Camping – Modern Anachronist

New Door for the Ger

Last year, I noticed that one of the finger joints on the door was failing. I also may have figured out a way to reduce the amount of rain that runs down the door. So this spring I’m replacing the door frame.

New door frame. Kept the old purple door.

Ladder (Ger) rack for the trailer.

So, I CAN fit our entire camp setup in & on the excursion, but doing so means loading some heavy bits on the roof. I’m starting to see that this is not worth the risk.

It also means squeezing the kids onto the left & center seat and they’re starting to require a bit of space between them. (Teenagers apparently require more personal space than toddlers.)

So I bought the trailer. And now it’s time for the second phase of the modular trailer to be built.

Camp Coffee (French Style)

(part 2 of my ongoing coffee series)

The French press is probably the way I make coffee at camp most frequently. And surveying my friends’ campsites it seems to be the most popular with them as well.

Camp coffee (Italian Style)

I’ve been on a lifelong journey to find the best way to make coffee at camp. And like all things in life, it’s the art of balancing comprises to find the thing that’s best for you.

Ignore the pot of water, that’s for cocoa for the first child.

Coleman Peak One 442 Rebuild

This is the first backpacking stove I ever bought (Spring 2001, probably). And my first liquid fuel Coleman appliance. I had a fuel leak below the valve, so it’s time for a rebuild.

Ridge line in detail.

The ridge line is a critical, but fairly simple part of the tarp setup. I started with a 50’ length of reflective paracord. Some people use a 30′ long line, this one may become shorter in the future.

Some people don’t like paracord, but it’s a known quantity for me and I’m not convinced that the alternatives are significantly better.

My ridge line starts with a bowline. The bowline never gets untied.

The bowline. Probably my most used knot.

MSR Mini Groundhogs

The basic stakes included with most tents are terrible. One that came with the tarp bent the first time I put it in the ground.

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The MSR mini groundhogs are a joy to use, though they are quite painful if you try to push them in by hand. No worries on that though, they are short enough that they are easy to push in with your boots.

12×12 Tarp Configurations

What I like best about the tarp is that it’s infinitely adjustable. You can pitch it high off the ground to get lots of ventilation or low to trap warmth inside.

Played with it in the yard today to try out some different pitches. I threw a single sleeping pad inside to give a sense of scale. The 12×12 is giant for a single camper.

Plow point interior. Plenty of room to stretch out.

Still another tent (but not really)

For some reason I started shopping for backpacking tents. But I couldn’t find one I liked. They all had one or more fatal flaws –

Too heavy
Too small when pitched
Too large when packed
Too expensive

But I think I may have found the perfect solution.

Nimble Double Air Mattress review.

In the yurt, my wife and I sleep on a folding air bed, but I don’t have room for it in the modern tents so I went looking for something smaller.

The Alps Mountaineering Nimble Insulate d Sleeping Pad- Double makes for a great night’s sleep. It’s also available single wide in insulated and non-insulated versions.