc. And ofcourse, you can less weight, but not on your sleeping bag, water or food. Which is half of your weight.

 

I hike in Europe through forests which small 'mountains' (not more than a few hundred meters climb a day). For example, the GR57 from Liege to Diekirch (Luxembourgh) and I've done parts of the coastpath in England (although due to medical issues stopped during the hike itself). I try to get every end of the day at a camping, where it is not often possible to make a camping fire (so, I'll need a stove). Indeed it is possible to get a lower weight, but if you want to hike approx 180km, where you walk about 20km a day, you know you'll get issues eventually. For my sisters, which also hike mainly in Scotland, that is even worse; there are black territories of a couple of square miles where if you get stuck, you don't call general emergency but coastguard, if you can get some cellphone signal! In those places, if somethings goes wrong, you really need to have sufficient supplies.

 

Ow, and occasionally I hike with others, and in that case I get about 1~1.5kg less weight; we share the tent and/or cooking stuff, the rest is always your own stuff which -obviously- you carry yourself.

 

Of course, I've been looking into other (lightweight) tents. For example the http://www.tarptent.com/contrail.html, which is still reasonably priced. For a sleeping bag I haven't looked quite well yet, nor the sleeping mat. I can't get food cheaper, but I hope to get more than 20km a day eventually. The backpack should be lighter of course, as well as bringing less stuff with me. First thing will be no camera and lighter cooking stuff. I've also got lighter shoes (I come from B/C, but now I carry A/B if that says anything to you). But I really don't want to bring less food, water or clothing, I'm already hiking on low.

 

My buddy has a Tarptent, its very lite and packs nice and small. Some things you shuld always have though, a camera. You can even use an iphone and get great pics these days. Besides if you have seen the movie about the guy who got stuck in canyons of utah and had to cut his arm off, you would see that he documented the whole thing including his thoughts while trapped and running out of water. All because he took his video camera along. If you dont know this one Thorac check it out. Its really good!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/

 

Also with food you can dehaydrate or buy it that way and it saves a ton on weight. I like to take calorie rich foods that give me the most fuel for their size. One that is really good is parmesan cheese, its very dense calorie wise, it doesn't get oily in the hot summer so it stays firm and it just tastes killer. I try to load up before sleep too so i stay warm at night, jerky being a protein that breaks down slowly over time will keep the fire going a few hours while you sleep too.

 

I haven't used it in a while but i made an excel file that allows you to enter in your equip and weights and tally's them up for you to tell you what your pack weight would be. If i find it some time i can post it or send it to anyone who would like it, but it may be on an old hard drive tucked away in my file cabinet...I find a lite pair of pants that let you zip off your pant legs allows you to have coverage when its needed and shorts when it isnt. You really only need one or two shirts and the poly shirts like Patagonia's Capelene or wool t'shirts from Icebreaker or Smartwool work well. Wool is so high tech these days it feels like silk and breathes nice. Wool also keeps the funky smells at bay since it doesn't have a nice environment for bacteria to multiply and get smelly like poly does. Still anything Patagonia has my approval as i own a ton of it. If you aren't going to be able to wash up somewhere while on a few day hike then by all means get wool!

[Bosman]

This dude may be a little differant but few understand hiking and survival like him. He knows all about ultralight and pretty much pioneered it. If you have heard of the brand Golite they used to pay him for his concepts on gear and consulted him on designs and materials and then broke away from him to make some of the best gear out there using his concepts. He has great books about hiking lite and diff techniques. I used to carry so much crap i thought id never like hiking other than day hikes then i found out i could hike in relative comfort by carrying only what i needed and using the right equipment. It costs money for some things like bags and clothes but usually they last a long time too sooo.

Not the coolest site by any means but the content is ooh so good.

http://www.rayjardine.com/index.shtml

 

His book i recommend. I have the beyond backpacking book but thats out of print and he's updated it to this new one.

http://www.rayjardine.com/ray-way/Trail-Life/index.htm

[rolf]

About food, I buy packets from the supermarket which basicly means: boil 0.5L of water (1pint for those who don't like the metric system), empty bag, boil and keep stirring for 8 minutes. Empty pan with spork. So yeah, dry food, but for 8 days it really starts to count. Since such bags have about 180g of food, and the bag itself also weights a bit, I count 200g for it. That cost me about 2 euro, which seems reasonable, and offers about 700kcal. I can't get lighter than that without getting weird food like only nuts, but I don't consider that to be a healthy interesting food; especially not for dinner after a long hike.

