I had a little camp out a couple of weeks ago. Since I am a royal procrastinator, I didn't bother to pack everything back into my BOB until tonight.

First off, my Camelback Motherlode looks a hell of a lot better with dirt on it! It was very comfortable for the short mile we hiked in and out. It isn't perfect, but it is just the right size and everything is easy to get to.


My pack was really unorganized. I thought it was pretty tight, but it was really disjointed. Everything that is used for fire starting is now in the same place. My personal hygiene products are in one location, including my bug spray that for some reason was not in a rational spot! My food and food prep stuff was well situated.

My jetboil was awesome for the mountain house meals. It was way under a minute to boil 2 cups. By the third meal I was trying to stop sooner as the meals were way too hot to eat after 10min of waiting. The canister boiled 8 cups of water that night and only lost .3oz of fuel. I need to practice cooking rice in one to get good at it. I hate ending up with a mess!

One important thing I realized was that the mountain house meals are really too big for one person to eat unless they are super hungry. I switched to the smaller pro pack versions. I am carrying 6 of them for 5 days. 4 packs of vacuum packed rice with spices (one of them didn't stay vacuum sealed, but is still good to eat for lunch tomorrow!) The vacuum packaging that I did was not tough enough to last in a pack that is being used hard. It really only has to hold up for the 5 day period it was intended to serve for.

The powerbars I brought for breakfast were sufficient. Not great, but enough to get me going. I have enough for 2 per day for 5 days.

The koolaid singles I brought were also very nice. I was dumb and never read the packaging to realize that 3 are needed to do the 24oz nalgene to the right taste. I brought 4 of each flavor so I would have had to pump small amounts of water to finish them off. Now I have the correct number for a flavored drink each day. Some are replenish and some are koolaid.

The Katadyn hiker pro water filter made the creek water we drank just as good as any bottled water for taste. I was stunned as this was my first use of it. I will have to pick up a few more extra filters for it. What a great piece of kit!


Everything not in a plastic bag got wet. Either due to rain, humidity, and dew. Rain didn't get to my 123 batteries that were packed in a cardboard box, but dew did made the box so conductive that it actually browned a spot at the positive terminal of one of the batteries. The box my hexamine tabs were in was similarly wrecked from the dew. My clothing was already in water proof packaging. Thank God!


I am really looking forward to getting out again with the nephews. I am positive my gear will get better and better each time I have a chance to use it.

Thats the way to do it man.  Good job.  I haven't ever used a Jetboil - but it looks interesting.  I usually used an old sterno until I got one of the little butane stoves - I think its a Coleman.

Keep it up - the AAR's are always interesting.

Good report. I am a huge fan of both Mountain House meals and my Jetboil. They seem like they were made for each other.  However, I think I will add another mirco-stove or at least a frying pan for preparing meals that require cooking or frying.  To me, the Jetboil's only drawback is that it's like a 2 stroke motocross bike, there are two speeds: wide open or off.    

Quoted: Good report. I am a huge fan of both Mountain House meals and my Jetboil. They seem like they were made for each other.  However, I think I will add another mirco-stove or at least a frying pan for preparing meals that require cooking or frying.  To me, the Jetboil's only drawback is that it's like a 2 stroke motocross bike, there are two speeds: wide open or off.

I carry the pan bracket for it in the pot. It fits right over the fuel can so it takes no extra space. I have not added a larger pot because I think I can get this little stove to do a good job on rice if I put the flame really, really low.

It is great you got to use some of your BOB gear!  I bet less than 10% of the preppers actually use their gear beforehand, to work out any bugs and see how the gear actually works in the field.  The MH meal are way to big for just one stop, IMO.  Another MH tip is to let the food steep in the hot water at least 10 minutes,  to soften up all the food.
There are alot of little zipper-type organizers on the market.  I use the Granite Gear Air Space stuff sacks.  They are water-resistant and very light.  The Kifara mesh pullouts are also very cool because you can see what is inside them, but about as water-tight as a screen door on a submarine.
Super work!!!

AC

www.basegear.com/airspace.html




www.kifaru.net/MG_intpkts.htm

I took my new Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack out to the woods yesterday, and it was wonderful. The thing was just as comfortable and easy to carry as I expected. I quickly learned one bad thing, though... I forgot to pack any insect repellant in it.

It's always great getting that first bit of dirt on new gear. :)

Quoted: Good report. I am a huge fan of both Mountain House meals and my Jetboil. They seem like they were made for each other.  However, I think I will add another mirco-stove or at least a frying pan for preparing meals that require cooking or frying.  To me, the Jetboil's only drawback is that it's like a 2 stroke motocross bike, there are two speeds: wide open or off.

I got a giga power stove from snow peak, very nice little stove folds super small fits inside my titanium mug, with a jetboil fuel canister, I use to boil water.  I also have a jetboil, but have the one that comes with the pot instead of the mug.  A little too big for single person, just boil water meal use.

The giga power seems to have a good range of output, could probably be used to simmer of for other low settings if needed.

What is hexamine and what is it for?  Is it a medication?


Personally, I pack everything in freezer weight Zip-Loc bags.

Quoted: What is hexamine and what is it for?  Is it a medication? Personally, I pack everything in freezer weight Zip-Loc bags.

