Bought a cabin, what gear should I keep there?

Macchina

Macchina

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In two weeks, my wife and I are closing on a nice little cabin nestled in the heart of the huge Manistee National Forest in Northern Michigan. The place is 3 years old and we got it for a steal because the owner who built it fell ill and had to move back home. I camp often and have my backpacking gear down pat, but never gave any thought as to what I should keep in a cabin if I were to ever get one. This cabin will be used about every other weekend year round.

Of course I have the knives, sharpeners, axe, and flashlights to keep up there, but I can't think of what other tools and toys I may want. For those of you who own a cabin, what do you keep in it? Does the threat of it being broken into "cheapen" the gear you keep there? Anything out of the ordinary I may not think of to keep up there for "just in case".

Here's a pic we took when we went to see it:
2011-01-09_15-30-52_615.jpg
 
What a cool spot! As to the gear you keep there, it would depend on several factors including security measures, location (secluded vs non secluded), and personal comfort zone. I would keep blankets and living necessities along with a few items for maintenance like an axe, saw, shovel, rake, all that sort of thing, but pack up items like rifles and knives each time. If you're gone for two weeks at a stretch, you don't want to leave anything too tempting for someone to steal.
 
get a couple of the job site lock boxes, and then cover them with throw rugs/blankets and set pictures and stuff up on them as a measure of security. if they look hard enough and try hard enough they will be able to get in but it's worked as a good deterrent for many people i know at our hunting spot.

get some wool blankets, candles, lots of dry foods and soups, a couple well stocked first aid kits. i am sure you have thought of most the items i mentions but those were always big things for us.

and congrats that looks like a awesome place to spend you weekends
 
tknife said:
Bear skin rug! That's really cool man, I hope to do that one day too.
Click to expand...

My wife and I both work, but we are not rich by any means. It was something we decided to do a while back and started saving... Took some time, but now we were able to obtain our goal.

The area is quite secluded. It is in a "neighborhood" that was zoned in the late 1800's for residence. They anticipated northern Michigan to be the central population hub for the state... they were wrong. The cabin is the only one on the "street" (200 yard long dirt road), and the "neighborhood" consist of about 10 cabins in the area. You can't see a single other cabin during the winter (no leaves on the trees, visibility is about 4x that of summer). The place is surrounded by many miles of Federal hunting land. I don't know whether the seclusion will provide better or worse security. I own a few guns and wouldn't mind keeping one or two there, but I can't think of a good enough yet inexpensive solution to keep them secured (I think a bolted-down sheet metal gun safe would not be enough). The cabin is 1.5 hours from our house, so I don't know if I want to set it up as a potential long-term disaster shelter yet. Most likely I will start keeping a few weeks worth of canned goods and water there.
 
Don't lock it..will save you replacing doors or windows..FACT. I only lost a POS McCullogh 14" chainsaw in the eight(8) years we had our place deep in the Ozarks..probably some knuckleheaded kid.

I don't own anything that I don't consider temporary, doesn't mean that I wouldn't hate to lose some of our stuff but in the end it is just stuff.

Used to deer hunt in the UP..no thieves in MI.
 
Looks awesome !

You should keep extra beer , can never have enough beer .

1234,,,,,,:D
 
cookware and a cheap set of utensils & dishes, axe, shovel, bowsaw, etc...
and some rough furniture.
 
Nice grab, defiantly pack beer! Hate to bring bad news but we were actually discussing this today at my work. I live in northern Michigan in Tustin to be exact. I work at a little bait shop in Cadillac, Michigan called Pilgrims village. Had a nice gentleman in early this morning discussing break-ins in his cabin. He says problems like this are very common for him. I guess it depends on how remote you are in the huge Manistee Forest. We got a cabin on Black Lake near Cheboygan and never have had a problem, but it isn't any where near to what I would consider remote. Overall I LOVE living up here. The deer hunting is, well to be polite its not the best. Some monsters are shot out of the Manistee forest every year though. Hope you enjoy your little piece of paradise!:)
 
Um, I'll stock it with a Koyote Stead knife if I can stay there a couple weekends out of the year lol.:D Nice looking place.
 
Maybe some cheap blankets/sleeping bags?

