Beverly's Gear Shopping page

Dear Jessica

It wasn't so long ago since I was as helpless in the woods as you say you are. My first time peeing in the great outdoors also was less than successful. I ended up peeing all over my jeans. That was only 14 months ago.
Things change, sometimes so fast you can hardly believe it. Now the group I canoe with looks to me for advice. Hey, if I can learn all this stuff in only a few months than anyone can.
Before the Allagash trip in the summer of '99, we spent most weekends canoeing, camping or shopping for gear. One of our outings was to a canoe show run by Ocean County parks Dept. in New Jersey. We test paddled boats and made the rounds of the classes that were run by various groups. The one that I found most useful was run by a Nudist Canoe Club, called The Paddling Bears. They packed several canoes for different length and difficulty trips and explained the differences in gear and why what works in one case doesn't in another. We pretty much followed their suggestions and even bought much of the same equipment, some is even the same color. It made sense to go with what we knew would work instead of starting from scratch. After all, we only had a short time to learn all we could about canoe-camping. We adopted their style because it was quicker than working out our own style of camping. I wish I had video taped the class so I could send it to you but I didn't think I would ever be answering somebody else's questions.
The best I can do is try to explain it the way they did, show you what it looks like and explain why it works or doesn't. I feel like I'm back in grade school on show-and-tell day. You want to do some weeklong trips, out away from civilization just like we did so here's the "short" version, without the "shortcuts" you can take on overnight trips or winter camping info. It's still pretty long , but here goes.
I Guess I should start with the tent. It's one of the most important items when it comes to long term comfort. Too small and it's cramped. If you can stand up in it, the heat rises to the top and it's cold. The tents we picked out, Kelty V2's, are a good compromise.
Here's what to look for; the body of the tent should be a breathable fabric to let out moisture from your breath so it doesn't condense on the inside. The fly should go almost all the way to the ground to keep rain from hitting the breathable part and to be a double surface to slow down radiant heat loss in cold weather and heat gain in hot weather. Don't bother looking at tents with "picture windows." Plenty of air will circulate under the fly. Those big windows are just a leak waiting to happen. Most tents will keep you dry when the rain is coming straight down. What you want is a tent that will keep you dry when the rain is blowing sideways. Remember, in the woods you can't sleep in the car like you can at a campground!
The tent poles should be aluminum and held together by an elastic cord so you don't end up leaving a section home. Aluminum holds up better than fiberglass, especially in cold weather, but can get jammed together if you get sand in the ends. Don't let the sections smack together when you take them apart. Little burrs can jam them too.
We went with a tent that has sleeves instead of the more modern and faster to set up clips. Sleeved poles are steadier in windy weather and a bit stronger. Kelty V2's have an unusual pole sleeve arrangement. One end of the pole has a rubber stopper on it and it goes in the closed end of the sleeve. It makes it easier to set up alone. One end doesn't pop out when you push in the other end.
The fly should be totally waterproof and be oversized enough to form a vestibule. Look close at the corners, when it's set up. The rain dripping off the fly shouldn't drip on the corners of the tent, otherwise some could seep through the stressed seams or, at the very least, cool the part of the tent where it's dripping causing a localized condensation problem. The vestibule keeps your gear dry and accessible at night and if you are stuck inside in rainy weather. Never ever keep food in the vestibule or in the tent. Don't even snack in there. Bears have great noses and many are so used to humans that they have no fear and just take what they want, just like some of the low-lifes in my old neighborhood. You definitely don't want to be in the tent that they are destroying, while searching for a snack.
On our V2's the door opens on the right and has a bottom zipper so the door hangs out of the way on the left and doesn't drop down on your sleeping bag. It's handy because in wet weather that's one fewer thing to get dampness inside the tent. In the picture the right flap of the vestibule is rolled up for easy access to the tent. In wet weather the right flap gets staked down and you go in by unzipping the fly and ducking under the left flap. Then zip it up behind you and wriggle out of your rain gear. The side of the door that opens, stays protected behind the right flap. It might not sound like much but it's a real help in staying dry. In dry weather we keep gear under the left flap of both sides, out of the way. In wet weather all the gear goes on one side of the tent and the other side of the tent is the entrance. It's also handy to have two doors when somebody gets up in the middle of the night for a run to the outhouse. You don't have to crawl over your tent mate.
