amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
I've never done the "camp on the water" with the exception of being on a houseboat once. I've heard camping on canoes is fun but the issues on our lake are drunk boaters. I just wouldn't want to risk it unless I was on a smaller lake or tethered to a riverbank.
As for bears. I've never run into them, but they don't particularly frighten me either, because in TN we've just got black bears and they're not huge in my neck of the woods. They're like giant trash pandas honestly and unless you go out of your way to rile them up they'll leave you alone.
Regarding bear food storage. I had never heard that hanging your canisters attracts bears. Ever. I've hung food at camp to keep raccoons away and I know a lot of people that either hang it or use a bear vault, but I've never heard bad stories from hanging food?
For firearms, it just depends on where I'm camping. If I'm going out 5+ miles into the woods and I know I'm going to be pretty out of the way where no one can get to me, and my cell reception isn't great, I'm taking my 9mm. If I'm hunting I'll obviously have my rifle (or bow).
If I'm in a remotely public place (we have a state park with a 6 mile hike into the woods to a remote campsite against the lake) I'm leaving it at home. I've got cell reception out there and I'm not worried about smaller animals.
I've heard a 22 with snake shot isn't a bad idea. I might look into that considering the way I fish.
I'm going camping for a week at the end of the month. I used to go a lot more often in the summer when I lived at home, but now I am away and have a stupid job and I've missed a few summers.
So I get to fly home, drive 4 hours to the boat landing, take a boat 15 minutes and arrive at camp. No road but there's a quad trail to the landing which takes about an hour to navigate.
I've never just gone out to a provincial park or a public camp ground with a tent though. We have a family cottage on a lake (was my grandpa's, now my aunt's) that was built in the 70s. Wood stove for heat, no indoor plumbing, no electricity, no phone, water from a hand pump (the most delicious ice cold water oh my god). I like it. I think it's a pretty good compromise between Survivorman and 'we call it a cottage but really it's just a second house on a lake, let me show you our flatscreen camp TV and gourmet kitchen'.
Recently I've been watching a lot of Primitive Technology videos and I picked up Les Stroud's book 'Survive!' and I've been wanting to get more into bushcraft and stuff for fun. I wish I had more time up at camp because I'd love to start building shelters and whatnot. The most I've done is start fires with a firestriker instead of matches. If it doesn't rain I might try a bow drill or something this time around.
amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Rez,
If you want to start getting into it from a basic level, try making a firebox. Get an altoids tin and an old cotton t-shirt. Use your knife to make little squares of cotton and set them in the tin and then tin goes in the fire on the coals (under a log) for about 30 minutes.
Now you have char cloth. Use a ferro rod or however you want to get heat to spark the cloth and it'll immediately start to burn. Have your birds nest ready and practice making fire using the cloth. Bonus points if you can find flint on the property and do it with flint and steel. It's easy if you have char cloth.
THEN! find a good piece of hardwood. Use your knife and baton it in half. Get a hot coal from the fire and a hollow tube (say bamboo or river cane) and blow on the coal and burn out a bowl in the wood. Then make a spoon.
Those are literally the first two bushcraft tasks you must master to become a bushcrafter, and they're fucking FUN! : )
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MayabirdPecking at the keyboardRegistered Userregular
Ticks are the worst, and I do a pretty good job of checking myself there.
I freaking hate ticks and, while I don't actually go camping myself, I do a lot of tramping through brush and tall grass on bird hikes so I can get a LOT of ticks on me. Started spraying some birding clothes (long pants, long shifts, hat, socks) with permethrin (got a giant bottle in a sporting goods store, recommended by a bunch of hunters) and it has been amazing. I went from nine ticks in a thirty minute walk in April to nothing for a couple months even as it warmed up. It's not recommended for people who have cats though since it's very toxic to them.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Ticks are the worst, and I do a pretty good job of checking myself there.
I freaking hate ticks and, while I don't actually go camping myself, I do a lot of tramping through brush and tall grass on bird hikes so I can get a LOT of ticks on me. Started spraying some birding clothes (long pants, long shifts, hat, socks) with permethrin (got a giant bottle in a sporting goods store, recommended by a bunch of hunters) and it has been amazing. I went from nine ticks in a thirty minute walk in April to nothing for a couple months even as it warmed up. It's not recommended for people who have cats though since it's very toxic to them.
I use either that or deep woods off. I prefer permethrin because it doesn't peel the paint off stuff like deep woods off does. I still end up with 4-5 though on a good walk through the woods.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
So I'm heading up to the cabin tomorrow morning through Sunday. I think I'm going to try primitive bannock bread (flour, water, baking powder, salt) and wrap it around a peeled green stick over the fire.
Should be good times.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
I was gone for three days and we hit page 3? Shame on you campers.
Or good on you if you were out camping.
Sadly no pics from the weekend but I went to the cabin and helped out with the IBO (International Bowhunters) Traditional World Championships.
It was a HARD three days of work and I got heat stroke Sunday and almost dropped. Remember to hydrate, and don't be like me and get drunk Saturday night and go trying to shoot the course in the dark with a bunch of good ol' boys. You lose arrows.
I stayed in my tent and got to check out the farm across the woods and see a GORGEOUS Whitetail Doe running through the soybean fields. Man she was beautiful. Took off leaping and bolted in the trees when she saw us or I'd have snagged a picture.
