another overnighter: where's the camp?

JV3 · Nov 1, 2015

5 guys burger and fries - my kinda fuel for the start of the hike

this was my buddy's first overnighter...with winter load to boot.

brought out my kifaru supertarp since the night forecast was near freezing with wind.

exped downmat 9s...someone's copying my gear choices.

JV3 · Nov 1, 2015

juicy g's shelter - bcusa 10'x10' silnylon tarp.

it'll be awhile before the fear of the dark lets go and he'll do a solo overnighter but this is a start. he asked me to check up on him before i went to sleep...so i did at 3 am...what can i say, that bourbon was a good camp fire buddy

the rolling hills hid our camp so well that when we went to fill up the water bladders from a stream ¼ mile away just after setting up camp that we had a hard time finding the camp again, haha.

breakfast!

Rotte · Nov 1, 2015

You guys make roughing it look pretty good!

JV3 · Nov 1, 2015

Rotte said:
You guys make roughing it look pretty good!

trying to eat all that food was pretty rough

leghog · Nov 2, 2015

Bourbon and freezing weather don't go well together. Can be fairly dangerous.

Mikel_24 · Nov 2, 2015

I would be affraid to take an open fire anywhere near high end (read, light, syntethic and EXPENSIVE) camping gear.

I am probably wrong but given my mountain climbing background, I would go with a gear selection that allowed me to make it comfortable through the night without the need of a fire as means of additional heat. Your kirafu supertarp looks good, being it closed it should allow to retain most of the warm air inside.

Sure an open fire adds some flavour to any outing but... I sometimes doubt about the true convenience of it.

Great pictures as usual!

TheMadIndian · Nov 2, 2015

Nice man I'm hoping to get out next weekend

JV3 · Nov 2, 2015

leghog said:
Bourbon and freezing weather don't go well together. Can be fairly dangerous.

roger that...but shivering burns extra calories

on a serious note, i'm a seasoned camper and i do most of my overnighters during the winter or when it's raining so i take extra precautions...mountain biking, motorcycles, and riding my road bike in nyc trumps a little bourbon in cold weather for me.

Mikel_24 said:
I would be affraid to take an open fire anywhere near high end (read, light, syntethic and EXPENSIVE) camping gear.

I am probably wrong but given my mountain climbing background, I would go with a gear selection that allowed me to make it comfortable through the night without the need of a fire as means of additional heat. Your kirafu supertarp looks good, being it closed it should allow to retain most of the warm air inside.

Sure an open fire adds some flavour to any outing but... I sometimes doubt about the true convenience of it.

Great pictures as usual!

thanks! i'm with you on that one - i never depend on a fire for warmth, mostly just for cooking and camp atmosphere. my buddy's shelter was a good 100' away from the fire and mine was about the same as well on the opposite side so no risk of being burned. those exped pads have an r-value of 8 and i slept in a kifaru 0° f bag - i was toasty

TheMadIndian said:
Nice man I'm hoping to get out next weekend

thanks! take lots of pics and post them here

it's like a mini vacation for me looking at other people's trip pics.

leghog · Nov 3, 2015

JV3 said:
leghog said:

Bourbon and freezing weather don't go well together. Can be fairly dangerous.

Click to expand...

roger that...but shivering burns extra calories

on a serious note, i'm a seasoned camper and i do most of my overnighters during the winter or when it's raining so i take extra precautions...mountain biking, motorcycles, and riding my road bike in nyc trumps a little bourbon in cold weather for me.

Drinking alcohol in the cold just accelerates heat loss. It takes blood from your core, and you lose it at your surface because it has dilated your blood vessels. And it takes very little alcohol to have that effect. As for shivering, alcohol reduces your body's ability to shiver. Alcohol and cold temperatures can easily be a deadly combination. Just not worth it. Not in my book.

LukeTheSpook · Nov 7, 2015

Awesome pictures man!!! Sorry you got lectured on the internet.

jonnyt16 · Nov 7, 2015

leghog said:
Drinking alcohol in the cold just accelerates heat loss. It takes blood from your core, and you lose it at your surface because it has dilated your blood vessels. And it takes very little alcohol to have that effect. As for shivering, alcohol reduces your body's ability to shiver. Alcohol and cold temperatures can easily be a deadly combination. Just not worth it. Not in my book.

Hmm...I just checked my book. Right here on page 3 it says, "Drinking alcohol in the cold: WORTH IT!"

leghog · Nov 8, 2015

jonnyt16 said:
leghog said:

Drinking alcohol in the cold just accelerates heat loss. It takes blood from your core, and you lose it at your surface because it has dilated your blood vessels. And it takes very little alcohol to have that effect. As for shivering, alcohol reduces your body's ability to shiver. Alcohol and cold temperatures can easily be a deadly combination. Just not worth it. Not in my book.

Click to expand...

Hmm...I just checked my book. Right here on page 3 it says, "Drinking alcohol in the cold: WORTH IT!"

You make your own choices and take your own chances, but the fact remains that exposure to cold and alcohol consumption can easily be a deadly combination.

