Camping/Backpacking/etc gear nerdyness
Posted: Apr 29, 2011 4:57 pm
Okay just curious what ya'all use :)
I (currently) have to travel so much to cave I'm slowly working my way down on how much I need to take with me, especially since caving clothes and gear take up so much space. I mean, I did the fall TAG cave-in in just my overnight duffel, I thought that was freakin' awesome for a 5-day weekend with cave gear and cave clothes, but now that I have vertical gear that ain't happening, it was a tight duffel as it was (it could be larger even and still carryon for airplanes, it's a weekend duffel but it's what I have).
One thing I noticed is my towel takes up SO MUCH space. I started taking just a hand towel along and making do. It was enough to get my body dried off from a shower and I could get my hair so it wasn't *dripping* but it takes forever to dry and is still large and I just found this at REI, a medium size towel but it's so tiny! it's a little larger than my hand towel and so I figure it should do. OMG it is soooo tiny! that will save a LOT of space.
I also havePitotubes which are sized for airline carryon and are clear and nice and compact so I can just put whatever shampoo and stuff I want in that. I also tend to just keep a Lush godiva bar handy (solid conditioning shampoo, also works as body soap) so one-bar-does-it-all in a tin can so if I'm lazy i can just toss that in my bag and am good to go. I am really bad at forgetting a razor though so luckily people tend to not care when you're camping if your legs are prickly haha. It just annoys the heck out of me because I am a fan of smooth.
So far that's all I got...my sleeping bag is pretty compact, it was an REI clearance item, it's a mummy bag but not down or synthetic down stuffs so it's not teenytiny. I'd LOVE one of those bags, but funds prohibit it. My tent sucks, a $20 craigslist buy, because I needed something fast and cheap. It works but really only good weather camping.
One thing that I'd like to add to my gear is eatery stuff...you know, bowl, cup, plate, silverware. I have spares i take when I camp but it takes up space. Are those "flat" ones that "pop" up really any good? They seem like they'd be hard to clean.
I guess I'm trying to figure out what are the cheapest and therefore easiest things to work on compacting first?
Is there any such thing as a good but not expensive backpack to pack everything into that still fits airline carryon rules? I mean I see packs...for like $150-$200. yeah RIGHT.
So...share your cool gear here!
I (currently) have to travel so much to cave I'm slowly working my way down on how much I need to take with me, especially since caving clothes and gear take up so much space. I mean, I did the fall TAG cave-in in just my overnight duffel, I thought that was freakin' awesome for a 5-day weekend with cave gear and cave clothes, but now that I have vertical gear that ain't happening, it was a tight duffel as it was (it could be larger even and still carryon for airplanes, it's a weekend duffel but it's what I have).
One thing I noticed is my towel takes up SO MUCH space. I started taking just a hand towel along and making do. It was enough to get my body dried off from a shower and I could get my hair so it wasn't *dripping* but it takes forever to dry and is still large and I just found this at REI, a medium size towel but it's so tiny! it's a little larger than my hand towel and so I figure it should do. OMG it is soooo tiny! that will save a LOT of space.
I also havePitotubes which are sized for airline carryon and are clear and nice and compact so I can just put whatever shampoo and stuff I want in that. I also tend to just keep a Lush godiva bar handy (solid conditioning shampoo, also works as body soap) so one-bar-does-it-all in a tin can so if I'm lazy i can just toss that in my bag and am good to go. I am really bad at forgetting a razor though so luckily people tend to not care when you're camping if your legs are prickly haha. It just annoys the heck out of me because I am a fan of smooth.
So far that's all I got...my sleeping bag is pretty compact, it was an REI clearance item, it's a mummy bag but not down or synthetic down stuffs so it's not teenytiny. I'd LOVE one of those bags, but funds prohibit it. My tent sucks, a $20 craigslist buy, because I needed something fast and cheap. It works but really only good weather camping.
One thing that I'd like to add to my gear is eatery stuff...you know, bowl, cup, plate, silverware. I have spares i take when I camp but it takes up space. Are those "flat" ones that "pop" up really any good? They seem like they'd be hard to clean.
I guess I'm trying to figure out what are the cheapest and therefore easiest things to work on compacting first?
Is there any such thing as a good but not expensive backpack to pack everything into that still fits airline carryon rules? I mean I see packs...for like $150-$200. yeah RIGHT.
So...share your cool gear here!