Cheap vacation or bargain vacation?

We all know the story.  The family, especially the kids, want a vacation, but going somewhere like Disney is out of the question.  Work hasn’t been as lucrative this past year, and bills have been skyrocketing.  School’s about to be let out for the summer, and still…you don’t see how that vacation is possibly going to happen.  With gas prices reaching new highs, your outlook on summer time is reaching all time lows, and the nagging is getting worse.

“When are we going on vacation?  Where are we going for our vacation?”

It’s like a broken record, it never seems to stop, but your examination of the budget says that there is no way you can possibly go over $500 for the entire vacation, and for that kind of money, you’ll be lucky to afford a weekend at a hotel.

There is a better way, and it should easily stretch into an entire week or even longer.  It can offer major fun, both leisure and active recreation, and there can even be some serious educational aspects that the kids won’t even notice that they learned things because it was so much fun.  What’s this miracle vacation?

Camping.

So you don’t have gear?  That will be the first step, followed by choosing your location.

To get your gear:  Try asking friends and relatives if they have any camping gear.  Often, people have unused gear in their attic or garage, left over from last year or Junior’s scouting days.  Sometimes, your friends will actually be campers themselves.  As an alternative, yard sales and second hand stores can be sources.  This is also the season when tents are in demand, but even so, many times stores will offer sales on camping gear.

Keeping your budget down is important, so not buying a lot of “extras” is also wise.  In addition, if your family has not gone camping before, you may not even know what  you would or would not use.  So, stick to the minimum, it will save space, weight, and money.  Here’s your list.

1. Tent or tents.  Many families will opt for one tent for the kids and one for the adults.  The larger the tent, the more expensive it is too.  When calculating tent size, the general rule of thumb is that if it says it will sleep six, it probably will sleep five people and they’ll still not have much extra room.  Also check tent height, especially if you want to be able to stand up inside your tent.  It’s a LOT easier to get dressed when you can stand up inside!  Young children, especially on their first camping trip, are going to want to share their parents’ tent once the sun goes down.
2. Lantern.  Whether you opt for batteries or fuel, you’ll need light at night.  Battery powered lamps are usually cheaper to purchase initially, although the batteries can add up quickly.  Battery powered lanterns are also safer around young children–there is no fire risk.  Propane or white gas fueled lanterns are a bit trickier to operate, but do offer better long term economy and usually have brighter light.  I typically use a “micro-lantern” which uses AA batteries and I use rechargeable ones.  (Some chargers can plug into your cigarette lighter in your car to recharge batteries.)  These micro lanterns also work inside the tents, as they are light enough to hang from the center.  At about $10 each, its affordable to have 2 or 3, along with the rechargeable batteries.  There are a LOT of different ones out there too.
3. Flashlights.  Each person should have their own.  For kids, I suggest crank or shake lights so that there are no worries about them running the batteries down–they provide their own power generation!  I personally have found that AA flashlights are the most economical to use, and once again, it’s rechargeable batteries!  (By using all AA batteries, I only have to bring along one kind of batteries and charger.)
4. Stove.  By cooking your own meals, or most of them, you’ll save mega-bucks over hitting the restaurants for each meal.  Camp cooking is kept simple, and typically will just use a single burner, so nothing too complex is going to be made by the novice camp cook.  The easiest stoves to use are the same ones used by many caterers, and these use a “hairspray” sized can of butane.  They are often sold at camping stores, catering stores, truck stops, and flea markets and can typically be purchased for about $20 locally.  For a full week of family camping, purchase about twelve cans of butane.  These stoves have an igniter, so don’t require a match to light them, making them easy to use.
5. Sleeping bags.  This one can be avoided, I took my family camping for years without sleeping bags, and we just used bedding from home.  The bedding is bulkier, more hassle, etc. though.  Summertime camping usually means moderate to warm temperatures even at night, so “slumber bags” will also work for the kids.  Thermal pads, cots, air mattresses, etc. are all nice, but expensive additions to the gear that aren’t necessary.   A cheap alternative to create some cushioning for your aching back?  Try using a quilt or comforter doubled under your sleeping bag or bed roll.  That bit of cushioning will go a long ways to leveling out that hard ground.  Bring along pillows for at-home comfort for your head and neck too.
6. Cheap tarp.  This is not going to be visible, so it can be ugly and obnoxious, but you’ll need a cheap tarp to go under each tent.  This protects the floor and helps keep out moisture that can migrate up through the floor and into your bed.  While summertime camping doesn’t have a lot of worries about being chilled, clammy beds are not going to make the trip fun either, and summertime rain storms are likely to happen.  Dollar store tarps work just fine for this, and if your tent is large, get two (or however many) small tarps to use instead of one large tarp.  The smaller tarps are more versatile, cheaper, and easier to pack up when the trip is over.
7. Folding chairs/camp chairs.  Everybody has some of these chairs around.  They don’t have to be fancy or have your favorite football team’s insignia either.  Get everybody one chair suitable for their size.  (They have them for the small kids too!)
8. Cooler.  It’s summer, it’s hot, and you want a cold drink.  You also don’t want your food to spoil.  That’s where the cooler or ice chest comes into play.  Don’t get a giant sized one, but also don’t go too small.  Most campgrounds are going to have a store within a few miles, allowing you to restock the ice as it melts.  Make sure the lid closes easily–kids are notorious for not latching cooler lids.  If you have the space and money, a second cooler for drinks, keeping the food cooler safely closed, might be a good idea.

That’s your basic gear to get you camping.  Using some rough figures, two small tents can usually be purchased for about $40 each, with two micro lanterns costing another $20.  Add in flashlights for four people, batteries, stove, butane cans, 4 sleeping bags, 4 chairs, and a cooler will add another $261, and you have already invested about $361 into  your vacation, and you’ve not loaded the car or left home yet.

Now comes the getting ready part!  Try to have your gear in hand at least a month before your trip, because you’ll need to know some things about it before you finish your plans.

Set up your tents.  Time how long it takes to do so, including staking down the rain fly.

Lay the sleeping bags out in the tents.  Will there be enough room for everyone to sleep?

Waterproof your tent and use seam sealer on the seams.  Cheap tents are notorious for not being well waterproofed, and nothing can turn a camping trip into misery faster than a leaking tent.  Using spray designed for waterproofing tents, spray evenly according to the directions on the can.  Usually, two cans will coat two small tents and their rain fly.  A can of waterproofing spray is about $10, and it is well worth the money for the comfort it will give you and the peace of mind on the trip.  (All tents should be treated annually anyhow, just in case.)

Let the tents dry for 8 hours or more on a nice sunny day.

Fold up the tents, small enough so that they fit back into the carry bags.  Often carry bags are VERY small in comparison to the tents, and if you can’t make it fit after a few tries, it might help to replace the original bag with a duffle bag for your own sanity’s sake.  Even after many years of experience, it was not uncommon for me to take 2-3 tries to get the tent folded up small enough to fit into the bag it came with.  These days, my large tent travels in a duffel bag bought for it, and the original bag carries nothing more than the poles and stakes, we simply got tired of fighting with it.

Roll up the sleeping bags.  Straps help to keep them rolled up, and one favorite recycle of mine is to use old belts to keep them rolled up.  Even cheap “fashion” belts such as women’s dresses and pants come with work well for this, despite being discarded from the garment they came  with.

Unpackage your flashlights and lantern, install batteries, and make sure they work.  Get familiar with how to turn them on and off, as well as how to replace batteries.   Remove the batteries from the flashlights, and put them together in a small bag.  (An old purse or kid’s backpack works to keep them together.)  Discard the packaging.

Unpackage your stove.  Read the directions, learn how to replace the fuel canisters and ignite the burner.  Most of the canister stoves such as caterer’s use also come with a case.  Discard the packaging.

Do a test packing on your gear in your car with the tent, chairs, tarps, cooler, lanterns, flashlights, pillows, and sleeping bags.  How much room do you have left?  That is the amount of space you have for food, clothing, beach toys and towels, dishes, pans, and anything else you think you need.