Used my new inflatable mat and it was comfortable as hell. Good times were had, beers were drank, and I bought some new stuff.
I got Alpaca Wool socks and they kept my feet dry in mesh sneakers for two days. Seriously if you don't own Alpaca wool socks get some. Now.
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
Alpaca pair next time I go camping, that's for sure
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I went out climbing today, which is not camping, but can be done in conjunction with camping. In fact, I'll be doing that a couple times before the year is out.
I've just gotten back into it since doing it growing up, but my parents had a tent trailer for pretty much as long as I can remember. My fire building skills are still pretty decent, but I need a good axe for splitting firewood. Anyone have any recommendations? I'm car camping these days if that factors in to your recommendation.
Also, anyone have recommendations on an air mattress? The lady did not enjoy the sleeping pads, and has managed to get stuck in her mummy bag on her own, so we definitely need a mattress. Got the REI Half-Dome 4, so it can fit a queen in there and all our gear.
I love camping. I spent the midsummer three weeks ago on a three day canoeing trip out in the wilderness. Of course, PA is fairly U.S. centric, so you probably get the best idea of what kind of environment I'm talking about if you consider Minnesota/Michigan, what with conifers, lakes, etc.
Probably going to spend an overnighter next weekend on a nearby island with some friends, it's been kind of a summer tradition to do once or twice every year, even with people who aren't all that into camping. Generally my approach to camping is that if I can't carry all my gear comfortably for the trip, I will reduce the gear. Car camping and such seems very... unfulfilling?
All this wilderness jazz is something I've been doing since I could walk, which I'd consider a normal part of life. It's kind of why I get a kick out of the whole bushcraft scene, which is mostly western/central Europeans and Americans discovering the kind of wilderness skills everyone in northern/eastern Europe and rural places of north America etc. find completely normal every day tasks. It's very funny, but I'm also glad that people are rediscovering something I greatly enjoy, and maybe gaining a new appreciation for the wilds in the progress.
As for drinks, I tend to have a hip flask of Islay whisky (Laphroaig, Lagavulin or Ardbeg, generally) with me. Not to get sloshed, it's just nice to sip by the campfire.
I went out climbing today, which is not camping, but can be done in conjunction with camping. In fact, I'll be doing that a couple times before the year is out.
I've just gotten back into it since doing it growing up, but my parents had a tent trailer for pretty much as long as I can remember. My fire building skills are still pretty decent, but I need a good axe for splitting firewood. Anyone have any recommendations? I'm car camping these days if that factors in to your recommendation.
Also, anyone have recommendations on an air mattress? The lady did not enjoy the sleeping pads, and has managed to get stuck in her mummy bag on her own, so we definitely need a mattress. Got the REI Half-Dome 4, so it can fit a queen in there and all our gear.
We have this one for car camping. It's a massive improvement over the pads. I can actually sleep when camping now. Pumping by hand takes about 5 minutes. Definitely wouldn't take this backpacking.
Note -- You can't use electric pumps w/ cigarette lighter outlets, too much current. I think you can hook directly to the car battery, but pumping by hand isn't that big a deal.
I went out climbing today, which is not camping, but can be done in conjunction with camping. In fact, I'll be doing that a couple times before the year is out.
I've just gotten back into it since doing it growing up, but my parents had a tent trailer for pretty much as long as I can remember. My fire building skills are still pretty decent, but I need a good axe for splitting firewood. Anyone have any recommendations? I'm car camping these days if that factors in to your recommendation.
Also, anyone have recommendations on an air mattress? The lady did not enjoy the sleeping pads, and has managed to get stuck in her mummy bag on her own, so we definitely need a mattress. Got the REI Half-Dome 4, so it can fit a queen in there and all our gear.
We have this one for car camping. It's a massive improvement over the pads. I can actually sleep when camping now. Pumping by hand takes about 5 minutes. Definitely wouldn't take this backpacking.
Note -- You can't use electric pumps w/ cigarette lighter outlets, too much current. I think you can hook directly to the car battery, but pumping by hand isn't that big a deal.
This is generally true however you can find electric pumps with internal batteries that can be charged via the cigarette lighter outlet. Just don't leave in charging amd forget about it.
I went out climbing today, which is not camping, but can be done in conjunction with camping. In fact, I'll be doing that a couple times before the year is out.
I've just gotten back into it since doing it growing up, but my parents had a tent trailer for pretty much as long as I can remember. My fire building skills are still pretty decent, but I need a good axe for splitting firewood. Anyone have any recommendations? I'm car camping these days if that factors in to your recommendation.
Also, anyone have recommendations on an air mattress? The lady did not enjoy the sleeping pads, and has managed to get stuck in her mummy bag on her own, so we definitely need a mattress. Got the REI Half-Dome 4, so it can fit a queen in there and all our gear.
We have this one for car camping. It's a massive improvement over the pads. I can actually sleep when camping now. Pumping by hand takes about 5 minutes. Definitely wouldn't take this backpacking.
Note -- You can't use electric pumps w/ cigarette lighter outlets, too much current. I think you can hook directly to the car battery, but pumping by hand isn't that big a deal.
This is generally true however you can find electric pumps with internal batteries that can be charged via the cigarette lighter outlet. Just don't leave in charging amd forget about it.
