Keeping clean while hiking or backpacking is an oxymoron in my book. Nature is all about dirt, and working up a sweat comes with the first steep hill you have to climb. The squeamish and easily frightened should probably stop reading at this point. Backpacking is perhaps not for you. Six-minute read
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A quick run-down of what electronics and electrical items I take out with me when I’m backpacking, and how I carry and manage them. Eight-minute read
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My cook pot, stove, and food (ready-made dehydrated meals) have been working well for both backpacking and camping. But the wind screen and pot stand are a little bulky and weighty – between a quarter and half a pound. So, in an idle moment, I thought I’d check and see what other options there might be. Read on to see what I found to replace them.
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At some point I’ll write reviews on my hammock, underquilt, tarp and all the other paraphernalia involved in setting up for hammock camping. For now, I’ll share some of the things I’ve learned so far.
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I’ve been wanting to try hammock camping for quite a while. I’m reluctant to purchase all the necessary gear unless it’s something I’m sure I will be comfortable with — and in.
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I do not like bear bags. Well, that’s not strictly true. I’ve nothing against the bags or having to hoist all the camp food and ‘smellies’ up into the trees … What I don’t like is hanging them, nor do I like stumbling around the forest in the dark looking for a ‘misplaced’ bag.
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Just to manage expectations – if you want detailed instructions on how to make and light a campfire mosey on over to YouTube – there are hundreds of videos that’ll give you ideas. Here I’m just going to chat about fire lighters, share some fire making tips, and mention the tools we use when car […]
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My new everyday carry knife / multi tool. It weighs less than my Milwaukee Fastback or Swiss Navy knife. It has a carabiner and pocket clip – which was a must-have for me. The tools include pliers, side cutters, screwdriver (Phillips and flat bits) and, of course, a bottle opener. The only tools I miss […]
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In 2016 we took a serious look at why we weren’t getting out backpacking as much as we’d like. Work was one of the major obstacles, but we also identified several gear issues that caused problems. One of those ‘pinch points’ was the cooking system we used when backpacking. We wanted something lighter, smaller and […]
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Ginger wanted a pad that was slightly thicker, (more comfy), wider and warmer than our Therm-a-Rest ProLite Plus sleeping pads. We found our NeoAir All Season pad online at a very reasonable price.
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I bought my GoLite Ultralite 800 Fill 1+ season quilt in March 2011 for shoulder season and summer backpacking and camping. I’ve used it since then for backpacking, hammock camping, car camping, and various other odd nights out away from home.
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We began car camping with cheap Walmart sleeping bags. When we started backpacking we needed lighter more compressible sleeping bags. Our first choice of bag was a failure, three years later, we have two sleeping bags each for year round camping and backpacking. Here are our tips on buying a sleeping bag, and what else you’ll need to get for a comfortable nights sleep in the wild.
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We bought this super little lantern for backpacking, car camping, kayak camping and home emergency lighting. I was skeptical of being able to fit it in my backpack – but it fits in an outside side pocket just fine, it is that small.
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We’ve bought our Mont·Bell Super Spiral Sleeping Bags back in 2010. They were expensive, but it’s a purchase we’ve never regretted, and we’d buy them again. We wanted bags that would keep us warm three season camping and backpacking and that were warm enough for the occasional trip out in winter. These bags have exceeded […]
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We’ve owned our Coleman Exponent multifuel stove since 2010, and it’s our go-to stove for car camping. In this review we explain why we purchased it – not all the reasons were logical, how it’s worked out for us, and we give some hints for using it while camping and backpacking.
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We spent a long time researching and looking at tents. Each time we thought we’d found the one we wanted we saw another we liked even more. A three season tent was essential for spring and fall camping, some useable vestibule space that would double as a wind break for cooking was also high on […]
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We enjoyed our Memorial weekend camping so much, we decided to get set up properly for camping. As two of the kids are willing to give camping a try, that left us with an accommodation problem. So we bought another tent. We picked the Coleman Sunlight Ridge tent, based on price and size. It’s big […]
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