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Expo and camping tools and toys.

102K views 182 replies 36 participants last post by  eebamak20 
#1 ·
Thought I'd start a thread where we can show off and discuss our favorite camping and traveling items. Fun stuff that makes the great outdoors better, safer, or more convenient for us. Last year or 2 I've been getting back into camping more. Especially the vehicle based type. So I've been adding to and refining my gear a bit to better suit the way I'm using it these days. I've got some cool stuff to show (at least I think so) and hope you folks do too. A little arm chair camping for when we can't be out there.

I'll start with today's SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As with everything else I have a story to go with it. My wife has a Honda CRV. The storage area under the back instead of being covered by a piece of Masonite like many small cars has a nice little card/picnic/tailgating table. I been wanting a couple of these for camping tables. Nice and strong and a good size. Besides I like salvage stuff instead of spending $60 bucks on a new fancy roll up table.

So anyway I've been calling junkyards and hadn't found one yet. I was on my way to the land fill to dump some waste oil and junk today. On the way I passed a local junk yard I hadn't called and pulled in. I asked about a CRV and he said they had one just up the hill go check it out. It was in great shape and had a table so I grabbed it. I told the man I was on my way to the land fill and would they be interested in any of the scrap in my trailer. He walks out and says that it was crazy to just give scrap away. He looked in the trailer and said "I'll take the broken car seat, the old push mower and those couple of pieces of steel scrap. You take that table and have a great weekend!" SCORE! I got my table for trash.

It's roughly 31"x27"x25" tall and very sturdy. Once I took off the latch it is only about an inch thick folded up.






The best part is how it fits in the Trooper with the back seat up and the tool box in place.


I've got a lead on another one that I intend to check on this week. 1 for cooking on and 1 for eating at.
 
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#2 ·
That is AWESOME! What year range CRV's did that baby come in?

I don't have pics but, our (my hunting/camping buddies) special camping trick/thing is: tarps, long sticks (local dead-fall), parachute cord, rocks, old broom...

Once we pick out a site & figure out how many tents are going to go up, we sweep/pick the central area clean of large rocks/debris & use the rocks to build a nice focused fire pit with a kicker side for a grill top that we can slide coals under & one tall heat-reflective wall. This wall is opposite our 'main hang out' tent. Once that is settled we erect the tents & set to work with sticks/tarps/cord... We make frames around our tents & lash them together with the cord, then use the tarps as wind barriers & rain flies, corded to the frames. The largest tent gets a large 'patio style' layout in-front of it, the front end is open to emit heat from the fire-pits reflecting wall, with tarp sides & roof.

~psguardian
 
#4 ·
Found a pic of our 'main hang out' Tent / patio.



Very little wind chill in the tents, even though it was an exposed site 1100' up during Deer season. Think mid-low 30s over night, teeth chattering without the wind break... our body heat managed to keep the tents above shiver temps with the tarps in place.

~psguardian
 
#5 ·
Scored again. I just made it to the other yard today that said they had a CRV. I got there about 10 minutes before closing. 10 minutes later I left with another CRV table and it cost me $20. Now I'm good with 2 matching tables and total outlay of $20. I'm pleased!
 
#6 ·
squatch said:
Scored again. I just made it to the other yard today that said they had a CRV. I got there about 10 minutes before closing. 10 minutes later I left with another CRV table and it cost me $20. Now I'm good with 2 matching tables and total outlay of $20. I'm pleased!
very nice!

i spend too much on my camping gear. but im hoping to continue to put it too good use!

Ouray loop or continental divide trail later this year possibly.
 
#7 ·
Great idea for a thread

My favorite item is probably my Fiskars Axe



or my ENO

 
#8 ·
Nice tools. The hammock looks cool and I know they are getting popular but I don't think these old bones would be in much good shape after a night in one. I actually have an old backpackers hammock but I've never been comfortable sleeping in one for long.
 
#9 ·
Well, I'm a certified Gear Whore, when it comes to backpacking and outdoor gear.

I'll just share a couple of my favorite things.

I've owned near a dozen 1-3 person backpacking tents (including hammocks) but my favorite single person shelter ever is my Big Agnes 3 wire bivy



weighs just under a pound, gives me enough head room to read, and be comfortable, and the E-vent fabric is just the coolest stuff ever. I've woken up in it with 4" of snow all over it and still not a drop of moisture (including condensation from my breath) in it.

