For the most part we followed the itinerary I outlined in the “Planning for a Backpacking Trip” post. Though, because we purposely didn’t take watches or cell phones we didn’t exactly stick to a schedule which meant we had to cut a couple of the bigger hikes out of the day(s). Part of it may have also been due to the literal downpour we received on Friday evening and Saturday morning. We’ll go back later one or two weekends to finish up the Cloudland Canyon trails.

With the successful trip, I’m going to be planning a “car camping” trip for sometime in Mid-December or Early/Mid-January so more of my friends can come along, and enjoy some better camp-cuisine. I’ll have a couple of posts related to that coming up soon enough.

View the full post for the pics from this weekend.

Mark’s Flickr Set

[flickrslideshow acct_name="mhoblit" id="72157622442679801" width="340" height="255"]

Nathan’s Flickr Set

[flickrslideshow acct_name="nathanielfoster" id="72157622564849536" width="340" height="255"]

After getting my first one together I modified the plans a bit and made a second one with the goal to have it hold a bit more fuel (for the longer cooking time). Version 2, as I’ll call it, was able to produce a 7-minute boil time, and a 20-minute run time before dropping down to a simmer. I used a windscreen and Heet as my fuel source.

Instructions after the jump!

What you’ll need:

• 2x Aluminum Cans (soda or beer)
• 1x Piece of 200-grit sandpaper or sanding sponge
• 1x Utility knife and extra blade(s)
• 1x Drill and a 1/16″ bit
• 1x Penny
• 1x Pinch of Fiberglass Insulation (from your attic) or Perlite (from your Home + Garden store)
• 1x Yellow Bottle of HEET from Automotive section of your local Walmart (I’ve heard bad things happen when you use the red bottle) or Denatured Alcohol from a paint supply store.

Assembly Instructions:

1. Sand the bottom 2-3 inches of the aluminum cans clean from any paints, dyes, sealants, etc.
2. Cut the bottom of the cans off, an inch for the first one, 3/4 of an inch for the second one.
3. Clean the cans and sand the rough edges so they’re less likely to cut you.
4. Put your pinch of insulation or perlite in the base (this is the “taller” cut-off can).
5. Drill a grouping of 5 holes in the center of the burner (the “shorter” cut-off can), this will be your filling holes. (Figure 1)
   

   Figure 1

6. Drill 12-16 evenly spaced holes around the outside edge of the burner. (Figure 1)
7. Make 4-6 evenly spaced cuts towards the burner holes (only go up to the curve in the can) so the sharp edges of the burner can be bent ever so slightly inwards to fit snugly into the base.
8. Put the two pieces together, they should snug up with a little bit of pressure but be careful as you’re working with sharp edges of aluminum.

Lighting Instructions

1. Open your bottle of HEET (or Denatured Alcohol) and pour such that your stove is 1/2 to 3/4 filled. Overfilling will only cause the stove to take longer to light, and could lead to spills which can be very dangerous.
2. Put the penny over the filling hole.
3. Fill the lighting cup (that’s what it becomes when you put the penny over the filling holes) with your fuel.
4. Light the fuel in the lighting cup.
5. Hopefully, there was enough fuel in the lighting cup burning long enough to heat the alcohol in the base such that the burner lit from the alcohol fumes. Repeat steps 3-4 as necessary.

Success!

Using my GSI Pinnacle cook kit, a quart of water, a coat hanger (that I fabricated into a pot rest), the windscreen, and the stove; I was able to make a bowl of rice in about 17 minutes. The coat hanger wasn’t as sturdy as I would have liked, but I could have taken a little more time and designed a better one that would support more weight.

One of the foreseeable problems I have with this stove is the same problem my MSR WhisperLite had: if it was cold, it took awhile for the stove to heat up to the point that the fuel would evaporate to produce a good cooking flame. Another is regards to the fact that it doesn’t have a long burn-time. Other than that, it’d be great for trail-side lunches that require heated water.

