Hiking & Backpacking Megathread II: Still nervous around bears

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Hiking & Backpacking Megathread II: Still nervous around bears

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Levitate posted:

I just bought an Enlightened Equipment RevX, but haven't used it (have a trip coming in 2 weeks that I'll use it on), but from everything I've read they review really well and are great for the price. That said, the price is going up in September because of rising material costs

Basically the idea is that with sleeping bags, the insulation that you sleep on (the bottom of the bag) is actually pretty much useless because you're compressing all of the down (or synthetic insulation) and you don't get any insulation when it's compressed. So a quilt does away with the bottom part and is ultimately a little more flexible because you can regulate temperature more easily, move it around, etc. You get all of your insulation from the ground through your sleeping pad, and most quilts have a strap system that go under your pad and hold it in place

upsides, usually lighter because it's less material, and they can be had for cheaper, more versatile because you can leave it like a blanket, or close the footbox and use it more like a bag and attach it to your pad. Downsides, sometimes you can get drafts if you haven't worked out the system to hold it in place, and they don't have a hood either.

So, bags can be better for really cold temps or if you just like being really really snug in your bag. Quilts can be better if you move around a lot, want more versatility, etc

I was coming ask about this. I move a around a lot, by morning I'm usually at least half off my sleeping pad. I also tend to over heat, my bag more often than not all or most of the way open. Years ago I bought an extra long mummy bag so I could have extra leg room, but still find it pretty restrictive. I should have just gotten a regular bag, now I'm thinking about one of these.

# ¿ Aug 22, 2013 23:17

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 06:50

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

tofes posted:

Anybody know if Marmot makes good tents? My dad's old LL Bean tent I've been using finally bit the dust

I have a 12 year old Equinox that has seen a fair amount of use including two Two week stretches on the AT, one with a big dog. Its heavy as hell by todays standards, but I can put it up by myself in less than two min in the dark. It has a ton of mesh which I like and the rain fly goes all the way to the ground. I would happily buy another one. I would still be using it if my gf didn't demand a larger tent.

# ¿ Aug 23, 2013 18:42

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Business of Ferrets posted:

I own and use an EE RevolutionX. I love mine--so adaptable to temperature and the way I sleep. Search this thread for "quilt" and you'll find a number of posts discussing the pros and cons of backpacking quilts. You sound like you'd be a prime candidate for a quilt, based on your post. Interestingly, I tend to stay on my pad better with a quilt; I think it has something to do with (depending on how loosely I'm bundled) being able to simply stick my leg out if I'm asleep and hot, instead of kicking around inside a bag and pulling it off the pad.

If you think you'll be doing any below-freezing camping, you should keep the long mummy bag. Not only do they work better than quilts at low temps (due to the hood and closed body/footbox), but the extra length is great for sleeping with gas canisters, batteries, gloves, socks, etc., to dry them out and keep them warm. Inner boots, too, if you're mountaineering or skiing.

I hadn't really thought about the confinement of my bag as the reason for slipping off my pad, but that makes sense. Thank you, that was a helpful post.

My sister is a master seamstress and quilter, I'm half tempted to show her some pictures and see if she'd be willing to try her hand at it. Most of her gifts to me over the last 15 or 20 years have been hand made and I have enough quilts, throws, blankets and pillows for a lifetime, perhaps for camping gear is in order

QUESTION: We're headed to the Porkies (Western UP) in early Oct for some car camping, does anyone have a favorite camp ground or trails? I would like to hit the NCST - there is something like 23 miles of it in the park with several entry points.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2013 16:03

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

yellowjournalism posted:

What headlamps (and flashlights) do you guys use? I'm looking at Fenix lights right now but also hear good stuff about Zebralight, though they don't offer models as cheap as some of the Fenixes.

I could've sworn there was a flashlight thread somewhere, possibly on TFR, but I can't find it any more.

