lets talk gear

[mobil1syn]

in my single days i ran whatever gear was cheap because without fail it would get covered in gear oil. additionally i had a fair amount of space in the bed of the truck for the ol' stuff and shove. now that i got a family of 5, we are running our program out of an SUV upgrading gear to reduce its footprint is needed. while it pains me to drop $100-200 on sleeping bag for my kid plus a sleeping pad, reducing the size from 2 5gal buckets to 2 bottles of water is appealing as that would be a huge help in the tetris game. the less space the gear takes up, the more space i have for food and i like food.

anyone else dealing with this or come up with solution?

 

[badlinesgoodtimes]

Time for a roof rack with a Yakima box...

I got nothing as my solution was buy a 35 ft RV so I could bring more shit and get worse gas mileage.

 

[mobil1syn]

no roof racks or hitch haulers.

 

[badlinesgoodtimes]

no roof racks or hitch haulers.

Come on mannnnn... What about one of those roof bags that attach to factory rails ?

 

[SaltyMethods]

Can we talk Truck Nutz?

 

[badlinesgoodtimes]

Just picked up a little 500w power box for our trip up to Idaho last month

Lion Energy Safari LT

Need a Portable Power Generator? Lion Energy Has the Answer

The Lion Safari LT™ is a portable solar powered generator that provides safe, silent, and renewable power for your cooking, communication, entertainment, CPAP, work, and emergency needs. No fuel, smelly fumes, or maintenance needed. At 500W of multiple outputs and only 11 lbs, you can have power...

lionenergy.com

Got it to run TV and DVD player while we were on the road. What I'm stoked on it is small and light enough (only 11lbs) to throw in the back of a truck for camping or even around the house rather than running an extension cord. In fact, we had it going out at the Hodge clean-up to run a flood light to light up all the food. Rather than listen to the Honda 2000....

It's rechargeable via solar panel or just plug it in when you have power available. @Adventure Endeavor gave me a discount code which saved me a couple of bucks.

 

[mobil1syn]

to follow up on this ... dipped my toe in the ultralight backpacking pool. ordered up a sleeping pad and 40* bag for a ton of money that both pack into a litre size foot print. if they work out ill make it rain dolla dolla bills yall for the whole family.

 

[badlinesgoodtimes]

to follow up on this ... dipped my toe in the ultralight backpacking pool. ordered up a sleeping pad and 40* bag for a ton of money that both pack into a litre size foot print. if they work out ill make it rain dolla dolla bills yall for the hole family.

View attachment 3023

what was the damage if you don't mind me asking...

I need a new bag my Coleman is shit and yuge.

 

[Adventure Endeavor]

If anyone Is looking for a lion Energy product use code Adventure15 it will save you some $$$.

 

[mobil1syn]

what was the damage if you don't mind me asking...

I need a new bag my Coleman is shit and yuge.

updated post with pricing. its just money, right?

if this works out, i will be replacing all the sleeping pads to start since they are the cheaper option and will reduce the footprint on those items by 90%. i am testing best smallest footprint possible to start. not overly thrilled that the zipper is only a 1/3 but its a way they UL mfgs cut weight, will report back as i get some nights on the setup.

 

[badlinesgoodtimes]

updated post with pricing. its just money, right?

if this works out, i will be replacing all the sleeping pads to start since they are the cheaper option and will reduce the footprint on those items by 90%. i am testing best smallest footprint possible to start. not overly thrilled that the zipper is only a 1/3 but its a way they UL mfgs cut weight, will report back as i get some nights on the setup.

it's pricey but shit I've had my current bag for 15 years so if you look at it like that really not that bad.

I was eyeballing some of the north face ones at their outlet store last time I was there ( pre covid i think haha)

 

[desert_steve]

I ended up slowing switching-out my camping gear for the same reason(s). Everything was taking up way too much space and weighed too much and the back of my 1st gen 4runner was so overloaded it wasnt funny. Plus I got into "adventure riding" (AKA camping off a motorcycle) and needed smaller/lighter gear for that too. Im a total cheap bastard so almost everything I bought I got on some kind of sale.

Costco was good for some stuff - I got a couple different "klymit" sleeping pads (cant remember their names but one was orange and the bigger one was tan and insulated and I prefer that one even though it weighs and packs just a bit more), and one of them came with a pretty nice inflatable camp pillow that works really good too. I also got a 2-pack of "Ubio" rechargeable camping lanterns that double as portable chargers.
Im not a fan of mummy bags but realize theyre the best option for pack size and weight, so I compromised and got a "sea to summit TK III" hybrid bag (on a black friday sale) thats been awesome. I got it from either 'steep and cheap' or 'backcountry', I dont remember, but I do remember it was a killer sale but that it was still roughly $250 and I was getting sweaty and nervous at the thought of dropping $250 on a fuckin sleeping bag (Im used to coleman bags at walmart). It came with a stuff sack so it packs down pretty small, and I think the comfort rating on it is 20* with a survivability rating below 0* IIRC - something like that.
As far as packing clothes and soft items, roll-top bags with an air lock are AWESOME for packing your stuff down to a smaller size as long as you dont care how wrinkled your clothes get. Plus they wont let your stuff get wet.