Now you are ready for your finishing touches on getting ready to go!

1. Pots and pans.  This is a case of remember Keep It Simple Stupid.  Nobody wants to spend all their time on vacation cooking and washing dishes anyhow!  Take a large skillet, a medium saucepan, and a small dutch oven with lids.  A cookie sheet also makes a useful tray for many uses.  If you drink coffee, don’t forget to include a way to do so!  (My favorite is the Melitta drip coffee maker–it fits on a mug, I just pour in the boiling water and I have delicious drip coffee fast!)  Mess kits might be convenient, but why not save the money and use pots and pans from home for this trip?
2. Utensils.  One pancake turner/spatula, one slotted spoon, one big spoon, and one ladle will do you fine.  Add in one kitchen knife, a paring knife, a cooking fork, and a set of fork and spoon for each person, and you’re good to go.
3. Dishes.  One small mixing bowl, a spare plate, a set of plate and bowl for each person, and a cup or mug for each person, and that should cover everyone.
4. First aid kit.  Any basic first aid kit will work.  My personal kit includes peroxide, bandages, tape, gauze, all purpose burn/booboo spray, and Stingeze.
5. Medicine kit.  Don’t forget any prescription medicines needed, but add in over the counter items frequently used such as ibuprofen (great for those sore muscles and sleeping-on-the-ground syndrome), acetaminophen, allergy medicine, and vitamins.
6. Hygiene kit.  Shampoo (pack small bottles, just in case the kids lose or spill one, you have more!) bar soap, toothpaste, tooth brushes, comb, brush, razors, and shaving cream.  Leave the makeup and hairspray home–you are going camping!  Bring a towel and washcloth for each person.  (Suggestion: assign one color to each person, and with the assignment comes responsibility to bring them back to camp and hang them up to dry.  No problems with “that’s not MINE!” happening.)
7. Clothing.  You are camping and on vacation.  Nobody you know will see you.  Be comfortable but don’t try and bring along everything to be a fashion plate.  Use that KISS theory here.  An adult will typically need 2-3 prs of pants, 2-3 prs of shorts, 5-6 t-shirts, 2 tank tops, 7 sets underwear, 7 prs. socks, 1 swim suit, 1 long sleeved shirt or jacket (depending on where you are) 1 pr swim shoes, 1 pr walking shoes, and something to sleep in.   An experienced camper is likely to bring 2 prs pants, 2 prs. shorts, 3 t-shirts, 1 tank top, 7 underwear sets, 7 pr socks, 1 swim suit, 1 long sleeved shirt or jacket, a pr of water shoes, and a pair of walking/hiking shoes.  A rain poncho is also a good idea.  Kids often need more clothing, especially if they are young enough to have accidents (which are likely to occur with bathrooms often a fair distance away.)  While I don’t advocate going around looking like you haven’t seen a bath this year, getting dirty is not a bad thing either.  It’s part of the fun of being on a camping trip.

Odd camping stuff.  Some of this stuff is optional, but will make things much easier.

1. Cheap rope.  It can become a clothesline, if its allowed in the campground.  It’s a great place to hang swimsuits and towels too.
2. Bucket.  This should be a clean bucket, not your recycled paint bucket.  It will be used to carry water from the spigot to your campsite, making a lot of things easier.  It doesn’t need to be huge either–water is HEAVY.  2-3 gallons is sufficient in size.
3. Frisbee or flying disk.  Great way to pass some time with the family, maybe even get to know some of the other campers.
4. Beach toys.  This is great with young kids and a beach area.  Entire days can often be enjoyed while you lounge nearby.
5. Sunscreen.  Get strong stuff.  Nothing can ruin a vacation quicker than a nasty sunburn.  Use it, every day, on everybody.  No exceptions.  They can work on their tan at home, not on vacation where you are stuck listening to the whining about the burn.
6. Paper towels.  Bring two rolls.  They are good for wiping up all sorts of things, as well as being used for napkins.
7. Trash bags.  They can hold everything from your sleeping bags to dirty clothes, in addition to trash.  If you don’t use them, they’ll come in handy at home!
8. Dish soap and dish cloth.  Okay, it’s got to happen here too.  Dishes need washed.  Everybody can wash their own, but they need dish soap and a cloth to do it with.
9. Dishpan.  This is where you wash dishes, and it can also be where hands and faces get between-showers-washings.  It’s useful for shaving in camp for the guys too, if they don’t mind using the rear view mirror on the car as their mirror (or if they bring one from home to use.)
10. Camera and/or a video camera.  You are making memories on this vacation, and you don’t want to miss recording it.  Make sure the camera works and you are familiar with its functions, including on how to take night shots, low light shots, bright light shots, action shots, and how to turn off the flash (required in most museums.)  For your digital camera, you may want to opt for the more expensive and non-rechargeable “titanium” batteries for electronics.  They really do last longer and are more dependable than rechargeables in digital cameras.  (I usually carry both, my titaniums are my just-in-case batteries.)

Last, but not least, is the food.  People get hungry when camping, and food becomes a big deal, but nobody wants to be stuck cooking all the time either.  Stick to simple stuff everybody in the family will like.  These need to all be one pot or one skillet meals too.  Get the whole family involved in choosing what they are going to eat and they’ll spend less time griping about it too.  Here’s some hints to help.

1. Try sticking to cold sandwiches and fruit for lunches–it’s easy and fast.
2. Pack healthy snacks, but a good way to win vacation points is allowing a stretch of the rules to include some snack foods and treats that are normally not allowed.
3. Breakfast treats with our crew are usually pancakes–who has time to cook them in the morning when you aren’t on vacation?
4. Instant oatmeal is also a hot favorite that is quick and easy too.
5. Search for recipes that your family will like and require few ingredients and that single pan.
6. Spaghetti isn’t a “one pan” meal, but it’s cheap and easy–just heat the sauce and boil the noodles, and voila…dinner!  Add a salad and a loaf of French bread, and they’ll think you are the king of the camp kitchen.   With a single burner, I cook the noodles, taking them off the burner just before they are done, and putting the lid on the pot to keep them hot.  The sauce goes in a pan, and is heated up.  Using a fork, the noodles are fished out of the water, put on the plate or bowl, and topped with sauce.  Parmesan cheese is optional!
7. Ramen noodles are another very cheap ingredient.  Dressed up with meat and vegetables, they too can become dinner.  Leftover chicken, beef, or pork can be cut up and added, along with diced vegetables of nearly any kind.
8. Canned chili can be boring, but served with tortillas that have been folded over and filled with melted cheese…it’s much more exciting.  Skillet corn cakes can also be great with it. (Cornbread batter cooked like pancakes.)
9. Let everyone make their own “pizza” using a flour tortilla as the base, topping it with whatever their heart desires, and heating it in the skillet.  Slide it out onto their plate, and they can dine.
10. Nachos anyone?  Make mega-nachos with all the toppings normally put on tacos, and bingo, you have fun food to eat while sitting around the campfire or picnic table.  Just heat the meat or bean topping in a skillet, pile the chips on their plates, top the chips with the meat, add shredded lettuce, tomatoes, olives, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, salsa…or whatever you want.  Forks are optional but paper towels might be in order!

The most important part of all is choosing your destination.  Obviously, the cheapest way to go is to stay at one campground for the full duration of your vacation.  That keeps your travel costs down.  Do your research.  Is there enough to keep everyone occupied during your stay?  What is there to do nearby and in the park?  How close are the nearest stores selling groceries and ice?  What else will you do during your stay?  Calling the park is often the most efficient way to get your answers, but do it before you make your reservations!  Campsite fees vary a lot, from roughly $15 on up to about $50 per night.  Usually, state campgrounds offer amenities such as showers and toilets, and have the lowest prices of any campground in the area.  Their websites also offer a lot of information about fees, activities, and other items of interest in the area too, as well as information on how to go about making your reservations.  (Many campgrounds use Reserve America, others have their own system, and some require that you call the park itself.  A few do not take reservations, which makes staying there tricky–you have to get there early to get your spot.)