I got one that takes, like , 6 c batteries.
They moistly come out at night, moistly.
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
So let's talk booze. What's everyone's preference?
For me if it's all pack-only, it's a flask of bourbon. If I can have a small cooler it's a bottle of bourbon and a half case of beer.
I just went cabin camping last weekend and brought bourbon and beer. Seems appropriate for camping.
My favorite part of camping is cooking over a fire. I bring a cast iron pan, Dutch oven and tripod for the oven. Picked up some welding gloves which was really nice as the fire pit was below ground so had to reach in a lot.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
edited August 2016
CAMPING!
Went up to the cabin this past weekend and made some cool stuff.
I went up to the cabin and it was too humid to work on bows but I had some other projects in mind. I want to get into blackpowder hunting so I decided to make a powderhorn!
PICS!
I've got an old axe head from the 40s that I've been meaning to restore so step one was cutting off the handle. There will be more pictures of this later.
I've wanted to make a sling for my possibles pouch for a while so I made one this weekend. It's about 12 feet of paracord and I'm REALLY bad at slinging rocks out of it. I'll get better though.
I let the axe head and some traps soak in vinegar and some water overnight and it knocked the rust off of them. I need to sand them up a bit and they'll be good as new. They all work.
This is my new fire kit. It's a three finger steel striker, some birds nest (wood shavings) tinder, char cloth, a piece of flint, and an altoids tin for more cloth making. The char took a spark on the first strike!
It's almost going now.
SICK BURN!
I made fire! I now have 4 ways I can successfully make fire in the woods.
Decided I wanted to make a powder horn for black powder hunting. I'm using a buffalo horn.
I'm using cedar for the plug.
I've plugged one end and used a brass air gun coupling to make it easier to pour powder into the horn.
Horn was almost done so I worked on the deer antler plug for the pour spout.
I rounded off the cedar plug, used sour wood for that cap, made a hemp triple twist strap to carry it, and put a flint arrowhead with my makers mark on it for decoration.
I still need to seal it but here's the horn, with a 25 grain deer antler measuring cup. I used brass for the pins.
Everything is coming together nicely.
LET'S GO LIVE IN THE WOODS!
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TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
I'd be lying if I said that I didn't find the hunting and especially the trapping stuff distasteful, but the fire kit and general survivalism is pretty neat!
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Hey, I'd love to discuss that with you. What about hunting do you find distasteful, and why?
Genuinely curious, I have no intentions of turning this into a "do you buy meat from the grocery store?" thread : )
I'm an avid (I own 12 rods at this point) fisherman. I fish catch and release 95% of the time, though I've killed my fair share of fish over the years for the table.
There's something about hunting that I can't bring myself to like, though I've never actually tried. I think it's mostly that there's no option to let it go. You can't unshoot an animal. I can't imagine that lining up the shot and saying click (which is the closest thing I can think of to catch and release) would be very satisfying. I guess rubber bullets or something.
I also have practical reservations -- I don't want to spend three days in a tree for one fucking deer. That sounds godawful boring.
I'm an avid (I own 12 rods at this point) fisherman. I fish catch and release 95% of the time, though I've killed my fair share of fish over the years for the table.
There's something about hunting that I can't bring myself to like, though I've never actually tried. I think it's mostly that there's no option to let it go. You can't unshoot an animal. I can't imagine that lining up the shot and saying click (which is the closest thing I can think of to catch and release) would be very satisfying. I guess rubber bullets or something.
I also have practical reservations -- I don't want to spend three days in a tree for one fucking deer. That sounds godawful boring.
I would think the non-lethal hunting option is photography?
Going on a trek into the wild and waiting for three days to get the perfect shot of some rare animal sounds pretty rewarding.
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
I'm an avid (I own 12 rods at this point) fisherman. I fish catch and release 95% of the time, though I've killed my fair share of fish over the years for the table.
There's something about hunting that I can't bring myself to like, though I've never actually tried. I think it's mostly that there's no option to let it go. You can't unshoot an animal. I can't imagine that lining up the shot and saying click (which is the closest thing I can think of to catch and release) would be very satisfying. I guess rubber bullets or something.
I also have practical reservations -- I don't want to spend three days in a tree for one fucking deer. That sounds godawful boring.
I would think the non-lethal hunting option is photography?
Going on a trek into the wild and waiting for three days to get the perfect shot of some rare animal sounds pretty rewarding.
I try to take pictures of cool animals when I see them.
For me, if I hunt or fish or trap, I make sure to make it as painless as possible and use everything I can. If I were to get a squirrel, I'd not only eat the meat but I'd use the fur for a bow quiver. I'm not great at that kind of stuff but I'm learning.
Some people hunt for antlers. At the cabin I go to, when you kill a deer, you take the meat, you leave the tougher shoulder at the cabin for a big pot luck supper in the spring that feeds hundreds of people, you tan the hide for knife sheaths or quivers. The hooves have even been made into bow stands or rifle stands in the cabin. We use sinew to patch up bows or secure things, etc. Hell the antlers don't just go up on a wall for decoration, we use the tines for measuring cups and the more solid antlers for knife handles or cup handles. Everything gets used and nothing goes to waste.
It's more about being thankful for what you've been given.
Even the rendered fat from cooking/cleaning gets used on primitive bows or in pine pitch.
