Freephone : Archive for February, 2012
The Princess and the Pea
There was a time when one took pride getting to sleep on the hard ground, gravel covered cave floor or pebbled beach. In hindsight how foolishly we need to prove ourselves.
My first discovered improvement to sleeping under the stars was using space blanket to reflect my own body heat back up at me. Much warmer than the cold floor! It’s just amazing to think of all the technology breakthroughs the space research has brought to us.
Now, no more rocks digging into your back, no more bruised hips…. there is a series self-inflating air pad to lie on. It packs light and small and carry it on every backpacking trip.
Vacation Chores
Summer vacations aren’t meant to be hard work, but enjoyable work on a summer vacation is memorable. My best memories are traveling vacations where we’d stop for a day or two in each place along the trip to explore and enjoy the sights.
Each stop begins with the ritual of erecting the chinook 6 tent, setting up the cooker and walking around the site to get to know the lay of the land. Nothing better than a great campfire dinner looking up at the stars and the early morning rising to breakfast with the birds. Packing up becomes a good routine where everything has its place.
Somehow when work becomes a ritual and a routine that falls into place at a given time, it becomes teamwork and fun and everyone knows what to do and when it needs to be done. A certain pride comes over the whole family when it’s all done whether it’s pitching the tent or packing the car.
The Packing Challenge
Packing to go camping is always a challenge. You want take everything and even the kitchen stove. Not everything fits squarely and there are always pockets of unused space that you can’t get to.
So, what is essential for the family car camping trip? Tents, day packs, cooker and fuel, sleeping bags for mom and dad, kids sleeping bags, floor tarp, floor pads, all necessary clothing and food. That’s when everyone seems to start adding their own little extras, like the skate board just in case there’s a good place, and the pool noodles and board games and so it goes on. Oh! And I quite forgot those hiking boots that never fit in the clothing bags and always get separated and tucked into one of black holes left by other odd shaped stuff. No wonder packing gets complicated.
The rule is… if it doesn’t fit it doesn’t go and I need to be able to see clearly out of the back window. If at all possible hold everyone to one bag that contains everything including those hiking boots.
Keeping Sleeping Bags Clean
It’s mid-winter and whether you are braving the outdoors or your kids are sleeping over at friends you have to pack the esentials, use them, then bring them home and clean them. The silk sleep sack inner for a sleeping bag guarantees a clean, soft, and breathable material for a night’s slumber.
Some folks even use these to take to hotels or vacaiton. What I like most is that is much easier to wash an inner than and entier sleeping bag. There are many variations, some lightweight, some polar fleece. A new material on the market is made from bamboo – also soft and almost like flannel without the fluff.
Whatever you choose, it definitely simplifies the wash load at the end of those overnights.
Cooking It Up Under the Stars
No overnight camping can happen without camping stoves and nothing better than a well-planned meal under the stars. If you’re backpacking you need to plan for lightweight and compact.
Memories are made of those meals under the stars, whether it be curried lentil stews, stewed fruit and custard for desert or just simply cheese and pasta dishes followed by a warm cup of spiced tea or hot chocolate. Other imaginative recipes my children loved were pizza dough around hot dogs or typical pizza ingredients. For breakfast, eggs carried in ziploc bags provide the makings for omelettes, scrambled and fried eggs.
Today there are so many variations in dehydrated meals – it’s almost like eating home cooked food. Somehow though… not as challenging and fun.
External Frame Backpacks
In the mid 70′s the external frame backpack was used by the majority of hikers for overnight trips. Nowadays they aren’t seen that much and yet they do have a place.
External frames typically have many more outside pockets, sometimes configurable, for quick access at a rest stop, emergencies etc. On overnight trips with large loads it’s easy to distribute pieces and parts amongst the team. Due to the structure they allow more airflow between the pack and your body.
As my kids took to overnight hiking we went with external packs. The importance of good packing with the center of mass lower in the pack especially as they are growing cannot be ignored. Proper use of the hip belt puts the weight onto the stronger leg muscles and not the shoulders. At the early ages, it helps them understand the importance of good posture in backpacking.
Internal Frame Backpacks
As I grew up an internal frame backpack was rarely seen. Today, the vast majority of backpacks out there are internal frames and there is little wonder why.
These backpacks are narrower than their counterparts with external frames, they fit so snugly to your body. They are packed and lie against your body so that the weight is is closer to your own center of mass – no swaying external weight to throw you off your balance as you move precariously towards the summit, or ski through moguls and sharp turns to avoid the drop off.
If you’re contemplating a trip hiking over rugged terrain, climbing a rock face or skiing with supplies, the internal frame is a first choice.
Follow Us on Twitter
Follow Us on Facebook
Recent Comments