Some kind of water activity is always welcomed in the summer–kids love it, and adults enjoy the cooling effects too.  Other things can vary according to your family’s interests, everything from horseback riding to golf to museums and wildlife parks are an option.  Splurging on a special activity can make some real vacation memories for your family, if your budget can afford it.  Trying something new can often get the whole family excited as well.

Be prepared for expensive gasoline.  Most areas are hovering at around $4 per gallon, so that means planning your route is more important than ever.  Use a mapping program to maximize your route, see the sights, get where you are going, and avoiding spending money unnecessarily.  Stop at those weird roadside places–it’s free to stop when its right on your route.  Read those historical markers.  Check out those viewpoints.  Leave home early enough to really enjoy the drive to your destination.  If its more than a single day’s drive away, look for a campground in between.  I’ve traveled often using campgrounds as our overnight location, and some of them have been spectacular!  The journey is a good chunk of your expense for vacation, so make it an event too.  Stop for picnics, take pictures of your kids at the state line, and do all of those goofy things that you’ve seen others do…and haven’t ever done yourself.  So what if its corny and silly, it is YOUR vacation!

I have seen everything from gorgeous waterfalls to giant plastic Paul Bunyan…all right beside the road I was driving on and often totally unexpectedly.  We’ve stopped and helped turtles cross the road too.  One trip saw us buy an entire lug of bing cherries from an orchard’s roadside stand…at a bargain price too!  (It was a lot of cherries to eat, and we didn’t want cherries again for a very long time!)  I’ve seen craters and creatures, tried cherry cider and boudin, eaten barbecue and apple pie, sat on a giant jackalope and touched Paul Bunyan, seen pottery and heard poetry…all from roadside places.  Once, we even came upon a massive Dutch windmill in the middle of nowhere on a road detour (without a map, I’m afraid, but gas was cheap back then.)  We’ve seen Amish farms, high tech hog operations, orchards, amusement parks, and just about everything else under the sun too.  Stop at those tourist information places and obscure museums too.  Most small museums have very inexpensive entry fees, and hold a myriad of fascinating items.  My museum highlights included an antique museum in Oklahoma somewhere and a Russian museum in New Mexico!  Local tourist information stops often will clue you in on things that you didn’t find on the internet too, and usually not more than a 5 or 10 mile detour, still making them a great lunch stop or even overnight stop.

Most of all, have fun.  Laugh a lot, scold little, and take lots of pictures.  Your cheap vacation just might turn out to be one your kids remember forever as the “best vacation ever” with very little money and a whole lot of enjoyment.

Mountain House winner!

Freeze dried food.  Most of us conjure up an image of mysterious glop with a lot of salt and not much other flavor.  The reality though is nothing like that, at least with Mountain House foods.  Recently, we bought a selection of Mountain House foods to use for a bicycle trip, and while most of them saw no service on that trip, we did decide to try one at home, for the ultimate in taste tests.

I was intensely curious about the concept of “chicken breasts with rib meat & mashed potatoes” especially when described as “two grilled, seasoned chicken breasts with rib meat, mashed potatoes with herbs & chives.”

Seriously, how good could this possibly be?  It’s a freeze dried entree for 2, not a frozen dinner.  Frozen dinners offering “chicken breast with rib meat” usually turn out to be dismal offerings of indistinct texture resembling that of foam rubber.  Surely a freeze dried dinner would be worse.

Boy, was I wrong!

The directions have the cook remove the oxygen packet and the packet of mashed potatoes, setting those aside.  The boiling water is added to the envelope, on top of the chicken breasts, and they are submerged with the envelope zipped closed for 2-3 minutes.  Then, the chicken breasts are removed, and the potatoes are mixed with their water and allowed to stand for another couple of minutes, and I put the chicken on top to keep it warm.  So, about ten minutes from putting the water on to heat, we had dinner.

The chicken was delicious, and definitely real.  No questions about that, and the flavor came through with flying colors along with the correct texture.  Grill marks on top added to the effect too.  The mashed potatoes had excellent flavor too.  No complaints from either of us on that count.

This entree has about 210 calories for each portion.  That’s not a lot of calories if you are working or hiking hard, so the portions are not extravagant in size.  More concerning is the 800 mg of sodium–that’s a LOT of sodium!  Not that it tasted excessively salty, but even so, the sodium is there.  I did email the Mountain House company via their website about the high sodium content of their meals, and asked for a low sodium line.  I received a prompt reply as well, indicating that the new low sodium line was already in production, and should be released soon.  Just keep checking their website!

Unfortunately, there seems to be a supply issue with Mountain House right now, and that has fueled all of the conspiracy theorists into believing that the government has bought up the supply.  According to the Mountain House website, that is not the case.  They were asked for a quote, but no order had been placed, and the quote is a standard operating procedure, not a prelude to a definite order.  What is causing the actual supply issue is a mystery, but it could in fact be related to a revamping of their line to reduce sodium, increase variety, etc.  Even a change in packaging could temporarily cause a supply and demand problem.  In addition, this is spring and this is when companies are gearing up for the summer hiking & camping season…so there is even more demand!  I hope the supply issues are solved soon–most of my favorite suppliers seem to be out of stock or back ordered on a number of selections from Mountain House.  Currently, my sole source of Mountain House meals is from local stores with some stock on hand.

After trying this entree at home, I feel more comfortable about counting on Mountain House on the trail and in camp for quality meals without fuss.  Food is an important moral builder, as well as fuel for doing the things we love to do, and nothing can make a trip more miserable than unpleasant or inedible food.  Convenience is nice too, because I may not mind being the camp cook on some trips, on other trips I’m just as busy as everyone else, and I have little desire to spend hours each day preparing food.

For the emergency preparedness crowd, food is equally important.  Tasty food does a lot to maintain morale, and if its familiar in nature, its less likely to be regarded with suspicion.  This entree wins on this front too.  It’s delicious, “normal” looking, and does not have any odd or exotic flavors.  It’s lightweight and easy to prepare too.  It’s an excellent choice to include in your emergency backpack!

 

 

Rocket stoves

I’ll admit, I’m not the most educated in homemade stoves.  I remember the candle stoves made with a 3 lb. coffee can and a pair of tin snips from my childhood, but they were woefully limited in their use.  Today, however, we have a lot more resources at hand than a few scouting manuals.  Websites galore, plus all of Youtube, are all at our immediate disposal.

That’s where I saw the “rocket stove.”  The best video I have seen so far for teaching how to build one is found here.  (Part 2 for the building process is found here.)

The whole idea of a rocket stove is to be able to use small fuel, the kind of stuff we find under almost any tree, laying in alleyways, or our own yards.  This makes it the perfect emergency stove, but this stove is NOT suited for heating indoors, so don’t even think about doing that!  This stove is specifically geared for preparing food, not heating your indoor spaces.  My only curiosity is whether or not the cans that are sold filled with flavored popcorn, a commonly available large sized can, would work for this stove.  Logic says it would, although the fitting process for the stove pipe might be slightly different because of using a round can versus a rectangular can.

Why bother with alternative stoves?

During an emergency situation, the fuel we are accustomed to using in our camp stoves, which may include alcohol, white gas, unleaded gas, propane, or butane, may not be readily available or in short supply.  In an attempt to conserve such fuels, we may desire burning other items, such as debris, for cooking most of our food.

During emergency situations, it is also not uncommon for families to pool their resources, resulting in larger meals being prepared than the typical 1-4 person meals most of us would typically prepare.  That may necessitate the use of additional stoves, and once again, the rocket stove appears to be a very viable option for additional cook space.

With the current economic situation, many families are also trying to reduce their expenditures for items such as fuel, whether it is for cooking or other activities.  Often, families have had some or all of their utilities cut off due to non payment as the result of lost jobs and reaching the end of unemployment benefits.  In those situations, a stove such as this will allow a family to continue eating hot meals without necessitating the purchase of fuel to operate a traditional camp stove.