Would you maybe consider burying a small cache of items so it won't get stolen?
 
oguruma said:
Maybe some cheap blankets/sleeping bags?

Would you maybe consider burying a small cache of items so it won't get stolen?
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Yeah, was thinking the same. If anybody was looking might not search outside. Maybe you could figure out a stash place outside for certain items?

Congrats - that is just great!!! I am envious... but will try to make the trip when you ahve the summer party hahaha

Maybe grill for cooking, charcoal or propane tanks. Fire pit/wood/axe/maul. cast iron cookware/dutch oven? propane lantern? folding camp chairs / cooler?

I'm sure after you spend some time there you will figure out what is important to you, so take your time outfitting with any new purchases, unless you already have a bunch of extra equipment that you can just move there.

Im a city boy, so would always be concerned about things growing legs, but probably very different there
Peace
Fred
 
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Good ideas here. WHat you may want to do is create for yourself a movable/portable "cabin kit" that you have your higher quality stuff in.

We have created one of these for our car camping adventures with the kids.
The kit is always ready in a couple large duffles(tent,tarps, sleeping bags) a couple Rubbermaid tough totes(kitchen kit/tools/repair/first aid).
It takes very little time to prep for a trip now because 90% of the prep is done.

Cabins are great,but the break-in propblem is a real one. Just don't leave high quality stuff there. Outfit it from yard sales and thrift stores.

Enjoy it.
 
Unless you can build a very well camouflaged vault, don't keep anything in the place that you care about losing.
Guns would be a definite no.
Valuable tools like chainsaws would be a no.
A generator small enough to be portable would be a no.

If you can't do a hidden space or a concrete vault with a blast shield door, you'll lose something eventually.
Denis
 
A lot of great responses guys, and you are kind of cementing a point I was thinking: Valuable stuff cannot stay there.

DPris said:
Unless you can build a very well camouflaged vault, don't keep anything in the place that you care about losing.
Guns would be a definite no.
Valuable tools like chainsaws would be a no.
A generator small enough to be portable would be a no.

If you can't do a hidden space or a concrete vault with a blast shield door, you'll lose something eventually.
Denis
Click to expand...

This is the mentality I was thinking along. I feel safe with my guns in a bolted down safe at home because my wife or I are there enough to prevent any serious burglary. If people are willing to strip a vacant home of copper plumbing and wiring, then I'd imagine they'd have the will and ingenuity to remove just about any kind of safe. I've looked at "real" safes before and it'll take a real long time for me to accumulate over $10,000 worth of stuff that fits in a safe to warrant the $10,000 the safe itself cost (wow, you'd be out $20,000 if somebody broke into that).

Angus McGunnigl said:
Good ideas here. WHat you may want to do is create for yourself a movable/portable "cabin kit" that you have your higher quality stuff in.

We have created one of these for our car camping adventures with the kids.
The kit is always ready in a couple large duffles(tent,tarps, sleeping bags) a couple Rubbermaid tough totes(kitchen kit/tools/repair/first aid).
It takes very little time to prep for a trip now because 90% of the prep is done.

Cabins are great,but the break-in propblem is a real one. Just don't leave high quality stuff there. Outfit it from yard sales and thrift stores.

Enjoy it.
Click to expand...

This is a great idea. We will of course not take the dishes, furniture, towels, etc. with us when we leave, but I think I'm going to look into getting a couple of nice rubbermaids to keep in the house that will contain the stuff we bring to the cabin every time. Thanks for the advice.
 
An absolute must is a good multi-attachment shop vac. A lamp on a timer as well as a motion sensored light on the porch is nice to have, both for security and convenience. Find or make a good hidey hole somewhere in or under the cabin. Lock boxes will walk. I had three Adam Henrys break into my place and take a bunch of tools, my redwing boots :mad:, and the entire farm gate that they had to cut the lock off of to get in. They actually had the stones to show up again the next day with a trailer, likely to get my tractor, when some guys that were working there called the police.

If you have neighbors who live full time out that way, stop in and get friendly with them so that they recognize you and your vehicles. Then bring them something at Christmas time. They will be invaluable for keeping an eye on your place.
 
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