Now you can build an ultra-lightweight stove, boil water in 7 minutes, and still have enough heat to cook a boil in the bag rice. Not bad at all for less than $2 in materials!

Packs & Sleeping

Tent, poles, stakes, groundcloth
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad
Backpack
Day pack (small school backpack)
Rain cover for backpack (trashbags work well)

Essentials

Water Bottle (32oz or more)
First Aid Kit
Sun Protection
Bear Bag
Rope
Knife
Flashlight
Rain gear (poncho or light wind-breaking rain jacket)

Clothing

Ziplock freezer bags (to pack clothes in to stay dry)
Boots or trail shoes (ankle support)
Camp shoes
Socks (pack an extra pair)
Underwear
Light Pants
Light Shorts
Light Shirt(s)
Light Jacket or Long Sleeve Shirt(for warmth)
Cap or hat

Cooking & Food

Pot (1 per group of 4-6)
Cooking Utencils
Camp Suds (environmentally safe soap)
Dish Cloth
Cup
Stove
Fuel
Lighter
Water Container (for cooking, etc)
Breakfasts (Oatmeal, fried potatoes, cereal, protein bars)
Lunches
Dinners
Snacks (peanuts, raisins, oysters, crackers, jerky)
Spices (Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Cayenne)
Drink Mix (Gatorade, CapriSun, Tang, Hot Chocolate)

Optional Items

Camping pillow (a ball of clean clothes works well too)
Insect Repellant
GPS
Camera
Extra Batteries
Binoculars
Camp Chair
Fishing gear
Cards + games
Hiking Stave or Poles

Selected Slumberjack Sleeping Bags

Sleeping bags are arguably one of the top 5 most important items to take with you on any overnight expedition in the outdoors. So when you head to the store searching for a sleeping bag for the first time you may be surprised to find how many options you have. As with all gear guides I have or will be publishing I’ll apply my thoughts and knowledge to the topic and let you decide for yourself by getting informed. The goal of this article is that you find that the multiple options you are presented with to be less than overwhelming, and to select the right piece of equipment for the right application.

There are a handful of things to think about when selecting what bag is right for the job:

1. Design Type (Rectangular, Mummy, Mate-able)
2. Insulation (Synthetic, Down, Cotton/Wool)
3. Temperature Rating
4. Craftsmanship and Material (zipper, drawstring, fabric)

Design Type Considerations

Rectangular sleeping bags are probably the most recognizable design type to the unfamiliar shopper. It is most simply described as a filled/insulated blanket that can be folded in half and zipped on two sides to create a pocket for you to sleep in. Though they can be used in cold weather, the opening at the top of the pocket in most rectangular bags allows for a significant leak in the insulated warmth the bag provides and will allow cold air drafts to enter the bag. That being said, these bags are the easiest to pack due to their simple design and are fantastic in warm weather. Mate-able sleeping bags are most commonly a rectangular sleeping bag that are made such that you zip two of them together to create a large sleeping bag, this is a method for couples to be able sleep together (leading the type to be a double entendre?).

Slumberjack's Solera 15° Mummy

Mummy style sleeping bags are better for colder weather camping by design. The name describes their look perfectly, they taper from head to foot reducing the surface area and volume. By reducing the surface area and volume it takes less body heat to bring the insulation to a comfortable level, and increases their ability to keep heat from escaping. A drawstring at the head end of the bag to pull the top of the bag around your head, further increasing heat retention of the bag. Typical mummy bags do not have a zipper in the foot end of the bag because the zipper is one of the weakest points in the insulation of a sleeping bag and the toes are one of the more vulnerable parts of the body regarding heat loss. If you are purchasing a mummy bag for use by a female camper there are special considerations made by some manufacturers – construction differences in the female bags are additional material in the torso and hip areas to accommodate the differences in body type.

Insulation and Temperature Ratings

Polarguard3D, a synthetic fill material.