I just picked up a BD Spot, haven't had a chance to use it yet. I realize that isn't helpful.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2013 13:52

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

agarjogger posted:

Yeah, I believe it. Sounds like if I want to keep doing regular weekend hikes, I'm going to have to get a bit more casual about hopping on an airplane. In winter, one could make their way across frozen farmland in a way they obviously couldn't in any other season, but I do wonder how long it would take me to get hassled/arrested. The railroads are also a trail substitute, since the actual trails are for jogging and bike commuting. Also there's always the I&M Canal. It's a pretty lackluster bike, but it's neglected and underdeveloped enough to be a serviceable hike.

I mean you're both completely correct. There may be no worse metro for outdoor rec than Chicago.
Maybe I could get a hold of a car to go do a segment of the North Country Trail, for which I thank you for the tip.

e: Maybe I'll just join a climbing gym.

Renting a car for the weekend to go to southern WI or MI might be cheaper than flying, you choices are limited obviously. But a three hour drive can get you to both the North Country and the Ice Age Trail. Two-ish hours can get you to the Ice Age. I can never find cheap flight

$120ish Friday after work until Sunday night, plus gas. Its a hassle having to pick up and drop off the car, but so is taking L to either airport.

Edit

Obviously the number of people involved makes a difference.

Dukket fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Nov 25, 2013

# ¿ Nov 25, 2013 22:06

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Would I be correct in assuming all of the major brands of bear spray are pretty much equal? We've done plenty of hiking in black bear country and I've never really thought twice about it, but we have our first grizzly country trip coming up and it seems like a good idea.

Counter Assault

Saber

Frontiersman

DEFENSE AEROSOLS

Pepper Power

# ¿ Aug 16, 2016 14:51

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

I have other question for those of you who use dragonfly/whisperlite/(white gas in a bottle) - do you leave the pump in during transport (on the trail).

# ¿ Aug 16, 2016 16:50

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

taqueso posted:

I've always used the normal bottle lid and kept the pump with the stove. Now that you have me thinking about it, I'm not sure if you can get away with keeping the pump on the bottle, I never tried.

So far I have left it in the bottle and the directions SAY you can leave it in, but I'm wondering if you expose it to a greater chance of breakage? I just figured if you leave it in you don't have this thing soaked in fuel in your pack (plastic bag could solve that problem). I like to overthink everything.

We went on our first backpacking trip a couple weeks ago and our next one is coming up in a few weeks, I'm pretty pumped.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2016 17:04

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

turevidar posted:

I leave mine in. Always vent pressure from the bottle when you're done using the stove.

That's how I've been doing it so far.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2016 19:15

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

turevidar posted:

I leave mine in. Always vent pressure from the bottle when you're done using the stove.

Cool, this is what I've been doing so far, so I'm not alone. Now If I can avoid being eaten by a bear I'll be good.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2016 22:47

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Verman posted:

If I'm leaving it around camp then sure but if I'm putting it back into my pack I won't. Best case scenario is that nothing spills and you save yourself a few seconds of convenience by leaving it in. Worst case scenario is that it comes open and leaks all over the place saturating everything in white gas.

There isn't enough convenience for me to justify the risk of leaving it in. I just remove it every time. Then again I've stopped using mine all together and opted for a pocket rocket.

So, you put in a plastic bag or somesuch?

My thought is that the pump is as tight as the cap otherwise its mighty dangerous. Having said that, so far I have been storing in in the elastic water bottle pocket on the side rather than in my pack.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2016 23:59

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Verman posted:

Yeah I just hang mine outside my bag via the mesh bottle pocket and secure it with a carabiner so that it doesn't pop out. My fuel bottle (msr) has a cap with a loop on it which makes it easy.

Sorry, I meant the pump - since it would be soaked in white gas.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2016 01:00

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Verman posted:

Ah okay I got it. When I carried this stove I would remove the pump, pump the fuel out with a few strokes and just leave it in my steel cooking pot while in my pack and never noticed a smell or leak. It doesn't really hold fuel all that well and is usually dry even before putting it into my pack.

But like I said, I've switched to a pocket rocket and really enjoy the size and simplicity much more. I don't do a lot of snow camping or really high altitude stuff so the smaller stoves work fine for me.