With fishing, I'm trying to learn how to take the larger more durable fish bones to make fish hooks. We've used salmon skin and trout skin to back bows to make them last longer too.
With trapping (which tbh I haven't done yet, I'm just learning) my traps are all instant lethal. They're meant to kill small game without them suffering. That doesn't mean there's a chance a deer or something could wander through, but I'd do everything in my power to help prevent that.
I don't hunt often. If I get a good sized deer it'll last me the winter and the various non edible parts will fund several projects.
Again though, I don't want this to digress into a hunting/conservation thread, I just felt like I'd give my stance on it since I brought it up. Anyone feel free to add their .02 as well, good or bad.
So... I'm going to be spending a week camping at reasonable high elevation for a week and need to plan food. There will be a decent cooking space with camp stove, a smoker and a grill.
I need to plan meals, and would like to hear suggesting. It is pack in pack out, and for various reasons things that require boiling food in water is basically out.
Stuff already planned:
Pulled pork
Smoked Tritip
Some sort of hash
Grilled cheese and soup
Kebabs with precooked rice
And that's it for the moment. There will be a massive amount of bacon and eggs available.
So... do you folk have any favorite camp friendly meals?
I haven't been camping in years, and what my family did might be considered "glam camping" to some (We had a tent trailer that we used as our shelter; while it had power and plumbing we uesd them all of three times across 25 years and two trailers) it did ensure that my family was able to quickly pull our shit together and move from one camp ground to the next and give us a chance to visit every province in canada aside from Newfoundland.
I think the thing that was my biggest take away from those trips were both a knack for finding wild berries to eat (blue berries and raspberries were always a treat), recognizing medicinal plants (Jewel weed is your best friend) and learning to appreciate the inventiveness of raccoons; those guys will fuck up your shit like no one else.
In terms of bush camping, I've had one opportunity for that via Outward Bound; me and about a dozen other teens spent 3 weeks in the bush and man alive the packs we carried were obscene; each one carried a mix of food, clothes for two people, tents and/or tools. Tough stuff all around, but for me those packs were still prefereable to the canoes that we had to portage (I couldn't handle the weight of them and let me tell you how embarrassing it is to be the only guy that can't handle them) during the first couple of days.
Solo was fun after a fashion; we each got dropped off in an isolated spot with not much to do aside from being alone with our thoughts. Oh and dealing with a massive electrical storm that was directly overhead and relentlessly pouring down rain one night. Spent almost the whole time getting rained on while I was in lightning drill. Mercifully, my stuff was mostly dry due to good placement of my Tarp.
(Other people in various groups didn't fair so good; one guy ate all his food on the first day while someone else went half insane trying to trap and kill a black squirrel).
So... I'm going to be spending a week camping at reasonable high elevation for a week and need to plan food. There will be a decent cooking space with camp stove, a smoker and a grill.
I need to plan meals, and would like to hear suggesting. It is pack in pack out, and for various reasons things that require boiling food in water is basically out.
Stuff already planned:
Pulled pork
Smoked Tritip
Some sort of hash
Grilled cheese and soup
Kebabs with precooked rice
And that's it for the moment. There will be a massive amount of bacon and eggs available.
So... do you folk have any favorite camp friendly meals?
GORP is a pretty good standby; it's mostly raisins, peanuts and whatever other dried fruit and nuts you want to throw in there. Stays good for a good long while and makes for a decent snack.
Corn on the cob is pretty good, and it has the advantage that you can burn the cobs when you're done so you don't have to worry about packing anything out.
So... I'm going to be spending a week camping at reasonable high elevation for a week and need to plan food. There will be a decent cooking space with camp stove, a smoker and a grill.
I need to plan meals, and would like to hear suggesting. It is pack in pack out, and for various reasons things that require boiling food in water is basically out.
Stuff already planned:
Pulled pork
Smoked Tritip
Some sort of hash
Grilled cheese and soup
Kebabs with precooked rice
And that's it for the moment. There will be a massive amount of bacon and eggs available.
So... do you folk have any favorite camp friendly meals?
If you have access to plentiful water, dates or prunes are a good idea. High fiber foods require a good amount of water consumption though. I also like Onion powder / Garlic powder and Tabasco or Cayenne pepper so that you can get some variety in the eggs. Truthfully though, eggs, bacon and hash browns with syrupy percolator coffee while disgusting at home are the best thing ever over a camp fire. Dried soup packets aren't bad as a seasoning if you can't boil things very easily too. If you're going to be hiking all over the place you may need to come up with some carbohydrates in there for energy, pancake mixes can be okay. Peanut butter is a good "just in case" to have on hand just because of the calorie density and it lasts forever.
Edit: Quotefix. Dates/Prunes recommended for poophealth.. cheese and meat for a week will end your bowels.
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TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
So... I'm going to be spending a week camping at reasonable high elevation for a week and need to plan food. There will be a decent cooking space with camp stove, a smoker and a grill.
I need to plan meals, and would like to hear suggesting. It is pack in pack out, and for various reasons things that require boiling food in water is basically out.
Stuff already planned:
Pulled pork
Smoked Tritip
Some sort of hash
Grilled cheese and soup
Kebabs with precooked rice
And that's it for the moment. There will be a massive amount of bacon and eggs available.