I've also owned lots of stoves, including Whisperlite, Jet-Boil, Primus... but my favorite stove right now is my Optimus Crux,



Has a wide burner and pot stand, yet folds super small and light, plus you can simmer with it (you can't simmer with Jet-Boil, or Whisperlite). I've even used it winter camping, I just slip a little chemical hand warmer under the canister to keep the gas warm.[/list]
 
#10 ·
Sags said:
Well, I'm a certified Gear Whore, when it comes to backpacking and outdoor gear.

I'll just share a couple of my favorite things.

I've owned near a dozen 1-3 person backpacking tents (including hammocks) but my favorite single person shelter ever is my Big Agnes 3 wire bivy



weighs just under a pound, gives me enough head room to read, and be comfortable, and the E-vent fabric is just the coolest stuff ever. I've woken up in it with 4" of snow all over it and still not a drop of moisture (including condensation from my breath) in it.

I've also owned lots of stoves, including Whisperlite, Jet-Boil, Primus... but my favorite stove right now is my Optimus Crux,



Has a wide burner and pot stand, yet folds super small and light, plus you can simmer with it (you can't simmer with Jet-Boil, or Whisperlite). I've even used it winter camping, I just slip a little chemical hand warmer under the canister to keep the gas warm.[/list]
this is the kind of stuff i love reading.

i love getting reviews and real life experience from others who use the same products i contemplate buying.

ill have to look into that stove. me and my backpacking buddies have been using the jetboil system for a while and it has its perks. but id love to check out some other stoves on the market.

i also think a bivey is in the works for this next year. 4 season tents are FAR to heavy if you ask me.
 
#11 ·
future RS said:
this is the kind of stuff i love reading.

i love getting reviews and real life experience from others who use the same products i contemplate buying.

ill have to look into that stove. me and my backpacking buddies have been using the jetboil system for a while and it has its perks. but id love to check out some other stoves on the market.

i also think a bivey is in the works for this next year. 4 season tents are FAR to heavy if you ask me.
Yeah, I have a JetBoil too. The JetBoil is great if all you do is eat freeze dried food (ie, only need to boil water) it is faster boiling then any other stove I've used, and the mug connecting to the burner is nice too, especially if you don't have a flat place to set your stove.

But the JetBoil doesn't suit me much because you can not cook on it. I like to do stuff like, eggs and pancakes and bacon sometimes. The JetBoil has to small of a burner head (not good for heat distribution, especially on a frying pan) and is very difficult to get to simmer. Also you need the extra pot kit if you wanna use any pot or pan besides their mug on it.

Plus the Crux is smaller and lighter.

As for a bivy, if you can afford one made with E-vent fabric, GET IT. The stuff is expensive, any brand bivy with E-vent would likely cost >$250. (mine retails for $299) But I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that the stuff is PFM (pure fraking magic). It's like Gore-Tex but breaths a million times better, no condensation on the inside at all, even with freezing temps and snow.
 
#12 ·
I like my little camping setup... light weight and easy to carry. I am into the minimalist camping thing.




:lol: :lol: :lol:

I just need to carry the kitchen sink too!
 
#13 ·
Speaking of camping tables, at Home Depot they have these:


http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

These tables fit PERFECTLY in the back of a 1st gen on top of the wheel arches. I then have a large Coleman cooler like this one:



That sits perfectly on top of the table, and can be strapped down.

Then, underneath the table, my tent, bed rolls, and ammo cans slide perfectly under.

The Trooper really is the ideal camping vehicle. All my gear fits in perfectly.

Bart
 
#14 ·
#15 ·
Just bought a brand new tent for our trip out West in July. It's so new it hasn't even arrived at our house yet. It should later this week. It's Marmot Limelight 4P even though there are only 2 of us. I like the extra room.

Will give a review when we get home in 2 months.





Got it brand new on the cheap (Less than half price!) and it comes with:

-Gear Loft & Footprint
-Two Doors & Vestibules
-Bare Bones Setup - Allows the Fly to be Used by Itself with Footprint to Make a Lightweight, Sturdy Shelter
-Catenary Cut Floor - Fully Waterproof Floor with Taped Seams Lifted Off the Ground
-Full Coverage Fly[/img]
 
#16 ·
Our favorite camping cooler was a freebie:



I use to be an RA in college. Another RA (A dork & stickler for the rules) confiscated this cooler full of beer. It also had a Bud Light logo on it.

