1TRAK
Guest
The freedom we have on a bike is made complete when we tent it!
OP
OP
Igo
Guest
Amen. I've spent many hundreds of happy knights in a tent or under the stars.The freedom we have on a bike is made complete when we tent it!
Going to have to try this. there are good parks near here (Houston TX). I havent camped in a few years but have a good selection of gear. Just need a new air mattress.
OP
OP
Igo
Guest
Just get one of the new hi-tech mattresses. They make all the difference.
OP
OP
Igo
Guest
Nobody likes camping their first time. LOL.
And I'll add this. Deciding to take up camping just to save money on the road is a mistake. Sure, it's possible to camp on the cheap. But you should want to camp first, then make it match your budget. If you'd really rather be in a room, then you'll be really miserable when things don't go perfectly. And they rarely go perfectly. Sometimes they do, and that's usually only because you're experienced and prepared.
And being prepared costs money. Not necessarily a lot of money, but some. We've all heard stories about or have experience with stopping on the side of the road, throwing a tarp over the bike, climbing under it and getting a full night's sleep. It happens. But that kind of camping on a regular basis will eventually bring misery.
OP
OP
Igo
Guest
This is just a camping thread, not a mid-evil torture thread. If ya don't like to camp, don't camp.
I have to agree on one thing, my 15 pounds of camping gear on this bike will be worth well over a grand ut it has LONG been paid for and has paid for itself many times over.
I have to agree on one thing, my 15 pounds of camping gear on this bike will be worth well over a grand ut it has LONG been paid for and has paid for itself many times over.
1TRAK
Guest
Camping to save money is about the same as buying a bike to save gas.
Riding a bike does save a bit on fuel to and from our daily duties but saving real money, we all know the answer to that.
Camping is the same, you may save a bit versus motels but add up your gear, the drive to get off the beaten path, other variables and the savings aren't that great.
What IS GREAT though is the drive off the beaten path, having your own gear and independence, fire, stars, moon, sound of a nearby stream or waterfall, coyotes howling or a hundred other sounds, sights, or smells to enjoy.
Camping really isn't about saving money, it's enjoying the outdoors. Consider it a journey, the more you travel the better it gets.
elizilla
Guest
Camping also makes it possible to go to events where you didn't reserve early enough to get a room. Which is important when you are as disorganized as I am.
People couldn't believe I humped and air mattress when camping with the scouts. But it was oh so comfortable. The only time I didn't was at Philmont. We did a 60+ mile backpacking trek and I didn't want to hold the crew up huffing and puffing the thing and then getting the air out in the morning.
We live on the western edge of Fort Morgan and in the fall and winter hear coyotes within a couple hundred yards of the house. Our cat doesn't particularly want to go out on those nights.
Chuck, I went to Philmont in 1959. We had shelter halves for tents. I had an old army mummy bag, with just the nylon outer lining and the itchy-scratchy wool inner bag. It started raining about 1/2 hour after we pitched our first camp and didn't stop for six days. My sleeping bag was the only one in our expedition that never got wet. It never quit being itchy and scratchy but it never got wet!
None of us had air mattresses, but after a few nights, we got better about leveling the ground where we were going to sleep and about trenching out tents. That was close to the best two weeks of my life for many, many years!
Chuck, I went to Philmont in 1959. We had shelter halves for tents. I had an old army mummy bag, with just the nylon outer lining and the itchy-scratchy wool inner bag. It started raining about 1/2 hour after we pitched our first camp and didn't stop for six days. My sleeping bag was the only one in our expedition that never got wet. It never quit being itchy and scratchy but it never got wet!
None of us had air mattresses, but after a few nights, we got better about leveling the ground where we were going to sleep and about trenching out tents. That was close to the best two weeks of my life for many, many years!
OP
OP
Igo
Guest
One thing you had in that old wool bag is the fact that wool insulation won't collapse when it is damp or wet outside. Sleeping bags CAN absorb moist air and become miserable, especially the Sears flannel cheapo types but your wool bag could absorb 10% its weight in moisture and you would never even know it. That and bags that can maintain their loft in damp climates are also bags that can have moisture pushed out by no more than forces of body temperature.
OP
OP
Igo
Guest
In a properly sealed tent you will never have to worry about a sidewinder in your sleeping bag. I often backpack without a tent. BUT...always check your boots for scorpions before you pt them on in the mornings. DOH!
OP
OP
Igo
Guest
I've been hit twice in the ankles by rattlesnakes. Neither broke the skin so what's to worry about. Anyway, only once was while I was camping/backpacking.
horsearcherwannabe
Guest
The only coyotes I've had problems with had two legs.