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Tin Foil Hat Equipped
- Location
- Saratoga Springs, UT
Less is more... simplifying your backcountry camping/travel setup
- Thread starter sixstringsteve
- Start date
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
yeah, but they're missing 2 strings...
I'm thinking this is the one I'll get:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/washburn-rover-travel-guitar
I'm thinking this is the one I'll get:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/washburn-rover-travel-guitar
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
I've got (2) 24 Gal ones I'll sell ya cheap. What I found with the 24 gal ones was that by the time they were full of stuff they were too heavy to move around easily. So now I use 4-5 of the 8 gal ones.
I already bought them..
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
in that case, the 24 gal ones are perfect. 
Not a huge amount to add since I now "camp" in a slide-in camper usually, but I took all my recovery gear out of an action packer, and put it in soft tool bags. Easier to stuff in random nooks and crannies that way. My kit is pretty simple, just an ARB tire plug kit, a tow strap, couple D-rings, a small compressor, and a few random items like rescue tape, ratchet straps, and zip ties.
My kit is pretty simple, just an ARB tire plug kit, a tow strap, couple D-rings, a small compressor, and a few random items like rescue tape, ratchet straps, and zip ties.
Maverick
old-school
- Location
- Anywhere, thanks to my geeky droid
Good topic. I need to trim down what I take in the jeep on camping trips, and pack it in better. More small actionpackers are on the list. I've already downsized my tools/recovery gear and have it stashed throughout the jeep. I don't take a lot camping, but it seemed like last year on the Rubicon I had stuff everywhere and didn't really need/use all the stuff. I also kept both back seats in even though I didn't need them. Should have removed at least one and located items better.
The recovery gear and tools are always in the jeep, and are stashed in their locations.
Camping stuff is tent, chairs, bags, pads, clothes, food, drinks. Backpacking stove if we are heating up stuff. We'll never be accused of being chefs.
The recovery gear and tools are always in the jeep, and are stashed in their locations.
Camping stuff is tent, chairs, bags, pads, clothes, food, drinks. Backpacking stove if we are heating up stuff. We'll never be accused of being chefs.
- Location
- Sandy, Ut
I can easily go either direction based on the specifics of the trip. I've had a trailer behind my Tacoma for a solo trip to Southern Utah or I lived out of a duffel bag and a backpack for 5 weeks in the Outback of Australia, washing clothes in the bathtub of the occasional hotel and swimming in natural waterholes for bath purposes
Simplicity was key for my 100 build and one major component of that was the rear drawers. I keep all of my camping incidentals in the drawers. Tools, recovery, sleeping bag, tent, mattress, clothes. The only thing on the deck is my fridge, food bin and Kamp Kitchn. This leaves nothing stacked and nothing to unpack to get to x item.
Simplicity was key for my 100 build and one major component of that was the rear drawers. I keep all of my camping incidentals in the drawers. Tools, recovery, sleeping bag, tent, mattress, clothes. The only thing on the deck is my fridge, food bin and Kamp Kitchn. This leaves nothing stacked and nothing to unpack to get to x item.
Oddly enough, we went the opposite direction of simplifying. We ended up getting a large camp trailer and kept everything (and the kitchen sink) in there . This made it so I hitched up and we left. We bought some food on our way so we didn't even have to plan that. We were camping atleast a couple times a month, all year long. It made it extremely simple to get out for a weekend even with our (at the time) 1-2 year old. It also made it so my wife enjoyed camping. Before the trailer, we got out once or twice a year was all and it was all my wife could do to tolerate it.
I love the idea of simplifying but it would have never worked for our family.
. This made it so I hitched up and we left. We bought some food on our way so we didn't even have to plan that. We were camping atleast a couple times a month, all year long. It made it extremely simple to get out for a weekend even with our (at the time) 1-2 year old. It also made it so my wife enjoyed camping. Before the trailer, we got out once or twice a year was all and it was all my wife could do to tolerate it. I love the idea of simplifying but it would have never worked for our family.