As I mentioned earlier the typical insulation used in sleeping bags are synthetic, down (feathers),  cotton, and wool. The features we will be looking at specifically in each of the different types of insulation is loft(or resistance to compression), weight, water absorption and retention, and cost. Loft is important because the more space insulation takes up the greater the r-value (thermal resistance). Reducing the amount of heat lost is the goal of a sleeping bag so this is a vital consideration, though some materials have higher r-values for less material used. Weight of material is a consideration anytime weight plays a pivotal role in the amount of gear you take, specifically backpacking. Water absorption and retention is more of a consideration as for how miserable you could be if your bag gets wet.

Wool is known for its properties of water repulsion and resistance to compression though it weighs more than just about any fill material used in sleeping bags. Cotton does not repel water well at all and weighs marginally more than all materials aside from wool but it is cheap and can pack much smaller than wool. If you are going cabin camping or to a sleepover in some form these materials are a great choice for those situations and others where the drawbacks are not of major concern.

Synthetic materials provide the highest r-value per inch versus the other fill materials, have the best water absorption and retention qualities (virtually none of either), dries easy, and even provides insulation while wet – a lifesaving feature that can prevent common cases of hypothermia while wilderness camping. Synthetic fill also insulates well under compression (like laying on the bag, for instance) and lofts quickly to provide maximum insulation faster. The drawbacks to these properties are that it does not compress easily and therefore requires more space to store than easily compressed materials, it also weighs more than down. Down fill is one of the best heat retainers of fill material by density. It also costs the most, and is nearly useless when wet.

Craftsmanship and Material

As with most things, the quality of the material and attention to detail in the craftsmanship in sleeping bags is directly proportional to the life of the bag. A couple of things you may want to look out for when choosing a bag is the zipper and material surrounding the zipper. Will the zipper get caught in the bag? Will the zipper jam easy or bind on itself? One of my favorite bags had a nylon webbing material that surrounded the zipper teeth such that the fabric on the inside and outside of the bag were kept out of the way of a closing zip. Unfortunately, the zipper pull itself was not constructed of hardened material and the zipper failed due to other circumstances. Another feature to check the material and craftsmanship on is any drawstring attached to the bag. Is the drawstring secure to the bag, or simply attached by a single stitch at a fold? Is the cord itself resistant to rot over long periods of time? Lastly, the fabric used for the inside and outside of the bag needs to be investigated. Is the fabric thin and easily worn out after a few dozen times in and out of the stuff sack or is it durable? Does the external shell of the bag resist water, stains, or other environmental factors that may play a part in the breakdown of material? Does the inner material warm up quickly to the touch? All of these questions should be in the back of your mind when investigating the construction of a sleeping bag.

Care and Storage

Care of your bag will be a concern if you plan to keep the bag for many trips, particularly keeping it clean. After each trip I take, I open my bag and turn it inside-out to lay it on a clothes line or the back of a couch. Airing it out helps prevent it from getting smelly quickly. If after a dozen trips or more it gets to the point where it no longer supports breathing, there are specialized detergents designed with your sleeping bag and other camping gear in mind. Most, if not all, sleeping bags will include instructions for washing on a tag either attached to the bag or a storage sack. Typically they will tell you to use a hand washing method, or a front-loading (non-agitating) washing machine with light amounts of detergent (like woolite or a specialized soap) in warm water. Air drying or press drying are highly recommended for drying a washed sleeping bag. Do NOT dry-clean a down sleeping bag unless the manufacturer explicitly recommends it, as the chemicals used will strip the feathers of natural oils necessary in keeping the insulating value of down.

With all materials settling will occur causing cold spots to appear in the bag if care is not taken to minimize the amount of settling. Down is the fill material most affected by this, so much so that while in periods of extended storage it should be kept in a large back so it is not forcibly compressed. Short periods of time, like while packed in a backpack, are okay for this compression but will continually degrade the loft and insulation characteristics of the bag.

