I feel like a boy scout.
Jul. 9th, 2002 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tugrikOkay, I feel a little closer to 'ready' now. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
reality_fox and I stormed the local REI... thank goodness both of us just had a payday. Said fox acquired his very-small equipment to fit on his very-small bike. While not very-small himself, he can still fit into smaller equipment than I can, so he had this option.
I don't quite fit into a normal 1-man tent or 1-man sleeping bag... but a 2-person sleeping bag (ever notice how it's a 2-man tent, but a '2-person' sleeping bag? heh) is too big. That's the only option I had, though, so I bought two REI "Nomad" sleeping bags, zipping them together. I also got their Taj-3 tent, which packs down amazingly small for what it is... smaller than any one-man sized tent I've ever owned back during my Boy Scout days. I also added in a Thermarest "Mega Rest" pad, a set of Helen2Wheels roll-top compression sacks designed for motorcycle use, and compression straps to hold it all to the bike. The latter two were mail-ordered from a company just north of the bay, and should arrive tomorrow. Once I get them mounted up on the bike, I'll post a picture.
All together this stuff is smaller than I thought! It should strap on the back of the GS across the tops of the two system cases, leaving me the option of taking or leaving the Givi bag. As this will just be a double-overnighter not too far from home, I'll just stuff clothes into the system cases and probably leave the Givi at home. I could also be really silly and lash the boombox to the tail of the bike, to give us something to listen to while out there partying with the other motorcycle-campers at the track. The tent is a '3 season', which means it's unsuitable for heavy snow conditions, and the sleeping bag is a +30F, so only really suitable from late-spring to early fall. Thanks to my regular Burning Man attendance I have a good number of other camping accessories which can fit in the system cases and a 3rd bike-roll bag that I already have. This means I should now be capable of going to these weekend-campouts with little notice and actually be roomily comfortable once there. Heck, if I have a ladyfriend along there's even room for her (whistles innocently) though I'd probably add a 2nd Thermarest pad.
To do hardcore camping, first I must lose more weight and get more fit. Workin' on that, makin' progress. Equipment-wise, I'll need to start looking at backpacker-level gear -- things like the uber-tiny stoves and mess kits, etc, designed to be packed as utterly small as possible. This is in direct conflict with my 'serve a camp of 20, haul it in a full sized van' equipment I own now. When (thinking positively!) I lose enough weigh to fit in a proper mummy-bag, I need to get one of those -20 capable kind that pack much smaller than the monster I just bought for summer use. I'll leave the research and purchasing of those particular parts until Much Later when I actually need them.
I've not actually camped out *outside* of a vehicle in years. This is going to be fun.
reality_fox and I stormed the local REI... thank goodness both of us just had a payday. Said fox acquired his very-small equipment to fit on his very-small bike. While not very-small himself, he can still fit into smaller equipment than I can, so he had this option.I don't quite fit into a normal 1-man tent or 1-man sleeping bag... but a 2-person sleeping bag (ever notice how it's a 2-man tent, but a '2-person' sleeping bag? heh) is too big. That's the only option I had, though, so I bought two REI "Nomad" sleeping bags, zipping them together. I also got their Taj-3 tent, which packs down amazingly small for what it is... smaller than any one-man sized tent I've ever owned back during my Boy Scout days. I also added in a Thermarest "Mega Rest" pad, a set of Helen2Wheels roll-top compression sacks designed for motorcycle use, and compression straps to hold it all to the bike. The latter two were mail-ordered from a company just north of the bay, and should arrive tomorrow. Once I get them mounted up on the bike, I'll post a picture.
All together this stuff is smaller than I thought! It should strap on the back of the GS across the tops of the two system cases, leaving me the option of taking or leaving the Givi bag. As this will just be a double-overnighter not too far from home, I'll just stuff clothes into the system cases and probably leave the Givi at home. I could also be really silly and lash the boombox to the tail of the bike, to give us something to listen to while out there partying with the other motorcycle-campers at the track. The tent is a '3 season', which means it's unsuitable for heavy snow conditions, and the sleeping bag is a +30F, so only really suitable from late-spring to early fall. Thanks to my regular Burning Man attendance I have a good number of other camping accessories which can fit in the system cases and a 3rd bike-roll bag that I already have. This means I should now be capable of going to these weekend-campouts with little notice and actually be roomily comfortable once there. Heck, if I have a ladyfriend along there's even room for her (whistles innocently) though I'd probably add a 2nd Thermarest pad.
To do hardcore camping, first I must lose more weight and get more fit. Workin' on that, makin' progress. Equipment-wise, I'll need to start looking at backpacker-level gear -- things like the uber-tiny stoves and mess kits, etc, designed to be packed as utterly small as possible. This is in direct conflict with my 'serve a camp of 20, haul it in a full sized van' equipment I own now. When (thinking positively!) I lose enough weigh to fit in a proper mummy-bag, I need to get one of those -20 capable kind that pack much smaller than the monster I just bought for summer use. I'll leave the research and purchasing of those particular parts until Much Later when I actually need them.
I've not actually camped out *outside* of a vehicle in years. This is going to be fun.