Not wanting to lug around tent poles, we bought a Kelty Noah's tarp 12 and also 14. That's the 12 in the photo. The design is similar, but not quite as good as, the excellent Moss Parawing. Also, the Keltys are a lot cheaper. Campmor has an even cheaper and slightly heavier duty version but the edges tend to flap in the breeze even if it's set up right. The curve of the edge is the critical part. The trick is to get the low ends just low enough to block the wind and the high end just high enough to get the fabric stretched tight in all directions. The greater the likelihood of rain, the closer we put the tents together under the tarp. The tarp breaks the force of the rain and the tents block the wind. It can be pretty comfortable underneath, even in nasty weather.
The kitchen is also important on longer trips. You get tired of freeze dried meals pretty fast. The stuff in the photo is most of the stuff you need for a good kitchen. From left to right around the tree; The red can is the toilet paper. Expect to use more in the woods than at home. Diet changes tend to loosen bowels. We all carry spare rolls but we use one can. If it's not in it's place by the tent than we know that one of us is already in the outhouse or in the "designated area" back in the bushes with the little plastic trowel.
The aluminum pans, cloth cover, thermometer knob and black mesh bag are my Outback Oven. This is the best of the camping ovens. I have made 3 layer Black Forest Cake, Apple pie, Brownies, fresh bread and all sorts of treats you don't expect to get in the woods. Get the largest size. There isn't much weight difference and the little ones are best left for the ultra-light backpackers.
The folding stove is an MSR Dragonfly. This is the most reliable stove MSR makes and can be adjusted down to a low simmer. It's great for all the gourmet stuff you might want to cook. It's also the perfect match for the Outback Oven. They work better together than any other stove/oven combination I know of.
The reason that there is no pots or pans in the photo is that I took the photo on an overnight trip, not a long trip. We planned very simple meals on that trip. Lunch was from a Deli. Dinner was a cold ham and veggie platter with fresh, hot cherry pie, cooked in my Outback oven. Breakfast in the morning was granola and lunch on the second day was leftovers, cheese, some nuts and Constance's delicious home made Venison Jerky. The jerky was excellent, not at all what you would expect of dried thin slices of raw Bambi
The red Sigg fuel bottle is the wrong one to get. Sigg makes the best fuel bottles but they aren't pressure tested and the O-ring gasket on the MSR fuel pump isn't totally compatible with the Sigg bottle that is designed to use a flat gasket. You are better off using the orange MSR bottles with the pressure pump for the stove. The fewer things in camp that might explode in a huge fireball, the better off you are. We carry spare fuel in 1.5 liter Sigg bottles and will be getting the, safe to pressurize, MSR bottles to use with the stove this season.
In one of the other photos you will see an Optimus/Svea 123 packstove. It's unquestionably the most reliable pack stove on the market. If you have to trust your life to one stove, which is rarely a good idea, the 123 is the one to get. On the down side, it's a bitch to cook on. It's too hard to throttle down to a simmer and you will likely burn your pancakes. It can explode if you use it with the Outback oven and it has a tiny fuel tank so it has to be refueled before nearly every meal. If all you are cooking is soups and stews it's perfect but that's not enough for us backwoods gourmets.
The soda can is a necessary part of the kitchen for me. I just got to have something with fizz for dinner. I did finally kick the caffeine habit. Caffeine makes you feel colder and even though it gives you a temporary boost, it cuts your overall physical output. On longer trips the soda pop stays home. It's just too heavy and bulky to lug around.
The grey stuff sack contains a PUR brand Voyager water purifier. It is a self-contained water processing plant. The built in hand pump forces the water through a micro-filter and an iodine matrix. Whatever the micro-filter doesn't trap gets sterilized by the iodine. Most of the iodine is removed by the carbon canister, leaving just a hint of it in the water to make sure it doesn't get recontaminated. The slightly iodized water is perfect for washing cuts and scratches. It disinfects without doing further tissue damage. Some campsites have a water pump, but I prefer the safety of filtering it anyway. The effort spent to work the purifier pump is less than running to the toilet every half-hour.
The Nalgene bottle (dark grey with a blue cap) is the Lexan wide-mouth version. Several types of bottles fit the PUR filter, but that one is very durable and easier to clean than the narrow mouth ones.