For others, it is a desire to remove themselves from the grid, and minimize their use of purchased fuel and power that motivates their desire to explore alternatives to the traditional stove.  Once again, a stove such as this is made from several recycled items (the stove pipe is likely to have to be purchased.)  It also uses “free” fuel in terms of small twigs and sticks, typically found under trees and in wooded areas, especially after a storm.  Its efficient design makes maximum usage of this small fuel source as well.

This is definitely something I’m going to have to try myself!

Doing Thanksgiving outdoors

Doing a minimalist holiday routine in a tent doesn’t mean you have to do without the turkey and the trimmings.  We took a group out and tried it, just to see if it could be done.  Granted we scaled it back considerably, and cooked just a turkey breast rather than an entire turkey.  We had stuffing, green bean casserole, gravy, mashed potatoes, baked beans, sweet potatoes, rolls, and a cheesecake for dessert…and we cooked everything except the rolls and cheesecake ourselves on a single burner butane stove or a charcoal grill.

The turkey breast was rubbed down with seasonings, then wrapped in double heavy duty foil.    Using more heavy duty foil, a dome was created over the turkey, with charcoal in a standard campground grill.  Over a medium hot set of coals, the turkey breast was cooked for a couple of hours and turned about every 30 minutes.

For the green bean casserole, the cream of mushroom soup was heated in a saucepan.  When it was hot, the drained green beans were added to the soup mixture, stirring gently until the beans were hot.  About 1/3 of the can of french fried onions were added to the green bean mixture, and the remainder was used to sprinkle each serving liberally with.

Mashed potatoes and gravy were mixes.  Idahoan instant mashed potatoes come in several flavors in an envelope type package, and are easy to prepare–just add hot water, no milk or butter required.  The gravy mix was just a standard turkey gravy mix out of an envelope–each one makes about 1 cup, so calculate the necessary amount of gravy accordingly.

Sweet potatoes were canned, just put into a foil pan, sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon, covered with foil, and set onto the grill alongside the turkey to heat.  We left them heating for about an hour, mostly to just keep them warm.  Baked beans got the same treatment.  Sauteed onions and brown sugar, along with crumbled bacon, were added to canned baked beans and set alongside the turkey to heat up.

The cranberry sauce was also served hot, and we just added 1 c. water, 2 c. sugar and a pound of cranberries into a saucepan, brought to a boil and boiled for a few minutes or until the berries started to pop.  At that point, it was set aside, and we unwrapped our mummy-looking turkey breast.  It was pallid, and the skin was discarded but it was amazingly moist and flavorful.  Everyone dug in, piling plates high with the ample food, and just like at home…ate until we were stuffed full.  It was hours later before anyone felt like digging into the cheesecake.

Who says you can’t enjoy a typical feast holiday while living in a tent…in pouring rain?

 

Save money on holiday gear with Ebay?

First, click on “Sporting Goods” in the categories.  Next, choose “Outdoor Sports.”  Only then do you get to the “Camping & Hiking” section.  Now you have reached your potential gold mine.

So what is on your Santa’s list?  Tents, you say?

Let’s see what our options are there!  We start by clicking on “Tents & Canopies”.  Here we get options as to the types and sizes of tents, such as 1-2 person, 3-4 person, or 5+ person, along with tent accessories or canopies.  Probably the most common size for most people is the 3-4 person, which in reality, provides room for 2 people plus their gear comfortably and works well for car camping.  1-2 person tents are geared for minimalists, bicyclists, and backpackers.

Now switch the “sort by” drop down menu to “ending soonest.”  This shows the auctions that are closest to ending, rather than by any other option.  Now comes the shopping part.

We’re going to search for a three season tent in this section, so we type in “three season” into the search bar at the top of the window.  On this particular occasion, our cheapest option is a Texsport Osprey tent, and the listing describes its size as 9′ x 6′ 6″ x 40″ h.  That’s shorter than we really want, as we want to be able to stand up inside of the tent.  We really want a tent that is 72″ tall, for a comfortable height inside.

Trying “72”” inside of the search bar isn’t productive, only showing us 2 tents that are higher priced than our $100 limit.  So, we go back to the category.  To do that, click “browse this category” just under the search bar.

In this method of browsing, I found a used REI Taj 3 Backpacking tent for 3 people.  It is supposed to be in good shape, includes the footprint, and is a very good tent.  I searched (in another window) Google for that model of tent, and read Backpacker magazine’s review for this tent, which was practically glowing.  I checked REI Outlet for their selling price, and the price on Ebay is well below half their price at the current bid.  The shipping fee of $18 seems a bit high, but within the “reasonable” levels.  BUT…the seller has only a rating from 3 people.  This low rating, combined with the product’s used status, makes me shy away from paying that much for this tent.  I’ll pass on this “bargain” since I can’t personally inspect the tent prior to purchase.

Just as I’m about to give up and admit that my desire for stand up height and under $100 is not going to work in this category, I find a potential buy.  It claims to shelter 4 persons, and measures in at 9×7′ with my 72″ height requirement.  It has a rainfly, with supporting poles so that all four sides can potentially catch a breeze (important in hot climates.)  It looks like the rain, should it have to be used in a heavy rain storm, would run away on each corner.  It also has “free shipping” and the seller has a 99% positive rating, along with thousands of ratings, so is obviously not a newbie to the world of Ebay.  The dome would be easy to set up, but it also is an
“unknown” brand.  With the current bid under $60, it might be a real bargain after all.  Still, it doesn’t close the bidding until tomorrow, but we’ll see.  (I didn’t really bid, so if you are searching for one, feel free!)

With the tent search finished, we’re now on the prowl for a lantern.  In this case, we’ll say our goal is to buy a single mantle lantern that uses the disposable propane tanks because we’d seen one someone else had and liked it.  So let’s begin our search.  First, go back to the main category of Camping & Hiking.  The easy way to do that is to click on the bar that says “Item listed in:” and find the words “Camping & Hiking” and click on those.  Now in the left hand column, we’ll choose “Flashlights, Lanterns & Lights.”  Next, choose “Lanterns” from the left hand category.  At this point, type in “propane single” and hit enter.

I happen to know that it was a Stansport propane lantern and it had a piezo starter to make it matchless.  I also know that it is sold for $16.99 from the local Walmart.  Our search today indicates that Ebay prices are substantially higher than what it would cost me at the local Walmart.  We don’t make a purchase in this category at this time.

That is the important part or rather, one of them.  Auctions are not a test of your worthiness or importance, but rather a competitive bidding process.  They are popular because it is a good way to get the most money out of your buyers, and there is also always the possibility your buyers will get a bargain too.  Always know the going retail prices for your items before starting to bid.  A bargain will never happen if the starting bid is higher than your local stores sell the item for.

Set your limits and stick to them.  Remember to check your shipping costs BEFORE you ever place a bid.  That bid is a legally binding contract and you can’t weasel out of it because you failed to read the listing.

Pay attention to what other buyers have to say about the seller.  A lot of complaints is not a good sign and steer away from them.  No one can please everyone all the time, so a few complaints are inevitable.

Plan ahead–don’t buy on Ebay expecting to have it by the end of the week unless you talk to the seller before you bid and they agree to expedite your shipping options.  Shop now if you want to find bargains for the holidays.

 

Dehydrated hash browns

In the past, I had often purchased Kraft brand dehydrated hash browns in a giant milk-carton looking container.  Unfortunately, I haven’t found them in the past few years, as they are packaged for the restaurant industry.  Recently, I’ve embarked on sampling the foods for long term storage (aka survival food) that comes packaged in #10 cans.  In this packaging, I found the dehydrated hash browns and I purchased some.  In the past, I loved them for using not only at home but because of their compact and light convenience for camping.

