Just curious, how many enjoy camping?

I went this past weekend in Wisconsin.

1st night - 30 Degrees
2nd night - 41 Degrees
3rd night - 54 Degrees

Tent: 3 of us in a 10 x 10 Coleman Sundome.

I have a 20 or so year old Coleman sleeping bag. Nothing on the tags show what 'model' it is. But its rectangle. I was cold for about the 1st 5 minutes but sleep well all 3 nights.

My goal is to find products that can be enjoyed for both a general tent camping experience and for my future endeavor of backpacking.

I always like to go 'lightweight'. I had the freedom Micro light and it was the best thing. Had the clip and attached to my cap. Other 2 guys wanted that.

But, don't need a backpacking stove. What recommendations would you folks give for a stove? I heard the Coleman stuff isn't great anymore since its made in China.

"vintage" Coleman stuff can be found at yard sales for a song and replacement parts are available for them. I've got a bunch of old stoves and lanterns that are still running strong after 30+ years.

I love to camp and hike, as a matter of fact we are going the first weekend in Oct for 4 days to the Allegheny National Forest, man I can't wait, I love it up there.

I have a Coleman Peak 1 Butane Backpacking Micro Stove and also the Coleman Peak 1 Butane Backpacking Micro Lantern for when I go lite, when I take the trailer I have full size Coleman duel fuel stove and lantern, all of them work fine, never had any problems with any of them. Their not the old Coleman either maybe 5 yrs old on the full size ones and 2 or 3 for the backpacking models. I also bought one of those Rock River LED Lanterns at Target, Its awesome, good price and well made, doesn't weigh a lot either and throws a lot of light for such a small lantern, I think its putting out 3 watts. I was always curious as to how well those light weight sleeping bags keep your warm, the ones that fit in a small compression sack that will fit in the palm of your hand, I saw them in the Brigade Quartermaster catalog.

I love backpacking and camping too. For a backpacking stove I like my Swedish army trianga burner coupled with a lightweight cookset. For car camping with the wife and kids I use a two-burner Coleman stove converted over to propane.

*sigh* 30 degrees at night? That sounds really nice (being here in Texas).

-Mark

I'm going camping tomorrow for the last time this season, most campgrounds close on October 1st here in Québec.

It's going to be the first time I actually go camping that late in the summer (actually fall begins today <sigh>). They are forecasting surprisingly warm low's for this period of the year : 60F/15C.

I'm taking my Columbia Mt. Bachelor tent (3-person) and will unfortunately leave my Seedhouse SL2 at home (too small for two person). I'll be sleeping on a 2" Eureka! self-inflating pad and using a MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop, a canadian retailer) 20 degree down sleeping bag.

For lighting, it's going to be my brand new (lol) 1983 Coleman single-mantle lantern. I'm taking a silnylon tarp with me to rig something up in case it starts to rain. Chatting with a glass of wine next to a campfire is an absolute necessity, it's actually the main purpose of the trip if you ask me. We haven't planned anything at all for food except for three freeze-dried Mountain House pouches for use with my MSR Windpro canister stove. I'm using "GSI Hard Anodized Extreme" pots, which are absolutely perfect IMO. Also taking my Primus Litech kettle in case we end up only boiling water.





I'm taking an empty medium-size Coleman cooler as well. We'll buy some ice and drinks on the way down there. Clothes will be placed in a basic duffle bag. Gore-tex rainshell, fleece jacket, merino wool socks... FAK, toiletries and other goodies will ride in this bag as well.

Off to fill up my Coleman lantern with fresh white gas... have a great weekend!

Those are called Esbit stoves as well. Esbit fuel tabs can be stored inside it and then burned 2-3 at a time with the pot on top as well. I also have make shifted a fuel source by making a shallow bowl with aluminum foil, putting some toilet paper in there, and soaking with alcohol before lighting it.

I enjoy camping though I haven't done it for ages.
Building A-frames is a fun way to enjoy it.

If it's raining though It can get a tad "icky" so I always checked the weather forecasts.



Trangias still haunt me from the Year Eight Camp. Oh it was hell.
I had to carry them all, for a group of 40 people. It was banging and clanging......euwwww! it's frightening.z-|

Instead i now just use a hexy.

Is this the sleeping bag your thinking about



For some reviews - http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Sleep%20Gear/Sleeping%20Bags/Snugpak%20Softie%203%20Merlin/

Its a top quality synthetic sleeping bag.

