Love it when a plan comes together...

[MikekiM]

Got out for a quick overnighter to test out a few new pieces of gear. I try to stay lean with the amount gear I carry.

Kelty Backroads Shelter...

Just about perfect. Can't think of anything more I need. Setup time was under ten minutes. Under 10 pounds by a stretch. Works fine with the Bestop Cargo High Rock 4x4 tailgate mounted cargo basket. Ambient out side the tarp enclosure was right around freezing. Under the tarp it was 43F, before the fire.

I could have sat under the tarp and still felt the heat from the fire. Plenty of room. Maybe more room than I need. Sides roll up for warmer weather. Great having a little privacy when it was time to change and for the morning constitutional

Sexy Hot Campfire Windscreen

Folds flat and stuffs in the carry bag for the WinnerWell fold flat fire pit. Bounced heat and light back into the open tarp exactly as I had hoped it would. It's a pretty cheap piece of kit and might not last a lifetime but it takes up very little room, sets up in seconds and I can buy ten of them before I hit the price point of the The Original Fire Reflector by MCRanch Overland.

Secured it at the bottom with two UL Ti shepherd hook tarp stakes. Even with a brisk breeze it din't budge.
Next trip I will set the fire pit a few inches closer to the tarp

Fiskars X11 splitting hatchet

Love this thing. Stores in a pair of Quick Fists mounted on the Rock Slide Engineering spare tire gear mounts (shovel & hatchet on one side and water on the other). It's holding an edge without concern. Made quick work of a pile of wood. Love the custom Kydex sheath.

 

[SkylinesSuck]

How much can you get the difference with that fire reflector?

 

[AdelaideTJ]

That's brilliant. Love the collapsible firepit. I might look into getting one.

I take a small 2 man black wolf tent with me when I camp, an exped mat and inflatable pillow and a -20°C sleeping bag. But it only goes to about 0°C in winter here in the extreme, so my setup is toasty!

Do you chuck a cast iron skillet on the fire for cooking? I use a Weber Gas Go Anywhere and small Furno stove

 

[MikekiM]

How much can you get the difference with that fire reflector?

The before/after tests were limited to what I posted above but I can confirm that walking full circle around the fire you can absolutely feel the drop in temp on the back side of the reflector and I do notice it is warmer under the tarp. In a pinch, I could move the fire a foot or two closer to the tarp door and sit under the tarp but in and out would be a pain if the side curtains are down.

Given the minimal size and weight of the tarp and weight of the tarp, folding fire pit and reflector.. I am calling this a win.

That's brilliant. Love the collapsible firepit. I might look into getting one.

I take a small 2 man black wolf tent with me when I camp, an exped mat and inflatable pillow and a -20°C sleeping bag. But it only goes to about 0°C in winter here in the extreme, so my setup is toasty!

View attachment 511261

Do you chuck a cast iron skillet on the fire for cooking? I use a Weber Gas Go Anywhere and small Furno stove

View attachment 511262

View attachment 511264

I've had my eye on the WinnerWell fold-flat fire pit for a while. The construction is rock solid and while a bit heavy, it all folds flat and stores in a heavy canvas carry bag.

If I am doing a really quick unplanned overnighter there are a few state and county parks within striking distance of me that require a tent. I use a hammock for sleep. I have half a dozen hammocks all of which I've made. They are all a little different. No bug net for winter; removable fully enclosed bug net for buggy season and my favorite is a half bug net (which is my preferred backpacking hammock. Cuban fiber tarp to cover the hammock. Got three of those in different sizes. Insulation in a hammock is an under quilt that hangs under the hammock and a top quilt that goes over you which is basically a mummy bag with not zipper. I have a few of those too... Underquits in 0F, 20F and a 40F shorty. Top quilts in 0F, 40F & 55F. Mix and match as needed.

I can't sleep on the ground after years of great sleep in the hammock.

I don't carry cast iron. As much as Iike to camp out of the Jeep, I am a backpacker at heart and try to keep my kit to a reasonable minimum. That said I have quite a few cooking options. I have a JetBoil and a FireMaple Spide burner both of which I run off 1lb propane using an adapter. I don't think I can count how many iso-propane canister stoves I have.. maybe eight. They are really small and ultra lite and I don't use them off-trail. I have a single burner butane stove for warmer weather. I have a classic double burner Coleman propane stove. For grilling, the WinnerWell fold-flat fire pit has two removable grill grates. I usually bring only one.

 

[AdelaideTJ]

I don't think we have WinterWell here in Aus, but there are some similar brands I've seen. Might have another look with cool weather on the way. Love the idea of the built in grill grates. I'll keep that in mind when I'm looking.

