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Friday, July 1, 2022

Backpacking tent camping | Tents

  When you do a lot of backpacking tent camping, there are things to consider when choosing  Backpacking tents. Comfort is the number one consideration when I buy camping tents and equipment. Although camping equipment is usually bought for vacation or temporary use. Outdoor comfort when you are camping is “PRICELESS“. When you backpacking you’ll want a lightweight or ultralight tent, get a good one and take good care of it. Shop well when purchasing tents, backpacks, and other camping equipment. Think of this as an investment in your home away from home. Sleeping bags, camp stoves, water purifiers, emergency food supplies, and first aid kits are some other things that need careful consideration when purchasing. Be sure to bring a good campfire recipe and marshmallows.

 Being comfortable while backpacking tent camping usually comes down to the weight you are carrying all your gear, clothes, boots, shoes, and the way your gear is packed. Lightweight or ultralight gear is usually preferred. Being comfortable when your tent is set up comes down to space. You need room to lay down comfortably and you also need room for gear and equipment that you will be using in the tent when the weather is bad. Besides your inside space, some outside covered space is also needed for cooking and heat in bad weather. Don’t use any kind of fire for cooking or heat inside a tent, it’s very dangerous, as any flame gives off dangerous fumes. Camping tents don’t have to be big, especially if you have to carry it and set it up yourself. To really enjoy the outdoors backpacking camping tents need to be big enough to sleep in, with room for clothes. Smaller tents leave a smaller footprint. Conservation is the responsibility of all of us and it’s up to all of us to help. The next thing to consider when backpacking tent camping is the weather, the elements, the time of year, and the geographical location of your backpacking tent camping trip. Your tent is your shelter, the number one element of survival. When you are backpacking, your camping tent separates and protects you from the critters and weather. “Not you Griz” I’m talking about the little critters, not the bears. Make sure you don’t forget the pepper spray and an air horn. You never know what you might run into hiking or camping. I have to slip in a little story here; One night while I was almost asleep in my tent, I heard a noise outside and looked out to see a black bear about 15 feet away rummaging through the burnt-out coals in my campfire where I'd cooked earlier it was a little scary, all I could think was. I hope he doesn't come snooping around my tent, I really don't want to get tangled up in this tent with a bear. After about 20 minutes, he left and I started to breathe again. Glad that I don't keep food in my tent!!! Now that I have covered some of the variables, you can see that compromises have to be made between backpacking (traveling) comfort and campsite (camping) comfort.
“But wait there’s more“. Backpacking and Tent Camping are separate activities and should be treated as such because some enjoy backpacking, the traveling adventure, and some enjoy Camping, the relaxing adventure. Your choice of tents as you can see comes down to some personal preferences. A recreational tent's main purpose is shelter, a place to sleep. I’m going to finish this article with my own personal preferences for backpacking tents and camping tents. I love to travel and adventure, backpacking tent camping is my favorite activity. I travel light using a small pup tent, just big enough for 2 people “you never know”. My sleeping bag, blanket, sheet, and extra clothes are all rolled up inside my tent. Rather than a bigger tent, I carry a tarp 6ft. X 12ft. Or 10ft. X 20ft. and my tent is rolled inside the tarp. Even in a storm I can set up my tent and have a dry place to rest. A tarp is more versatile than a bigger tent and I plan to write an article on the shelter at a later date that will explain the many uses of a tarp. Now if I knew that I was going to encounter some really horrible weather while backpacking tent camping, I would rethink my choice and use a good four-season tent with a vestibule. Please leave a comment and enjoy more Backpacking Tent Camping | Tents

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Backpacking Tent Camping | Campfire

  When Backpacking and Tent Camping Campfire is something every true camper loves, there is nothing quite like sitting around a campfire and swapping stories or just getting to know fellow campers through campfire conversations. Here are some things to consider when planning a campfire. The fire pit location should be at least 10 ft. from anything that might catch on fire and at least 20 ft. from your tent or the overhang of trees. Real caution is needed on windy days, Flying embers in the wind is very dangerous. On a windy day if you see that flying embers are coming near anything combustible, beware that when they land the wind will easily feed and ignite them. Never keep a fire burning with sparks or embers blowing out of sight. Take this advice don't learn from a terrible experience, that you might not live through.


