Camping and Backpacking GEAR thread

Yeah that can definitely be a pain. Try folding into thirds long ways along the natural creases instead of quarters before rolling. Seems to be a bit easier.

 

I had a great time, in '06, day hiking all over. A beautiful place.
The end of the road at Bryce is about 9,000 ft elevation.

 

Flint Creek, South Mississippi.

 

Hank Jr and a couple cold beers on the creek.

 

I’m looking forward to it. It’s a good news/bad news sort of deal. Good news is it shouldn’t be too crowded. Bad news is that Riggs Spring Loop, one of the trails I wanted to hike is not open because of the Riggs and Lonely fires. But I’m pretty sure I’ll not have any trouble finding other trails. I might go outside the park and hike Red Canyon.

 

That is cool. When my daughter was that small, I tried to talk my wife into going camping. She said sure, however her idea of camping is the Hilton...

 

I will certainly look into Montbell. Thank you for the recommendation

 

Went to Havasupai. It rained. Yay. I lugged 7lbs of camera gear down that was rendered basically useless.



Not exactly hiking related but they’re outside so I’ll post them here too:













Been here three times now, but never with great weather:

 

I’m trying to think of ways to not be shivering all night while camping up at a lake that’s above 10k this weekend. I currently have a 0 Degree North Face synthetic bag that’s not too good when it gets down to freezing temps and below(ask me how I know). Buying a good down bag isn’t an option at the moment. Any recommendations?

I currently have these to help:



I also have a Thermarest Z Lite SOL & Thermarest ProLite Sleeping Pad to keep the grounds cold off me. I’ll wear my Patagonia hooded down jacket + Thermal long underwear. Is there anything else I could use to stay warm at night?

 

Short term review of the Garmin Inreach Explorer+. Other than a few self inflicted learning curves like not adding contacts to the preset unlimited texts and giving out the wrong mapshare link I have been pretty happy with my decision. Texts have gone out and come in without issue even in the bad weather I had in the first two passages. I like the confirmation tone that confirms the text went out. One issue that popped up last week is on the website for some reason it no longer shows the sync tab if I update a text or contact. I had to force a firmware update through the app since the website only shows me an exclamation point highlighted by an orange triangle under the devices tab. I have not gone in and messed with it again this week yet. Usually do so night before I head out.

Also battery life lasted about 65 miles of hiking and 6-10 standby hours of camping(forgetting to turn off when I stopped etc) before hitting the 25% mark. That would have covered me for 5 days without charge easily had I been thru hiking. I also have it at 10 min tracking intervals and could increase battery life by decreasing tracking to 30-60min

 

https://seatosummitusa.com/collections/sleeping-bag-liners

More specifically this one if you want warmth. https://seatosummitusa.com/collections/sleeping-bag-liners/products/thermolite-reactor-fleece-liner

Lotta guys in AZ use these or the lighter ones as stand alone bags especially in warmer temps

 

The biggest difference will be below your body due to compression of your bag. Use both of your pads for max improvement.

 

Great pics! Last time I was there I was 8. I think I need to get some gear and take my girls to see all I was blessed to see as a child. Just need to start gathering camping/backpacking gear for all of us.

 

This! your sleeping pad will make a big difference. one of the thermarest foam pads under and air pad will help a lot. You can try using the emergency blanket as a pad below or above your sleeping pad. not sure which would be more beneficial.

 

Dont really want to overrun the gear thread with trail pics so what say you, post my AZ Trail pics in here or start a new thread dedicated to my trip?

 

Just use what you got. Twenty minutes before you go to sleep for the night boil a liter of water. Put that water in a Nalgene. Throw that Nalgene in your bag. Kick it down towards your feet and go to sleep. It'll stay warm all night.

 

Up to you. I use this thread because it’s the only thread I check or post in.

 

I think I read a big scientific thing a lot of years ago that recommended the air pad underneath a foam pad for best insulation efficiency.

I couldn’t find it to link to, but here’s some nerd reading anyway.

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/56634/

 

I was doing that but keeping it between my legs warming my femoral arteries. Slept great with this method in addition to a good pad, bag, and a couple blankets on top. I'd like to change up to a threaded bot because putting boiling water in a plastic container isn't good for drinking due to potential for plastic leaching into the water. The "bot" containers are pricey though.

 

The Tritan plastic used in Nalgene bottles for the last several years will not leach into the water with heat.