Thanks for the info folks. I haven't been camping since boy scouts, so I need a bit of a refresher. And I think the guys I'm going with are as clueless as I am.
Originally posted by: Bolvangar
Originally posted by: Bassyhead
wheres the toilet paper?
TP is the most important thing to bring!
oops my bad dawgs... I'll add.
Whatever you do, dont bring your cellphone or portable tv, taking any modern electronics along on a camping trip defeats the purpose of the whole camping trip, which is to enjoy as much nature as possible and get as far away from the modern life as you can for a few days.
It's like camping with an RV, there is simply no point in camping when you have every modern amenity available to you on the RV, its like living in a motel room in the woods.
It's like camping with an RV, there is simply no point in camping when you have every modern amenity available to you on the RV, its like living in a motel room in the woods.
DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
you mentioned camping ground - I doubt it's even a half hour hike then. I've only seen one campground that even was a hike to get to (as opposed to designated camping areas where there's a limit to the number of people, usually 8)
If that's the case, then go all out. Since you'll have the propane lantern that everyone recommends, you'll also be carrying a propane tank. Do yourself a favor and spend an extra 10 to 15 on a stove burner that screws onto the top of the propane tank... campfires are great for cooking, but why go through the hassle for some foods (I'll get to that next). Don't forget a really cheap teflon pan. (the cheap ones tend to also be light)
Okay... packing food. Anything like meat should be frozen ahead of time. Additionally, empty a little bit of water from some water bottles and freeze them too, as well as any other food item that wouldn't be ruined by freezing it. - keep them all together and everything will stay cold enough for a day or two, without a cooler. (as long as it's covered and not 90 degrees) Also, if you have a food shrink wrap thing, that opens up being able to take a couple of things not normally carried, ie butter. (freeze it before wrapping)
My recommendations for food:
Take a box of pancake mix, the kind where you only have to mix in water. Some syrup - find a smaller container so you don't have to carry the extra weight
A pound of bacon
Shrimp
Delmonico steak
pepperoni stick (great for snacking on)
Coffee (the kind that comes in bags like tea bags)
The small bite sized chocolate bars (freeze them!)
I chaperone a lot of high school backpacking club trips... There's nothing more satisfying than the smell of bacon and pancakes cooking in the morning, and a hot cup of coffee. Especially when everyone else is either trying to boil water on a fire that is barely going yet (hint: there's no bonfire to cook on for a while in the morning when you get up, hence the burner) for their instant oatmeal, or else is eating dry cereal out of those little 4 inch boxes. Pancakes and chocolate make EXCELLENT bribes to get other people to gather firewood for the bonfire, etc. Note: try to resist the chocolate - it's high in simple sugars and while giving you a quick boost of energy, it will leave you tired quicker while hiking.
If that's the case, then go all out. Since you'll have the propane lantern that everyone recommends, you'll also be carrying a propane tank. Do yourself a favor and spend an extra 10 to 15 on a stove burner that screws onto the top of the propane tank... campfires are great for cooking, but why go through the hassle for some foods (I'll get to that next). Don't forget a really cheap teflon pan. (the cheap ones tend to also be light)
Okay... packing food. Anything like meat should be frozen ahead of time. Additionally, empty a little bit of water from some water bottles and freeze them too, as well as any other food item that wouldn't be ruined by freezing it. - keep them all together and everything will stay cold enough for a day or two, without a cooler. (as long as it's covered and not 90 degrees) Also, if you have a food shrink wrap thing, that opens up being able to take a couple of things not normally carried, ie butter. (freeze it before wrapping)
My recommendations for food:
Take a box of pancake mix, the kind where you only have to mix in water. Some syrup - find a smaller container so you don't have to carry the extra weight
A pound of bacon
Shrimp
Delmonico steak
pepperoni stick (great for snacking on)
Coffee (the kind that comes in bags like tea bags)
The small bite sized chocolate bars (freeze them!)