Yeah, white gas does evaporate very quickly.

When looking at stoves, I didn't like the disposable nature of the canisters.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2016 13:23

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

We really like the Falcon guide: hiking in yellowstone.

We'll be leaving when you are arriving, that's assuming we're able to find a camp site.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2016 19:00

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Hungryjack posted:

I finally settled on my gear list for California next Friday. I'm sure I'm taking something redundant somewhere, but this should cover me well enough. Gonna dump some pictures on you guys when I get back.

Unless I die. Then no pictures.

Would you mind listing your food, or at least one day. I'm always curious. We've been creating our own dehydrated meals, its been fun.

I don't want to start the favor v fuel argument.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2016 01:19

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

So, I've read a bit about people using their phones as a backcountry GPS unit with no cell signal. Does anyone here have any experience with this?

# ¿ Aug 24, 2016 21:35

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Cool, thanks - I don't think I have time before we leave, but who knows. I

# ¿ Aug 25, 2016 00:06

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Tsyni posted:

I think it's best to avoid getting close by making a reasonable amount of noise as you hike, whether it's by talking or breaking dry branches every once in a while. It's definitely less of an issue if you're hiking with a group.

In grizzly country I try to clap a few times when coming to blind corners and just every now and then. In black bear areas I've never really even thought about it.

# ¿ Sep 26, 2016 19:30

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Anyone here backpack on Isle Royal? I'm just curious about what routes you took, time of the year and whatnot. We're hoping to go next year for a min of 6 nights with the last night being at the Rock Harbor Lodge. My initial thought was Windigo to Rock Harbor, mostly along the Green Ridge, but I've only just really started looking.

Either the start or end of the season cuz bugs

# ¿ Jun 14, 2017 15:34

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

ronaldreagan posted:

I did a short trip there a few years back in mid July. Took the Ranger III from Hougton in on Tuesday, spent 4 nights and took it back on Saturday. Camped at Three Mile, Daisy Farm, Lane Cove, and Rock Harbor. I loved Lane Cove, the other spots were a bit too busy for me - I got really sick of hearing the screen doors on the shelters slam shut. The section we did on the Greenstone Ridge trail was really nice, you could go fast and see a lot up on the ridge.

I've come across some other refs about how nice Lane Cove is.

Cool thanks

# ¿ Jun 14, 2017 19:19

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

ronaldreagan posted:

Oh yeah, this is another thing I didn't really consider when I was planning my trip but I would be more careful of in the future. If you come in on a big boat with a bunch of people, you're all leaving from the same spot at the same time and you end up kind of hiking in a pack to the same campgrounds. Some people are more social and it obviously thinned out eventually but I go into the woods to get away from people. If I was planning another trip I'd probably try to take a smaller transportation option to avoid starting out in a crowd.

I hadn't really thought about that, but it certainly makes sense. May is when my work really starts to ramp up so taking week or 10 days off is tough, so the late summer fall is more likely. If I remember correctly the park closes in Sept sometime. The boat rides are so long we were pretty seriously considering a sea plane in at least one direction, though I'm not sure we can take fuel on the plane and its not cheap.

I like the idea of starting on one end of the island and finished on the other.

# ¿ Jun 14, 2017 20:18

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Very helpful Isle Royal talk, thanks!

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 04:13

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Mr. Powers posted:

I will pay to not deal with that poo poo.

We went once, it was mad house

# ¿ Jun 17, 2017 17:51

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Hypnolobster posted:

usual ultralight pack with a frame (zpacks arc blast)
a six moon designs lunar solo for shelter.

Are these durable? Ultralight stuff always looks so fragile to me.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2017 19:17

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Levitate posted:

People thru hike with the arc blast. I just wouldn't do real heavy bushwhacking or a lot of scrambling where it could be scraping against rock

yeah, I meant just regular old backing packing use.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2017 19:44

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Hypnolobster posted:

Totally. Obviously aforementioned intense bushwacking and rubbing it against abrasive rocks all the time would be bad, but they'll easily last a full thruhike and then some.
They also have the arc haul, which is dyneema and significantly more durable for only 3ish oz more weight. Also a couple litres larger.