In my Camelback Rim Runner I keep a MSR Pocket Rocket in its triangular case and a fuel cannister in a Titanium pot. You might also check out the MSR Superfly, but I think the PR packs smaller.

We have camped at least once in every month of the year over the past 6 years here in the Pacific Northwest.

We remote camp via 4x4 with our little ones.

The tent is a 9x12 Heritage Weathermaster by Coleman because:
it stands up in the wind
it takes only one person to set it up (in under 5 minutes if you're moving)
I can get dressed standing up and not on my knees
and the whole family fits

As for sleeping bags we love and trust the Sumberjack sleeping bags. We went with the Woodsman series and got the Big Timber -20. (they sell a -40 too). We like the rectangular bags because they can be zipped together. This is a huge deal when family camping as sometimes the really little ones have a hard time sleeping in their own bag. They are larger bags but the flannel lining is great when the temp dips down at night. I don't plan to be out when it is below zero but the extra warmth is comforting.

+1 for the MSR Pocket Rocket. It has served me well. I've seen some of the ultralight sleeping bags and I'm not quite convinced. They seem pretty skimpy in person. Condensation can cause the interior of your small backpacking tent pretty clammy if it's cold out and you have the rainfly on, and I'd worry that I would wake up damp.

I've got a Coleman Peak 1 Butane stove and lantern. I got them this summer for Field Camp and I haven't had any problems with either. They both sip fuel. I can boil a pint of water in a few minutes and the lantern puts out a great amount of light (perfect for working on geologic maps at night when there weren't enough lanterns to go around). They're also stable considering the butane bottle is low and wide and bottom heavy.

I've heard great things about the MSR pocket rocket, and the various other stoves and mini-lanterns, but lantern, stove and a bottle fuel cost me less then $40 and haven't let me down yet.

I prefer Coleman fuel or 'white gas' over propane or isobutane (or other similar combinations of 'tanes'.

The stove of choice for 'white gas' is the MSR Dragonfly. Its not cheap, but it is a VERY nice stove.

It burns Coleman fuel, 'white gas', kerosene, unleaded auto fuel, diesel fuel, and jet fuel. From a survival perspective this is a huge benefit.

These fuels are not as affectec by cold weather as propane.

It has very good flame control, which allows the user to simmer and limit fuel use.

It has wide support at the pot end and the ground end.

It folds up pretty tiny to fit inside a pot.

The fuel tanks have been in use for many many years (25?) with no leakage issues.

It gets great reviews.

Fuel tanks can be topped off before a trip, and, like propane, when one tank is empty I can just swap it out with a full one with no pouring of fuel.

I second the choice of MSR dragonfly for a great backpacking stove for the same reasons as KenK. If you keep your eye on ebay, they can sometimes be found at a much more reasonable price than retail. I purchased mine because of the light weight and multi-fuel versatility. I have only used coleman fuel in it, but knowing that I can burn almost any other fuel gives a lot of peace of mind.

Yup, I bought my Dragonfly stove on ebay for just over $80 ... plus the shipping ($5 or so). That is much better than the $120 on most on-line stores.

Like I said in another thread (and another board), I have a Dragonfly too and like it a lot, but here in SOCAL I'm not dealing with frigid temps or high altitude. Tthe convenience of IsoPro canisters and the small size of the pack Pocket Rocket makes it ideal for me. I could go back to the Dragonfly easily, I've hot three gallons of Coleman fuel in the garage.

Hi KenK,

I prefer the Primus Omnifuel stove as it burns everything the MSR dragonfly does including LP gas. (Butane, Propane, Isobutane mixtures etc)

http://www.primus.se/primus/Flash/Produktfilmer/player_promnieng1stor.html

Combine this with a Gasmate adapter and a Markill Campingaz Adapter and you can burn the majority of gas cannisters on the market.

BTW it would have to be really cold i.e. around -40 degrees Celsius for propane to be affected. Even liquid fuels such as Colmans White Gas would start having difficulties at these low temperatures. Using a standard Coleman 30/70 propane/butane mix cannister using a Primus Omnifuel with a liquid gas feed i.e (inverting the cannister in the same way as the Coleman® Exponent® Powermax® Fuel Adapter), operational temperatures of around -20 degrees Celsius are available.
The gas cannisters are lighter, more reliable than using mechanical pumps, easier to use and don't need any priming.



Coleman® Exponent® Powermax® Fuel Adapter