Appy Trails Mark V

When you go backpacking, the number one goal is to keep your equipment minimal and light in weight. Doing so will increase your maneuverability, speed, and stamina on the trail. You also need to consider the kind of weather you should be preparing for. Ideally, you’ll have that perfect fall (or spring) breeze but the likelihood of actually getting the ideal situation is minimal at best, see Murphy’s law. Shelters are usually rated for the number of seasons they are intended to be used to help you take the guesswork out of what it will be able to shelter you from. A note for readers: for the purposes of writing this article, I am assuming you are only planning on a shelter for 1-2 people.

1-2 Season Shelters:

These shelters are great for warm-month camping or any area that doesn’t get much colder than 50 degrees (Fahrenheit) or receive much precipitation. These shelters’ primary goal is only to keep the rain/dew off of you during the night. They might include some netting to keep the bugs off of you. They are really light, pack small, and typically provide shelter for 1-6 people. Some of the more expensive shelters may include gear lofts (a hammock of sorts big enough to store pocketable items like a wallet, flashlight, and pocketknife) that suspend from the roof of the sleeping quarters. The only real problem with these shelters is in the colder and windier months it won’t provide the insulation or wind-breaking necessary to stay comfortable (unless you’re packing some seriously insulated sleeping bags). Experienced warm-month backpackers will often go in to the wilderness with nothing more than a tarp and a groundcloth (or hammock if permitted) for their shelter preparations. New campers and backpackers may not be comfortable being that close to nature (bugs, snakes, etc). A couple of considerations you may need to think about comes when you are considering the area you will be camping in. If there aren’t any trees big enough to support your weight, you won’t be able to take a hammock. If the ground isn’t such that you will be able to drive stakes into it, you’ll need to find a free-standing shelter (one that includes poles that support the structure of the shelter). It’s all a matter of choosing what is appropriate.

3-4 Season Tents:

In the colder months you will be better off using a 3 or 4 season tent for your shelter. When you get into the 3 and 4 season tents you need to begin to consider the complexity of what you’re dealing with; you want something that’s easy to set up, take down, and air out when you return home. Options you may have when looking at these tents will include vestibules (weather-protected storage areas outside of the sleeping quarters for gear), gear lofts, internal guying (guylines inside the tent used to strengthen the structure in high-wind situations), bath tub floor (a preventative measure that raises the lowest seams of the tent off the ground keeping the inside of the tent drier in rainy weather), vents, specialized zipper mechanisms, removable tent components, and more depending on the tent manufacturer. When you get these bulkier tents you will need to consider the ability to split it across the backpacks of the crew you will be sheltered with, distributing the load according to the abilities of your crew members.

Convertible Shelters:

Sierra Designs Omega 2

To get the best of both worlds, you might find a convertible tent that can transform or pack down into a 1-2 Season configuration. I found one such tent awhile back and love it! Though I don’t usually like spending extra money on camping equipment to get the upper-class brand name stuff, my Sierra Designs Omega 2 is built to withstand the elements and the test of time. It is considered a 3-4 Season Convertible Tent. With the accessories I purchased it can convert all the way down to be nothing more than a sun (or beach) shelter: 1 Season. Or, by configuring the internal guy-line system, clipping the tent to the rain fly, and staking it down using the fly’s guy-lines it can be a hardened structure for the windiest winters you’ll experience: 4 Seasons. Or even still – by removing the sleeping quarter door (leaving a full-sized mesh window), a couple of pole sections, and the rain fly or any combination of those items it can be a lightweight backpacking tent preparing you for whatever you’re up against: 2-3 Seasons. Good tents like this are becoming easier to find, but often have a higher price associated with them. Being that I am planning on using this tent for a long time, I was able to justify the almost $500 I spent on this. Sierra Designs backs up their products with a fairly reasonable statement “Sierra Designs guarantees that the materials and workmanship in every product we make will stand up to the use for which it was designed”, nothing special but it is worded such that it is a “lifetime” guarantee.