Maverick
old-school
- Location
- Anywhere, thanks to my geeky droid
The "Rack of Doom" on Pre-Gecko gets the bags and pads up out of the way, along with a tarp or two. This worked well recently on the SaltFlats100. It's the food box(es), cooler(s), and duffel(s) that seemed to give me fits on the 'Con. Hauling fuel too, that sucked. And I used it, as I recall, though mainly because I drove halfway around Tahoe before getting gas. Back to your statement: I'd like to get stuff packed so "nothing stacked and nothing to unpack to get to x item" Or at least somewhat staged so that unpacking makes sense: it's not totally crazy to unpack the cooler and food box to get to the tent, cuz you do that at camp anyway.
Going back to the intent of Steve's thread, I guess simplifying is means different things to different people. He's going from camp chairs to stools, I'm stumbling towards less redundancy and some organization. However, I know that backpacking this year will mean leaving a LOT of stuff home that I usually take just to be funny (6 pack of frozen Diet Dr Pepper that I later use for water bottles). The plan is to develop and refine the "jeep camping" list through the next couple of months. And work on a decent/simple/easy camping menu.
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Oddly enough, we went the opposite direction of simplifying. We ended up getting a large camp trailer and kept everything (and the kitchen sink) in there
I love the idea of simplifying but it would have never worked for our family.
I hear you. When the wife goes it is in my 29' toy hauler stacked to the roof. It is a pain to pull but it is nice to have everything you have at home with you for the weekend. Buying extra toothbrushes and pillows for the trailer made a big difference for some reason. I need to trim down the Jeep camping kit. I have a hereditary disease though. On the hole in the rock trip my dad brought 9 propane bottles. NINE!!!. I cant believe we pulled his jeep out. It must have weighed 7K lbs.
My goal this year is to get out with one of my boys once a month for a Jeep camp trip and once a month with the whole family in the trailer. So far the year has been pretty sucessfull. We are all pretty spoiled to live in such a cool state with so many awesome places to camp and explore.
- Location
- Sandy, Ut
Staging is absolutely key and to have that imo is organization. We un-packed and packed nearly 30 times in the 5 weeks I was in Aus, this with 3-4 people per vehicle (3) rigs. It became 100% crucial to pack smart. I invested in some super lightweight and more importantly compact camping gear. I can fit a sleeping bag, pillow and sleeping pad into a bag smaller than my regular sleeping bag. I just did a 5 night camping trip out of my FJ40 with very little "stacked" one cloth bag, one gear bag. Most food in fridge, dry food and cooking gear in action packer or Kamp Kitchn. It worked out quite nicely.
With that same compact sleeping gear packed in my drawer, I still have plenty of room for the other gear you don't want to have bouncing around on top of the deck. I'm really considering a swag to replace my tent and sleeping pad. It will be larger but I can store it on the rack and eliminate more stuff on the inside. I actually started a "how to pack for a week on the trail" article that I was going to post here on RME. Never finished it but perhaps I'll do some updated shots of the back of the Death Star and wrap it up?
Maverick
old-school
- Location
- Anywhere, thanks to my geeky droid
I look forward to that article.
- Location
- Sandy, Ut
I'll put it on my list of things to do. Right now I'm on the hook for an AFC article, Australia trip report, Tacoma article for Tacoma Magazine and I need to finish the Death Star build thread. Perhaps I kill two birds with one stone and call it packing the Death Star without blowing it up
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
I'm spoiled with my pickups.
This is how Brandon secures his cargo:
My old truck with the sleeping platform in the back:
This is how Brandon secures his cargo:
My old truck with the sleeping platform in the back:
- Location
- Sandy, Ut
Damn, that gives me anxiety looking at it
193kyle
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Chattanooga, TN
I think that was after he put some stuff in my truck bed too!