Fire starter. I believe mine is German.

I found out the zip lock thing too late for this trip. It will be all different next time.


I am also going to include a couple of garbage bags for a nice place to sit my pack on the ground. Keep them in the outer pouch so I don't get my pack as dirty while setting up camp.

Another thing I will look into is a pack cover that is water proof.

Great review and a good AAR with lessons learned.  I have several different bags to organzie my gear in my pack, but large Ziploc bags work as well (get the freezer versions).  I've used a large garbage bag to cover my pack, and just built a log stand to get it off the ground, but there are several rain covers, the lightest being sil-nylon.  My new Osprey 38 Kestral has one built in which is a nice feature.  

Not sure if you had instant rice or what, but another option is to measure out the rice and add to a bottle of water and let soak for the day.  This will speed up the cooking time and use less fuel.

Thanks for sharing!

ROCK6

Quoted: Quoted: What is hexamine and what is it for?  Is it a medication? Personally, I pack everything in freezer weight Zip-Loc bags. Fire starter. I believe mine is German. I found out the zip lock thing too late for this trip. It will be all different next time. I am also going to include a couple of garbage bags for a nice place to sit my pack on the ground. Keep them in the outer pouch so I don't get my pack as dirty while setting up camp. Another thing I will look into is a pack cover that is water proof.

I have a 5-6 foot piece of 1" nylon webbing I keep in a outer pocket along with a 3" "D" ring.  When We find a place to stop I will wrap the strap around a tree, tie it off then clip the grab handle of the pack to the strap using the "D" ring.  I learned this from watching the Ray Mears videos.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What is hexamine and what is it for?  Is it a medication? Personally, I pack everything in freezer weight Zip-Loc bags. Fire starter. I believe mine is German. I found out the zip lock thing too late for this trip. It will be all different next time. I am also going to include a couple of garbage bags for a nice place to sit my pack on the ground. Keep them in the outer pouch so I don't get my pack as dirty while setting up camp. Another thing I will look into is a pack cover that is water proof. I have a 5-6 foot piece of 1" nylon webbing I keep in a outer pocket along with a 3" "D" ring.  When We find a place to stop I will wrap the strap around a tree, tie it off then clip the grab handle of the pack to the strap using the "D" ring.  I learned this from watching the Ray Mears videos.

I like it! I have some webbing that I could make into a loop to string over a branch or strap to a tree and hang my pack on it!


I love this site!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What is hexamine and what is it for?  Is it a medication? Personally, I pack everything in freezer weight Zip-Loc bags. Fire starter. I believe mine is German. I found out the zip lock thing too late for this trip. It will be all different next time. I am also going to include a couple of garbage bags for a nice place to sit my pack on the ground. Keep them in the outer pouch so I don't get my pack as dirty while setting up camp. Another thing I will look into is a pack cover that is water proof. I have a 5-6 foot piece of 1" nylon webbing I keep in a outer pocket along with a 3" "D" ring.  When We find a place to stop I will wrap the strap around a tree, tie it off then clip the grab handle of the pack to the strap using the "D" ring.  I learned this from watching the Ray Mears videos. I like it! I have some webbing that I could make into a loop to string over a branch or strap to a tree and hang my pack on it! I love this site!

i use some 550 style cord and a carbiner for mine,, toss ver tie off,hang  right at chest high..no bending down to get intopack

For the zip locks, I recommend the slider device kind instead of the pinch together to close kind. They are a lot faster and you know it's closed.

And for the trash bag, I would suggest getting contractor bags. They are 3 mil thick and very tough. A large durable trash bag has a multitude of uses.

I'm all for gear testing on a regular basis.

One year I took my MSR Whisperlite International (my oldest stove) with me but it turned out that the O-ring where the stove connects into the tank was dried and cracked causing the stove to leak. I didn't find this out until my second attempt to light the stove. The extra O-rings were sitting back home in the repair kit on some shelf.

So now I fire up the stove at home if it hasn't been used in the last two months, and I also open up the tent to check for mold, etc.

Quoted: I'm all for gear testing on a regular basis. One year I took my MSR Whisperlite International (my oldest stove) with me but it turned out that the O-ring where the stove connects into the tank was dried and cracked causing the stove to leak. I didn't find this out until my second attempt to light the stove. The extra O-rings were sitting back home in the repair kit on some shelf. So now I fire up the stove at home if it hasn't been used in the last two months, and I also open up the tent to check for mold, etc.

That is a great point and a annoying lesson. Thank God most times we can fall back on fire to cook with in most situations. I will have to see if my jetboil has parts that will need replaced on a regular basis.

I have a JetBoil, and I love it. It has its limitations at high altitudes though.

I like to empty out the freeze dried foods into ziplock bags and just take one of the foil pouches to cook the food in. Then just rinse it or wash it out and save it. You save on the bulk and weight of trying to pack multiple foil pouches into stuff sacks. I liken it to field stripping MREs. You can also split the portions of the larger meals, and save some money, too.

A Powerbar for breakfast may not be the best thing. The body has been starving all night from burning calories, especially in cold weather. I try to eat some oatmeal, coffee, and fruit, Then eat an energy bar between meals.