I've never tried a hammock truth be told. I recently purchased a stack of hiking gear having been primarily a car camper prior, but haven't had many opportunities to fully utilise it yet. For now, I'm finding the small profile of the new gear in the Jeep to be a great combo for quick weekend getaways. I still love my Black Wolf Turbo 240, but it's a hell of a thing to set up and use for an overnighter, especially with the full complement of cooking gear and camp chairs etc that usually comes with.

Reminded me of this

 

[AdelaideTJ]

Btw, love the idea of making your own hammock. How tricky is that? Any good YouTube videos to follow that you know of? I think my partial fear of hammocks stems from the fact that they always seem to break when I use them! I like the idea of being in control of the quality

 

[MikekiM]

I don't think we have WinterWell here in Aus, but there are some similar brands I've seen. Might have another look with cool weather on the way. Love the idea of the built in grill grates. I'll keep that in mind when I'm looking.

I've never tried a hammock truth be told. I recently purchased a stack of hiking gear having been primarily a car camper prior, but haven't had many opportunities to fully utilise it yet. For now, I'm finding the small profile of the new gear in the Jeep to be a great combo for quick weekend getaways. I still love my Black Wolf Turbo 240, but it's a hell of a thing to set up and use for an overnighter, especially with the full complement of cooking gear and camp chairs etc that usually comes with.

Reminded me of this

View attachment 511399

For clarity.. the grill grates aren't 'built in'. They drop on and lock onto notches at the corners of the fire pit. Upside is there are two, so you can have the grate on one side and still have the other side open for feeding the fire and adjusting the coals.

Regarding the hammocks. I can very honestly tell you I sleep better in my DIY hammocks than I do in the $3k mattress we have in our bedroom. Not terribly difficult to make them until you start doing zippers and bug nets. If you have an eye on managing weight bug net fabric becomes wispy and tricky to sew. I make my own zippers to keep weight down.

Your hammocks break? In decades of hammock camping with all sorts of fabric hammocks I had one failure. The fabric was/is called MonoLite. It looks like bug net but it is marketed as a standard fabric. Making hammocks from this super lite fabric was a rage for a while. I made one and used on a five day thru hike on the Laurel Highlands trail in PA and it was great. On another trip, I pulled into camp and setup after a 13 mile day. No trail heads in striking distance without night hiking. Sat down in the hammock and.... riiiiipppppp. Full catastrophic failure. I had nothing in my pockets and didn't stress the fabric in any way.. it just failed. Fortunately, I am pretty good at setting up my tarp on the ground as an emergency, in the event there are no usable trees, which is really rare in the north east. Luckily I didn't land on the rocks.

What kind of failures are you seeing?

 

[AdelaideTJ]

For clarity.. the grill grates aren't 'built in'. They drop on and lock onto notches at the corners of the fire pit. Upside is there are two, so you can have the grate on one side and still have the other side open for feeding the fire and adjusting the coals.

Regarding the hammocks. I can very honestly tell you I sleep better in my DIY hammocks than I do in the $3k mattress we have in our bedroom. Not terribly difficult to make them until you start doing zippers and bug nets. If you have an eye on managing weight bug net fabric becomes wispy and tricky to sew. I make my own zippers to keep weight down.

Your hammocks break? In decades of hammock camping with all sorts of fabric hammocks I had one failure. The fabric was/is called MonoLite. It looks like bug net but it is marketed as a standard fabric. Making hammocks from this super lite fabric was a rage for a while. I made one and used on a five day thru hike on the Laurel Highlands trail in PA and it was great. On another trip, I pulled into camp and setup after a 13 mile day. No trail heads in striking distance without night hiking. Sat down in the hammock and.... riiiiipppppp. Full catastrophic failure. I had nothing in my pockets and didn't stress the fabric in any way.. it just failed. Fortunately, I am pretty good at setting up my tarp on the ground as an emergency, in the event there are no usable trees, which is really rare in the north east. Luckily I didn't land on the rocks.

View attachment 511494

What kind of failures are you seeing?

Sorry, I completely missed your reply. I can't say I'm experienced in using hammocks at all. I think my fear stems from foolishly jumping into old leisure hardware store hammocks that have been strung up outside for 20 years in the UV in a friend's backyard then been surprised when they snapped and sent my ass into the ground but I'm curious about DIY hammocks for camping so will see if I can find some videos on how to make one effectively and give it a go.

 

[MikekiM]

I've got measured drawings for all of the ones I've done and a bazillion links to YouTube vids.
Easy to overthink it but it's just a rectangle of fabric with rolled hems until you start adding bug nets and zippers and such. The formula for proper ridge line is easy.. 83% of the length of the hammock. And last, there are only a handful of ways to construct the end gather.

If you decide to explore making one, let me know. I can help