Kampin 101 Happy style!
The desert is a wounderful thing. The area's we will travel are awsome with views and expanse that have made my head spin. Many times I have topped a rise an thought of pioneers who traveled this area. They would have looked ahead and at the back trail and realize they were gonna die. Now we are gonna do some stuff to make sure that not only do we survive, but we do so with a level of comfort.
First of all the days can be very warm and the nights cold. I dress in layers. My base is jeans and t-shirt. Everytime I stop for a shower I change t-shirt, socks and underware. Bout 1/2 way through I change into my 2nd pair of jeans. And I carry shorts or a third pair of pants for the trip home. I also have a long sleeve sweat shirt. At night I can put on the sweat shirt or I carry a lined jacket with a hood. Or both if needed. And I have cotton gloves in addition to the leather gloves in my winch bag. And I carry a waterproof poncho. The clothes, shave kit, and a towel fit in a small carry bag. The coat, gloves, and poncho are stored for easy access.
I have not found a camp or folding chair more comfortable than the seat in my Ford truck. But I do carry one. Many times when we pull into camp or in the morning you'll see me in my truck. That's cause I'm old and hurtful and the truck seat is nice to set in. But I will be in my camp chair when I cook or at the campfire. Get one that you can set in for an hour or so. Room can be a consideration but not so much I think about this.
I don't always carry an icechest. I can live on canned and dried food. But when I do I like the Coleman Extreme. I drink V-8 juice from the large bottles. I clean them when empty and save for my trips. A couple of days before I leave I fill two of the empty jugs with water, tea, or flavored drink and freeze. You can make meals ahead of time and put then in containers and freeze. Or take meat and portion the way you want and freeze. I use a large container to put the smaller portioned containers in. Then put the frozen drink bottles and single large food contianer in the chest. Then ice cubes around the outside of the containers. That way you don't have to dig in the ice for what you want. The frozen bottles will last about 5 days depending on how much you are in the chest. And they can be used for a cold beverage the last part of the trip. Most times I drink them on the drive home.
I carry water jugs. I have carried bottle water and it is nice. Just a bit of work to keep track and care for the empties. Two small water jugs are best. The large ones are easy to carry home from Walmart but when full the are heavy and difficult to pack around.
You need a good sleeping bag. You don't have to have an expensive one you just need a good one. Quality bags can be had for under $100. No need to spend $2-300. Between now and January they will be closing out on 2010 bags and clearing out inventory for the 2011 bags. Sportsman's Guide, Campmor, and Cheeper than dirt should have some deals. I tose and turn and like a rectangular large bag with a canvas shell. The canvas is heavy and stays closed when I move. You need a bag rated down to at least 0 degrees. A -15 or -30 would be better. Folks may ask why so low when night time temps will mostly be in the 30's-40's. Bags are mostly rated to temps that you will stay alive through. Not what you will be comfortable or what you will sleep well at. And when you hit the bag at night it will be cool. Takes a while to warm up. You can use a heater but thats another thing to carry and if it don't work you don't have a back up. So I just carry a good bag.
If you sleep on the ground you have two things to worry about. First the ground is hard. Second the ground kin suck the heat outa ya. If you use an air matress, and I do when I have a base camp, you will need some thermal protection. That air matress will really suck the heat from you and make it cold. So If I'm at a base camp for a week like in the San Juans I take a second good sleeping bag to put on top of the air matress under my main bag. Now there just ain't no better sleepin than that. Only thing I kin think of would be a nice warm soft friendly womin ta put the tent "up".
I am basicly lazy and my bones hurt most of the time so I don't go to that much trouble every day. On a nomadic trip like this one I stream line things. This time of year places like Ace Hardware are selling the patio chase lounge pads for $20-25. I put my tent up and throw one of those pads down and my bag on top. Sleeps nice and warm. Now if ya have a thremal pad they are great also. But the ycan be pricey. A good thermal pad will cost more than a good bag. Some will say they are what really makes you sleep good and worth every penny. I can't say one way or another as I have never used one.
Bugs bug me when I'm out. Nothing worse to me than a bug buggin me all night. So if you sleep in your truck and bugs bug ya well ya need to do something about it. Ya kin cover the winders with screens or use bug spray ur candle things. I have trouble with sinuses and cain't use bug sprays, so I use a tent. I wait till just before dark when it starts to cool down. I set up my tent with the door and winders closed. After it is set up I just open the door quickly to throw my pad and bag in. Then quickly zip it back closed till bed time.
I use a real canvas tarp under my tent. The plastic ones can be a pain to handle if the wind is blowing. They are not that expensive on line and the last time I was in the Yard Store in Wichita they had them at affordable prices.
I read on another thread bout useing a tarp over the top of a tent to help keep it warm. Many tents I see for sale in KS I can understand this. But if you get a quallity tent to begin with then it's really not needed. A good tent will have a fly that will cover the whole tent and a good size vent in the top. After you go to sleep at night you will breath in cold air. Your lungs will warm the air load it with moisture. When you exhale the warm moist air will go up. If the tent is a good one most of the moisture will go out the vent and condense on the under side of the fly and roll down the outside or in colder weather freeze outside the tent. You'll wake up in the morning to a warm dry tent. In really warm weather if your sure it's not going to rain you can leave the fly off the top. I did this for my last trip accross souther Colorado, NM, AZ and Utah in September.
I like the the Ureka Timberline. I use the 2 man. That is pretty tight fer two full size folks. But if ur young an thin like I was when I was in the service it's not too bad. The 4 person is what I would use for two in the tent but they seem to be a lot more $$$. And for cold weather the smaller tent will be warmer and heat up faster with you in it.
Only thing in my tent is my bed, flashlight, sidearm, timepeice, cell phone, an bed pan jug. No food in the tent. Keep the food in the truck unless ya want wildlife tryin ta get in yer tent.
Before indoor plumbing folks used bed pans at night. My tent don't have indoor plumbing and if it was good enough for folks in the olden days I have no trouble doin like wise. It'd take me most part of an hour ta get out of my bag, git dressed, get out of the tent, water the tree........ur rock, git back in the tent, undress, and git back in bed and get back to sleep. I just carry a large mouth resealable bottle like Gatoraide uses. Only bad part is that it don't work as well for womin folk as it do fer us men. I know a feller who takes his daugter and has a large enough tent to use a real bed pan.
Now when I go I'm a baar. Ya know the sayin dose a bear poop in the woods? There was even a book on it. I .......uh .......poop ya not. http://www.amazon.com/How-****-Woods-Environmentally-Approach/dp/0898156270 I always carry an e-tool with a roll ur two of paper on it just behind my seat.
There are a zillion other things I will think of later. Ya need a few good flash lights and extra batteries. Wet Ones wipes. Matches. I carry camp stove and several bottles of propane. Fire starters. I carry my laptop and screen wipes and canned air for it. Can openers for cans. Knife. Fork and spoon. Plates, paper towels, trash bags. Pots ad pans, ect... if ya cook. First aid kit. Extra tent stakes.
Well my two fingers is tired so I'm gonna stop now. If ya have a question just ask.