So... do you folk have any favorite camp friendly meals?
Tasty Bites. Boil water, submerge packet, enjoy tasty Indian food and keep the water for next time.
Bring a mesh bag for food waste to let it dry and not get stinky.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
If it's pack in pack out but you have a smoker and grill how far is the hike?
Cause if you can handle the carry weight up there you can bring some decent food since you'll end up eating it and have a lighter pack on the way back down.
I'm assuming since you're bringing meat you have a freezer available? If not, you can freeze steaks the night before and bring them with you and they'll be good for that first night. That's always a big favorite on a longer trip, having a steak the first night (if you like steaks)
Is boiling water an issue because of the altitude? Can you elaborate on that more because it cuts out a lot of good carbs like mac and cheese and freeze dried potatoes.
Some type of trail mix, GORP, or granola with nuts is good for quick calories and a little chocolate tossed in there doesn't hurt morale.
I do well with the pouch tuna or canned chicken. Get one or two of those mayo packs from the gas station and some salt and pepper and crackers and you can make some easy chicken salad that doesn't taste horrible, especially with some tobasco sauce.
Mountain House meals are another easy fix that's pretty tasty if you just need a fast lunch before a hike but you'll need boiling water.
If it's pack in pack out but you have a smoker and grill how far is the hike?
Cause if you can handle the carry weight up there you can bring some decent food since you'll end up eating it and have a lighter pack on the way back down.
It's car camping with no amenities and a very strict litter / grey water policy.
200 kms NW of Istanbul, couple miles from the border to Bulgaria. I knew the location well, one can actually walk to the river that makes up the border and greet the villagers across but didn't do that this time as I wasn't sure how the guards would react due to the migrant crisis.
Gave the lady the task of collecting kindling and I went out looking for some dry wood. Built a fire pit with rocks collected by the creek and used char cloth to start the fire. We had grilles sausages, roasted peppers, potatos and tomatos for dinner accompanied by the red wine chilling next to Jim Beam JB was reserved for late night sky watching and we used the rocks from the pit rolled in blankets for warmth as we didn't have our sleeping bags with us.
Overall it was a great camp even if for a short time and I convinced the lady for another one this weekend!
Cheers.
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i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language
Alright. A replacement parka has been bought for some winter camping shenanigans. Boots are in the process of being greased and shined to waterproofed perfection, and trousers have been waxed.
Now I'm just waiting for some decent snowfall, and it's off to woods.
Alright. A replacement parka has been bought for some winter camping shenanigans. Boots are in the process of being greased and shined to waterproofed perfection, and trousers have been waxed.
Now I'm just waiting for some decent snowfall, and it's off to woods.
Awesome. I am not a fan of camping in snow as it gets difficult to find dry wood but it definitely does have a charm of its own
i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language
Alright. A replacement parka has been bought for some winter camping shenanigans. Boots are in the process of being greased and shined to waterproofed perfection, and trousers have been waxed.
Now I'm just waiting for some decent snowfall, and it's off to woods.
Awesome. I am not a fan of camping in snow as it gets difficult to find dry wood but it definitely does have a charm of its own
For me the issue was always the slight personal annoyance of snow going up my trouser legs, getting inside the shoes etc. All of that bullshit went away once I ditched the newfangled trekking shoes I had for some old-fashioned leather jackboots. The only thing is that you need to apply some leather balm and shine them up to maintain waterproofing. Still, they're warm, durable as hell (I think my pair is originally from the 70's, at the latest from the 80's), and quite comfortable. Easy and quick to dry compared to modern footgear too.
I don't really use them unless I'm going way off trail, or there's been a lot of snow or other weather-related complications though. You can't see it in the photo, but there's a groove around the heel for attaching the boots to cross-country skis as well, although I don't unfortunately own a pair at the moment. Oh, and skis>snowshoes in all situations, except going uphill.
In any case, winter camping has some additional issues with it. You'll need to bring a whole bunch of extra stuff in the form of clothing, a bulkier sleeping bag (I have Carinthia Defence 4, which is good down to -10C or thereabouts, more with decent clothes and/or a liner or a summer sleeping bag inside it), etc. Winter evening ambiance with a roaring bonfire is absolutely fantastic though, one of my favorite things.
I can't really convince any of my friends to join for these, since some of them barely manage to avoid hypothermia in the middle of the summer (like forgetting a sleeping bag entirely when going camping, etc.). Probably safer that way.
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As for bears. I've never run into them, but they don't particularly frighten me either, because in TN we've just got black bears and they're not huge in my neck of the woods. They're like giant trash pandas honestly and unless you go out of your way to rile them up they'll leave you alone.
Regarding bear food storage. I had never heard that hanging your canisters attracts bears. Ever. I've hung food at camp to keep raccoons away and I know a lot of people that either hang it or use a bear vault, but I've never heard bad stories from hanging food?
For firearms, it just depends on where I'm camping. If I'm going out 5+ miles into the woods and I know I'm going to be pretty out of the way where no one can get to me, and my cell reception isn't great, I'm taking my 9mm. If I'm hunting I'll obviously have my rifle (or bow).
If I'm in a remotely public place (we have a state park with a 6 mile hike into the woods to a remote campsite against the lake) I'm leaving it at home. I've got cell reception out there and I'm not worried about smaller animals.