LukeTheSpook · Nov 8, 2015

Maybe lighten up on the sermon, captain no fun.

leghog · Nov 8, 2015

LukeTheSpook said:
Maybe lighten up on the sermon, captain no fun.

Or maybe not. The combination has proved deadly. Then his compadre is left to deal with it. the Nothing light about it.

sideways · Nov 8, 2015

I can confirm... Alcohol and cold is a bad combination.

Greasy sausages and bacon on the other hand... There is something I can fully endorse.

JV3 · Nov 8, 2015

leghog said:
Drinking alcohol in the cold just accelerates heat loss. It takes blood from your core, and you lose it at your surface because it has dilated your blood vessels. And it takes very little alcohol to have that effect. As for shivering, alcohol reduces your body's ability to shiver. Alcohol and cold temperatures can easily be a deadly combination. Just not worth it. Not in my book.

noted.

LukeTheSpook said:
Awesome pictures man!!! Sorry you got lectured on the internet.

thanks, man! this forum has thickened my skin over the years.

jonnyt16 said:
Hmm...I just checked my book. Right here on page 3 it says, "Drinking alcohol in the cold: WORTH IT!"

that's how i roll...yes, that's real glass

leghog said:
Or maybe not. The combination has proved deadly. Then his compadre is left to deal with it. the Nothing light about it.

we all have an agreement - first one who dies during a camping trip becomes food for the rest in case of emergency

i'm an organ donor so hopefully they'll leave those parts alone...it should keep with the cold that killed me to begin with

sideways said:
I can confirm... Alcohol and cold is a bad combination.

Greasy sausages and bacon on the other hand... There is something I can fully endorse.

going to experiment with bacon-fat cooked fruits as topping on ice cream later

ROCK6 · Nov 8, 2015

Very cool trip JV3...it's good to see your trail buddy still hanging with you; makes those trips more enjoyable. I'm really wanting it to cool off down here (and dry up a little) so we can do some "stealth" camping. The bourbon is okay as a vice if used wisely...looks like it was wisely used

. I understand the concern from leghog; my wife is a very cold sleeper and any alcohol in the winter just chills her to the bone...however, summer time AT hikes, she packs her own Platypus of wine

It looks like you guys got a late start and had to set up at night...that's great practice...but I refuse to do it if at all possible. Too many years of Army field fun in the cold, wet and dark...I would much rather plan to be setup, warmed by a fire and possibly a little liquid spirits! Good to see you guys get some dirt time.

ROCK6

leghog · Nov 9, 2015

How far do you hike packing a cast iron skillet?

JV3 · Nov 9, 2015

ROCK6 said:
Very cool trip JV3...it's good to see your trail buddy still hanging with you; makes those trips more enjoyable. I'm really wanting it to cool off down here (and dry up a little) so we can do some "stealth" camping. The bourbon is okay as a vice if used wisely...looks like it was wisely used. I understand the concern from leghog; my wife is a very cold sleeper and any alcohol in the winter just chills her to the bone...however, summer time AT hikes, she packs her own Platypus of wine

It looks like you guys got a late start and had to set up at night...that's great practice...but I refuse to do it if at all possible. Too many years of Army field fun in the cold, wet and dark...I would much rather plan to be setup, warmed by a fire and possibly a little liquid spirits! Good to see you guys get some dirt time.

ROCK6

thanks, man! it's definitely cooling down here now so i'll be overnighting more often.

yeah, we definitely went past my planned time lines...during this time of the year if i'm solo i'm already at the parking lot just after sunrise - only way i can pack in the miles and still have daylight left to setup camp.

being a newbie he didn't listen to me when i said pack everything the night before. we had to go back to his house twice after driving a few blocks away to pick up forgotten items...it didn't help that campmor was on the way and we just had to stop in, haha. on the other hand he did pay for the burgers for the hassle so i wasn't too hard on him

one advice he did follow is pack a quality headlight with spare batteries - maybe something about my previous comment regarding the friday the 13th lake being nearby

this trip definitely drove home the things bearthedog and i have been teaching him on previous trips...he wants to go for another overnighter soon so i guess we'll see how quickly he learns

JV3 · Nov 9, 2015

leghog said:
How far do you hike packing a cast iron skillet?

no idea but far enough i wouldn't pack a cast iron pan for sure. tom (the one holding a flashlight) carried it...let's just say if i strapped another 3 of those on his pack without telling him he probably won't notice it.

the guy cooking is no slouch either...his forum name is manofsteel for a reason...just to be clear, the pics from my first two posts and my recent replies are two separate overnighters in two separate locations.

actually, i have yet to bring a cast iron pan to the woods...the heaviest pan i've taken so far is that carbon steel one in the first post which is 8.75 oz. i've been trending towards lighter weight gear for awhile now...see my baseline gear thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1327011-my-baseline-gear.

my buddy's been tagging along with us (search for recent trip reports by bearthedog as well as mine) on double-digit-miles day hikes several times this year already for training so i'd say he did great hanging with me with overnight loads.

you seem to have a lot of experience and knowledge that you can share...taken any outdoor trips lately? how about sharing some pics with us (on a separate thread/s)?