Ultimate Camping Thread

I have had Mountainsmith day packs and the dog's backpack is Mountainsmith as well.
Good quality stuff.

But remember, if the plastic is rubbing on the truck, then the soft sided luggage is probably going to rub through in short order.

I use those Rubbermaid locking boxes for the heavy stuff (stove,pots) and for my truck stuff (recovery gear,straps, etc). The soft stuff works best for light and not so sharp edged stuff.

 

So, we took the puppy for another car camping trip this weekend. This time we met some friends out at Lake Easton State Park in Easton, WA. This is on the east slopes of the Cascades so it gets more sun and less rain, although it didn't matter because the entire Pacific Northwest was bathed in glorious 80+ degree weather this weekend.

Lake Easton State Park is about 1 hour east of Seattle out I-90, and there are lots of campgrounds in the area. This one is okay. The lake is nice, but the campground is about 200 yards off of the interstate, so you get to fall asleep to the sound of traffic...

We got there first, so we had the pick of the campsites. We originally had a great one off the middle campsite, but the stupid campground has rules that you can only set up on the pads, so we had to move it. As is standard procedure with car camping, the first thing I did was open a box of Cheez-Its and crack a beer. I-90 is through those trees.





Our friends had to set up right behind us on the pad.



Once the whole group got there.



A typical morning.



This was my standard view for most of the weekend.



Luna needed a bath afterwards.



In all, it was a good time. Luna can definitely swim, but she isn't too fond of it yet. Our friends' Golden and Labs wouldn't stop swimming. I did a 25M freestyle sprint out to a buoy marking the swim area and I thought I was going to die. I have not swam in a long time.

Anyway, this car camping thing is getting old, so I am going to try and squeeze a backpacking trip in sometime in September or October.

 

It sells for $109 on www.gearupsales.com. While I do admit that $100 for a folding shovel sounds steep, but this thing comes with more strength and character than any other tool even similar to it on the market. This was one of those "must have" pieces of gear that I was missing from my survival collection. It's an attention getter and a life saver wrapped in one. Read on....

It definitely isn't a backpacking tool at almost 7lbs, but it sure fits great under my back seat. Looks like it would be easy to mount many different ways on our trucks, too. Bed mounts, light bar mounts, rack mounts, QuikFist clamps, etc., this thing would fit anywhere. There are 2 holes in the back of the shovel blade, and 1 hole on the crowbar end so you could lock this to a truck rail with a smaller cable lock. It's SUPER strong with high grade mil-spec welds, the weight feels awesome, and the hinge us bulletproof. I was concerned the crowbar would potentially flex if it was needed to pry something really heavy, but after holding this thing I have full confidence I could do some damage with it. The collar that locks the blade open/closed/90 is SOLID, and the hinge bolt on the shovel is adjustable so it doesn't just flop around. You would bend most other folding shovels trying to pry something out of the ground, but not this thing. It has a thicker blade than even a full size landscaping/garden shovel you find at Home Depot.

One of the cool extras that the owner showed me was to put the shovel blade at a 90 degree angle, lock it with the collar, and use it as a little stool. You couldn't do that with any other folding shovel. Also, I like the hollowed out handle where you can put narrow survival supplies and keep them dry.

The color finish is the same paint used on certain US tanks and armored vehicles - it is a flat spray that feels like a slightly gritty flat powdercoating. Plus it's supposed to be laser-reflective or something like that (useless for a shovel, but interesting conversation piece). The shovel blade is about 3 times thicker than a cheap $5 army surplus shovel, and it comes sharpened like a blade. The saw teeth on the side of the shovel blade are sharpened and ready to cut with.

The thing looks even more badass in person than on the site, is the strongest folding shovel I've every held, can be used for practical purposes and even as a decent weapon. I wouldn't want one of these things swung at me, that's for sure. About the same reach as a baseball bat when the shovel is unfolded. BEWARE ZOMBIES!

 

YD, sounds like an awesome camping trip. Not to worry, if you play fetch with the dogs, yours well eventually get the idea.

Mine knows where the pool is at our friends house--you cannot keep him out of it...so maybe it's a blessing your pup is a bit more timid

 

My gf has the one that holds four. We use it to keep some of our camping stuff in like a small stove, utensils, a few ropes, some stakes, small tarp, can't remember the rest. It's held up pretty well for us, but as others have said it is soft sided so don't expect it to be very rigid or not wear. What is nice is that you can separate your gear into three or four different compartments which can make things easier to find.

On a side note, I've had a mountainsmith day pack for the past 6 years or so. It's seen moderate use and it's held up pretty well. I don't hike as much anymore so it hasn't seen much use in the past few years. I'd say their quality is on par with other popular outdoor brands.

 

Yeah I will second that. Mountainsmith is a good brand.

 

I have just started getting into the backpacking deal, so my gear list is slowly transforming to what it should be. I have been camping with my family for years, hunting and such always sleeping in tents. I recently got an 18' travel trailer that is still kind of camping, but it sure isnt sleeping on the ground. These are some pictures my buddy took on our last trip, 8-1-11, (on my list of stuff to buy is an SLR camera, I am very jealous of his pictures) The trip was 13.7 miles round trip, and 5325' elevation GAIN, not change. Enjoy.


This was looking from camp across the lake.

And this was looking from the other side of the lake back at camp.

 

Nice pics Nick! Looks like a decent trip!

Thanks for the review! Now I gotta spend more money...

 

Awesome pics T.J.! That is some beautiful terrain!! You will learn a lot on this thread and watch for those of us who are gear whores *cough cough*David*cough cough* to post reviews on our gear.

 

hey hey hey....i buy gear when im unhappy, and im unhappy when i buy gear....its a vicious cycle lol. good news is the project truck didnt fall through so im good to go on my new gear list I made a whole new list of high quality gear that i will be getting by the time winter comes. one of them being a marmont never summer down sleeping bag

 

simply amazing pics....where were you at?

 

Just what I was going to ask!

 

So its back to being a gear whore huh? I can't talk much though. I replace at least 3 things every trip.

x3

 

I'll never tell!!! jk, its in the Ruby Mountains, Nevada. But just remember, Nevada is ugly and dusty, nothing here worth looking at.
I love it up there, the parking lot of the trailhead is a half hour from my house. Great scenery, and awesome fishing too.

 

Give Magellan a try. They have models under $300.00 for the hikers.
personally I had the 710 model for all the right reasons, just finished the AT.

 

Those are some great pics TJ. The Ruby's look like a fantastic place.

Regarding the GPS. You might also look for last year's model. You can often find them for considerably less than they were new.

 

The only thing half an hour away from my house is wally world.