I chaperone a lot of high school backpacking club trips... There's nothing more satisfying than the smell of bacon and pancakes cooking in the morning, and a hot cup of coffee. Especially when everyone else is either trying to boil water on a fire that is barely going yet (hint: there's no bonfire to cook on for a while in the morning when you get up, hence the burner) for their instant oatmeal, or else is eating dry cereal out of those little 4 inch boxes. Pancakes and chocolate make EXCELLENT bribes to get other people to gather firewood for the bonfire, etc. Note: try to resist the chocolate - it's high in simple sugars and while giving you a quick boost of energy, it will leave you tired quicker while hiking.
I'm bringing a cell phone cause we'll be hiking in the mountains and its good to have one just in case. And a digital camera too. Other than that, no electronics.
DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
That's real camping. (but... it doesn't matter what food you bring
)Also, I don't know about NM, but around here, once you get into the hills and mountains, cell phone coverage is really spotty.
If you're hiking in to go camping and can still get a cell signal......
You're too close to town.....
:beer:
911paramedic
Diamond Member
- Jan 7, 2002
- 9,448
- 1
- 76
If you dont want to carry a grill around with you just bring the metal grill grate. That can be laid on top of stones or whatever to make a crude grill over the firepit. If you want to save some time you can prewrap burger meat in servable portions with cut potatoes, carrots, onion, salt and pepper in aluminum foil. Make sure to crinkle the edges to make a seal so steam cant escape. Toss em onto the side of the firepit and thats all ya gotta do. Can take a couple of those dough in a can things (pillsbury dough boy biscuits) and wrap a biscuit around a hot dog. Tang was also a big favorite for drinking. If you're in true wilderness make sure to bring rope and bags to hang your food up so animals dont get into it. oh and if one of your friends get's bitten in the ass by a snake? dont volunteer to suck the poision out
Lmao, very true. People have covered most of the stuff. I would add =
Make sure you have a camp cup (stoneware or something that you can stick in/on a fire).
A bowl
Knife. Doesnt have to be big. I use the little one on my Gerber multi tool.
If you are getting your own firewood you will need some sort of chopping instrument. I am a big fan of
Kukris from Cold Streel. Pretty light weight and compact and lots of chopping power. I am totally opposed to
chopping live trees down though unless its an emergency. Stick to the dead stuff.
The hand sanitizer doesnt have to be a specific brand. Just something that doesnt need water. Witchhazel
works well also.
Camp chair
Grill of some sort. I have one of those ones with fold out legs that you can just place over a fire. Only
weighs a pound or so.
Good footwear. This seems obvious to me, but sometimes people overlook this for some reason.
Since you don't have much of a hike you can pretty much bring all kinds of crap and leave some in the car if you want to get later. Personally I do more backpacking type camping so I am all about the very low weight/bulk gear. Have fun
so true, REI is too expensive ................
and for camping closeouts among other things Sierra Trading Post is good too
Have fun, damn I miss New Mexico.......
I grew up there
If your near Chama pop into the taqueria on the east side of town and tell them I said Hi!
Kelemvor
Lifer
- May 23, 2002
- 16,928
- 8
- 81
We go camping a lot and last time we went, one of the people brought along a Coleman propane Coffee Maker. It was the coolets thing. Camping isn't what it used to be though. Now you can get everything that's so simple to use. Especially with the mini propane tanks that you just screw the lantern top to and it's a lanter, screw it to the stove and that works, put it with the coffee maker, etc. Really cool line of COleman stuff.
EDIT: Here's a link to some checklist syou can use to amke sur eyou don't leave anything out...
http://www.campfirechronicle.com/checklists/checklists.html
EDIT: Here's a link to some checklist syou can use to amke sur eyou don't leave anything out...
http://www.campfirechronicle.com/checklists/checklists.html
The great thing about much of New Mexico is that its BLM (U.S. bureau of land management) land. So outside of the national forests on blm land you can camp and have responsible fires and basically do whatever you want,except mining, all for FREE.........mining costs extra
Kyteland
Diamond Member
- Dec 30, 2002
- 5,747
- 1
- 81
We called my mom from the top of Mt. Bannon in the heart of the Tetons. We were plenty far from town. Remember, it is line of sight and mountains are very high. If you hit the right place you can be in the middle of nowhere and still manage to get signal. I bring my cell along just for that reason. It is very light and then you can call someone and say "Guess where I am?"
