Like most of you I have a mix of old and new gear. But a good portion of my “old” gear is old in age, but barely used. I try not to have too much in the way over overlapping gear. I prefer things that can be used for a variety of things. Light and small works well for motorcycle camping, backpacking, hunting, and car camping. You can just add or remove extras as the mission dictates. And all that stuff has been used heavily.
Probably close to 10 years ago I bought a REI Hobitat 4 during my attempts to get my ex-wife to go camping. I think I have used it twice. Luckily for me, my new wife was much more interested in camping, but most of it has been via motorcycle or side excursions on our year long RV road trip so we used smaller tents. But I have kept it all these years so I assume it is still in excellent condition. I will find out soon enough. A few years ago I started slowly collecting some things for overlanding or car camping. These include a REI Pack N Prep, a folding toilet and a Camp Chef two burner stove with some cooking accessories. While we were on the RV trip we saw a Gander Mountain Vista Screen house and thought that it looked pretty good so I bought one of those as well. All of it yet to be used because of excuses.
Last fall I started looking into some gear to make a base camp even more comfortable. A couple of Wes Siler’s articles on Indefinitely Wild had some great comparison information on couples sleeping bags and sleeping pads. After reading them I ended up buying a Nemo Tango Duo and an Exped Megamat Duo. Solo Stove had a Kickstarter campaign for their largest version yet, the Bonfire, meant more as a portable campfire set up than a cooking stove. I also picked up a Mr. Heater propane heater for the tent so that the colder nights don’t get too cold for the my 5 month old boy.
Another relatively new item I picked up is a Thermacell. I did actually test that out hunting in the early fall and it worked quite well. Between the Thermacell, the screen house and a net I picked up for the kiddo’s Pack N Play I think we’ll be in good shape to keep bugs off the little guy. DEET is safe to use in kids older than 2 months as well, but remember not to get the sunscreen with DEET mixed in it. That tends to lead to more frequent reapplication and too much DEET for small kids.
The beauty of having a full size truck is that, unlike Skychismo and his 2 door Wrangler, I have quite a bit of space in the Titan. I can fit myself, my wife, kid and dog in the quad cab and the bed with Leer top can hold everything else easily. I have a roof rack on the Leer as well if we want to take anything else like canoes or paddle boards, or just more gear.
We had some freak good weather this weekend so I decided to at least set things up. Set up testing in the backyard has some fantastic advantages. Obviously practicing in good conditions makes it easier to set things up when conditions aren’t that great. I noticed that the Camp Chef stove fits great on the Pack N Prep table, but the propane tank hangs off. Probably okay, but maybe I’ll want to put it on my other folding table instead. I also noticed that the Nemo Tango Duo, which has a toe box area to fit around two connected pads, doesn’t fit around the Exped Megamat Duo. Re-reading Siler’s article he actually uses the Tango Duo as a second layer if needed. The Hobitat will fit the Exped, baby Pack N Play and dog bed, but there is no good floor space for the Mr. Heater. It would be too close to something. Unfortunately the evening called for high winds and rain so I didn’t fire up the Bonfire or end up sleeping in the tend with Kyle.
There are a few things left on my list before I even set things up in the yard. I already picked up a pair of Boulder 30 panels off eBay, but I want a Goal Zero Yeti 400 to finish off my solar power system. That is assuming I will eventually get a 50qt fridge/freezer otherwise I could get by with a Yeti 150. I also want to get a Kelty Blockhouse or H2Go for the toilet and a Nemo Helio shower system. Set up today made me realize I need a different blanket or quilt for the Exped. I will probably go with the Rumple Puffy in queen size, but it seems to be sold out everywhere right now. I’m not sure what to do about the Mr. Heater. I could get a bigger tent. I could bundle the kid up a bunch or put him under blankets, but it isn’t like he understands how to pull them up if he wriggles out. I could make Charlie dog sleep somewhere else and free up that corner, but I don’t really like that idea. She is getting old and has always slept in the tent with me.
Work schedule is preventing any trips in the near future so I have some time to figure it out and maybe won’t even need the heater by the time we can go camping anyway. Once all that is taken care of I think the set up will be quite good, portable, and packable. Then it will just be about replacing items as they wear out.