Photo by William Gillette
Try this! Next campfire grab a mixed bag of Fun Size chocolate bars. I am a fan of the Almond Joy S'more! Mix and match, part of the fun is trying somthing outside the box. A friend of mine loves York Peperment Patties on her S'mores. There is always the classic but it's awesome to kick it up a notch!
Tent Stake Basics
Photo by William Gillette
If you are buying a tent or have bought a tent in the past here is some information that might come in handy.
Pictured here you see three different style tent stakes. And if you have camped in your lifetime I am sure you have seen at least one of these before. When you buy a tent it will always come with enough stakes to stake it down, and now a days the most common supplied factory stake is the small aluminum J or L style one pictured in the middle. What you may not know is that these stakes are all intended for different soil conditions, so depending on the part of the world you are living in or going to be camping in you may need to purchase different stakes to keep you tent held tight to the ground.
Being an avid camper I have camped in almost every soil situation and have learned (sometimes the hard way) that things like stakes will always be overlooked when planing your next adventure. So preparing now for all future trips is easy and relatively inexpensive.
First off, let's learn what each of the stakes above are used for. We will start with the top one, the yellow one. You may also see this in green plastic or even made out of aluminum. But the basics of this one are wide flat splines that run the length of the stake. This feature makes this stake work great in sandy or loose soil, but I do warn you that one hard root, shell or rock can easily crack or break this style stake.
Next the common factory style stake, the middle one. This stake works best in firm or clay type soil. Small surface roots like grass are fine but since this stake is usually aluminum it will bend easily if you hit larger roots or stones. In sandy or loose soil this stake will pull out in the smallest wind. Making this stake unusable.
The last stake pictured here the long steel nail with the high visibility orange top. This stakes rugged design makes it work perfect for hard packed stoney or rootie soil. It's length also gives you more strength in high winds. This stake also works great on canopies which act like sails in the wind.
I recommend you alway carry two styles in your tent gear. I always carry the sand style stake and the steel nail style stake in my gear at all time. The nail style stake will work anywhere the factory aluminum stake will so keeping all three is overkill. Also if you have ever used the factory aluminum stakes you most likely have bent them more often then not.
Useing the right stake in the right situation is very important, cutting corners can and will be costly or dangerous. I hope this helps you on your next adventure. Now get out there!
What is That Sound!? ( Campfire Story )
This is a true camping story that I love to tell around the campfire.
One Birthday camping trip a few years back, my girlfriend and I headed off to Hillsborough River State Park. In Hillsborough County, Florida. A beautiful state park on the banks of Hillsborough River. One night after a long day of canoeing, hiking, and Geocaching, the girlfriend and I were cooking dinner over the fire. If I remember it correctly this all unfolded somewhere between the wood grilled hamburgers and a Reese's peanut butter cup S'more.
As we sit talking about our day, I start to hear something way off in the thick forest behind me. It sounded like maybe a raccoon rustling the underbrush or maybe a passing deer traveling an old trail that runs along side the campground. At first I did not think much about it. It was a cool night in March so we sat close to the fire side by side with our backs to the forest, the fire pit between us and the tent. With no moon and a lot of cloud cover the night seemed very dark and you could not see much farther than the edge of the fire glow. As we talked about the normal campfire things I caught the sound of rustling leaves getting a bit louder, and then louder, then faster and LOUDER! And it suddenly appeared to me that something was running through the forest directly at us!! And as it got closer it sounded BIG! In my mind flashed images of every horror film, rabid dog, and pack of wolves. I stopped talking and looked at my girlfriend quickly, she looked back at me and for a split second no words needed to be spoken. She jumped up and ran full sprint toward the tent. And no lie I jumped up, pushed down both chairs on there sides in front of me and took stance facing the woods like a football linemen waiting for the blitz! I stood starring into the darkness, heart pounding out of my chest... Out of the extreme darkness running full blast came... Four babe armadillos with there mother. They scurried over the arm of my chair around my feet and continued there way back into the forest.
I laughed out loud to myself for a minute and then went to find my girlfriend, who I found two campsites away. LOL. The next day was my Birthday and on a long hike on the Florida trail I asked my Girlfriend to marry me, she said yes. What a great trip!
Camping Overkill!
Photo by William Gillette
I hear so many stores about people being under prepared on camping or backpacking trips. But when on the trail I tend to see more people over prepared, including myself sometimes.
Over prepared? Countless times, I have passed hikers on a back country trails. Hanging from there packs I have seen Dutch oven, cast iron skillet, gallons of water, full size camp chair, extra shoes, full size Ax... Not saying that they are not going to use this stuff but is it worth the weight?
Car camping is a little different story. Not carrying it miles on your back, I say bring that 10 lbs cast iron Dutch over. Bring the big camp chairs and the gallons of water. But even car camping can be over done. For instance I have a folding standalone hammock that I bought years ago that I take when we car camp. I have set it up fifty times and might have sat in it two times. LOL. It actually has been used more often to cover firewood, odd when I keep four extra tarps in my equipment. This year I am going to make it a point to slim down my setup. What is it that we truly need, or more so what is it that we will truly use?
As for for my camera gear... I need all of it!
SD Survival
Photo by William Gillette
SD Survival.
Here is a helpful tip for your next outdoor adventure. Always keep a small SD card (or whatever your camera uses) labeled Survival in your camera case. On this card keep information in photos, that will help you in the event of an emergency.
Examples
Trail Maps, Area Maps, Photos of eatable plants, knot instructions, trap and snare diagrams, poisonous plants from that area, poisonous snakes...
The idea is to give your self any information that would help you in a dangerous situation. If your planing a trip, take the time to do a quick search for these things for that area, and then just snap photos of your computer screen. Most photographers will have plenty of batteries in there pack to keep a camera running for days so you can reference these photos at any time.
I also have made it a habit to take a photo of the trail map at the trail head before I head out, I have used this on several occasions to find my way back to my vehicle. I also put useful info on my card that I use as a photographer like tide information for the week I am shooting near the ocean, sun rise and sun set calendars, light meter calculators...
It always pays to be prepared for the worst even if you never need it. If you have other ideas for the SD survival card share them! You may help save a life. Be Safe!
and get out there!