Here’s some advice from Wade Bastian on the Appalachian trail gear he carried on his hike. Wade set out on the 2200 mile trail with fellow Eagle Scout Bucky Kellorg in February. As planned, Wade interrupted his hike to spend the summer employed as a peak steward in New York’s Adirondack mountains (he’s stewarding a peak in the photo above). […]
Tarps and Tents
Teton Mountain Ultra 3 – First Impressions
A couple of years ago we replaced our troop’s tents with the Marmot Limelight 3 (you can read about the rationale and the Marmot Limelight here) The folks at Teton sports offer a similar design, the Teton Mountain Ultra 3 . I had my first chance to set up the Teton Mountain Ultra 3 this weekend, and […]
Philmont Dining Fly Infographic
The Philmont dining fly or crew tarp is a 12′ by 12′ nylon tarp rigged for simple, easy setup. Hiking sticks or trekking poles can be used as poles, eight stakes and three paracord lines are all else that’s required. A 40′ paracord ridge line is rigged underneath the ridge of the tarp and a loop of the line is threaded through […]
Keep Your Camping Gear Dry
If you think the advice in this infographic is nutty, heretical, or (to be charitable) merely inadvisable; so did I until I tried it. I first read about this in Cliff Jacobson’s book Camping’s Top Secrets. Jacobson is an author, wilderness guide, Distinguished Eagle Scout, and a regular contributor to Scouting Magazine. When I interviewed Cliff […]
Hammock Camping for Scouts
Our latest ScoutCircle presentation featured Derek Hansen, Scoutmaster and hammock camping guru. If you are curious about hammocks and how Scouts can use them take the time to watch the presentation. Derek is a great speaker and shares all of the basics in this presentation; here’s the resources mentioned: Hammock Forums Derek’s website The Ultimate […]
Customizing My Hennessy Hammock
One of my old Scouts through-hiked the Appalachian trail a few years ago. He joined us for a camping trip afterwards and showed us the camping hammock he had used for his hike, I was impressed. I bought a Hennessy Hammock (the deluxe explorer) and used it on several occasions. I was close to being […]
Review of Marmot Limelight 3 Tent
UPDATE 11/17 Our Limelights are still going strong after six years of continuous use on Scout camping trips. We’ve had one or two tears, but everything else is holding up admirably. No problems with poles and zippers, waterproofing still strong. The Limelight model was updated since we bought ours, they now have straighter walls and […]
Review of Speedmid Shelter
Walter Underwood has posted a great review of the Mountain Laurel Design’s two pound Speedmid shelter: It is plenty roomy inside. I’m 6’ 3” and my tent buddy is nearly as tall, and we both had room, with our gear inside. The tent walls do slope at a pretty low angle—the heavy nighttime rain was […]
Kohte – German Scout Tent
The tent you are looking at are standard German scout tents. Each scout carries a panel and when they reach the destination for camp they put the pieces together. These tents are called ‘khote’ and are based on the shape and function of the Saami tipi-like reindeer skin tent. The Saami (sometimes called Laplanders) are […]
Silnylon Tarp
Silnylon has been taken the backpacking world by storm. Lightweight ripstop nylon cloth is impregnated (as opposed to coated) with silicone creating waterproof featherweight material for packs, tarps and other gear. I have used 10 X 12 foot silnylon tarp for the past few years instead of a tent. Offered by Campmor the tarp has […]
Philmont Dining Fly Tarp
Philmont Scout Ranch is a BSA High Adventure Base offering an extensive program of treks for Scouts. Here is how to rig a 12×12 tarp (a method I have heard called the Philmont dining fly tarp) to stand up to strong winds and rain. This rig will keep about eight people (who get along fairly well) out of […]
Rigging Tarps
A tarp creates an dry island of refuge if it is properly rigged; if not it becomes a flapping, dripping, water-catching pain. Here’s an idea from Cliff Jacobsen’s book Camping’s Top Secrets on rigging two tarps to create a chimney to keep a fire going in the rain. Here’s a view showing how the tarps […]
Gutter Spikes as Tent Stakes
Gutter spikes (seven inch long aluminum nails used to secure gutters to a house) make inexpensive, lightweight, strong, tent stakes. They are available at home centers, hardware stores and lumber yards. Gutter spikes at Amazon I special ordered a box of 250 at the local lumber yard, enough to outfit all of our tents two or […]
Eureka Timberline 4
The Eureka Timberline 4 may be the most popular tent ever. Many scout troops choose the Timberline because: It is easy to set up and easy to pack up.While the tent is easy to pitch it is advisable to read and follow the pitching instructions carefully so the poles don’t get bent. It is durable. […]