Me and some of the other "normal" RA's drank the beer and left the cooler int he confiscation closet until the end of the year.

After the school year if no one has claimed their stuff, it goes in the trash (or the way we saw it, into our possession.)

No one ever claimed the cooler. After each school year we had a lottery to see who got the first pick from the confiscation closet. I won and picked the cooler. I've now had it for 5 years. Best cooler ever.
 
#19 ·
RedStar said:
Just bought a brand new tent for our trip out West in July. It's so new it hasn't even arrived at our house yet. It should later this week. It's Marmot Limelight 4P even though there are only 2 of us. I like the extra room.

Will give a review when we get home in 2 months.





Got it brand new on the cheap (Less than half price!) and it comes with:

-Gear Loft & Footprint
-Two Doors & Vestibules
-Bare Bones Setup - Allows the Fly to be Used by Itself with Footprint to Make a Lightweight, Sturdy Shelter
-Catenary Cut Floor - Fully Waterproof Floor with Taped Seams Lifted Off the Ground
-Full Coverage Fly[/img]
That's a great tent, I've used one in the Wind Rivers for a week once, (it was orange though) also sold a bunch of them (well them and the Aeros which I like a bit more) when I worked at a gear store. I will tell you that this
-Bare Bones Setup - Allows the Fly to be Used by Itself with Footprint to Make a Lightweight, Sturdy Shelter
while tempting to try to shave a few ounces, is a terrible idea... ... unless you're going somewhere with no bugs (which doesn't exist AFAIK)

I speak from experience, there was a summer when I decided to try and be all survivalist minimalist hardcore, I tried all manner of home brewed shelters as well as the whole footprint, poles, and vestibule with no tent.

And I can confidently that I can make a shelter out of most anything, with just some paracord, and my Swiss Army knife, that will keep me dry and warm. However, I got sick of getting my face eaten off by mosquitoes every night, and after a few weeks caved and went back to the wonderful modern whiz-bang tents and bivys with nice tight mosquito netting. :D
 
#20 ·
Sags, What EXACTLY is the fuel for your above stove? That looks like a butane canister. The reason I ask is I have this wonderful old OLICAMP Scorpion butane stove. Actually 2 of them and matching cook set. It works great till it gets cold as in below 40 degrees. Even the propane/butane cold weather cartridges don't work so well in cold weather. I'm looking for options. The canister looks like WD40 cans with a small thread. I saw recently at REI that some of the short canisters have the same thread so that's cool. Just looking for better cold weather performance. I know butane works great in high mountains but I rarely get above 4k' in this part of the world.
 
#21 ·
squatch said:
Sags, What EXACTLY is the fuel for your above stove? That looks like a butane canister. The reason I ask is I have this wonderful old OLICAMP Scorpion butane stove. Actually 2 of them and matching cook set. It works great till it gets cold as in below 40 degrees. Even the propane/butane cold weather cartridges don't work so well in cold weather. I'm looking for options. The canister looks like WD40 cans with a small thread. I saw recently at REI that some of the short canisters have the same thread so that's cool. Just looking for better cold weather performance. I know butane works great in high mountains but I rarely get above 4k' in this part of the world.
It is a butane canister, specifically isobutane/propane 70/30 mix. Same as most all canister stoves, you're right the threads are pretty much standardized now there are lots of different brands (MSR, Optimus, Primus, Coleman) with the same threads, and they are all 70/30 mix as far as I know, so I just buy whatever brand is cheapest. Usually Coleman is around $5 each for the short canisters, and those will burn about 2-3 hours. If I only use the stove for dinner, and maybe 1-2 breakfasts I can go a week on 2 short canisters cooking for 2 people.

They do lose pressure in cold weather, and are not as fuel efficient as liquid fuel stoves like the Whisperlite, but I like them just for the convenience, no pumping, no priming, no filling gas bottles... just screw on a canister and light it. I have used mine in cold weather, I stuck chemical hand warmers under the canister (they are all concave on the bottom) to warm the fuel a bit and it worked OK, though if you are doing a lot of winter camping a liquid fuel stove is better. I do have a Whisperlite too, that I used to use in cold weather.
 
#22 ·
Speaking of stoves, I keep forgetting that Optimus was bought by Brunton. They still make some great stoves just branded differently.