The directions are a bit different.  With these, I am to add boiling salted water and then simmer them until they are tender.  Not exactly convenient.  I also suspect we’re going to have a tendency to break apart more while being simmered.  My solution? They LOOK identical to the ones I purchased from Kraft all those years ago, and technically, dehydrated potatoes are dehydrated potatoes.  So, I’m now soaking them in very hot water.  I have noticed with previous items that this company tends to have the consumer overcook their products when using the directions provided on the cans.  Maybe their theory is “better safe than sorry”?  In my case, I’m always sorry that I’m now facing unappetizing mush.

In less than 2 minutes, they have become rehydrated enough to go from brittle to leathery, and soaked up about half the water.  (I added hot water to cover, with about 1/2″ headroom.)  I then added more hot water, about  a cup.  After fifteen minutes, I decided that the best option was to let them soak over night, as we had a lot of things to get done besides watching dried potatoes rehydrate.

The next day, they were cooked.  We started off with a mixture of margarine & oil in an iron skillet, and when that was hot, the hash browns were added.  Unlike fresh, these will not stick together in a patty-like arrangement.  They scatter through the skillet and remain independent chunks of potato, so don’t dream they are going to create a cohesive mass like we expect.

They are good, but it didn’t work at all like the familiar Kraft brand ones designed for restaurant use.  Next time, perhaps I’ll try the directions that came with them, as well as the addition of some dried onion in the mixture.  I think they would also work very well for fast potato soup or as a quick addition to some vegetable stew.  Cooked the way I had cooked them this first time, they would also be excellent mixed with eggs, meat, cheese and some veggies for breakfast burritos.

Get Ready GO gets organized or how to create a group for outdoor activities

We have a MeetUp.com group called Get Ready Go, we have a website of www.getreadygo.com, and none of this is really new.  The Meetup group is the baby of the family, you might say, but it has been an excellent way to meet local people and get a group started that actively engages in outdoor activities.  It’s a lot of fun too.

It has also allowed us to reach out to other people, to engage them in outdoor activities in a safe and fun way.  Experienced campers make camping for novices much safer and simpler, and a group engaging in any activity means that if something is forgotten or goes wrong, you aren’t on your own.  It also means you have help for tasks such as setting up and tearing down camp.

It also means that experienced  campers need to take the time to teach the novices about various skills, whether its packing  your emergency backpack for that just-in-case event, erecting a tent, cooking on the campfire, setting snares, or tying knots.  Teaching (and learning) does not have to be boring and set in a school-like environment either.  It can be fun, interactive, and educational all at the same time, and really should be.

This coming Sunday, which just happens to be Halloween, is our first official class for our Meetup group.  We have been worried though, the Gulf Coast has had almost no rain, resulting in Mississippi having a burn ban in place.  Since the event was being held in Moss Point, Mississippi…that burn ban could have placed a huge obstacle in our way.  It’s impossible to teach campfire cookery when you can’t have a campfire.

We had planned the “class” as a Halloween party too.  Costumes and all, with an afternoon of socializing, sampling various campfire foods, and demonstrating the different ways to cook with an open camp fire.  Camp fire cooking is nearly a lost art–many campgrounds do not allow campfires, and the ones that do offer fixed fire rings, often equipped with an immovable grate that prevents anything resembling traditional cooking with dutch ovens, etc.  I was the designated teacher, and I have a fair amount of personal experience as well as a long family tradition of using the campfire for cooking.  I’ve baked cakes, biscuits, and breads…fried chicken, made pancakes, cooked on a rock, cooked with rocks, cooked on a stick, cooked in foil, used a tripod for a pot, and just about anything else.  For years, I had no camp stove at all, and solely cooked over the campfire when camping.  I’ve cooked over the campfire in rain and snow, and can tell you…neither one ranks as “ideal.”

While cooking with a camp stove is often preferable in terms of the environment, ecology, and convenience, cooking with a camp fire brings out something primeval in almost everyone.  It’s also not a bad skill to play with in terms of survival skills.  I know that I can cook almost anything I cook in the stove at home on a campfire.  I’ve tried many things.  I wouldn’t try using it to bake an angel food cake or cookies…but I’m sure it could be done. 

We’re going to do the dutch oven thing, and likely bake a loaf of bread or some biscuits there.  We’ll cook a pot of beans.  I’m not going to cook on a rock or using hot rocks to boil anything–Mississippi on the Gulf Coast is very short on the rocks.  We might make some skillet pizzas, and we’re very likely to make several kinds of flat breads that bake in a skillet.  I’m hoping to get someone to go dig some cattail roots so we can sample a local native food too.  We’ll bake some potatoes, both in foil and the old fashioned way without.  We’ll likely make an apple cobbler or baked apples.  There is also hobo meals of meat, potatoes, onions and carrots in a foil packet.

We’re not going to work hard at all of this.  We are going to sit around with soft drinks and coffee, we’ll try some different foods, and we’re going to talk a lot and laugh even more.  People will get their hands dirty, and wash up again.  It’s about having fun, and making learning some new skills a little bit of fun too.  We will probably also toss in some things with the backpacks, firestarting, and maybe even snare construction.  As the afternoon drifts into evening, we’ll sit around the fire and swat mosquitos too, while we watch a few daring trick or treaters come by–its the country, and there won’t be many, and they will get an invitation to join us for a bit as well.

And what would we have done if the fire ban wasn’t lifted as a result of yesterday’s rain?  There should always be a plan b, especially in regards to the outdoors.  I have a variety of camp stoves, and knowing how they operate is also a very good idea.  I’d have made a pot of beans, set out the makings for tacos, and made some fry bread for everyone to build a Navajo taco, which would be a new food to almost everyone.  We would have set up more alternate educational stuff, ensuring everyone was entertained and educated at the same time.  Setting up these activities should always be for fun, and the learning should happen almost accidentally.  Lessons learned that way are always retained much longer and mean more.

So, if you live on the Gulf Coast, and would like to get involved with the real world version of Get Ready Go…try this link for Meetup.com.  Membership is free, fees only apply to organizers.  The only real glitch is that we ONLY have activities in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, and members need to live close enough to participate.  MOST activities take place in the area between Pascagoula, MS and Pensacola, FL within fifty miles of the Gulf of Mexico.  It is family-friendly, even if most of our members don’t have children under 18.  We did just have one member give birth, however, so that is obviously changing!  While we are family friendly, we are also senior friendly, as many of us are about to knock on the door of that age group.  It’s also a great way for single adults to enjoy camping and other outdoor activities without being forced to do them alone.  Having spent a large portion of my life as a single adult, I personally have experience with that particular problem.  Often, trips would be planned for weeks, only to have everyone else back out at the last minute, leaving me with the option of not going at all or going alone.  I soon learned that if I wanted to go and do, I better be prepared to go and do on my own, despite my family’s misgivings about remote camping alone!  While I am perfectly comfortable going alone, I’m no longer single, and experience has taught me that sharing experiences with a group makes for a much richer level of enjoyment.  It also means that you have someone to talk to when the day ends and you sit with a cup of coffee in the evening.

If you live in another part of the country, and would like to join a group, look for local groups to join.  Finding other people with similar interests often requires some good detective work.  Few groups advertise their existence, although the internet has made searching for groups much easier.  Do meet the other members before embarking on a trip with them, you will feel much better, and it will help weed out the “nuts” in the forest of the internet.  Use common sense–don’t just take off on a trip with a group that may not even actually exist!  Serious groups will not mind your caution, and the ones that find it offensive are not ones you need to be involved with.  If a group to your liking does not exist, create one!  (We did!) We started out as a handful of people who would invite other people they met to join in, there was nothing formal at all about it.  That was a very limited and exclusive way of recruiting, and seldom did any “new” people become regulars.  One of our newer regulars decided to try setting it up on Meetup.com, which has been very useful for allowing new people to join in and make the transition into a more organized, albeit still informal, group.  We now plan a monthly get together at some local restaurant, a camp out, and one or two other activities each month.  This allows new members to meet us before going on a camp out with us, so all of us are comfortable with their presence no matter where we are going to be camping.  (We’ve only had two campouts so far, both primitive campouts without a designated campground.)

