After a great weekend in the wet weather, my friends have had a chance to upload the pictures they took (at least a good handful of them) to their flickr accounts. Molly and I decided to leave our DSLR’s at the house being that there was another DSLR and a Point&Shoot already packed with the other guys’ stuff.

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. (more…)

Here’s a quickly thrown together checklist of gear, with notes, that anyone should be mindful of when going backpacking. I tried to be as complete as possible, though I’m sure I’m missing something…

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. (more…)

Yeah, I had a goal of keeping the blog posts coming, but then I got sidetracked. While I’m not entirely ready with any complete new posts, I’ll at least bring you up to date for those of you that I know don’t keep track of my twitter but read my blog in your RSS reader. I’m offering you this post as kind of an apology for not bringing you the “Regularly Scheduled Programming”. It should provide enough for you to snack on until another post follows later this week (I hope!).

P90X Workout Regimen

Monday was the first day of my P90X workout. I’m doing a different track as Molly (she’s doing the Lean Plan, I’m doing the Classic Plan) but at the same time as her for encouragement, as well as getting me a bit better in shape for the wedding and some backpacking trips I’ll be planning or am planning. I’ve been sore since I started, with emphasis on different parts of the body for the different days which is the way this program claims to work – by “muscle confusion”. I can already tell to the touch that my back, quadriceps, and triceps are toning up and I’m only 3 days into it. Today is “Yoga X”. I’m not doing the daily pictures, but I’ll probably end up doing a weekly picture digest. Right now I’m posting them privately to my Flickr account. At the end of it all I’ll share my Day Zero through Ninety improvements with a week delta, 13 in all if my math is right. If you’re interested in it, send me an email, IM, or Direct Message and I’ll try to hook you up. There’s some equipment you’ll need to procure on top of the videos, so you’re going to be financially dedicated to it from the beginning. I’m dedicated to it right now because of that “hurts so good” feeling – I guess I’m a masochist when it comes to self-improvement.

Fileserver Research

I’m brainstorming a couple of ideas for a few of my friends and I to have our own server for everything we’d use one for (Games, Streaming Media, Private Web Hosting) and the most promising option requires us to have a storage tank attached to a separate VMWare ESXi server. So when I read this article on Monday and it got me thinking about it a little more. I had been thinking about a Drobo as the solution, but wasn’t ready to make that the choice without weighing other options. Of course Mike, my supervisor at work and fellow geek, planted the bug in my ear about Sun’s ZFS which lead to me investigating Solaris/OpenSolaris as a potential solution in lieu of a Drobo.  The DataRobotics stuff is fancy, and would operate exactly as we would need it but it’s a bit pricier than we’re really wanting to get into initially. A couple of the other articles I’ve found on the topic which have helped me formulate my decision:

• Expand-O-Matic RAID-Z
• Build your own multi-terabyte file server with OpenSolaris and ZFS
• Build your own Drobo-Replacement Based on ZFS
• and a handful of others on my other computer

Anyways, this means that I’ve been geeking it up which derails the progress I was making on my other articles.

Gear Guide Research

My next article is going to be about sleeping bags what materials their made of, pros and cons, and of course – my methodology in choosing a good one. I did some here-a-little-there-a-little research regarding the materials over the weekend when I wasn’t cleaning house, doing dishes, doing laundry, watching my Netflix queue (Big Bang Theory – TV Series), or napping. I’ll probably get back on to that by the end of this weekend which should yield a post before Monday (which may have some significant sales on Camping gear). I haven’t forgotten about it, I’ve just been derailed with other things stewing in my brain!

(more…)

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. (more…)