Summary of Considerations:

1. Weight
2. Bulk (space consumed in or on your backpack)
3. Size (how many people it will contain)
4. Complexity
5. In multiple person shelters, the ability to split up the pieces across multiple backpacks to “share the load”.
6. Warranty

Pricing a Shelter:

MSR Twing

If you go with a 1-2 season shelter, you can expect to pay anywhere from ~$10 to upwards of $250 depending on what you get. Here are a few examples of tarp shelters that could double as a dining or cooking rain fly: 8′x10′ Polyethylene Tarp $9.99 (maybe cheaper at a hardware store), Coated Nylon tarps $30-$40, ultralight backpacking tarps like Kelty’s Noahs Tarp 12 $69.99 retail, or even MSR’s Twing Shelter $229.99 retail (featured on Rial and Molly’s REI Wedding Registry). Other shelters could be a “Bivy Sack” (a rain cover for you and your sleeping bag) like the Slumberjack Taku $99.99 retail, or a jungle hammock like the Grand Trunk Air Bivy $148.95 retail.  As for groundcloths or vapor barriers out there, the prices vary on those as well. Some examples of those you may find in use can be anywhere from a Heavy Duty trash bag split so it provides body length coverage $nearly-free, a cut-to-size piece of plastic dropcloth $cheap, or a GoLite Shelter Floor $50.00 retail.

If you go with a 3-4 season shelter, you can expect to pay anywhere from $35 for a Walmart-shelved tent to upwards of $700 for a wind-tunnel tested expedition tent. I highly recommend spending around $130 on a decent long-lasting tent. Here are a few examples of the ranges you might find (all of which I would recommend): Kelty Yellowstone 2 $99.90 retail, Eureka Timberline 2 $139.90 retail, Sierra Designs Omega 2 Convertible $349.00 (now discontinued – seems to be replaced by the Mountain Meteor 2). Don’t forget about the groundcloth, vapor barrier, or “footprint” as they’re sometimes called and any other accessories that would be necessary to make it do what you need/want it to.

A quick hint about purchasing a tent: Tents come in “model years” just like cars, and like cars they try to get rid of the tents when the model year is ending. If you can find years’ previous models of the tent you are eyeing you may be able to get significant discounts off the retail price.

Personal Preferences and Conclusion:

In doing some research for the article I remembered a couple of things I particularly look out for when choosing a tent. Something that is very important to me is how the poles support the tent. Pole sleeves bug the heck out of me, especially if I’m assembling the tent on my own. Tents that “clip” to the poles are much simpler to set up IMO. Another thing I look out for is the inside height of the tent and whether or not I’ll be able to sit up inside the tent. Yet another feature I look for when choosing a tent is zipper quality. The last thing you want to be fiddling with when you’re needing to pee or trying to get inside out of the rain are those damned zippers. Lastly, in the event of needing to repair poles, material, or grommets – I ask myself how easily available are the materials to do such repairs?

I would highly recommend that you demo the tent if at all possible before purchasing it by asking a sales rep at your local REI, Sports Authority, or any other camping warehouse type store if you can set it up to get a better feel for it. Many stores may even match a price (or give discounts) if it is a known outlet for camping equipment. A very important step once you choose a tent or shelter is to set it up before you get to the wilderness. By doing so you will familiarize yourself with it’s little quirks, verify you have all the components, and learn how to pack it back up.

Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment below! I’ll try my best to give you a timely answer.

620-O1 crew training in the Cohutta Wilderness

The easiest way I could centralize the planning and distribution of information for a light backpacking trip I’m planning for October 9-11, 2009 was to put it in my blog.  So I might as well expand on it and turn it into something that will generate traffic, right? Right. The trip I’m going to be expanding on was originally a thought back in January/February for me and my Fiancee, Molly Locklear. However, she got ill immediately before the trip resulting in her being hospitalized leading to her being one organ (her gallbladder) shy of a full body. I never got back around to planning it out again, but another friend Nathaniel Foster expressed some interest in going on a short trip. So, I’ll rehash my ideas and start the planning again.