We try to ensure that our members are real people and that they actually are going to be active.  We aren’t interested in large numbers like its a popularity contest.  We don’t expect everyone to attend every event.  We are getting to the point that we want them all to RSVP (an option with Meetup) whether its a yes, no or maybe–that’s mostly to ensure that they are in fact interested and real.  Too many people just join things to say they belong without any intention of ever really participating or even reading the postings about what is going on.

Those face-t0-face meetings are important when you are going to be in the back country with someone for several days.  It makes everyone feel more comfortable about the shared experience.  I know that I would be terrified to simply drive to the designated location and pitch my tent with a bunch of strangers for the weekend, and when someone backs out after getting the heebie jeebies about doing just that, I don’t blame them.  I am actually leaning towards the idea of requiring new members to attend a day function or monthly meeting just so they can meet us, before ever attending a camp out.  I’m not trying to exclude anyone, I’m trying to be realistic.  With kids, grandkids, seniors, etc., the last thing we need is some kind of kook.  As for new members, for all they know, we’re a bunch of nudist nuts dancing around the fire and drinking huge vats of grog  if they haven’t met us.

How your group would handle new members joining is definitely an individual choice.  It does require some thought, however.  Everyone does need to be comfortable with the method that new members are screened with, no matter how minimal or how extensive. 

If your group is to have a particular focus, that also needs to be stated up front, whether you are focused on low-impact outdoor activities, conservation, backpacking back country, or even nude camping…whatever your special focus would be.  Our group tends to be broad spectrum–we do everything from survivalism to fishing to car camping.  So far, we’ve not planned a backpacking trip or kayaking one!

Chicken ? Textured Vegetable Protein

Whenever  you look at long term storage foods, you can’t really help but cringe if you are on a budget.  Granted the food isn’t really that expensive, it is the bulk purchase that makes those of us who are “financially challenged” groan with pain.  Once you have that initial stock in place and are just adding to or replacing items that are used, its not as painful.  Even taking a gourmet package cost of $3000 for 1 person for a year and dividing it by 52 weeks, it comes out to just $57.69 per week.  That’s pretty cheap, really.  I just don’t have $3000 to invest in food for the coming year right now.

There is the option of joining a cooperative to share purchases and get bulk pricing, but there isn’t one near me.  The next option is to form one, but out of the like-minded folk I know, none of them are wanting to do that.  So, that idea wasn’t going to fly in our little community either.

Next option is to start buying long term storage food a bit at a time, choosing items that are on sale.  This option also means we can try some of the things we are buying, and find out what we REALLY think of the products.  I’m sure there are people who would be thrilled to eat a high protein algae with a drizzle of oil and wouldn’t care that it tasted like a wombat butt.  They’d just be glad to have the algae.  However, I don’t plan on being that hungry in my lifetime, and the food I buy for emergency supplies is food that I anticipate using over the course of time to cover “emergencies” like a cash shortfall, unemployment, sickness, hurricanes, camping trips, and the like.  That means I want it to be tasty, even if I’m cooking it.   I don’t want to cringe at the idea of serving it to guests either.

So I started pricing things.  I have made most of my purchases from Emergency Essentials.  They aren’t speedy, but I have no complaints either.  Another company I intend to try soon is called Internet Grocers.net Internet Grocers looks interesting because they offer #2.5 cans, and on some items…I seriously have to try this stuff.

I did buy a full #10 can of a product called “artificial chicken flavored textured vegetable protein.”  It was made by Provident Pantry, or at least that’s the label it sports.  Opening the can, the aroma didn’t remind me much of chicken, unless its the aroma of chicken feed with a hint of manure.  It wasn’t an appetizing aroma.

I tasted one of the nuggets inside.  They are a small nugget, rather like the original bacon bits soybean stuff.  Tastes a lot like them too, but with more salt.  That’s the primary taste, salt…followed by sweet overtones and some off flavor that I couldn’t decide if it was feathers or manure dust.  So, the first project was mock chicken with some ramen noodles…a good start, I figured, and not unlike something I’d be making for quick camp food or in a survival situation.

Survival situation was the descriptor I’d use now.  So would everyone that sampled it.  Our conclusion?  It would probably improve in flavor if we were in survival mode, but until then, we were just not that damned hungry.  Following the directions on the can, I had boiled the stuff, turning it into a soggy mass…and then tossed in the ramen noodles.  I tasted the salt, then incredible sweet.  There was  a fake sort of flavor, but don’t ask me to pinpoint fake what.  Just a fake taste.  I had to fight the urge to gag as  I choked down my small serving of the stuff.  I do have to admit, I’ve never seen a single package of ramen noodles go so far in my life.  We had six servings and there was still plenty left for the dog!

Next project, I ignored the directions on the can and made a package of typical country gravy (milk gravy).  I added about 3/4 c. of the granules/tidbits to the gravy when it was done, and served it over flavored instant mashed potatoes.  It wasn’t bad.  Chewing the stuff kept making me think I was chewing the box that the chicken had been shipped in, but at least I wasn’t fighting a gag reflex.  This was an improvement, entirely skipping the “rehydration” process.

Textured vegetable protein typically runs about $10-14, and is available in a variety of flavors: bacon, ham, pepperoni, sausage, Italian sausage, beef, taco, chili, sloppy joe, and chicken.  It can be eaten out of the can as-is, or mixed into other foods.  Reviews had me thinking it wouldn’t be too bad at all, especially when compared to freeze dried meat in the same size can averages at about $40 per can (#10 cans in both cases).

But I’m not sure about it.  This product may be one I leave for later on, focusing on other foods and dealing with the meat versus soy issues at a later point in the stocking up game.  Then again, I think I may try some of the other flavors in smaller cans, even if the cost per ounce is triple that of the #10 can.

I’d recommend that anyone faced with my dilemma of trying to decide using the smaller cans to sample the product and decide for themselves.  Survival experts have informed me that protein is actually easier to get in the wild than carbohydrates, but if I’m not capable of hunting or fishing, what then?    There is also the alternative of using beans and dairy products as protein sources, and they are certainly more economical.  I did want meat to add some variety to the menu from the storage system, as well as to flavor dishes.  Just this chicken TVP is not the answer for flavor.  It does provide variety, not a positive variety, however.  (You should have seen people scatter when I announced the chicken tvp was making an appearance in creamed not chicken over mashed potatoes.  You’d have thought I was announcing that anyone who ate was going to have a baby in the next month!)

I’m curious about other products too, so more sampling of these survival style foods will be occurring over the coming months as I continue purchasing items.  I have a very limited budget for this project, and just as limited storage space.  I do sincerely advocate that all households have a 12 month supply of food on hand, so I’ll just have to figure out where to store it.  Right now, we have a 1 month supply, and the diet would be somewhat monotonous.  If I keep restocking (I had a full 6 month supply back in the spring) I’ll soon have that 6 month cushion restored.

Many people think of an emergency food storage supply as though we’re anarchists and militia who are about to overthrow the government and start making some dreadful little republic ruled by a little Hitler kind of dictator.  Not hardly.  My emergency food storage has covered more job losses and injuries than government coups for sure.  That’s why I don’t have much interest in the pill version of emergency food or the bars–we’re apt to have to actually EAT this stuff sometime in the next decade.  Don’t get me wrong, the bars and pills do have a place, but that place isn’t my pantry, but rather in the backpacks and vehicle, places where a crisis is much more likely to happen and compact long term storage of sustenance is important.  Many a guest has sat down to dinner with me, never realizing that their meal was primarily composed of my emergency food pantry.  I’ve overstayed on camping trips…and had food because of that emergency cushion that we always carry.  Its because of this that I can safely say…corned beef in spaghetti sauce may be edible, but its not particularly tasty.