 

[SaltyMethods]

I just came across this guy's 1st Gen Tacoma build. This guy's approach definitely seems to have "budget" in mind.

 

[mobil1syn]

so I compromised and got a "sea to summit TK III" hybrid bag

that was the other bag i was looking at, but ended up going with the one i didnt because of the 1L packed volume vs 4L.

how do you like it?

I just came across this guy's 1st Gen Tacoma build. This guy's approach definitely seems to have "budget" in mind.

DINK is a very different than a family of 5, gear was no issue for the wife and i back in the day. gas tank was up against the cab and hauling my buddies 37s for him. ah the simpler times.



even easier when i was single. call my buddy on weds, tell him to bring clothes for the weekend and be at my place at 5 on fri we are going to the rubicon. no tent, just some spare parts and away we went. left friday after work, wheeled the con was back to socal around 10 on sunday. ahh the even simpler times

 

[badlinesgoodtimes]

that was the other bag i was looking at, but ended up going with the one i didnt because of the 1L packed volume vs 4L.

how do you like it?



DINK is a very different than a family of 5, gear was no issue for the wife and i back in the day. gas tank was up against the cab and hauling my buddies 37s for him. ah the simpler times.

View attachment 3025

even easier when i was single. call my buddy on weds, tell him to bring clothes for the weekend and be at my place at 5 on fri we are going to the rubicon. no tent, just some spare parts and away we went. left friday after work, wheeled the con was back to socal around 10 on sunday. ahh the even simpler times
View attachment 3026

Oh you mean its more complex now with a whole family to account for ?

Although I was always about having shit be somewhat tiddy in its own case.

This was my set up in the Rover way back in 2009. Bought all these pelican cases from buddy for pretty cheap. Still have them and still use them...


Which reminds me anyone with an SUV ....best tie down set up.... D Rings on all 4 corners of the cargo area... then get the quick connect chain links then a 2 chains ( not the rapper) side to side one in front one in back... then you have point to ratchet strap stuff down...

As for simpler times Single cab lyfe haha a photo from memory lane.

 

[desert_steve]

that was the other bag i was looking at, but ended up going with the one i didnt because of the 1L packed volume vs 4L.

how do you like it?

I love it, its definitely a good compromise for mummy bag haters. My dads big into hinking and has all of the crazy-expensive gear and stuff. I tried one of his $700 bags and while it packed up nice and small and weighed nothing, theres no way I couldve comfortably slept in that thing.

 

[mobil1syn]

headed to the sierras this weekend, kinda crazy to think this covers my sleeping shituation

 

[mobil1syn]

headed to the sierras this weekend, kinda crazy to think this covers my sleeping shituation

had a great weekend in the sierras. got a solid 7mi 1500' hike with the family and shared some time with friends.

the sleeping shituation is about 90% there. the temp rating is fairly accurate, it was probably in the mid-high 40s at nights. i wasnt cold, but wasnt warm, just in the weird annoyance state most of the night which caused lots of tossing and turning (i sleep in my chonies as clothes annoy me, im sure some clothes would have kept me warmer) this keep the wife up as "it sounded like you were rolling around in a bag of chips". night two i tossed a horse/mexican blanket i keep in the tahoe in between the bag and sleeping pad. no reports of noise from the wife and i was warmer. will be adding a small blanket to go in-between the bag/pad and get an insert for the bag to get me another 10-15* on the rating.

the sleep pad was significantly more comfortable than the thermarest i have been using, so i will be getting the wife one of those to start. plus the whole bag inflating deal is pretty rad. old vs. new

 

[dwphoto]

had a great weekend in the sierras. got a solid 7mi 1500' hike with the family and shared some time with friends.

the sleeping shituation is about 90% there. the temp rating is fairly accurate, it was probably in the mid-high 40s at nights. i wasnt cold, but wasnt warm, just in the weird annoyance state most of the night which caused lots of tossing and turning (i sleep in my chonies as clothes annoy me, im sure some clothes would have kept me warmer) this keep the wife up as "it sounded like you were rolling around in a bag of chips". night two i tossed a horse/mexican blanket i keep in the tahoe in between the bag and sleeping pad. no reports of noise from the wife and i was warmer. will be adding a small blanket to go in-between the bag/pad and get an insert for the bag to get me another 10-15* on the rating.

the sleep pad was significantly more comfortable than the thermarest i have been using, so i will be getting the wife one of those to start. plus the whole bag inflating deal is pretty rad. old vs. new

View attachment 3852

"it sounded like you were rolling around in a bag of chips"

Bhaha...