Picking a Location. The first thing that crosses my mind when I’m planning a trip is how hard do I want the trail to be. I’m taking a couple new (to backpacking) people along, so I don’t want them to be so tired and frustrated that it’s not a good experience for them. I also wanted to pick a place that was fairly scenic because everyone going along has a variable amount of interest in photography. Not too far away from Chattanooga/Dalton area is a fairly easy set of trails within the Cloudland Canyon State Park. In looking at the map available here. It doesn’t look like there are any crazy elevation changes on any of the trails except for the Sitton Gulch Trail, but it doesn’t have any camping sites.

Itinerary Planning. Getting familiar with the area and the pace of your group (however large or small it may be) are necessary for any hiking or backpacking trips. I figure that for starting out on a mildly strenuous trail, averaging from one to one an a half miles an hour is about right for most groups with full backpacks. More experienced groups will go faster and need less breaks so their average may be significantly faster. Hiking is easier, and will have a pace closer to two miles an hour for starters. The harder the trail, the slower the pace. Familiarity is the key though.

The way I’m thinking about my trip right now, we’ll probably arrive around 7:30pm, go in on the Backcountry Trail (2 miles, max) Friday night, set up camp and sleep. Get up on Saturday Morning, eat a breakfast to prep us for the day and pack up. Depending on how the sites are reserved, we may not have the same site Saturday evening but that will provide for a slight change in environment and some good training. After packing up Saturday morning we’ll hike it back out to the vehicles (2 miles, max) and move necessary gear, food, and water into our day-packs for the more strenuous trails we’ll be attacking during the day. On Saturday before noon we’ll drive over to a parking lot at the trail-head of the Overlook trail and head down to see the Waterfalls (less than 2 miles) with our day-packs and head down to the 2nd waterfall for lunch, stopping at the 1st waterfall for a short water break. Once we get back to the Parking Lot we’ll move the vehicles if necessary for the Sitton Gulch Trail. We’ll verify we have the equipment we need in our day-packs, refill our water apparatuses, and head down the trail (6.5 miles). When we return in the evening we’ll pack everything back into our backpacks and drive over to the parking lot at the Backcountry Trail. After getting the packs back on our back, we’ll head into camp (2 miles, max), set camp, make dinner, and chat around a campfire (if allowed) until sleepy time. Sunday morning we’ll pack up and head back out to the cars. Depending on whether my group’s legs are ready for another trail we may give the West Rim Loop Trail(4.8 miles) a visit with our day-packs before leaving the park to head home.

UPDATE:

In an effort to get this post published I forgot to add the Leave No Trace ethics regarding their “Plan Ahead and Prepare” skill. It is always important to keep these in mind when planning an outdoor activity.

• Know the regulations and concerns for the area you’ll be hiking, backpacking, or camping in. Restrictions are based on any past abuse and the special conditions of an area.
• Camp and travel in small groups. They are quieter and do less damage.
• Avoid the popular areas during heavy use times.
• Learn how to properly store your food to protect it from bears and other animals.
• Repackage your food into re-usable containers like Ziploc bags. Avoid tin or aluminum cans and glass. Reduce the amount of trash you bring into the woods by eliminating all unnecessary packaging like cardboard boxes, etc.
• Make sure you have a way to properly dispose of your trash (use your Ziploc bags and bring an extra garbage bag).
• Get back to the basics. Rough it! Select your gear and plan your trip by thinking about how it will impact the environment and also how it may affect others as well.
• Choose hiking, backpacking, and camping gear and clothing that are natural earth tone colors like green, brown, tan, or black.

Stay Tuned for “Choosing Equipment for a Backpacking Trip”, “Meal Planning for a Backpacking Trip”, and “Packing for a Backpacking Trip”