This guy http://www.moosejaw.com/moosejaw/shop/p ... 000001_-1_

Used to be branded the Optimus Nova, Brunton just changed the shape and color. I went on a trip with a guy who had one once, and it is the baddest stove I know of. The thing sounds like a turbojet when it lights up, and it has an adjustable jet so it will burn white gas, auto gas, kerosene, jet A, diesel, alcohol... anything you have really.

If you want the ultimate go anywhere, burn anything, cold or hot weather stove it's the one. $ It is pricey though $
 
#23 ·
Thanks, I think I found the answer to my question with a little web searching. I have about 1/2 a case of regular warm weather butane fuel still. The cold weather mix wasn't working so well anymore. I think the mix I had was not only an older style but It seems that in really cold weather if you don't pre-warm and shake the canisters before use the propane burns off leaving only the butane in the can. I think that was the root of my problem. I'll get a couple of new cans of cold weather fuel and put them in the sleeping bag at night now in real cold.

I also this spring pulled out an old Primus Grasshopper stove from the early '70s that I haven't used in many years. It still functions fine (especially in cold) and I took it on 2 trips this spring. It is made for the tall skinny propane tanks but seems to be fine with the short fat ones. It's mainly just used to perc coffee and heat soup or beans. Only prob is the burner is small and very hot so it tends to burn stuff in the middle of the pan. I had forgotten I even had this.

From the way back machine.



Here is the butane stove I've been speaking of. Oilicamp Scorpion. They were quite poular in the late '80s and seems they are back on the market. I have the entire cook kit with 2 stove burners.

In this blue bag is an entire camp kitchen. The coffee perk on the left I recently bought at URE and it sucks because it is aluminum. Don't buy aluminum camp cook stuff. It loses heat to the cold air faster than the stove can heat it up. Especially without a windscreen. A lesson I have recently relearned.


This is what's in the bag. All pots are stainless steel with copper bottoms.
skillet, big pot with lid, small pot with lid, aluminum fitted windscreen, 2 stove burners.






This is a complete stove without the fuel canister.




Set up the legs.


Add the burner pan.


Screw on the burner.


Add the pot rest wings.


Set the windscreen in place and screw on a canister. The windscreen is what sets this apart. it fits the pots tightly and make for a nice hot butane stove that works well even in high winds.


Making coffee. This last trip to GWNF was the 1st time I've used the cheapo perk on this stove. It works much better this way.


It only takes a moment or 2 to get from bag to cooking.

I'm really not much of a gear hound these days but do get attached to some cool stuff. I don't care much about the newest thing anymore. But when I find something I like I tend to hang on to it. This stove has always been a favorite unless it's really cold out.

The table is one of the CRV tables. They got used all 4 days at GWNF and I'm quite happy with them. Very sturdy.
 
#24 ·
I guess this is as good a place as any to put this. I've been looking at 2 under bed storage boxes we had in the basement. My son used them in his dorm room 1 year at school. I thought they might be great for camping equipment storage in Red Beans. They are but if they were 1" narrower they would be awesome. Because they would fit side by side in the back with the seat folded forward. They do work fine in a 2nd gen trooper side by side. 2nd gens have a bit more distance between the wheel wells. In those trucks these would make great drawers under a rear platform. Not quite as tall as the wheel wells.

These boxes are Rubbermaid 16.8 gallon fashion clears. They stack and have wheels on the bottom. The lids open from each end or can be removed completely.
http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/35 ... nPzSFlTCqg

I have a wooden tool box in red beans that I made in '88 for my 1st Trooper. It fits against the back seat and lashes down. I often leave it in the same place when I fold the seat forward. 2 of these boxes will stack in that space between the folded seat and the toolbox.




1 box is enough for most of the stuff I will carry in a box like this. There is a lot of room in each box. So with only one it will fit at the rear door snugly against the wheel wells. Actually you could stack 2 or more here but they would bump my rear door speakers in my truck. This is the way I carried my kitchen gear to GWNF this last trip. I'm using the box as a chuck box for food and kitchen storage.



Here is a shot where we tried the fit in Loopedr1's 2nd gen trooper at GW. they will fit side by side and make a great set of drawers under a platform or they are flat enough themselves to be a load deck.


I hope somebody can get some use or ideas from this.
 
#26 ·
Mark,

I might borrow that idea with the rubbermaid boxes! I am working out storage issues and that might just be the answer. Just build a load floor above them and like you said... removable drawers!!

Thanks!
 
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