All through the winter I’ve been thinking about camping. All through a very painful 2023 I missed it. I’m very worried I NOT miss it in 2024. That said, every single week there’s a reason why this particular weekend you shouldn’t be camping. All of civilization wants your ass indoors and looking at a screen. It is the gentler call of your soul that wants you sitting by a fire, thinking of the universe. Thank Goodness Mrs. Curmudgeon kicked my ass into gear.
More to the point, this was an unplanned (or barely planned) short notice thing… and I was physically exhausted (which happens a bit too often lately). I decided this would be an excellent time to see if some of my “camp on autopilot” ideas would work out.
My first “camp on autopilot” notion is to pack heavy. I’m driving there in a truck, why go ultralight? The second notion is to be already packed. For basic State Park car camping I have a big Milwaukee Packout on wheels. That’s my “manage a hot tent” gear. I have a second Milwaukee Packout and that’s my “chuckbox”. It has all the stuff I need to cook in any one of several modes (over the fire, using the stove and fuel in the box, etc..). It also has enough food for a good long time. I added to that a Milwaukee Packout cooler (which I use on dirt bike rides too). I threw a six pack of beer, half a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon into the cooler and assumed there was plenty in my chuckbox to make it work.
Honestly, I’d forgotten what I’d packed. I could only assume I’d chosen wisely.
Two months ago, the last time I camped out (story links: 1, 2, 3, 4), it had been cold. I’d used my “winter gear”. It was still cold out but less so. I decided to stick with my “winter gear” setup: Russian Bear Market UP 2, Caminus M Stove, Teton XXL Cot, Teton XXL Mattress. That stuff works together as a set and it’s all overkill. I could probably ride out a blizzard on an ice floe with that combination.
Nighttime heat:
This time I chose to try not using my woodstove. I brought it with me (just in case), but I didn’t set it up.
This State Park charges for AC power whether you want it or not. Last time I tried “a little “heat your feet under your office desk” heater and it didn’t heat the tent enough to keep me warm. I have since purchased a cheap 1500 watt heater that’s suitably small. I’d never used it. It was crammed in my Milwaukee box along with an extension cord.
It worked perfectly! It was slightly above freezing at night and the little heater kept my tent in the 70’s. (I don’t have a thermometer but it was toasty.)
On the high setting it was TOO hot. I put it at the mid setting and snoozed toasty all night.
Thus, I recommend the stupidly named Portable Space Heater, Electric Small Heater with Thermostat Overheat Tip-Over Protection, 750W/1500W PTC Ceramic Room Heater for Bedroom, Garage, Office, Desk, Workshop Indoor Use. It’s $39 but works like a charm. If the park people force you to buy AC why not use it?
Note: this isn’t a rugged waterproof made for camping gadget… use common sense. Don’t put it in a mud puddle or on top of dry tinder. Please be a damn adult about it! If you burn your tent down with yourself in it… that’s all on you. I’m just saying what works for me. (Also, I get a kickback from Amazon if you buy stuff, so go nuts!)
Firewood:
My last campout I had a lot of drama obtaining enough firewood. This time I reverted to my “magic pallet solution”. I gathered a handful of free pallets from a business that’s happy to be rid of them.
It took about 10 minutes to load that much crap in my truck. Then at home I cut out all the nails and stuff. There are LOTS of nails in a pallet so use care to get all that shit out of there. Expect about 30% of the pallet’s volume to be “waste”. Dispose of properly, that junk is a flat tire waiting to happen.
The remainder is kiln dried and perfectly useable. It took a little under 40 minutes to cut up a trash can full of completely nail free wood. It wasn’t very cold out so I’d cut more than I expected to need.
Trying to learn fuel consumption is a thing I do: A full trash can will supply probably 3-ish days (two nights) camping, depending on how much wood you burn. If you burn wood just for atmosphere and also for cooking and to heat your tent it goes away fast. If it’s just to sit by in the evening while drinking beer it’ll last a lot longer.
I’m happy to say pallet wood worked well. So far I was batting 1000%!
Tree Mike
Everything sounds like it’s going just fine…hope there’s no “Aw shit!”, cause you have those often enough.
Nope. Everything was chill.
Do not burn pallets that are marked with an “[MB].” These pallets have been treated with the fumigant methyl bromide, which will release toxic chemicals into the air when burned. Avoid chemically-treated pallets and instead opt for ones that have been heat-treated, which will typically be stamped with “[HT].” If a pallet does not have markings on it, it is considered a national pallet used for domestic shipping purposes. These pallets are usually not treated with chemicals and would most likely be safe to burn.
There is a lot to be said for plug-in camping when that is what you want…