Camping Gear Reviews

I've been using a venerable MSR Whisperlite camp stove for
decades now. I cannibalized the first one to provide spare
parts for its replacement. After a few tweaks by MSR, most
notably a built-in fuel filter on the fuel intake tube it
has been very reliable. The problem with the Whisperlite is
that it has but two settings, "off" and "melt steel". It'll
boil water in a flash but you can't really cook on it. So
I replaced my old Whisperlite with the MSR Dragonfly. The
new stove works great. I used it to cook dehydrated dinners
which require bringing to the boil and simmering for five
to seven minutes. This would have been nigh on impossible
with the Whisperlite but on the Dragonfly it was just a
matter of turning down the flame. You can still flash boil
water with the Dragonfly but you can simmer too. Recommended.

http://www.msrgear.com/stoves/dragonfly.asp

Mother Nature rarely provides a flat, clean surface in the
northwoods so a small table comes in real handy. The GSI
micro table is just what you need. It does take up a bit of
space in the pack but if you've ever watched helplessly as
your boiling hot dinner slides off a rock into the dirt you'll
appreciate this clever little table. Recommended.

http://www.gsioutdoors.com/detail.as...c2=67&p=55300&

I'm a sucker for neat camping gadgets and I just had to have
one of these poop trowel/toilet paper gadgets. You're supposed
to be able to put TP and a Bic lighter in the collapsible
handle and have everything you need to **** in the woods. The
trouble with this gadget is that it doesn't hold near enough
TP and when you do get the little bit of TP out of it it's
so shredded as to be unusable. You're better off with the old
orange plastic trowel and a baggie full of TP than this thing.
Not recommended.

http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/60

Our eating implements are a hodgepodge of forty-year old
Boy Scout/Girl Scout mess kits, plastic bowls, aluminum plates,
and way too heavy coffee mug/soup cups we bought after retiring
our practically useless but ubiquitous Sierra Cups. And none of
them fit together or pack well and are in general a pain in the
ass. So I saw this nested, compact, uniform set of plates, bowls
and cups and thought this is just what we need. Like I said, I'm
a sucker in the camping store. The bowls are too flat and too
big, the plates don't have lip enough to keep camp food from
sloshing off and the cups are too square and too hot to handle.
I'm going back to my old hodgepodge. Not recommended.

http://www.gsioutdoors.com/detail.as...sc2=7&p=73609&

I have an old Pur Explorer water filter and I could tell by how
many times I had to backflush and the slow filter rate that I'm
due for a new filter cartridge. I looked for one online when I
got back and there are none. So I replaced it with a Katadyn
Vario. My Pur Explorer was about $160 when I bought it way back
when, this new one was $90. I haven't used it in the field yet
but I'll post a review when I do.

--
Ken Fortenberry

water with the Dragonfly but you can simmer too. Recommended.

http://www.msrgear.com/stoves/dragonfly.asp

http://www.gsioutdoors.com/detail.as...2=67&p=55300&\.

http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/60

http://www.gsioutdoors.com/detail.as...sc2=7&p=73609&

Thanks Ken, great post and really will help out.
Frank Reid

Frank Reid © 2008 wrote:
Thanks Ken, great post and really will help out.

It's really funny, after all the really thoughtful TRs and
really heartfelt flame wars and really great fly fishing
advice which I've posted here over the years ;-), the one
thing most folks comment on when they meet me in person is
socks.

I once recommended Smartwool socks on this forum and that's
the one thing folks mention most. I still love my Smartwool
socks and my gear reviews are simply honest opinions of
products I've used.

But the flame wars are more fun. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

Had occasion to do a little cold camp this weekend chasing Elk. I
used a Marmot 0 deg "never summer" bag and slept well and warm. Son
in Law used the same bag with a 15 deg rating & was cold. Don't
actually think temps dropped below 40.

MRE's are cool - but heavy.

In a pinch, Chivas will do.