Campfire cooking can be elaborate or really simple depending on the equipment and supplies you are willing to carry. Your campfire recipes can vary from anything you can cook at home to simple recipes using just a stick, a tin cup, or tin foil. A couple of simple examples, (make that 3 examples) are smores, a cup of soup (dried soup mix or canned soup), and my favorite Hobo Stew. The first two almost everybody knows and I'll give you the recipe for Hobo Stew here. You'll need a piece of tin foil about 12 x 14 inches, use more if you need to, one potato cut in bite-size chunks, A vegetable cut in bite-size chunks, and one serving of meat or fresh fish if you caught any. Put everything in the center of the tin foil, the way you wrap it is important it needs to be steam tight. Pick the foil up by the corners so that a loose fold (don't crease it) runs across the short way. Now fold and tuck about 1/2 inch of the foil at the top to close it, fold and crease again at least 3 times. Put it down, fold and crease the ends the same way so that you end up with a closed envelope that has all the ingredients inside. If you are not sure that it's steam tight, use more foil and wrap the whole thing again. OK now, you are ready to cook but don't put it right in the campfire. Now I can tell you about some campfire cooking techniques, for hobo stew and other campfire foil recipes. Food that is cooking on a campfire wrapped in tin foil, doesn't need flames, just heat. Put campfire food wrapped in tin foil on hot coals, a hot rock, or a campfire grill out of the flames. Please leave comments or suggestions as to the survival of the Backpacking Tent Camping - Campfire Blog depends on it Thanks.

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Camping and Hiking | Sleeping Bag

Keeping it simple check out this sleeping bag.

Backpacking Tent Camping | Campfire

When Backpacking and Tent CampingCampfire is something every true camper loves, there is nothing quite like sitting around a campfire and swapping stories or just getting to know fellow campers with campfire conversations. Here are some things to consider when planning a campfire. The fire pit location should be at least 10 ft. from anything that might catch on fire and at least 20 ft. from your tent or the overhang of trees. Real caution is needed on windy days, Flying embers in the wind are very dangerous. On a windy day if you see that flying embers are coming near anything combustible, beware when they land the wind will easily feed and ignite them. Never keep a fire burning with sparks or embers blowing out of sight. Take this advice don't learn from a terrible experience, that you might not live through.

Campfire cooking can be elaborate or really simple depending on the equipment and supplies you are willing to carry. Your campfire recipes can vary from anything you can cook at home to simple recipes using just a stick, a tin cup, or tin foil. A couple of simple examples, (make that 3 examples) are smores, a cup of soup (dried soup mix or canned soup), and my favorite Hobo Stew. The first two almost everybody knows and I'll give you the recipe for Hobo Stew here. You'll need a piece of tin foil about 12 x 14 inches, use more if you need to, one potato cut in bite-size chunks, A vegetable cut in bite-size chunks, one serving of meat or fresh fish if you caught any. Put everything in the center of the tin foil, the way you wrap it is important it needs to be steam tight. Pick the foil up by the corners so that a loose fold (don't crease it) runs across the short way. Now fold and crease about 1/2 inch of the foil at the top to close it, fold and crease again at least 3 times. Put it down, fold and crease the ends the same way so that you end up with a closed envelope that has all the ingredients inside. If your not sure that it's steam tight, use more foil and wrap the whole thing again. OK now your ready to cook, but don't put it right in the campfire. Now I can tell you about some campfire cooking techniques, for hobo stew and other campfire foil recipes. Food that is cooking on a campfire wrapped in tin foil, doesn't need flames, just heat. Put campfire food wrapped in tin foil on hot coals, a hot rock, or a campfire grill out of the flames. Please leave comments or suggestions as to the survival of the Backpacking Tent Camping - Campfire Blog depends on it Thanks.