KISS Remote Camping List

[luk4mud]

While I love to look at folks' camping systems, the latest gear gadgets etc, ultimately I am a huge believer in the KISS system. I would be interested in folks' lists that take a similar approach.

Here are my basic principles:
-Usually (meaning almost always) remote camp, no CGs, water may be limited/ nonexistent, no toilets and certainly no shower
-I like to stay relatively clean, meaning a shower every other day
-Limited space is available for gear, my hardcore rig is a lifted Jeep LJ on 35's
-I dont like spending alot of time setting up camp, particularly sleeping arrangements. Wind is also a big issue in the West.
-Good food and drink are essential to a successful trip, cooking is social time too. I like a KISS cooking system with quality food.
-Overly complicated gadgets, appliances, etc are a negative. Designer names that are of no better use/ quality than Coleman are a negative too.

Who shares a similar approach, and what does your list look like?

 

[luk4mud]

I guess I should provide a basic list, since I am asking others to.

Sleeping:
Tent cot
Closed cell air mattress
Coleman 10 degree bag + liner
Home Depot rubber mat
Comments: Until very recently I was using an Aussie swag, which worked well. Then someone lent me a tent cot, which is SOO much more comfortable. The liner adds 10 degrees in warmth, is alot easier to clean and can be used by itself when its hot. The height of the tent cot is ideal- off the ground but still low enough it can be placed behind the Jeep and catch the wind block if needed.

Cooking:
Cadac grill/ stove system- functions as a grill, one burner stove, oven etc. I can bbq steaks one night, make stir fry the next, and then french bread pizza the next.
Comments: I have one of everything in my garage when it comes to cooking gear- stoves, BBqs etc. The Cadac is compact and replaces all of them. It does not give that "char" bbq effect but also makes it almost impossible to burn anything.

Food storage:
Front Runner boxes- they stack/ interlock nicely, are mostly dust/ water proof and can be strapped down.
Stanley cooler- best combo of insulation, space and price I have found. 10lb ice block lasts a week, except in high summer.
Reliance 3 gallon water block with gravity flow spigot. Extra water is carried in 2 six gallon upright Reliance containers, tucked in behind the front seats.


Fire pit:
Hot Pot- Pellet burning pit. A 40lb bag will cover 8 hours and costs less than $6. I often light it in the morning for breakfast too. No need to haul firewood, but we do toss camp scavenged wood into it as well.

Navigation:
I use my phone, loaded with offline Google maps, BackCountry Navigator and Delorme sw. Between the 3 map systems, at least 1 will be useful in a given situation.

Comms:
Wouxun 2 meter handheld with extra battery. Works great for trail comms, with good quality sound rx/tx. Portability is great for spotting your buddy, etc. I can make it 2 days on one battery.

Fuel:
GenRight 32 gallon main tank.
Comments: Perhaps the best investment I have made is in a larger fuel tank. No gerry cans, jigglers, fuel transfer pumps, Rotopax mounts, bootleg nozzles etc for me anymore. The 32 gallon tank means I have (very conservatively) 360 miles of range. Even in the vast expanses of the West, that's probably 100 more than I have ever needed.

Shower:
Waterport.
Comments: Straps to my roll cage nicely. Heats up enough in the summer to use at the end of the day. In winter, I can just add some boiling water. Pressurizes via pump built into the handle. I picked this over the Road Shower because of cost, ability to pressurize via the handle and mounting options. I often dump everyone's clean cooler water into the WP in the morning, let it heat up and then take a shower at the end of the day.

 

[DzlToy]

Plan to go ultra-light back packing and add gear as NEEDED. This means a small lightweight tent, suitable for back packing, or a hammock sleep system from a company like Dream Hammocks. This includes down quilts (20*F) and a back packing Thermarest air mattress.

Silky folding saw and Granfors Bruks small forest ax, along with a good bushcraft type knife.

Billy cup for boiling water (Snow Peak Titanium) and stainless or titanium plates, silverware and cookware. These materials are easy to clean and do not harbour bacteria.

Small diameter Dyneema string or REAL 550 cord, not wal-marts Chinese crap.

Sawyer water filter, a Squeeze for backpacking, larger model for family camping.

