So, for starters, lets take a look at what your normal car kit should have:

1. Basic First Aid Kit (for minor cuts, scrapes, burns)
   • Ideally, this is just for the little stuff you will inflict upon yourself from being clumsy working under the hood.
   • You might also want to add some kind of hand-sanitizer or cleaner.
   • Put this in a gallon sized ziploc bag.
2. Flashlight (extra batteries are always a good idea)
   • I’d have to say the 2x AA MagLites are perfect for this kit, though, if you want something smaller there’s a MagLite “Solitare” that uses 1x AAA battery.
   • I carry a 2x D-cell MagLite in my vehicle at all times, with an extra pair of batteries in the glove compartment. It’s size and weight has made it useful as a makeshift hammer to be used on my starter solenoid when the vehicle wouldn’t crank, such that I got it working so I could roll into the mechanic.
   • Add the small flashlight to your glove compartment. If you keep a larger flashlight I’d recommend keeping it up beside you, or under you at the driver’s seat.
3. Jumper Cables
   • You always need them when you don’t have them, and someone else usually needs them when you have them. You might as well keep them so at a minimum you can do your good turn of the day.
   • Put these inside the Action Packer.
4. Duct Tape
   • Do I really need to explain the usefulness of even a partial roll of this stuff? If so, go watch some MacGuyver.
   • Put it inside your Action Packer.
5. Simple Hand Tools
   • At the very minimum you should carry a pair of Screwdrivers (Phillips and Flat) and some Channel-Lock Adjustable Pliers. The utility in these alone coupled with a pocketknife and duct tape can get you a few extra miles down the road. If you know what problems your vehicle is more likely to have, and you’ll need other tools be sure to add them.
   • Put these inside a toolbox (if you carry many tools), or the Action Packer.
6. Pocketknife
   • It’s the Eagle Scout in me, but see my notes for Duct Tape.
   • Put this in your glove compartment.
7. Water
   • Water serves a dual purpose when kept in a vehicle: To keep yourself hydrated, or to keep the vehicle cool (in case of low fluids). I highly recommend keeping at least 2 liters of water with you (3-4 water bottles).
   • Put this in your Action Packer.
8. Misc. Automotive Fluids
   • I usually carry Oil, premix anti-freeze, and a funnel.
   • It’s a good idea to toss a couple automotive paper towels, or a scrap piece of an old shirt for spills.
   • If you can fit these in a ziploc inside the action packer, I highly recommend it in case of a leak or spill.

The above items tend to get you through most of what you’ll need if your car breaks down. In most cases you’ll be able to get help relatively easy, or it should be close by. But when the winter weather hits, you may not be able to get help for a good number of hours, and it is most important that you can stay warm.

Here are my tips for what to add to the trunk for winter weather:

1. Blanket
   • Indispensable when needed to stay warm, and nice to have for long car rides for any passengers that wish to rest.
2. Light Snack
   • Make sure it’s something that won’t melt if it gets too hot, but that will provide some calories. It is important that your body is able to generate enough heat to keep you warm underneath the blanket. Don’t gorge yourself on super-sweets, you don’t want to get sick. Trail Mix is typically a good bet.
3. Hand Warmers
   • Only necessary when you’re stuck for longer periods of time, but very helpful to restore body heat when the blanket just isn’t cutting it.
4. Ice Scraper
   • If you have adequate insulation, the energy you put into scraping ice off of your car will keep you warm. It also allows you to keep an eye out for any assistance that may come your way. Try not to get wet though, it’s counter-productive in staying warm.
5. Large bag of Cat Litter
   • Another dual-purpose item. This is most important for those of you with lightweight two-wheel drive vehicles. It adds weight for traction, and if you open the bag you can put it on the ground underneath your tires for added traction when the weight alone isn’t enough. Just keep in mind that “gunning” the gas isn’t going to help you: stay in a low gear and apply steady pressure to the accelerator pedal.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to know how and when to use these items. Knowing how your vehicle works and what your body needs to stay warm will save you a lot of stress if you ever encounter a situation where you need these tools. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comments section below. I’ll be happy to address them.

A note on the links I supply on my blog: I am not paid by CampMor or Amazon or any other site, I simply link to those sites because I trust their products and personally use them. Though, if they wished to sponsor some Ad Space on my site, I would certainly accept an offer

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.

Now, you may be asking yourself “Why am I taking advice from a 21 year old?” Go ahead, ask yourself that. Now I’ll answer your question. I’m happy. The reason I’m happy is because I don’t let things get to me like they did when I was in middle school and early high school. Something clicked inside my psyche that changed the way I looked at myself and set goals for myself starting for me in 11th grade. I found myself surrounded by people I enjoyed being with, and they complemented my style. I’m a self proclaimed geek and I’m proud to have that title. Even ‘nerd’ is a complement to me when used in context (which simply means that it’s the truth). To give everyone out there a better understanding of why I’m perfectly welcome to these terms, I’ll define them as follows:

Geek – someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

Nerd – someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

Dork – someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

For me, it’s computers and networking, photography, audio production, and sometimes cooking that make me a geek as well as a nerd in subjects like computers, the internet, and networking. I take offense to being called a dork as a blanket term because I’m fairly social. I’ll readily admit that I do have some dork that shows on limited occasions, but I’m usually being silly or I’m in a bad mood.

All that being said, the point is accept who you are for what you are. Being passionate about something is what it takes to be successful and adopting that to your own reality will only make you more confident in your abilities and take you far.