The Gatorade bottle is on top of the bag that my convenience store breakfast came in. I forgot to bring small trash bags so I improvised. Some Gatorade flavors are OK when warm, others taste like crap. Not drinking enough fluids leads to a dehydration headache. You sweat more than you think out there, drink up.
The cooler is a Coleman Little Oscar. It's just the right size for two people, even on a long trip. Most of the time, you can't keep stuff cold for more than a few days anyway, so why drag along a big heavy cooler. It's the perfect place to put leftovers, squishables, eggs and makes a reasonably comfortable campstool.
The kitchen stuff that's in the organizer is the knives, forks, spoons, pot grabbers, a meat thermometer, a long handled barbecue lighter and all the other little stuff that would end up lost. We got the organizer from Duluth Tent and Awning co. The canvas wicks away moisture so it's far less likely to end up moldy and gross than a nylon one. The barbecue lighter is the best way to light a camp stove without singeing your fingers. Of course, don't forget to bring along whatever pots and pans are needed to cook your chosen menu.
Oh, I purposely left the fly off the tent for these photos so you cloud see the tent better. Leaving a lightweight nylon tent set up in the direct sun is a sure way to ruin it in just a few weeks of exposure. We usually set up the tents in late afternoon and take them down early the next morning. That way the total UV from the sun is small and the tents will last for years. When we spend more than one night in one place the tarp helps shade the tent from damaging UV. It's cheaper to replace the tarp than the tent.
Dry bags are also very important. We went with several different types. The black cylindrical one in the photo is a Seal Line Black Canyon bag made by Cascade designs. The roll down style of bag is the most versatile and probably the best type for the weekender. The Black Canyon bags are the best compromise of water tightness, durability and price. They aren't cheap, but with a little care should last years. The cheap ones crap out in a season or two and you end up spending more in the long run.
The canvas bag is a #3 Duluth Pack, made by Duluth Tent and Awning co. These are the best way to go for most of your gear. The canvas wicks water across the surface and dries quickly. The waterproofing is a form fitted plastic liner. dry stuff goes in the liner bag. Then just roll the top down neatly and it's waterproof. Put stuff like wet clothes between the liner and the canvas. In good weather your wet stuff will be dry by the time you reach your next campsite. Using a double liner bag makes the #3 Duluth Packs one of the most reliable dry bags available. Just roll down the inner liner, then toss in a pack towel (just in case a few drops get past the outer bag) and roll the outer liner bag down. One it's buckled shut your stuff is safe and dry even in whitewater. The canvas bag should last decades if you dry it out thoroughly between trips and the replacement liners are cheap enough to replace regularly. Use the slightly larger rectangular profile liner bags in the flat #3 packs. That way the canvas takes the stress of shoving all that stuff in. The flat profile bags are just a bit smaller than the pack and corners of hard gear cause thin spots where the bag gets stretched.
On trips more than a few days long you will want some kind of waterproof-bear resistant food drum. The heavy polyethylene construction isn't bear proof but there can be a real challenge for all but the biggest bears. The ones about a foot in diameter and 18 inches high are the most versatile. We have several types. The Black Feather barrels are quick access and totally waterproof but the band type seal can be released by a bear that gets lucky. I prefer the screw type tops. Some of the drums on the market are used ones, that olive oil is imported in. Don't use those in bear country! You don't want them to smell of anything edible. Bears in many areas know about bear bags hung up in the trees. Some even ignore campsites in favor of going for the main stash up in the trees. One trick we use is to wipe down the outside of the food drums with bleach and than gasoline before every trip to eliminate and cover any food scent. Then we put them well out from camp. The further away, the bigger the area the bears have to search before finding it. One neat trick we heard about is to load all the food drums in a canoe and anchor it well out in a lake. The bears haven't figured that one out yet and even though they are excellent swimmers they would have a hard time following the faint scent over water. If you hang your food in a tree, use a dark colored rope and run it up along the trunk so the bears don't see it. They know about ropes. At one campsite in the Adirondacks they even get to food hung over the spillway of a dam!
The clothes you bring can be important to your comfort as well as survival in some cases. Cotton, like the well-worn cutoffs and red and orange T-shirts in the photo, is very comfortable. Cotton wicks away moisture and makes you feel cooler. Wet cotton, exposed to even a slight breeze, actually cools you faster than bare skin. That's great for hot weather comfort but can kill you by causing Hypothermia in cold and even cool weather. Wet jeans and cotton sweatshirts have killed many over the years. If the weather is cold, you will live longer naked than in wet cotton.
