Camping hacks - A discussion

[surferguy]

Cabelas and bass pro have them. They can be sub $1 if you catch a sale

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

One little tip similar to the concrete nails hack - I find bringing a mini sledge hammer to pound in stakes / concrete nails makes a world of difference vs a normal hammer.

Something like this from Home Depot for $30:

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/tuf...dle/1001638568

Dumb but honest question... what's the main difference of sledge hammer vs regular hammer that you prefer? Are you actually going out and putting spikes into tree roots and rocks on purpose or are you also using the mini sledge for wood splitting and other things? What am I missing?

I've seen people say they prefer the sledge, but when I've seen them use it, they're still doing workarounds with that thing and swinging that thing haphazardly. If cost is no problem, I've seen someone with demolition tools of various sizes which IMO is a pretty awesome tool to have when camping. Upgraded hammer/mini sledge with a pry bar built in with some notches that are pretty useful for ripping out weird roots as well. I personally just don't get the mini-sledge recommendation that I've seen quite a few times.

I personally prefer a $10 claw hammer. Inexpensive and works, better than a rock or piece of fire wood. A claw to make nail removal easier.

I know others have said they tap the nail with the hammer for removal, but you can still bend certain nails. I guess I'm also an idiot and I've hit the plastic faster piece with a hammer and shattered it before doing that tapping thing (especially if the nail was hammered too deep into the ground) as well as had fingers and toes hit by errant hammers.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Does anybody have a link to what they have bought for these concrete nails? I keep looking online and I can't find them; as they are probably called something else.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/pau...zed/1001420995

I haven't purchased these, but maybe spiral framing spikes? 6 or 8 inch is good enough.

Basically if you consider yourself relatively strong, if you go to a hardware store and you're pretty sure you cannot bend this by hand at all, it's probably what you're aiming for.

If you want a slightly bigger nail head that what these have to offer (to avoid the string slipping off if you nail it in vertically vs at an angle), I'd recommend looking at a metal or rubber washer.

[Brendone]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Additionally, if anyone has been to Zion recently how easy is it to get an Angel's Landing hike permit? I see that it is lottery based but I haven't researched the process at all. Our last trip down there did not require a permit for Angel's Landing.

We were there in July and had 50/50 luck with getting an angels landing pass. We “won” the draw on our first attempt but our trailer fridge died the day before, so we had to scramble to get it replaced and couldn’t go. We entered the draw again for the next day but no luck.

The trail up is amazing, so we still hiked up to the start point of Angels Landing, took some pics, then continued up to Scouts lookout, which seemed to be almost as high as Angels Landing, maybe 20-30ft shorter? Honestly, Angels Landing was so busy, we had no regrets once we saw it. Line ups, waiting to pass, etc. We had scouts lookout to ourselves.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Dumb but honest question... what's the main difference of sledge hammer vs regular hammer that you prefer? Are you actually going out and putting spikes into tree roots and rocks on purpose or are you also using the mini sledge for wood splitting and other things? What am I missing?

Indeed - Parks Canada frontcountry tent pads always seem to have ton of rocks and roots in them, depending on the last time they were maintained, which is rare.

Beyond that, it's pretty simple - over my el cheapo HDX claw hammer (which I keep in the bin for stake removal, and for someone else to help with stakes), a mini sledge is:

- 2lb vs 16 oz for way more force
- larger surface area for fewer missed hits
- a much safer way to use with an axe for kinding (vs an axe alone)

Crappy Tire has one on sale for $14.99 right now.

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/m...e%20hammer#srp

[surferguy]

Anybody been to Redstreak campground before? We booked for next weekend. I was curious if the trail to the hotsprings “the the Forrest” is ok for bikes? I’m talking a kids bike and a large cargo bike. It seems like there a decent elevation change but I’m curious how technical it is. I want a flat easy trail.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Brendone

We were there in July and had 50/50 luck with getting an angels landing pass. We “won” the draw on our first attempt but our trailer fridge died the day before, so we had to scramble to get it replaced and couldn’t go. We entered the draw again for the next day but no luck.

