Camping hacks - A discussion

[Fuzz]

Plus you can literally salt the earth as you leave your camp site.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Plus you can literally salt the earth as you leave your camp site.

Um, sir, I stay in hotels. I’m not homeless.

I’m just here for the cooler tips and tricks.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Thanks, I’ll give it a shot next time and see how it goes.

Can’t be worse than the bucket of water and melted ice cream I ended up with last time.

That's weird. I would have thought packing ice cream in a cooler for a multi-day road trip would have been a super good idea.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around why salt water bottles would make much of a difference.

They can get colder without freezing, but whether or not the water inside freezes should make no difference to someone considering it’s being held within the bottle anyway (have a bath of salted water in your colour would make sense, because they the below freezing water is surrounding your food/drinks completely instead of the air gaps left by ice and bottles).

I’ve heard of salt water making things colder faster, but not colder for longer, since wouldn’t salt water lose heat (melt/get warmer) at a faster rate than regular water?

You and me both. I never did get the science of how the ice cream maker Ms. Wallace brought in in grade four worked. Might as well have been magic.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

I saw an outdoors/camping pizza oven at breathe or whatever that macloed trail hiking store is

Sure, why not. Just haul a pizza oven along with you.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

I saw an outdoors/camping pizza oven at breathe or whatever that macloed trail hiking store is

Sure, why not. Just haul a pizza oven along with you.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

I saw an outdoors/camping pizza oven at breathe or whatever that macloed trail hiking store is

Sure, why not. Just haul a pizza oven along with you.

Sounds dumb, but my buddy brought one out last year with a big group and it was the best pizza ever.

I'm way too lazy to do that myself, though.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Sounds dumb, but my buddy brought one out last year with a big group and it was the best pizza ever.

I'm way too lazy to do that myself, though.

My buddy has one

While we all sit on his deck drinking he’s ####ing around with it and the dough and the toppings and sauce and cheese.

He’s working away in the sun like a new Canadian and we are sitting there drinking beer, often his beer.

Sometimes one of us will get involved and inevitably #### it up which means he needs to clean up a mess and continue cooking pizza for us.

The best outdoor pizza ovens are the ones that belong to someone else

[surferguy]

Well I bought a Yeti Cooler (45). I lucked into a deal and bit the bullet. This past weekend was my inaugural run. My previous cooler was a Rubbermaid (clone of a blue Coleman). In a side by side comparison I would leave home with a frozen 4 l jug of water, a 1 l milk carton frozen with water and a bank of juice boxes also frozen.

The old cooler would be completely thaw by night #2.

Tonight we got home (night #3) and the 4L jug was 80% frozen and the 1L carton was 45% frozen. The juice was thawed out.

I’m happy with the performance, it’s a significant upgrade for us. It should serve us well.


It’s also bright orange - so it’s got that going for it. I might just take to calling it Zoidberg

Now - let’s talk propane fire pits. The fire bans are on and will probably be on all summer now in the parks. I still have a few trips planned so I may invest in one. I don’t have a heap of space to pack one.

What do you have? Have experience with? What to stay away from?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Costco had a nice small square-ish Outland propane firepit earlier in the year that I wish I had bought. It's smaller so it consumes less room than their older round firepit that I have. It was like $200 or so.

Both do the trick. I like to keep the box to make it easier to pack, though covers are available on Amazon for them to make them even smaller. The dome cover squishes too easy without a box and the lava rock loves to spill out and make a mess.

[gallione11]

https://ca.outlandliving.com/product...e-pit?variant=


This is what I have. Decent size without being too big, and works well enough. First time using it, we did blow through a full propane tank in two nights but it was a cool, windy place and I think we had it on high most of the time.


Now, we usually just keep it on the lowest setting as it's still hot enough for our use. Haven't gone through a whole tank in single trip since. This comes with a lid and carry handle that also keeps the hose in place so it compacts well.

[DoubleF]

Bumping thread to ask... does anyone have any experience with a chimney tent? (ie: Yurt, bell tent, tipi hot tent, pyramid tent etc.) I'm not in love with my current tent and considering something of quality of around a 4-6 person tent size.

I'm wondering if one of these styles can be considered kind of an upgrade or if they're not worth the hassle (ie: Slightly stronger materials to withstand heat and weather, fire stove option for quick heating/drying before getting in at night and more changes to use it in more variety of climates).

Yes, I am aware of risks in having stove in tent, especially with kids. I'm weighing the options because it'd be nice to have the option to warm up the tent a little before going to bed when at an un-serviced site, or using it to warm/dry out inside if inclement weather has somehow gotten inside of the tent.

I was thinking of something like this:
https://www.amazon.ca/VEVOR-Yurt-Ten...1-4&th=1&psc=1

[Locke]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Bumping thread to ask... does anyone have any experience with a chimney tent? (ie: Yurt, bell tent, tipi hot tent, pyramid tent etc.) I'm not in love with my current tent and considering something of quality of around a 4-6 person tent size.

I'm wondering if one of these styles can be considered kind of an upgrade or if they're not worth the hassle (ie: Slightly stronger materials to withstand heat and weather, fire stove option for quick heating/drying before getting in at night and more changes to use it in more variety of climates).

Yes, I am aware of risks in having stove in tent, especially with kids. I'm weighing the options because it'd be nice to have the option to warm up the tent a little before going to bed when at an un-serviced site, or using it to warm/dry out inside if inclement weather has somehow gotten inside of the tent.

I was thinking of something like this:
https://www.amazon.ca/VEVOR-Yurt-Ten...1-4&th=1&psc=1

So you want to be warm and dry? Isn't the whole goal of Camping 'The Misery?'

I think that tent would look good on Vancouver's DTES though, does it come with a lock?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Locke

So you want to be warm and dry? Isn't the whole goal of Camping 'The Misery?'