At least three ways to start a fire, one of which is a small butane torch from Blazer.

Merino wool base layers, including boxers and t-shirts. These can be worn in summer or winter for several days without smells. Wool keeps you warm even when it is wet, can be washed in a bowl or a stream, dries quickly and is naturally anti-bacterial. Smart Wool socks summer and winter.

Heavy fleece pants in winter, lightweight cotton pants in summer. Merino wool beanie hat in winter, cotton hat in summer. Cheap sunglasses, they will get lost or sat on.

Good quality back packing meals for quick lunches on the trail, from a company such as Pack-It Gourmet (TX) or Good to Go (ME). Powdered or Tablets of Spirulina makes a great trail meal or snack, as it is loaded with vitamins, nutrients and essential fatty acids needed for the Krebs Cycle. You can also dehydrate, freeze dry or simply freeze pre-made meals (at home) to eliminate gas station groceries (chips, soda, Twinkies, etc). Food grade plastic bladders are used to carry water, so they can be collapsed when not in use.

Good LED headlight from a company like Princeton Tec. Can be used to hike at night, set up camp, etc. You can get them with red lights for map reading also.

Make tent stakes from sticks with an ax, don't buy them. Collect and filter water along the way, don't carry jugs of it (location dependent), pack to minimise trash and packaging once the product is used, i.e. no cans, no bottles, cardboard can be burned in fire, etc.

Small toolkit comprised of good quality tools to effect repairs. If you need tools, something is already wrong; don't buy cheap crap. If you are traveling off road, add a PowerTank and a Longacre tire pressure gauge, so you can properly air up and down. This reduces stress on the vehicle, trail and driver.

Lithium battery brick such as Micro-Start can be used to charge laptops, GPS, cell phones and even jump a vehicle.

I can camp for a week or more with that gear, hiking or based out of a vehicle. Camping with 14,000 pounds of crap in your truck is absurd IMHO.

Invest in good gear, buy only what you need, pack light and smart and you will put less stress on yourself, your vehicle and the trail, all-the-while, having a more enjoyable trip.

 

[CSG]

luk, not what I consider KISS but your load out is better than many.

Someone on Mud asked to see photos of vehicles loaded for a trip. I posted up a photo of the back of my LX which is everyday gear that I always carry. Also, in that rig, it's always solo (hell, my wife won't even sleep in the camping van - no shower or toilet other than a little porta-potti). Anyway, what I wrote over there. Keep in mind, two nights is my usual max in the LX.

"At 6', I just sleep on the floor with the middle seats tumbled forward which only gives me 5' of length but in decent weather I open the tailgate and use magnets to secure one of those Coughlan mosquito tents (it's a box shape and works pretty well). In inclement weather, I sleep curled up and turn diagonal if I need a little more length. I'm always packed for an overnighter. The photo actually shows more stuff than I normally take:

The green box is kitchen and dry food. The duffel is clothing, light down bag, bath, sharps, first aid, mosquito net, etc. The red day pack (paper plates, plastic cups, corkscrew, and, plastic bags), blanket, little green bags (Trekology chairs), and folded table underneath are picnic stuff for my wife and I. I usually pull it all out save for one chair when I'm camping. On the left, rolled up, is a comfy 25x60 sleeping pad. Misc. pillow, back cushion and two foam pads complete the load for inside seating at night. I also carry a little Anker BT speaker and LED lantern in the duffel. The Yeti is for when I take cold items but I don't always carry it.

I almost never make campfires and often toss a small telescope or spotting scope in the back. As I'm usually wearing boots when camping the shoes in the back are traded out for boat shoes (great moccasin for camp), there are a couple of trekking poles, and a lithium jump starter as well hidden in the pile on the right."

Food isn't a big thing for me for these trips. Often, one or two meals is out. At camp, baguette, cheese, maybe some sort of salami, wine. Coffee for morning with maybe a Mountain House. I don't want to cook and clean.

Now, in the camping van with its fridge, stove, and sink with running water, that's another story. I can travel for an easy week in that rig and take more stuff (as I have the room). However, it's a two-wheel drive so I can't get Land Cruiser remote.

 

[luk4mud]

luk, not what I consider KISS but your load out is better than many.

