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langston302

langston302

Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
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well i did it....and i made it home safe...

I learned alot about me and my gear last night and i want to share it all with you folks.

I got to my site about 130pm plenty of time to set up camp and get my fire wood together. The lake I went to is owned by the city I live in and is relativly young.(man made only 20 years old or so, a large chunk of route 66 is underneath it)

I began to get my firewood first...since you are not allowed to cut trees down here I used just deadfall and drift wood, there was plenty of it.
My fiskars hatchet and my corona saw made short work of all the wood I came across. My BK9 just performed beautifully, splitting all the wood I had gathered into smaller pieces...I love that knife.

I got the fire going using the Coughlans fire tinder cubes....they worked real well but need to be fluffed something awful or they will not ignite. I lit them using a LMF scout, that was a real chore since the goo from the cube was getting all over my striker slowing me down. I changed my method to pulling the steel and that made a world of difference. I only used one cube of tinder and they make great starters but I noticed if they are cold they do not make it easy to fluff, but they worked and that's all that matters, right?

After getting my fire good and going , I set up my tent and sleeping arrangement; My Eureka solitare and army sleep mat, with a coleman traverse 0 degree bag with army poncho liner.
 

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wow man, thats a nice spot, definitely wish I was there. I love that type of weather, too bad its -10*C and snowing today.
 
looks like a cool trip... that is definately a nise little spot.. great pics...:thumbup:

i love those coughlans tinder cubes... they're not bad...:o
 
I have some of those cubes too. Have to try them outside in the cold. Looks like a fun time---where was it?
 
After getting my site set up and stocked I wanted to eat. The sun was going down and it was about 445 so I guessed it was time. I gabbed my Coleman solo cookset and filled it with walmart canned chicken water and a beef bullion cube and stuck it on the fire. While I waited for it to cook I ate a pop tart (smores flavor;)). After about 10 minutes I grabbed my dinner and sat down to eat. It was good, really good actually.

As the sun went down it started to noticeably decline in temperature and according to my little pocket thermometer it was 21 degrees at 530 pm.
Mother nature was nice and stopped the wind for me. So it didnt really feel all that cold. Staying close to the fire helped of course. Now I have issue with the site I chose. I noticed that the built into campground fire ring is not able to be moved and it made it hard to bring heat to my kitchen area or my sleep site. I know I could have moved both of them closer to my fire but it would have made no difference. The metal walls were to high and you only got heat while you were standing right on top of it.:grumpy: Ok I guess but next time I will make better preperations for a fire and heating.
 

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Awesome you made it through! I would be frozen stiff last night! Fargin cold out there! Which lake? Arcadia???
 
Langston, looks like a good trip:thumbup:

On that Eureka, have any issues with it? I bought one last season but on 1st time setting up in the yard, a pole snapped! I took it back and bought another brand, but I really liked the Eureka bivy tent.
 
After the sun went down I wanted to mark my sleep area. I used my UCO Candle lantern and it worked awesome.
The moon offered wonderful light to move by last night. I barely used my head lamp. Which brings up another issue I had with my gear. I did not (forgot) bring a bright flashlight at all just my little single LED headlamp and one of those County Comm solo LEDs, and there where a few times a brighter light would have been great to have. ( like when the big ass owl scared the living crap outa me! Also when the gaggle of geese came through about 1am).

I stayed up by the fire until I was just dead tired. I called it a night about 11pm and crawled into my bag and relaxed. I was plenty warm except for my feet. I had stripped down to my longjohns and a pair of socks. I just changed my socks right before I layed down, so I would'nt have to deal with the dampsock syndrome from all day wear while I was trying to sleep. Still my feet got cold, but not like damp sock cold. I was warm enough to be sure but my back just was not happy with me at all. I tossed and turned for about an hour and finally drifted to sleep. Every couple of hours I would just kinda wake back up and have to readjust my body position and fall back asleep. Finally about 4 am I just was awake. I got up and dressed and struck camp. I took a walk around the Camp area hiking trails for about an hour ( no camera with me..:o). I came back and played with the coals from the fire and made some coffee.

The whole event brought me some inner peace from my outside stressors, and I had some self awareness time. I learned alot from my time out and am glad to share it with you all.
 

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falcon72 said:
On that Eureka, have any issues with it? I bought one last season but on 1st time setting up in the yard, a pole snapped! I took it back and bought another brand, but I really liked the Eureka bivy tent.
Click to expand...

no problems at all....had it out and up about 30 times with no issues.
 
Good stuff Erik. Glad you didnt freeze. Looks great. I need a solo to recharge my batterys too.

Great pics, Ive been wanting one of the tents. Need to get one. Right now im stuck on hammock camping though!
 
i put my hammock up last night.....probably would have slept better in that, but since i had already set up everything else, i didnt sleep in it. i would have could have and should have.
 
ok so, i was thinking.....( now my head hurts)

did anybody catch the pistol i was carrying????:confused:

it wasnt just one. but only one you can see.
 
no....i just wanted to see if anyone saw the holster....

i was carrying the G17....almost capped a deer that wandered into my camp and scared the HELL outta me....pretty much after that picture was taken.

and that DAMN OWL!!!

he was messing with me all night....i swear he was pissed i was there and was letting me know....

WWHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO----aaaaWHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO----UHUHUHUHUHUHUHU---WHOOOOOOOOOO

that Bastard.....when he first sounded off i just about jumped outta my clothes....i freaked out and went into a low crouch and pulled my pistol....( when i told my wife this she just laughed) I was freaking out...it was just so quiet and i was lost in thought and that dude let fly with his noise....talk about HHHEEELLLOOO!
 
Good thread Langston. These types of threads are becoming popular recently and I really enjoy reading them.

I didn;t see the gun!
 
langston302 said:
and that DAMN OWL!!!

he was messing with me all night....i swear he was pissed i was there and was letting me know....

WWHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO----aaaaWHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO----UHUHUHUHUHUHUHU---WHOOOOOOOOOO

that Bastard.....when he first sounded off i just about jumped outta my clothes....i freaked out and went into a low crouch and pulled my pistol....( when i told my wife this she just laughed) I was freaking out...it was just so quiet and i was lost in thought and that dude let fly with his noise....talk about HHHEEELLLOOO!
Click to expand...


Here ya go Langston, I made a video of you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egzw2w25khU
 
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