I've heard a 22 with snake shot isn't a bad idea. I might look into that considering the way I fish.
So I get to fly home, drive 4 hours to the boat landing, take a boat 15 minutes and arrive at camp. No road but there's a quad trail to the landing which takes about an hour to navigate.
I've never just gone out to a provincial park or a public camp ground with a tent though. We have a family cottage on a lake (was my grandpa's, now my aunt's) that was built in the 70s. Wood stove for heat, no indoor plumbing, no electricity, no phone, water from a hand pump (the most delicious ice cold water oh my god). I like it. I think it's a pretty good compromise between Survivorman and 'we call it a cottage but really it's just a second house on a lake, let me show you our flatscreen camp TV and gourmet kitchen'.
Recently I've been watching a lot of Primitive Technology videos and I picked up Les Stroud's book 'Survive!' and I've been wanting to get more into bushcraft and stuff for fun. I wish I had more time up at camp because I'd love to start building shelters and whatnot. The most I've done is start fires with a firestriker instead of matches. If it doesn't rain I might try a bow drill or something this time around.
Do... Re... Mi... So... Fa.... Do... Re.... Do...
Forget it...
If you want to start getting into it from a basic level, try making a firebox. Get an altoids tin and an old cotton t-shirt. Use your knife to make little squares of cotton and set them in the tin and then tin goes in the fire on the coals (under a log) for about 30 minutes.
Now you have char cloth. Use a ferro rod or however you want to get heat to spark the cloth and it'll immediately start to burn. Have your birds nest ready and practice making fire using the cloth. Bonus points if you can find flint on the property and do it with flint and steel. It's easy if you have char cloth.
THEN! find a good piece of hardwood. Use your knife and baton it in half. Get a hot coal from the fire and a hollow tube (say bamboo or river cane) and blow on the coal and burn out a bowl in the wood. Then make a spoon.
Those are literally the first two bushcraft tasks you must master to become a bushcrafter, and they're fucking FUN! : )
I freaking hate ticks and, while I don't actually go camping myself, I do a lot of tramping through brush and tall grass on bird hikes so I can get a LOT of ticks on me. Started spraying some birding clothes (long pants, long shifts, hat, socks) with permethrin (got a giant bottle in a sporting goods store, recommended by a bunch of hunters) and it has been amazing. I went from nine ticks in a thirty minute walk in April to nothing for a couple months even as it warmed up. It's not recommended for people who have cats though since it's very toxic to them.
I use either that or deep woods off. I prefer permethrin because it doesn't peel the paint off stuff like deep woods off does. I still end up with 4-5 though on a good walk through the woods.
Should be good times.
Or good on you if you were out camping.
Sadly no pics from the weekend but I went to the cabin and helped out with the IBO (International Bowhunters) Traditional World Championships.
It was a HARD three days of work and I got heat stroke Sunday and almost dropped. Remember to hydrate, and don't be like me and get drunk Saturday night and go trying to shoot the course in the dark with a bunch of good ol' boys. You lose arrows.
I stayed in my tent and got to check out the farm across the woods and see a GORGEOUS Whitetail Doe running through the soybean fields. Man she was beautiful. Took off leaping and bolted in the trees when she saw us or I'd have snagged a picture.
Used my new inflatable mat and it was comfortable as hell. Good times were had, beers were drank, and I bought some new stuff.
I got Alpaca Wool socks and they kept my feet dry in mesh sneakers for two days. Seriously if you don't own Alpaca wool socks get some. Now.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I've just gotten back into it since doing it growing up, but my parents had a tent trailer for pretty much as long as I can remember. My fire building skills are still pretty decent, but I need a good axe for splitting firewood. Anyone have any recommendations? I'm car camping these days if that factors in to your recommendation.
Also, anyone have recommendations on an air mattress? The lady did not enjoy the sleeping pads, and has managed to get stuck in her mummy bag on her own, so we definitely need a mattress. Got the REI Half-Dome 4, so it can fit a queen in there and all our gear.
Probably going to spend an overnighter next weekend on a nearby island with some friends, it's been kind of a summer tradition to do once or twice every year, even with people who aren't all that into camping. Generally my approach to camping is that if I can't carry all my gear comfortably for the trip, I will reduce the gear. Car camping and such seems very... unfulfilling?
All this wilderness jazz is something I've been doing since I could walk, which I'd consider a normal part of life. It's kind of why I get a kick out of the whole bushcraft scene, which is mostly western/central Europeans and Americans discovering the kind of wilderness skills everyone in northern/eastern Europe and rural places of north America etc. find completely normal every day tasks. It's very funny, but I'm also glad that people are rediscovering something I greatly enjoy, and maybe gaining a new appreciation for the wilds in the progress.
As for drinks, I tend to have a hip flask of Islay whisky (Laphroaig, Lagavulin or Ardbeg, generally) with me. Not to get sloshed, it's just nice to sip by the campfire.
We have this one for car camping. It's a massive improvement over the pads. I can actually sleep when camping now. Pumping by hand takes about 5 minutes. Definitely wouldn't take this backpacking.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HBIL9O/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Note -- You can't use electric pumps w/ cigarette lighter outlets, too much current. I think you can hook directly to the car battery, but pumping by hand isn't that big a deal.