So, figure out what your emergency food plan is.  Start making one.  Start with a 72 hour kit, then expand your pantry to a full week…then a month…then 90 days…then six months…and before you know it, you will have a pantry that you know will be there, no matter what the inflation is, no matter what happens with your job, no matter where you end up living.  You have the food to live comfortably while you figure things out.  Who knows what the future will bring to any of us, and being prepared to face the future is what it is all about.

Off Road Camp Trailers-Adventure Trailers

Having encountered the website for Afri-Spoors camp trailers, I decided to see what else I could find.  Surely I wasn’t the only one with an eye on this niche of the camping world-a purely serviceable trailer that could navigate the rough trails and roads that people in a 4 wheel drive vehicle used and then provide a quickly erected comfortable home-away-from-home.  Some of us want a trailer that serves us each and every time we venture out, whether its in a “civilized” campground with electricity and water at each site, showers, laundry and playground…or a stop along a narrow two-track kind of a road where your sole companion is a lone coyote or a bellowing bull.

It was this versatility that made my tents such an attractive choice, but its my desire for efficiency that has me craving an easy-to-pull trailer offering some amenities and reduce the amount of load up and unload we spend before and after a trip.  In a way, I had to envy those that only needed to add fresh food and restock the cooler/refrigerator before venturing out!  Because of the distance between parking and home, we spend 3-4 HOURS loading, and then the same unloading.  Essentially, that’s an entire day’s work!

The Afri-Spoors had some great features, but some serious issues too.  I hated the bulky tent’s packed appearance, dreaded the set up, and wasn’t sure of its size.  The website left far too many questions unanswered, considering it is a product that isn’t easily viewed at the local camp store.

The next website is Adventure Trailers.  The first one I viewed was called the Oasis.  I’m not sure of the features, but I loved the set up video.  I can see that this could be set up and we would be out of the weather in under 10 minutes, no cussing required.  It was a dream come true, simply unlatch the latches on the trailer cover, and lift it over, deploying the tent simultaneously.  The down side-2 people for set up.  I’m not sure if its possible for a lone person to set this one up.  It also offers 16″ clearance-that’s a LOT of clearance, folks!  It also offers the option of removable ramps, allowing it to become wheelchair accessible-another nice feature!  The photos left me believing it did not offer any kind of integrated kitchen other than a table top initially, but the last video did show a kitchen box, sink and water nozzle with a mixer.  At the rear of the trailer, there is a receiver hitch, which can carry a bike rack (Yay!) and there is a storage compartment towards the front which is also accessed from the exterior.  Inside, there is more storage under the built in bed.  All in all, not a bad design, except for the fact that you are left completely exposed to sun, rain, wind, etc. for your minimalist kitchen.

The also had a tear drop.  Once again, a great and efficient design.  Tear drops have been around since the end of World War II, so the designs remain pretty much the same without any new innovations in that arena.  Their addition is a receiver hitch to hold bike racks or other lightweight accessories.  The tongue is also the location for fuel can storage, an important consideration for serious off road travel, and also has a storage box.  A propane tank is strapped on behind the wheel, and once again, this is a high clearance version of the tear drop, allowing it to follow behind where most campers would fear to go.

The Horizon trailer is pure utility.  It has an integrated kitchen, like the one from Afri-Spoors or AT’s Tear Drop, a feature I think is wonderful.  The Horizon features a rooftop rack designed for rooftop tents.  In looking at the rooftop tents, they were horribly reminscent of the tents with Afri-Spoor, and one looked identical.  Weighing over 100 lbs each, with complicated mounting processes, these are not very appealing to me.  As nice as it is to not have the issue of ground smooth enough to put up a tent, this looks like a logistic nightmare, requiring dismounting and then storing this rather massive piece of camping gear.  With massive price tags to match the tents, it’s easy to see why they have not gained much favor with most campers.  Until the designs are simplified to appeal to a broader market, the prices are highly unlikely to come down too.

The Chaser is even more stripped down efficiency, once again using the Eezi-Awn Rooftop Tent, which I am really not impressed with in terms of appearance, efficiency, and weight.  Essentially, its a cargo trailer with power and plumbing, and designed for the truly rough and tumble.  The unique hitch is interesting, and is designed for allowing ample movement options, an important consideration when traveling off road trails.  The reviews also say it travels well at highway speeds, another important consideration, since we normally use highways to get to the biways and then to our ways, right?  It has a link to take you to a fascinating article about the use of this trailer in multiple environments and for extended periods of time, with hints about heating, power, and packing-Great Stuff too!

Adventure Trailers has now moved to Prescott, Arizona, not far from my old stomping grounds!  It’s also a great center of activity for the off road travel world, as vast expanses of land are accessible only with off road vehicles.  Certain issues that are critical in my new area, centered around New Orleans, Louisiana though.

Ventilation-it’s really hot and humid here…can these power systems manage to run 12 volt fans in the sleeping areas at night to increase comfort?

Rain…how do these tents manage the frequent rains we get?  I know Arizona gets wild thunderstorms during monsoon season-I’ve seen a VW beetle float down Main St. in Florence, AZ after a storm in the 1980s!  I’ve seen broad expanses of desert suddenly turn into a vast floodplain with a strong current.  I’ve seen water come roaring down a canyon when it hasn’t rained in months anywhere nearby, but there was  a storm 20-30 miles upstream.  It doesn’t rain often in most of Arizona, but when it does rain…boy oh boy!  The Grand Falls of the Little Colorado will go from a dusty series of cliffs to looking like multiple layers of graham cracker with molten chocolate flowing over them-it’s awesome!  Dry riverbeds suddenly fill, and become raging rivers filled with flood debris and powerful currents.

As for the water system, they have it with 19 gallons supplying enough for 2 people for 6 days.   For drinking water, maybe…but having done a lot of dry camping, when its hot, that’s not a lot of water.  I’d want more than that if I was going to be out for 6 days without resupplying and there was no local source of water  for even washing my feet.  I used to be very water efficient-I didn’t even wash dishes with soap so that Red could drink the water from cleaning the pot & cup out, but even a minimalist likes to wash off a bit of grime now and again.

I guess my biggest complaint is that I just am not impressed with the roof top tent designs.  I think the idea is great, but these specific designs just are not very appealing-you’d need a garage to store the trailer in between uses, or at least a large weather proof space for the rooftop tent, which then requires re-installing it on the trailer.  Because of this, Adventure Trailers’ best offering is the Oasis, which doesn’t use that method at all.  I’d almost say that I’d like to see Eezi-Awn develop a pop up which features a rigid fiberglass or aluminum box enclosing the tent, and the box “top” becomes the roof or a portion of the roof, and creating a truly weatherproof, vandal resistant rooftop sleeping quarters that didn’t look like “here comes the hillbillies”.  Some micro-popup campers already utilize a method like this, so the engineering for the support system to get that roof up and keep it there has already been done.  With a locking mechanism built to accept a standard padlock or even a snap latch when locking was unnecessary, it would give a much neater appearance with a more reasonable storage option-the tent could be left on the roof rack!  In addition, the Flip-Pac that Adventure Trailers also offers is very near exactly what I am talking about.  Some sort of hybridized version of the rooftop tent and the Flip-Pac would be a very do-able design.

The Horizon starts at $8566, the Chaser at $5914, the Oasis’s price is to be announced, the Teardrop at $13,449.  Roof racks are purchased separately, and it listed at about $565.  The rooftop tents, depending on model, ranged from $1776.25 to $3309.24, plus accessories.

I’m still thinking that a standard production tent designed to sleep 4, measuring about 6×9, could have a custom platform designed to mount on the rooftop, allowing 1 tent to be either set up on the ground or the roof, depending on situation, at roughly half the cost.  Plus, a self supporting tent allows me to set it up on the ground and then just lift it into place-much easier than navigating around and working up in the air to erect a cumbersome tent.  Some extending hooks to fasten the rain fly to, others to hold the stake points, and bingo, it works.  (I keep looking at the folding tables I have-after all, I’m wanting essentially a folding table for us to set that tent on.   Esp the ultra compact rolling slat table top, I once saw a portable bed made to fit in a box that had its sleeping platform formed from those slats.)