Someone on Mud asked to see photos of vehicles loaded for a trip. I posted up a photo of the back of my LX which is everyday gear that I always carry. Also, in that rig, it's always solo (hell, my wife won't even sleep in the camping van - no shower or toilet other than a little porta-potti). Anyway, what I wrote over there. Keep in mind, two nights is my usual max in the LX.

"At 6', I just sleep on the floor with the middle seats tumbled forward which only gives me 5' of length but in decent weather I open the tailgate and use magnets to secure one of those Coughlan mosquito tents (it's a box shape and works pretty well). In inclement weather, I sleep curled up and turn diagonal if I need a little more length. I'm always packed for an overnighter. The photo actually shows more stuff than I normally take:

The green box is kitchen and dry food. The duffel is clothing, light down bag, bath, sharps, first aid, mosquito net, etc. The red day pack (paper plates, plastic cups, corkscrew, and, plastic bags), blanket, little green bags (Trekology chairs), and folded table underneath are picnic stuff for my wife and I. I usually pull it all out save for one chair when I'm camping. On the left, rolled up, is a comfy 25x60 sleeping pad. Misc. pillow, back cushion and two foam pads complete the load for inside seating at night. I also carry a little Anker BT speaker and LED lantern in the duffel. The Yeti is for when I take cold items but I don't always carry it.

I almost never make campfires and often toss a small telescope or spotting scope in the back. As I'm usually wearing boots when camping the shoes in the back are traded out for boat shoes (great moccasin for camp), there are a couple of trekking poles, and a lithium jump starter as well hidden in the pile on the right."

Food isn't a big thing for me for these trips. Often, one or two meals is out. At camp, baguette, cheese, maybe some sort of salami, wine. Coffee for morning with maybe a Mountain House. I don't want to cook and clean.

Now, in the camping van with its fridge, stove, and sink with running water, that's another story. I can travel for an easy week in that rig and take more stuff (as I have the room). However, it's a two-wheel drive so I can't get Land Cruiser remote.

Yeah, I am not exactly in the ultralight category, I know, but its a pretty simple approach compared to some of the very extensive set ups I see. I ran into a guy in Saline Valley a couple of weeks ago, it probably took him close to 2 hours to "set up" his camp. He had more stuff in a Land Cruiser than I imagined could even fit in there. And that was his weekend set up, he said ....

 

[CSG]

I don't know if "Corey" is on this site but he's on Mud and is one of those guys who goes big. Makes perfect sense if you're setting up camp for a week but an overnighter? Not what I want to do. I often say that I'm a traveler, not a camper. I camp (boondock 99% of the time) so I can afford to travel. Honestly, I don't like camping much but to travel to places I like to go, you gotta camp or spend big bucks for a capable luxo vehicle (like a Provan Tiger or similar). I'd love a $200k 4x4 luxury rig because I like a hot shower, TV (movies, anyway), staying out of the weather, etc., etc. but I'm not rich enough to devote that sort of moola for a rig that wouldn't by my only home. So I make due with the LX, the Pleasureway, and, rarely the fifth wheel. But only the LX can get me far back into the solitude I crave and get me back out if I did something dumb.

 

[Correus]

Well...without digging out a list...

Everything has to be able to fit inside, or attached to, my ALICE pack with the exceptions listed below. The wife has a similar set up.

Each pack contains what I basically carried in it while in the Army, mainly clothing and survival gear. Enough for a week. USGI MSS with mat attached to each pack.

Each pack also has a med kit.

For day hikes I take a combat pack style loadout and the wife has a basic military style loadout.

Each type of trip determines what we take, the above is the basic.

The following is typical for camping in one, maybe two spots for a week.

1980s heavy duty 4 man 2 room tent. Does well in all temps.

Blow up mattress and a couple extra blankets and small camping pillows.

A couple Coleman coolers from the '80s. A blue one for "cold" storage (keeps ice good for a week or so) and a green one for "dry" storage.

We do have a Coleman 2 burner that we take, but we usually cook over a camp fire using a heavy grate the size of the stove.

Cooking gear... normally we just take one of those heavy guage aluminum nesting sets for a family of four. I have several sets actually, all pre 1970s.