If you get the one with the built in pump take out the D cell batteries when it's not in use. They drain if you leave em in there.
This is generally true however you can find electric pumps with internal batteries that can be charged via the cigarette lighter outlet. Just don't leave in charging amd forget about it.
I got one that takes, like , 6 c batteries.
I just went cabin camping last weekend and brought bourbon and beer. Seems appropriate for camping.
My favorite part of camping is cooking over a fire. I bring a cast iron pan, Dutch oven and tripod for the oven. Picked up some welding gloves which was really nice as the fire pit was below ground so had to reach in a lot.
Went up to the cabin this past weekend and made some cool stuff.
Here's a link to the image gallery.
http://imgur.com/gallery/bgBZa
Edit! Proper post with pics
Did some outdoorsman stuff this weekend!
I went up to the cabin and it was too humid to work on bows but I had some other projects in mind. I want to get into blackpowder hunting so I decided to make a powderhorn!
PICS!
I've got an old axe head from the 40s that I've been meaning to restore so step one was cutting off the handle. There will be more pictures of this later.
I've wanted to make a sling for my possibles pouch for a while so I made one this weekend. It's about 12 feet of paracord and I'm REALLY bad at slinging rocks out of it. I'll get better though.
I let the axe head and some traps soak in vinegar and some water overnight and it knocked the rust off of them. I need to sand them up a bit and they'll be good as new. They all work.
This is my new fire kit. It's a three finger steel striker, some birds nest (wood shavings) tinder, char cloth, a piece of flint, and an altoids tin for more cloth making. The char took a spark on the first strike!
It's almost going now.
SICK BURN!
I made fire! I now have 4 ways I can successfully make fire in the woods.
Decided I wanted to make a powder horn for black powder hunting. I'm using a buffalo horn.
I'm using cedar for the plug.
I've plugged one end and used a brass air gun coupling to make it easier to pour powder into the horn.
Horn was almost done so I worked on the deer antler plug for the pour spout.
I rounded off the cedar plug, used sour wood for that cap, made a hemp triple twist strap to carry it, and put a flint arrowhead with my makers mark on it for decoration.
I still need to seal it but here's the horn, with a 25 grain deer antler measuring cup. I used brass for the pins.
Everything is coming together nicely.
LET'S GO LIVE IN THE WOODS!
Genuinely curious, I have no intentions of turning this into a "do you buy meat from the grocery store?" thread : )
There's something about hunting that I can't bring myself to like, though I've never actually tried. I think it's mostly that there's no option to let it go. You can't unshoot an animal. I can't imagine that lining up the shot and saying click (which is the closest thing I can think of to catch and release) would be very satisfying. I guess rubber bullets or something.
I also have practical reservations -- I don't want to spend three days in a tree for one fucking deer. That sounds godawful boring.
I would think the non-lethal hunting option is photography?
Going on a trek into the wild and waiting for three days to get the perfect shot of some rare animal sounds pretty rewarding.
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
I try to take pictures of cool animals when I see them.
For me, if I hunt or fish or trap, I make sure to make it as painless as possible and use everything I can. If I were to get a squirrel, I'd not only eat the meat but I'd use the fur for a bow quiver. I'm not great at that kind of stuff but I'm learning.
Some people hunt for antlers. At the cabin I go to, when you kill a deer, you take the meat, you leave the tougher shoulder at the cabin for a big pot luck supper in the spring that feeds hundreds of people, you tan the hide for knife sheaths or quivers. The hooves have even been made into bow stands or rifle stands in the cabin. We use sinew to patch up bows or secure things, etc. Hell the antlers don't just go up on a wall for decoration, we use the tines for measuring cups and the more solid antlers for knife handles or cup handles. Everything gets used and nothing goes to waste.
It's more about being thankful for what you've been given.
Even the rendered fat from cooking/cleaning gets used on primitive bows or in pine pitch.
With fishing, I'm trying to learn how to take the larger more durable fish bones to make fish hooks. We've used salmon skin and trout skin to back bows to make them last longer too.
With trapping (which tbh I haven't done yet, I'm just learning) my traps are all instant lethal. They're meant to kill small game without them suffering. That doesn't mean there's a chance a deer or something could wander through, but I'd do everything in my power to help prevent that.
I don't hunt often. If I get a good sized deer it'll last me the winter and the various non edible parts will fund several projects.
Again though, I don't want this to digress into a hunting/conservation thread, I just felt like I'd give my stance on it since I brought it up. Anyone feel free to add their .02 as well, good or bad.
The campfire is a friendly place : )
I need to plan meals, and would like to hear suggesting. It is pack in pack out, and for various reasons things that require boiling food in water is basically out.
Stuff already planned:
Pulled pork
Smoked Tritip
Some sort of hash
Grilled cheese and soup
Kebabs with precooked rice
And that's it for the moment. There will be a massive amount of bacon and eggs available.
So... do you folk have any favorite camp friendly meals?
If you're ok packing in meat, you can prepare meatloaf type dishes ahead of time and cook in foil over the fire.
I think the thing that was my biggest take away from those trips were both a knack for finding wild berries to eat (blue berries and raspberries were always a treat), recognizing medicinal plants (Jewel weed is your best friend) and learning to appreciate the inventiveness of raccoons; those guys will fuck up your shit like no one else.
