favorite or not so favorite, stuff, gear and misc. items

[River2K]

My favorites are:

 

Clear, wide mouthed nalgene bottle. Doesn't absorb odors or colors. It's lasted 3 years so far on dozens of campouts/backpacking trips.

 

LED headlamp and a second backup LED flashlight. The batteries last forever and the light is good enough for me, excpet when trying to find the trail at night, then a focused beam light works better. They do make a focused beam LED light, but I don't have one.

 

Big Agnes sleeping pad. I have to blow it up, but it's lightweight, rolls up real small and is well built.

 

One pair of good leather gloves. They are great for cooking around a fire. Also great for hiking through brush and up steep, rocky inclines where I need to hold onto the rocks.

 

Coffee singles. All you need is hot water to make coffee.

 

A good, reliable, lightweight tent. Thinking about the new MSR Hubba Hubba, but it's a little expensive ($279) and just came out this year (unproven in the field).

 

One good, sharp pocket knife.

 

Ken

[fotoscout]

Heres my choices :

 

35mm Film cans. Those little plastic cans that the film comes in, they have hundreds of uses, but I always put a piece of duck tape over the top just in case.

 

Sil-Nylon tarps: These can be pricey, but they are well worth the money. You do need to have the kids be careful with them because they are a little less robust than the conventional nylon, or poly traps.

 

MY overall first choice is GOOD Equipment. What ever it is, it should be good stuff. You get what you pay for!

 

[AK-Eagle]

Here's my good stuff;

 

Wide mouth nalgene bottle with 3 yards of duct tape wound onto it.

 

Motorola GMRS/FRS two way radio with weather alert. It sounds an alarm if the weather service sends an weather advisory, warning, watch, etc.

 

Garmin Etrex Legend GPS and All Topo mapping software. I can create an custom Topo map of the hike/campout upload the information into the GPS. After we are back I can download from the GPS and see the difference between what we planned to do and what actually happened and save it for future ref.

 

Glade ware/Ziploc disposable containers make a great "mess kit" for a weekend campout.

 

One piece of camping equipment I always have is my Coleman stainless steel "Spork"

 

Getting wet frozen wood burning can be frustrating at best and sometimes a matter of life or death. A 15 minute highway flare will work in temps below 0f and will sit safely in the your pack until needed.

 

Thats all for now

 

Phil(This message has been edited by AK-Eagle)

[britag]

GPS units are nice and wok good but, the same thing applies here you get what you pay for. i do recomend that one is bruoght along but not used to avoid scout orienteering skills which are still important.

i'm a real big fan of gortex for your high adventure needs and will not go without them now that i have used them.

alice type gear still works great but do not over do it someone might think you're an army. try to use black or o.d. colors

my favorite tool is a leatherman.

stay away from lodge brand cast iron i've heard alot about these exploding/cracking

[Sturgen]

Best Equipment: 2 wool blankets, a good sturdy sheath knife, Ghurka Kukri, military issue patrol boots, tevas, 200 ft of parachute cord, a reliable .40 cal revolver, BDU Pants, cotton t-shirt, wool jacket, leather gloves

Worst Equipment:

anything made by or for BSA, occasionally BSA (primarily the camps) will put their name on a quality piece of gear and bump the price up 125%, of course they also bump the low quality gear up 200%. Dont always think you get what you pay for. This rule works well when shopping through REI or other major retailers, and sometimes with smaller private companies, but never buy a Western Family or Kirkland Brand backpack.