I think that tent would look good on Vancouver's DTES though, does it come with a lock?

Yes. Misery is totally part of it. So if I had something like this, there would be so much schadenfreude from those miserable in cold/leaky tents. I assume it'd be somewhere in between the tenters and trailers.

Lock wise, I assume you'd be able to put one on the zippers in the same was as locking a carry on. People would just bypass it if necessary. Basically possible, but also kinda useless.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Yes. Misery is totally part of it. So if I had something like this, there would be so much schadenfreude from those miserable in cold/leaky tents. I assume it'd be somewhere in between the tenters and trailers.

Lock wise, I assume you'd be able to put one on the zippers in the same was as locking a carry on. People would just bypass it if necessary. Basically possible, but also kinda useless.

Does it come with a family set of these?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Locke

Does it come with a family set of these?

No, but it certainly seems like it needs to be considered.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Bumping thread to ask... does anyone have any experience with a chimney tent? (ie: Yurt, bell tent, tipi hot tent, pyramid tent etc.) I'm not in love with my current tent and considering something of quality of around a 4-6 person tent size.

I'm wondering if one of these styles can be considered kind of an upgrade or if they're not worth the hassle (ie: Slightly stronger materials to withstand heat and weather, fire stove option for quick heating/drying before getting in at night and more changes to use it in more variety of climates).

Yes, I am aware of risks in having stove in tent, especially with kids. I'm weighing the options because it'd be nice to have the option to warm up the tent a little before going to bed when at an un-serviced site, or using it to warm/dry out inside if inclement weather has somehow gotten inside of the tent.

I was thinking of something like this:
https://www.amazon.ca/VEVOR-Yurt-Ten...1-4&th=1&psc=1

Are you planning on winter camping?

If not I don’t see it as worth the hassle. Typically you get a fire going in them (about a half hour) adjust the flu and pack it with wood so it will will keep you warm for hours, and then you wake up at 4 in the morning to stuff it full again.

If the goal is on relative warm (above 0) nights and not to use it all nights I don’t see the use case over just bringing warmer stuff.

Have you experienced leaking tents and inclement weather getting inside regularly? Usually that is a function of bad tent design which in the 6 person size is really common. But with the right tent there should be no reason to end having wet sleeping bags or clothes to get into.

Now if you are winter camping then really big tent with a stove jack is awesome. I prefer something that is freestanding and made of non-flammable materials as you don’t want a peg failure to collapse your tent on your stove. So I am anti pyramid tent for stoves but many people use them.

If you want something to warm up your tent before going to sleep a white gas Coleman lantern works pretty good and you can suspend it from the middle of your tent. Some carbon monoxide risk, less severe burn and melting sleeping bag risk and way less fiddle factor. Takes the edge off the temperature but likely doesn’t help dry clothes too much.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

No, but it certainly seems like it needs to be considered.

I'm just busting your chops because, oddly enough, I do know an unusually fair amount about Yurts.

Years ago I had a client who spent some considerable time on the Mongolian Steppes, among other places in the region and proposed to start a business importing authentic Mongolian Yurts to Canada, so, I ended up learning a lot about Yurts and Yurt culture. Despite my best efforts.

The business never got off the ground for a variety of very, very obvious reasons though, never the less...I learned about Yurts.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by GGG

Are you planning on winter camping?

If not I don’t see it as worth the hassle. Typically you get a fire going in them (about a half hour) adjust the flu and pack it with wood so it will will keep you warm for hours, and then you wake up at 4 in the morning to stuff it full again.

If the goal is on relative warm (above 0) nights and not to use it all nights I don’t see the use case over just bringing warmer stuff.

Have you experienced leaking tents and inclement weather getting inside regularly? Usually that is a function of bad tent design which in the 6 person size is really common. But with the right tent there should be no reason to end having wet sleeping bags or clothes to get into.

Now if you are winter camping then really big tent with a stove jack is awesome. I prefer something that is freestanding and made of non-flammable materials as you don’t want a peg failure to collapse your tent on your stove. So I am anti pyramid tent for stoves but many people use them.

If you want something to warm up your tent before going to sleep a white gas Coleman lantern works pretty good and you can suspend it from the middle of your tent. Some carbon monoxide risk, less severe burn and melting sleeping bag risk and way less fiddle factor. Takes the edge off the temperature but likely doesn’t help dry clothes too much.

With my existing gear, I am not actively considering winter camping. Not designed for that at all. I was thinking that with a tent that has the stove option, it opens up the option to do winter camping along with reducing misery relating to inclement weather for spring/summer/fall camping. I normally wouldn't use the stove, but like the idea of potentially having a stove option for additional comfort and to ensure a camping trip doesn't get derailed. Thinking if we had gear that could handle a mild winter type camping, the other seasons would be a breeze.

Do you have a recommendation of what you were using for winter camping? Budget dependent, but I was thinking of maybe a higher quality tent with camping cots vs 6 person tent and mattresses.

My current 6 person tent is a design from like 10-20 years ago and completely ####e. The only way to redeem it is buy an extremely large tarp that can cover the whole thing to make it work, but then it'll look like something out of a tent city, and the tent did poorly last weekend and sagged/twisted a lot when a smaller tarp was pulled taut but not tight against it.


However, looking at 6 person tents, I'm already looking around the $400+ ish range, so I was thinking whether to get something better for a few hundred bucks more. That's how I ended up running into these stove inflatable and yurt tent rabbit hole. Also seemed more luxurious than a typical tent plus if the reviews said people were using them for winter, then other seasons is a total breeze.

[ken0042]

We bought a couple of battery operated throws from Costco, and used them when tent camping later in the season. Added bonus is you bring an extra battery and it extends your time you want to spend around the fire.