Then again, maybe I’d be happier totally eliminating the whole leaving the tent platform on the trailer concept, and creating an alternative that worked for me with the platform being separate and set up wherever was convenient near the trailer, which would carry cargo & have the kitchen.  Hmmm.

So the search continues.  Who has the perfect trailer for a hard core camper?

Something different-The Afri-Spoors Camp Trailer

You know how it is, you are searching on the internet for one thing, and you can’t find it, but along the way, you find a hundred different things.  Every once in a while, you find something that really catches your fancy.

Today, I ran into this camper, a most curious thing.  I haven’t seen one in person, and there are some design issues that I seriously question…but….it is interesting.

For some time now, I had been saying that we needed a compact, lightweight, durable trailer that had a permanent kitchen, some cargo space, and in a pinch, at least 2 people could comfortably sleep inside it during exceptionally nasty weather.  A tear drop camper comes close, but to be honest, most of those are truly showpieces of workmanship and lack some practical considerations.  We had actually been considering the tear drop design as sort of a jump off point.

This particular camper, called the Afri-Spoors,  has the kitchen, fantastic storage, great features, including being durable enough to follow a 4 wheel drive vehicle down some nasty roads.  It features a bed on top of the trailer (I think?) but the website is aggravatingly vague about where the sleeping quarters are, which tents are which, how long it takes to set them up, whether or not these tents seal tightly enough against the trailer to be insect/weatherproof, whether there is a floor, and the 101 other questions somebody like me wants answered.

I’m not currently ready to buy a trailer of any kind, but I am curious about this particular one.  I think the tent portion needs some revamping for the American market-that cumbersome looking thing they are afraid to show being erected in a video clip has me thinking that setting up camp is a 3-4 hr process involving a lot of cussing, and that when its done, I’m going to have mosquitos coming calling all night long.  For the investment, it lacks the appearance of simple erection, and looks more like something designed by the Mississippi Hippy than something I bought professionally designed.

I question its weather resistance.  Granted, tents aren’t supposed to withstand high winds and crashing thunderstorms, but face it, especially in the back country, all of us have had it descend upon us with little warning.  It isn’t like you are at the state park and can evacuate to the ranger station either.  Yes, you could crawl in the vehicle and spend the night huddled together in wet misery, but I like something that tells me that it just might survive that passing storm.  This tent has all the earmarks of the old cabin tents, notoriously unstable when struck by70 mph winds and pouring rain.

I’m not even sure about the amount of floor space it offers, or exactly what they rate it for sleeping capacity.  Photos show several versions of the trailer and tent, but I have no idea which is which or all they all included?  I’m guessing that the top-of-the-trailer bed houses a couple.  They offer something called a bedroom, is that it?  How about ventilation in hot weather?  How many poles & what kind are they?  Where is the poles & tent transported? Is it all on top of the trailer? How about storage when not in use?  Doesn’t the continual exposure to UV cause rotting & decay?

Not everyone lives in the African bush, especially in the US.  If this great idea is going to work for American campers, it needs to address American issues, needs, and desires.  I’ve done a lot of 4 wheel into the back country kind of camping over the years.  I have some questions about the wisdom of cooking & sleeping in the same area, less “Yogi Bear” comes calling for dinner later.  I’m not going to sleep well if he’s rattling around looking for a late night snack either.

The set up time is also a question.  A typical tent for 2 takes me about 15 minutes to get set up and staked down.  A large tent, like would be used by a group as a base camp tent, typically takes less than an hour, even when nothing is going right.  These are usually dome tents or modified domes, and do fairly well in gusty winds & storms.  I’d expect any of them to hold up to a storm with up to 70 mph winds and rain, when properly erected and staked, although it wouldn’t be ideal.  The first tent I would expect to give up in high winds would be a large tent–they have a lot more resistance with their higher walls and greater size, and even the larger ones usually only use 4 poles.  That is a potential high amount of stress for a fairly small pole.  Smaller tents are just more aerodynamic, and despite the normal 2 pole design, are just going to resist the wind a lot longer.  Now the big military style tents, with their stout frames and heavy canvas, are designed to have a lot more structural strength than the typical camping tent, but they also take a lot more time to set up, weigh a lot more to carry, and use a lot more support.

The Afri Spoors’ tent portion has poles, but of unknown number and type.  It uses a lot of guy lines, which adds strength and takes more time to get into place as well as take down.  I love the kitchen design-drop down counter, propane burners, water supply, storage, 12 volt refrigerator, workspace…it’s got the essentials in mind for any respectable “chuckwagon”.  The storage all looks good too.  It’s got great features like a full sized spare, sturdy exterior, 14″ clearance, and the concept of integrated tent with a raised sleeping area.

When I pull into camp, I want to be able to set up and set up fast.  The set up (and take down) are the “work” portions of camping, along with the process of getting there.  I like the 1 hr until a cup of hot coffee set up.  I would almost like this trailer better if they entirely skipped the tent affair and just went with a “First Up” canopy, which takes about 15 minutes to completely erect, and stores much more compactly than the mess on top of this trailer.

What would I do differently in designing this?  Get rid of that mess packed on top.  Redesign the trailer-top sleeping concept to use a dome-style tent somehow, because the idea of sleeping up off of the ground is great in a number of areas.  However, in high winds and a lightening storm, I’m not sure I would really enjoy being 6 feet off of the ground, so I would want something very stable in high winds and highly water resistant.  Even doing a “pop-up” with a solid roof and nylon side walls might be a design worth pursuing for that high perch, just think of some of the views you could have!

I’d skip all of that enclosing tent.  It looks complicated, massive, heavy, and cumbersome.  It does not tell me its going to be weather and wildlife proof, but rather more likely to sustain damage from both of them.  It also appears to require 2 or more people to set up-I like a tent that one person can set up alone, even if we are normally going to have 2 people to set it up.  Stuff happens, things need doing, and sometimes, the bulk of the tent set up falls on one person’s shoulders.  Add a typical awning, possibly even wind screens.  For the rest, have space to haul things like stand alone canopies, tents, etc. without having it look like it was just thrown on top and strapped down to the trailer.

Maybe all of that canvas was appealing in Africa, but for me, looking at it from the eyes of someone who has camped in moutains, canyons, deserts, swamps, bayou ridges, lake shores, river’s edges, sandy beaches, campgrounds, and wide open spaces, I see it as a “mess” stashed on top of the trailer, not unlike the stereotypical “hillbilly” packing of someone fleeing the Dustbowl and heading to greener pastures.  As a suburbanite, I see it as an eyesore that creates questions of compact storage when not in use.  As an apartment dweller in an urban environment, I see it as asking for vandalism or theft.  As a countryside dweller, I see it as an invitation to rodents and insects to  set up housekeeping.  As a lazy camper, I see it as a helluva lot of work to set up and take down.  As someone who loves efficiency, I see it as an inefficient design, when the topside sleeping area could be easily designed to accommodate a number of tents that are already well known, aerodynamic, easy to set up,  and on the market, eliminating the necessity for Afri-Spoors to have their own manufacturing for the tent portion.  With a little ingenuity, a 5×8 platform could easily be created, which would accommodate a wide variety of tents.  Tie downs to fasten the tent to the platform would be a simple addition, along with extending arms to fasten the rain fly to…and voila!  Some sort of a sturdy ladder with a small platform for entering/exiting the tent and you have a penthouse apartment…and if it was possible to position it anywhere alongside, you also have multiple tent brand options as well as orientation of the tent on the site options.  (Which side you face the door for best access/view, etc.)

Afri-Spoors did an excellent job of designing the trailer-I want to see it in person!  I think it even has potential merits as a support trailer for emergency teams, scout groups, tour groups, and so much more as a “chuckwagon.”   But the tent? Ugh.  Take a look at it yourself, tell me whether you think I’m wrong, but I see it as absolutely horrible.