The advantage of the cuben fiber arc blast is that it's really repairable with fancy tape, and it's nearly completely waterproof all on its own.

Interesting, thanks!

# ¿ Jun 21, 2017 21:48

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Hello!

Next September we're attending a wedding in SW Vermont and figured we would try to fit in a backpacking trip - a week or more, while we�re out that way. Our preference (not requirement) would be to see as few people as possible, which makes me assume the AT is not the best option.

We�re in Chicago so most of our camping/bping has been MI and WI with some time in the Smokies and out west as well. Just not that familiar with the east

Thoughts, AT or other?

# ¿ Jul 5, 2017 17:03

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

We have the Base Camp 4 for car camping, it's just nice to have the extra space.

BRAKE FOR MOOSE posted:

The Long Trail north of the AT would be good for that, but be warned you're likely gonna be really, really slow if you're only used to the midwest.

I'll check it out, thanks.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2017 17:54

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

BaseballPCHiker posted:

I had another pair of La Sportiva's that were excellent and dried out super fast but that was in Zion where water crossing werent anywhere near as constant as my next trip will be. I'll try switching up the socks and see if that helps. Thanks for the sandal recommendation as well, I need a good pair of camp/water crossing shoes so I'll give those Xeros a look.

Maybe that will be my next move. Normally I dont worry about a single steam crossing that much but my next trip will have several a day and I'm worried about getting trench foot from hiking soaking wet all day.

I bought a pair of Crocs for both camp shoes and stream crossings. It slows you down, but I don't like wet feet.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2017 18:19

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

I went snowshoeing for the first time today and loved it.

That is all.

# ¿ Dec 28, 2017 00:30

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

khysanth posted:

Where about? What snowshoes did you use? Been wanting to do this some time as well.

A snow sports complex in W Mi with rented snowshoes. Redfeather, not a brand I had heard of. I don't have anything to compare them with, but I was fairly happy with them. The bindings were easy to deal with. I stepped right out of one of them toward the end, which was weird, it didn't feel loose in any way, humorously I took a couple steps before I realized it. Stepping over logs was a bit clunky, but not a problem. Steep descents were probably the hardest part and where I came closest to falling. Climbs weren't too bad, but it was nice to have poles.

I ended up doing 8 or 9 KM. Mostly flat, but a couple steep bits when I got into the dunes. I bumped a branch and dumped some snow down the back of my vest.

They have a luge track, if I had the time I'd take the class.

# ¿ Dec 28, 2017 19:46

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

FireTora posted:

Any water filter recommendations? My Katadyn Hiker Pro cartridge ended up getting too clogged due to age last week and a couple filthy water sources that the check valve blew out. It'll cost the same to buy a new one as it will to get the housing replaced and a new cartridge. I'm leaning towards getting another Hiker Pro right now, but have been thinking about trying out a Sawyer Squeeze, or one of the MSR purifier pumps.

We (two of us) use the Playtpus gravity filter and really like it, fill and walk away. I've seen a few people fill sawyers and I became annoyed just watching.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2018 23:10

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

She should talk to my wife who is evercold and has mastered the art of layering in the midwest. The only down side for me is we stop a lot so she can add or remove a layer.

We did some snow shoeing (in MI) last year and she was pretty comfy the whole time. This might not be right, but she was probably wearing a marmot insulated rain coat with two to three layers underneath - down vest, thermal top and probably something else. I think she had another layer or two to choose from in her pack. She had thermal bottoms under hiking pants.

I think she might find the parka you linked to be to restrictive as well as not flexible enough with temps.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2018 19:50

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Any suggestions for a day hike close to Oakland, CA?

# ¿ Oct 17, 2018 04:17

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 06:50

Dukket: Apr 28, 2007; So I says to her, I says “LADY, that ain't OIL, its DIRT!!”

Has anyone here thru hiked the Superior Hiking Trail?

# ¿ Aug 17, 2019 19:42

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