Do You Bring Extras?
Thursday September 4, 2008
Camping is an art. The more you camp, the better prepared you become. If you keep a checklist, you probably revise it every time you go camping. Campers eventually learn that redundant can be a good thing. A backup propane canister, extra tent stakes, or spare batteries may save you the inconvenience of an unscheduled trip to town to buy more. You can avoid foreseeable problems by being prepared with extras of necessities. Check out my suggestions for redundant camping items.
We always have two other ‘redundant items’ we bring camping.
Duct tape, the multiuse tool. On our last campout we fixed the badminton racquet handles with it. In the past, duct tape has sealed holes, tears, broken parts, shoes, etc…..
The second item, is a saw to cut downed firewood.
We have an older cabover camper, that I got for free from Craigslist. I have extensively reworked, and reinforced it from its original state. It is pretty well stocked with staples,like dry and canned food, propane, jackets, camping clothes. We just keep the folding table, clothes line, blankets, towels and stuff we use, in the camper, so I can just load it onto the truck, and we stop at the store on our way out, for the fresh groceries. We keep a list of what we use from our staples, and replenish those when we get home, for the next time. My girlfreind washes the towels and stuff we have used, after we have returned, to be ready for the next time. There is probably a months worth of dry goods in there all the time, just in case. I have installed solar panels, and batteries on board, so we could stay in it for some time, even in a remote area, if needed. I have a propane heated shower, extra water tanks, port-a-pot, a compact, but well stocked tool box , A small digital tv, xm radio, and a small generator in there too. We dont expect to have to use it for any length of time, but these days, you never know, and I could have it loaded onto the truck in about 20 minutes if I had to. I have installed eye hooks on the bottom, so I can tie that baby down with deadman lnes, in the case of high winds, too. It may sound like its crowded in there, but we have made a place for everything, so its all tucked away, and efficient. It’s actually pretty comfy inside. We have made it this way to be comfortable for us to camp in, But it could save our lives, too, should something unplanned happen.
Wow, Timmy is prepared! What kind/size of solar panels do you have?
Great suggestions. If you are backpacking or doing day hikes from your base camp, I would add extra food as well; as with the other redundant items, it’s a good precaution against the unknown. For tent stakes, if you get really serious you can throw away the heavy, easily bent stainless steel stakes and get titanium stakes, which are very light and strong, so you can get thicker stakes that will be easier to drive into rocky soil (titanium is also a good material for camp cookware). As I tend to like remote locations for camping, extra gas is a good idea as well; seems obvious, but easy to forget, at least for me. Of course common sense is the best redundant item to have!
Good news! Thanks!,