Many man-made fabrics are fairly neutral when it comes to warmth. The yellow bikini bottoms and purple "slingshot" are Lycra. Lycra doesn't dry as fast as cotton so it's not the heat robber that cotton is, but it stays wet and clammy much longer than cotton. Skin is so much better than Lycra for swimming that, given the choice, I'll never go back to swimsuits. The black and white semi-sheer tops are a thin Lycra blend. They dry fast and offer a bit of protection from the sun. The sun visor is best suited to cool weather as it does nothing to protect the top of your head from the heat of the sun. A good Tilly hat has a wide brim to protect you neck and face. The Pack towel is a viscous material that absorbs water way out of proportion to it's size and dries quickly. There are some cheap copies, like the Couglan's pack towel, that don't work nearly as well. If you get a good one it doesn't have to be a big one. One half the size of the one in the photo will do just fine.
Wool was the old standby for years for cold weather and still is a good choice. Polarfleece is the only man made fabric that is better than wool. Neither one compresses well so you will fill your dry-bags quickly. Both should be purchased in person. There is no set standard for thickness in wool and the clothing manufacturers often are misleading with the descriptions of Polarfleece. Polarfleece comes at least 4 different weights. Some companies have a slightly different name for the weights so you can't trust the ads. Get long waisted styles. There's not much worse than a top that repeatedly rides up exposing skin to the cold.
Down is great for warmth and stuffs small, but if it gets wet it's worse than cotton! You can't even dry it out in the woods.
Raingear should be on the baggy side and made of coated nylon or Gore-Tex. Too tight a fit cut's off airflow underneath and you will end up soaking wet from sweat. Gore-Tex is great but even that miracle fabric won't breath well when the outside is wet. The most breathable style is the Cagule. It's a hooded rain dress and you can get chaps to wear with it for extra protection on your legs. I had to make a midnight run to a cathole in the pouring rain in mine. I hiked up the Cagule a bit so I could squat. The chaps didn't get in the way and the hardest part was getting the toilet paper from it's ziploc bag to my butt without getting it soaking wet from the rain.
Bug repellent makes me break out in a rash, so I bought a "bug suit." It's a hooded mesh jacket and pants that keeps the bugs off without being hot to wear in the summer. It's also comfortable to wear by it self, though hardly socially acceptable. It gives your skin partial shade while allowing air to circulate.
I found sandals to be the most practical footwear when canoeing. Skin dries quickly and the rubber sole gives your feet some protection from the broken beer bottles that idiots toss in the river. Wool polyester blend socks keep your feet warm enough in the winter as long as you keep out of the water and snow. A good set of hiking shoes is good to have along in the winter, but I never use them in the canoe, only around camp.
Oh, I almost forgot, Sleeping bags! Sleeping bags are a very personal decision. I can't stand the confinement of a mummy bag but I like the warmth. Down is still better than any of the man-made fillings but it's useless if it gets wet. There is no excuse for getting your bag wet but I just prefer not to have to worry about it as much. I settled on a tapered bag made with hollowfill and a textured nylon that feels warmer to the touch than the smooth nylon. Wet Hollowfill is nowhere near comfortable but at least it can be dried out under field conditions.
No matter how warm your bag is it depends on being fluffed up so the insulating fill can do it's job. The part between you and the ground gets squished thin and is a major point of heat loss. Also, no matter how well you pick your spot, sometime around 2 AM you will find a huge root or rock right under your hip. You need a mattress. The 2 types that make the most sense are the cheap closed cell foam ones and the Thermarest inflatable. You can use the cheap ones for a place to sit around camp without worrying about puncturing them but you still have to make sure you don't carry something like pinesap into the tent on them that could make a mess on your tent floor or sleeping bag. The Thermarest pads are much more comfortable and, unfortunately more delicate. Being into comfort, I got both. I got the 1 inch thick short length Thermarest for inside the tent and a $7 cheap shit closed cell foam shorty for everything else. In the dead of winter, to help keep my feet warm, I fold the closed cell pad in half, dirty side to dirty side, and use it under my feet to extend the length of the Thermarest.
That's about all I can think of right now. I hope it's a help. I'm putting together a packing list. When it's done I'll send it to you.


Love Bevy