In terms of bush camping, I've had one opportunity for that via Outward Bound; me and about a dozen other teens spent 3 weeks in the bush and man alive the packs we carried were obscene; each one carried a mix of food, clothes for two people, tents and/or tools. Tough stuff all around, but for me those packs were still prefereable to the canoes that we had to portage (I couldn't handle the weight of them and let me tell you how embarrassing it is to be the only guy that can't handle them) during the first couple of days.
Solo was fun after a fashion; we each got dropped off in an isolated spot with not much to do aside from being alone with our thoughts. Oh and dealing with a massive electrical storm that was directly overhead and relentlessly pouring down rain one night. Spent almost the whole time getting rained on while I was in lightning drill. Mercifully, my stuff was mostly dry due to good placement of my Tarp.
(Other people in various groups didn't fair so good; one guy ate all his food on the first day while someone else went half insane trying to trap and kill a black squirrel).
GORP is a pretty good standby; it's mostly raisins, peanuts and whatever other dried fruit and nuts you want to throw in there. Stays good for a good long while and makes for a decent snack.
Corn on the cob is pretty good, and it has the advantage that you can burn the cobs when you're done so you don't have to worry about packing anything out.
If you have access to plentiful water, dates or prunes are a good idea. High fiber foods require a good amount of water consumption though. I also like Onion powder / Garlic powder and Tabasco or Cayenne pepper so that you can get some variety in the eggs. Truthfully though, eggs, bacon and hash browns with syrupy percolator coffee while disgusting at home are the best thing ever over a camp fire. Dried soup packets aren't bad as a seasoning if you can't boil things very easily too. If you're going to be hiking all over the place you may need to come up with some carbohydrates in there for energy, pancake mixes can be okay. Peanut butter is a good "just in case" to have on hand just because of the calorie density and it lasts forever.
Edit: Quotefix. Dates/Prunes recommended for poophealth.. cheese and meat for a week will end your bowels.
Tasty Bites. Boil water, submerge packet, enjoy tasty Indian food and keep the water for next time.
Bring a mesh bag for food waste to let it dry and not get stinky.
Cause if you can handle the carry weight up there you can bring some decent food since you'll end up eating it and have a lighter pack on the way back down.
I'm assuming since you're bringing meat you have a freezer available? If not, you can freeze steaks the night before and bring them with you and they'll be good for that first night. That's always a big favorite on a longer trip, having a steak the first night (if you like steaks)
Is boiling water an issue because of the altitude? Can you elaborate on that more because it cuts out a lot of good carbs like mac and cheese and freeze dried potatoes.
Some type of trail mix, GORP, or granola with nuts is good for quick calories and a little chocolate tossed in there doesn't hurt morale.
I do well with the pouch tuna or canned chicken. Get one or two of those mayo packs from the gas station and some salt and pepper and crackers and you can make some easy chicken salad that doesn't taste horrible, especially with some tobasco sauce.
Mountain House meals are another easy fix that's pretty tasty if you just need a fast lunch before a hike but you'll need boiling water.
It's car camping with no amenities and a very strict litter / grey water policy.
No fish to be caught.
Where did you go?
What did you do?
How did you make your fire?
Is that Jim Beam?
Can I have some?
For reals...
200 kms NW of Istanbul, couple miles from the border to Bulgaria. I knew the location well, one can actually walk to the river that makes up the border and greet the villagers across but didn't do that this time as I wasn't sure how the guards would react due to the migrant crisis.
Gave the lady the task of collecting kindling and I went out looking for some dry wood. Built a fire pit with rocks collected by the creek and used char cloth to start the fire. We had grilles sausages, roasted peppers, potatos and tomatos for dinner accompanied by the red wine chilling next to Jim Beam
Overall it was a great camp even if for a short time and I convinced the lady for another one this weekend!
Cheers.
Now I'm just waiting for some decent snowfall, and it's off to woods.
Awesome. I am not a fan of camping in snow as it gets difficult to find dry wood but it definitely does have a charm of its own
For me the issue was always the slight personal annoyance of snow going up my trouser legs, getting inside the shoes etc. All of that bullshit went away once I ditched the newfangled trekking shoes I had for some old-fashioned leather jackboots. The only thing is that you need to apply some leather balm and shine them up to maintain waterproofing. Still, they're warm, durable as hell (I think my pair is originally from the 70's, at the latest from the 80's), and quite comfortable. Easy and quick to dry compared to modern footgear too.
http://imgur.com/a/unjdl
I don't really use them unless I'm going way off trail, or there's been a lot of snow or other weather-related complications though. You can't see it in the photo, but there's a groove around the heel for attaching the boots to cross-country skis as well, although I don't unfortunately own a pair at the moment. Oh, and skis>snowshoes in all situations, except going uphill.
In any case, winter camping has some additional issues with it. You'll need to bring a whole bunch of extra stuff in the form of clothing, a bulkier sleeping bag (I have Carinthia Defence 4, which is good down to -10C or thereabouts, more with decent clothes and/or a liner or a summer sleeping bag inside it), etc. Winter evening ambiance with a roaring bonfire is absolutely fantastic though, one of my favorite things.
I can't really convince any of my friends to join for these, since some of them barely manage to avoid hypothermia in the middle of the summer (like forgetting a sleeping bag entirely when going camping, etc.). Probably safer that way.