The trail up is amazing, so we still hiked up to the start point of Angels Landing, took some pics, then continued up to Scouts lookout, which seemed to be almost as high as Angels Landing, maybe 20-30ft shorter? Honestly, Angels Landing was so busy, we had no regrets once we saw it. Line ups, waiting to pass, etc. We had scouts lookout to ourselves.

Cool, I'm hoping that between 4 or 5 email accounts we can have one that hits the lottery in the spring. Just going up to Scouts Lookout would be good as well but doing the last stretch with the chain/cable portion is fun. I wonder if the numbers will start to decline this next year as Covid is over and people have returned to other forms of travel and vacation? I suspect a lot of the increase was because of travel restrictions.

[flamingchina]

Rather than using concrete nails, I use lag screws to hold things down. Just use an impact driver to put them in and out, super quick
https://www.amazon.ca/Lag-Screws-Hea...08BVZNWBC?th=1
They hold incredibly well, and go in super quick.

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Anybody been to Redstreak campground before? We booked for next weekend. I was curious if the trail to the hotsprings “the the Forrest” is ok for bikes? I’m talking a kids bike and a large cargo bike. It seems like there a decent elevation change but I’m curious how technical it is. I want a flat easy trail.

Just found info on All Trails. Not for bikes.

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Indeed - Parks Canada frontcountry tent pads always seem to have ton of rocks and roots in them, depending on the last time they were maintained, which is rare.

Beyond that, it's pretty simple - over my el cheapo HDX claw hammer (which I keep in the bin for stake removal, and for someone else to help with stakes), a mini sledge is:

- 2lb vs 16 oz for way more force
- larger surface area for fewer missed hits
- a much safer way to use with an axe for kinding (vs an axe alone)

Crappy Tire has one on sale for $14.99 right now.

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/m...e%20hammer#srp

Did y’all fail physics in high school? Force = mass x speed2 . Using a bigger hammer is less effective than swinging the hammer faster. Driving spikes on the railroad we used a light pointy-headed sledgehammer with a real long handle. No missing allowed because your helper was holding the spike.

[Brendone]

Originally Posted by Geraldsh

Driving spikes on the railroad we used a light pointy-headed sledgehammer with a real long handle. No missing allowed because your helper was holding the spike.

Driving railroad spikes?! How old are you?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Geraldsh

Did y’all fail physics in high school? Force = mass x speed2

Are you the one that failed? F=ma (where a = acceleration) And that m part? It's comes with a heavier hammer...

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by Brendone

Driving railroad spikes?! How old are you?

I did some track repairs on the CPR line in the 70’s, 1970’s that is

[surferguy]

Actually this tracks - Geraldish was from a time before Einstein.

Here is a picture of him at work:

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Geraldsh

I did some track repairs on the CPR line in the 70’s, 1970’s that is

Hahaha - you beat me to the burn! Lol

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Are you the one that failed? F=ma (where a = acceleration) And that m part? It's comes with a heavier hammer...

I thought speed squared = acceleration?
Doubling acceleration will give you more whomp than doubling the weight of your hammer. On the other hand, I never did finish that physics course.

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Hahaha - you beat me to the burn! Lol

I really miss that hat.

[BlackArcher101]

If anyone is looking for an awesome hard to get campsite, I just had to cancel alongside Chinook lake for Sun (tmr) and Mon night. Site C-65

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

If anyone is looking for an awesome hard to get campsite, I just had to cancel alongside Chinook lake for Sun (tmr) and Mon night. Site C-65

can confirm that is a dynamite spot. We stayed at that campground this summer. Really nice place.

[timun]

Originally Posted by Geraldsh

I thought speed squared = acceleration?
Doubling acceleration will give you more whomp than doubling the weight of your hammer. On the other hand, I never did finish that physics course.

Acceleration = speed / time
Speed = displacement / time
Acceleration = (displacement / time) / time = displacement / time²