As for what you need to have for equipment, if you are car camping bring anything you want, just so long as you are comfortable.
If you will be doing any significant hiking make sure you get a decent pair of shoes. Over the course of 4 days hiking I usually walk 50-60 miles, generally with a pack, so if you are doing this be prepared. If you have a relatively new pair of shoes you can probably use those. If you have a 1+ year old pair that you've worn every day you may want to replace them on this trip. A worn out pair of shoes is no good. A good pair of shoes is the most important piece of equipment you can bring. Make sure you test them out before the trip. You don't want to be in the middle of nowhere when you find out they don't fit properly.
If you are hiking any distance at all to your camp site you will need a pack. You said it was 30 minutes in, which is anywhere from 1-1.5 miles. That is a long way to go if you don't have a good way to carry stuff. If that is all the distance you need to cover than anything will do. Get a cheap duffle bag with shoulder straps if you don't already have something. If your car isn't 1-2 minutes from camp then unloading becomes a major pain in the ass.
If you don't have plans to climb a nearby mountain then make some. There is no point sitting on your butt in camp when that peak is calling you to climb it. You don't need much equipment to do this, as long as you can do it in a day. Somebody in your group will need a small pack to carry a first aid kit, food, water, etc. Bring a water filter or LOTS of water if you do this. You don't want to get dehydrated. Jellybeans make excellent pick-me-up snacks on the trail. Instant energy. It is pretty much all I bring anymore. Snickers bars are good too, but they tend to melt. Bring something for lunch that doesn't require cooking.
Put an entire box of 1 gallon zip lock bags in your car. There are good for trash, because it starts to smell after a while. You can also put anything that needs to stay dry in them, and they can be used as a makeshift pillow.
Everyone in your group should have a whistle. If you get lost, this can save your life. It can be heard over long distances, much better than you shouting, and you won't lose your voice.
At least one person should have detailed maps if you plan on getting very far from your camp. You can order 7.5 minute quads from the USGS of the area you'll be in for $5. You can't go wrong with that. Also make sure somebody knows how to use them and a compass.
Bring a hat, sunscreen, bug juice, sunglasses (especially if you be hitting any snow), a set of warm clothes (It'll be 50-60 degrees in camp at ight, you'll get cold), a set of shorts (if you hike at all you will warm up quickly and want to lose layers) and avoid cotton if you can. It holds too much moisture, but it woun't hut you any on a 4 day trip. Bring extra socks. If your feet get wet they will most likely blister, and you will want to change them.
Bring some kind of tarp/groundcloth. If it doesn't rain you may not want to sleep in the tent, but you'll want something on the ground under you. Look in to a sleeping pad. The ground is both cold and hard, and a sleeping pad will fix both problems.
Hmm, I can think of lots more stuff, but I've practically written a novel, so start with this.
Kyteland
Diamond Member
- Dec 30, 2002
- 5,747
- 1
- 81
Lanterns are heavy. (at least the ones I'm used to are!) Try going to sleep when it gets dark and waking when it gets light. It means you'll have to go to bed early and get up at 5AM, but you still get the same amount of sleep and you don't need to carry a heavy lantern/fuel.
You will not need this on a camping trip. Just rinse you hands in water and you'll be fine.
For a 4 day trip just use some 20oz pepsi bottles. It'll last 4 days and is cheap. Nalgene lasts forever, but unless you plan on using them that long you don't need them.
GPS is a cool toy, but unneccessary. Unless you already have one you don't need it. Get a compass and the USGS 7.5 minute quadrangles for your area. They can be had for cheap. If you do bring a GPS, bring extra batteries because it will die on you.
Camp very close to you car, otherwise this is a major pain in the ass.
Again, I hope you are close to your car. These are not fun to pack out when dirty.
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