There are times we will take some cast iron cookware, mainly in cooler temps. Smallish Dutch oven, skillet, griddle, stew pot - that type of thing and usually not at the same time.

5 gallon Coleman water cooler. Will take extra water if we think we need to. We use frozen bottled water in the cooler at times as well. The loadouts have canteens/camel packs but aren't filled until we intend to use them.

Two Coleman lanterns, pre 1980s, plus the fuel for them and the stove. A couple of flashlights as well.

Couple camp chairs as well as a couple's hammock.

My ALICE pack has a folding shovel and pioneer saw, but my rig has a military pioneer tool set as well. My rig also has the typical recovery gear - nothing fancy at all.

Have a small tool box for rig repair as well as a box of the most common parts that go out.

Trama kit.

Only communications devices are an emergency walkitalki type radio, cell phones (small solar panel setup for charging), flare gun, military strobe light beacon. No GBS except what's on the phone; we use Gazetteers and USGS maps for the area.

Sidearm (his/hers) and a heavy duty fixed blade knife. Depending on where we are going I might pack the Savage 99 as well.

Other than odds-n-ends, such as matches, compass, salt and pepper, TP and such that's about it.

 

[Lake City John]

Keeping it simple is often said and rarely accomplished.

 

[dcg141]

I never carry everything. Mine is predicated by how long and if I'm using my trailer. As I'm writing this I'm trying to remember exactly how many stoves I own. I can go from full Snow Peak kitchen with several burners to single backpack stoves. But here is what my 2-3 day survival kit looks like. I never leave home without it. Food, stove, firestarter and minimal shelter with a bivy, cordage, water filter, light source and a very good knife.

 

[CSG]

I remember talking a month long trip through the west around 1980-1 when I was 29-30. I had a little Plymouth Arrow pick-up and an old school (well, it wasn't "old school" then) camper shell with a carpet kit in back. I had my frameless backpack, a six-pack size cooler, sleeping bag and a pad. I had the backpacking mindset in those days and figured I was ahead of the game by having a tent on wheels. The trip ended somewhere in Arizona when I ran out of money (I lived in SoCal in those days). Point is, *that* trip was KISS. Real KISS.

 

[Correus]

I remember talking a month long trip through the west around 1980-1 when I was 29-30. I had a little Plymouth Arrow pick-up and an old school (well, it wasn't "old school" then) camper shell with a carpet kit in back. I had my frameless backpack, a six-pack size cooler, sleeping bag and a pad. I had the backpacking mindset in those days and figured I was ahead of the game by having a tent on wheels. The trip ended somewhere in Arizona when I ran out of money (I lived in SoCal in those days). Point is, *that* trip was KISS. Real KISS.

At about the same age my best friend and I would toss basic style sleeping bags, a cooler for beer and meat, and fishing equipment in the back of his El Camino. He had one of those low shell tops for it - that was our tent. And we would go camping/fishing for a few days or a week. Never really took much of anything else with us.

 

[pluton]

Here's the PDF list I print before packing each car camping trip. I've never taken everything on it, but everything I've ever taken is on it. It started as a list of cases---the heavier, durable gear has been Pelicanized for a few years. Clothes go in normal duffle bags and sleeping bags in normal stuffsacks. I rarely/never go for just one night out.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

If a task requires more than 3 minutes while traveling I find another way

 

[FlipperFla]

We just got back from a trip to Co.,Wyoming, and S. Dakota from Florida. We were pretty well loaded down after planning the trip for a year and not knowing what to expect in some areas while dispersed camping. Some of the passes were white knuckle drives especially going down Slumgullion Pass between Creede and Lake City you could smell the brakes burning on other vehicles. We didnt use probably 25% of the crap I took. When we got back home we went thru EVERYTHING, even my tool box, cookware and especially clothes and if we didnt use it we shelved it.
There are only two of us so we didnt need 4 plates, 4 cups etc.I have found that so many different places require different needs and set up. Now the gear is in the garage and every trip we take only what we need for that specific trip. New motto: Pack lite.

 

[CSG]

Flipper, even when I take less stuff, I don't use 25-50% of it. But certain emergency gear needs to be on board because it's the one time you need it that makes carrying it responsible.