Never forget to turn of the valve on your hydration tube when leaving
it out overnight propped up against a tree :-(

jh

On Sep 5, 9:30 pm, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:
Frank Reid © 2008 wrote:



I once recommended Smartwool socks on this forum and that's
the one thing folks mention most. I still love my Smartwool
socks and my gear reviews are simply honest opinions of
products I've used.

But the flame wars are more fun. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

I got my first fly rod for my birthday in the beginning of November
and I got a set of hip boots at Xmas. I had to try them out right
away, and I did one chilly January Saturday. Monday morning I was on
the phone with L.L. Bean asking for the heaviest pair of socks they'd
ever heard of. After a couple dead ends, one guy said he wore
Smartwool on a moose hunt and it was good stuff. I ended up with a
pair of Expedition-weights. My toes lasted longer than my fingers, and
I've been preaching those socks ever since. They even make them in
XXL. I'm wearing a pair of the light ones as I type.

I'm a huge fan of Nike Dri-Fit. It pulls the sweat off your skin and
puddles it on the outside of the shirt. Miraculous. I have a couple of
the golf shirts I wear to jobs in the summer and a couple of the T-
shirts I wear fishing, hiking or whatever. The Underarmour stuff is
just as good at wicking, but I've only tried the skin-tight stuff and
it feels a little odd when you first put it on. As soon as you start
sweating, it feels nice. The downside to UA is that it is skin-tight,
and all your physical imperfections are manifest.

The other wonder I've discovered is the Ex Officio travel underpants
in boxer-brief. They're super-comfortable, they never bind or chafe,
they dry fast and they're smell-resistant. No matter how long your ass
is in the chair, you're good.

I also really like my Surefire Earpro Defenders. They are comfy, and
they work just as well for a chain saw as for a 7mm Magnum with a
muzzle brake in the shooting lane next to you.

On Sep 9, 1:36 pm, jh wrote:

in Law used the same bag with a 15 deg rating & was cold. Don't
actually think temps dropped below 40.

Add a knit cap.

Jon.

On Sep 9, 2:52*pm, wrote:
On Sep 9, 1:36 pm, jh wrote:

in Law used the same bag with a 15 deg rating *& was cold. *Don't
actually think temps dropped below 40.

Add a knit cap.

Jon.

he had a cap, sweater, fleece pants, smartwool socks on. I had on my
shorts and a tee shirt and was almost too warm.

he was on a foam backpackers pad, i was on a thermarest expedition
length pad.

jh

I once recommended Smartwool socks on this forum and that's
the one thing folks mention most. I still love my Smartwool
socks and my gear reviews are simply honest opinions of
products I've used.

Well, right now, I highly recommend the shoulder sling ice pack by Ezy
Wrap. Plenty of belt room to wrap around even the biggest guy and
keep it secure. Get an extra set of ice pack inserts and keep these
in an old fashioned (non-frost free) freezer. That way you can switch
them out, with an hour being good freezing time.
Additionally, save all that Carribean cruise money and just use
Betadine solution for a quick tan in a bottle. It's cheap and the
docs will give you the left overs from any surgery. Hell, you won't
even get sea sick or legionaires disease. Doonesbury's B.D. had to
start somewhere and I think this is it.
Frank Reid
(Vicodin, plenty of Vicodin after PT)

Never forget to turn of the valve on your hydration tube when leaving
it out overnight propped up against a tree :-(

And never fill your Camelback with beer. When that valve blows, it'll
shoot beer 50 feet. Additionally, the bladder will swell up to the
point that your shoulder straps will cut off the circulation to your
arms.
Frank Reid

jh wrote:
Had occasion to do a little cold camp this weekend chasing Elk. I
used a Marmot 0 deg "never summer" bag and slept well and warm. Son
in Law used the same bag with a 15 deg rating & was cold. Don't
actually think temps dropped below 40.

MRE's are cool - but heavy.

In a pinch, Chivas will do.

Never forget to turn of the valve on your hydration tube when leaving
it out overnight propped up against a tree :-(

jh

hellooo john... good to read your finger taps again. trust all is well
out your way. have you heard from warren? i've sent him e-mails, but
no response. i'm worried that woman may have him stapled to a wall
somewhere...

jeff