Bags organize gear and make it fast to pack up. They also make it easy to know where everything is. I think they should be different colors. I like bright colors because they are less likely to get left behind. I hiked with a guy, for awhile, that thought his should not only be different colors, but different textures as well so he could reach into his pack and just by feel know what bag he was pulling out.
These are my bags.
Clear plastic pack liner: I stuff my sleeping bag into this because it’s faster and easier than stuffing it into a stuff sack. It also more evenly fills up the bottom of my pack.
Big red bag is my food bag.
Yellow bag is my clothes bag and also my pillow.
1 or 2 gallon Ziploc is my office: maps, guide book, pen, cellphone, etc.
Red zippered bag is my ditty bag
I stuff my tent without it’s stuff sack into the big stretchy outside pocket of my pack. I put the tent stakes in there too, in a little bag. That way I don’t need to open my pack to set up my tent and I can pack up everything, pop out of my tent and stuff it into it’s pocket.
When everything is in bags it makes set up and break down of camp easy. Not to brag or anything but I can set up or break camp in under 4 minutes.
Do you always use a tent? I’ve grown fond to sleeping under a tarp of late.
I don’t often put up my tent—only if it’s buggy or raining, or it looks like it may rain. Sometimes I put it up when it’s windy. Sometimes it just feels good to be cut off from the world. I remember once, I hadn’t slept in my tent in months and then one night I put it up and I thought, “Oh, this is very nice” It felt like a motel room.
I don’t use a real tent. I used the the Nomad light for 6000 miles and the last 6000 miles I have been using the Six Moon Designs luna solo. I bought a Six Moon Design Gatewood Cape with bug net insert.. I haven’t used it but so far I’m not in love with it.
I really liked the Nomad… so I’m sort of considering the Heartfire tent or the 2lb double walled free standing tent by Big Sky.
Tarps are great but what I look for in a shelter is bug protection, really fast set up, and the ability to put it up in very small places, I would also like the option of just having the bug net for buggy nights when it’s not raining.
I don’t want to carry poles or have to find sticks and trees to tie my shelter to. I also don’t want to do have to do a lot of site selection. I hike until I can’t hike anymore….then I want to go to sleep.
If you decide to go tarp, then what you need is a bugbivy. I’m sending instructions for mine via email, though you can also buy them. My bugbivy is a very easy sewing project (vastly easier than Ray jardine’s latest design), but I wouldn’t advise trying it until you’ve made some stuff sacks first. Even so, you’ll probably botch the first attempt, so order extra supplies if you decide to try it. Not trying to be pessimistic, but it’s better to be realistic about expectations.
I only use a tarp/oilcloth. Very versatile.
Le loup.
Frank, Thanks. Looking forward to seeing them.
Le Loup, I have thought of using only materials that could be acquired 150 years ago, making my own gear, and doing a hike like the Oregon Trail. I have a copy of the guide book that was put out at the time telling people want to bring and other information. One of the reasons I think about doing it, is I think it could have been done faster and easier than the way most of them did it. At lot of those people only made 10 miles a day.
The ruts from the wagons can still be seen, though I think 1-84 covers a bunch of it. There would be a lot of days where you could turn around and see where you camped the night before which would make for a pretty boring hike.
There are also other old trails like the Butterfield stage coach line. Both the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail spend some time on it. On the Continental Divide Trail, out in the middle of no where, there are these piles of rocks where they buried people who where killed in a stage coach ambush. I bet it is more desolate now than it was then.
Where did you acquire your oilcloth? How much does it weigh?
Once when I was about 5 or 6 I was going to runaway. I heard a voice say, “Bring a plastic table cloth and a blanket” The blanket made sense but I couldn’t figure out why I would need a tablecloth, but now I know that, that would have been just the thing for a kid to bring when they are running away.
I’m not sure I would want to carry an oil cloth. That sounds heavy.
We don’t live 150 years ago. We live now. And right now tons of plastic is choking the environment and killing living things everywhere. I think it’s a good idea to make good use of it, if possible. Scavenge off the waste. So if I were to do something different, I might take a used piece of clear plastic for a tarp. Not an oil cloth.
I bet you thought you should take the plastic table cloth because it was red checkerboard patterned and pictures of hobo/runaway kids showed them with a hobo stick over their shoulder tied with a red checkerboard cloth.
When I was in girl scouts that what we had; a piece of clear plastic
to pull over our cotton sleeping bags when it rained. And we were
camping in western Oregon.
You can buy oil cloth or you can make it. I suggest you just pick up a light tight weave canvas and leave it as is. No idea what mine weighs, but it is pretty light.
I believe table cloths were once made of oilcloth.
The thing with using plastic Diane is that you are encouraging its use, and we need less of it. Also moisture can condense on the underside and drip on you or just soak up in your clothes/sleeping bag.
A canvas is more enviromentally friendly.
I saw this survival science show where they tried different natural ways to waterproof cloth. The winner was lanolin; it made a great waterproof tarp.
I imagine it would, it seems to work on sheep pretty well.
Le Loup.