 

As for the camera, yes, my old Nokia will go with me (or perhaps my new Nokia Lumia), but it won't be on the entire time; the battery won't last 200 hours. And not for being a cam; I don't need it for that. For my last 20 days of hiking, I think I made -in total- about 20 pictures, of which 10 were when waiting for a train home.

 

For clothing, I carry 2 throw-away-shirts (15E each, but won't become clean ever again), to toggle such that I won't wear shirts for 2 days in a row (but they will smell hard). After a hot shower, I don't like to carry a dirty shirt, so I usually (for the night) carry an additional Icebreaker. Awesome shirts indeed, however they wear out too fast if I carry a backpack so those throw-away shirts works quite well. And of course I carry zip-off pants, which are full length the entire day (high grass, things that sting), but I rip them off after setting down my tent. My fresh undershorts are my price at the end of the day, along with the hot food and shower, so I won't get less than that. My clothing is actually not the problem

 

 

Ow, and perhaps it's not yet mentioned here enough, but walk/hike with what you like. My sisters carry some different stuff (especially on rain clothing and medical stuff) than I, but we're both comfortable with it

[Bosman]

The patagonia, capeline T's, yea they are more pricy than a throw away but they last for years and years.

this is a little bit more cut close to the body but it also means it would wick well.

http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/patagonia-mens-capilene-1-silkweight-baselayer-stretch-t-shirt?p=45600-0-791

I love Capilene Silkweight t shirts, i've not had to replace any of them over years of use. It is a better option than wool for the reason Rolf gave being that icebreaker shirts will wear a long time just not with the chaffeing shoulder pads of backpacks.

Th capeline t's are only 6oz so if you wanted two with you it isnt going to be a ton extra weight you can wash one while using the fresh one then hang it on the back of your backpack while hiking to dry it out. As far as you not liking ot carry the dirty shirt goes a stuff sack or what i use a grocery store plastic bag for the dirty clothes and also one for the wrappers.

I do like the Tuna in the pouch since you dont have to carry bulky metal can in and out I do sometimes burn unless campfires aren't allowed.

 

What tricks or techniques have you used while backpacking, camping, or cooking on the trail?

[Thoracic]

@rolf this is a great list and just about the same amount of gear I carry as well, one item we have to use here in California is a bear canister which adds about 1kilo so my backpack is around 16+kilos(35lbs). I don't have a need to go lighter than that. Many people complain about the bear canisters but we I think they are great, you can use them as a chair and don't have to worry about losing your food which does happen. We usually always see one group that lost their food that wasn't in a canister. Bears are always present where we go hiking and I've never lost food with a canister.

Our food usually consists of a combination of comfort and lightweight so we usually bring a mix of Top Ramen (light) and regular food. Some meals we've made are tortillas with rehydrated beans, a taco seasoning pack, canned chicken (now in a pouch which is better) and dry Jack cheese. You should try that Bosman, it is a good alternative to parmesan. We also make canned beef and dehydrated potatoes. Just put the whole can in and it has its own gravy. We also bring smores (graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows). I also bring kippered herring as a snack and the tuna packs with the relish and mayo condiment packs mixed together with crackers makes a great lunch. I don't ever bring a ton of food but just the right amount of calories so we are never really hungry on a multi day trip but I never usually get more than 5 days off work to go and now we bring our kids so the trips are shorter.

Patagonia clothes are great, always like their products and our kids have capelline which is great all around especially backpacking. As mentioned I use the convertible pants as well along with a hat and cheap long sleeve shirts that get beat up. My backpack is an old Dana Design which the company doesn't exist anymore but their equipment was really good. Along with my Marmot down sleeping bag. My tent is heavy it is an old Walrus but it still works and it is a 4 season and have used it all year and it works great in snow and summer.

I only bring a Canon ELPH camera which works fine, it is lightweight and good quality.

@bosman I learned a lot also from Ray J. the most important change I made was to use lighter shoes, I used to use heavy waffle stompers but once I switched to a lighter shoe we can travel faster. And yup saw the movie too. MSR and Snow Peak make great equipment, and my next stove will probably be one of those (considering the MSR whisperlite universal too). On our last trip it took a long time to heat up the water bc of the altitude and it was colder than usual. I had accidently left the stove out at home and it was corroded so it’s definitely time for a new one.

One tip I’ve learned is to make a ground cloth out of plastic sheeting that is smaller than the tent. This is so rain doesn’t collect on the tarp and roll underneath the tent. In the snow it doesn’t matter but in a heavy rainstorm a lot of water will collect on the sides of tent. I also make a windscreen for my stove out of aluminum foil, helps keep the heat in.