It’s been a while since my last post. We’ve been gone a couple of months, most of the time with limited or no cell phone service — just as I prefer.
Even if we are camped where there is cell phone service, I’m not going to post to this blog.
Continue reading Camping Road Trip: 2 Months — 3,000 Miles — 2 Wildfires
This isn’t the first time this has happened on our campers. The fix is simple.
Continue reading “My Camper’s Countertops are Falling Apart!”
What do you do if you are stuck at home during a pandemic and can’t go backpacking or camping? If you are like me, you build a pier in your backyard.
Opps! Not that kind of a pier.
This kind of pier.
It has been about 10 months since we went camping. We have never gone that long between trips. This abnormal behavior was due to Joyce breaking her ankle in 3 places back in September of 2020.
Joyce’s ankle is healed and it was time to renew our habit of “excellent camping adventures.” Since the camper has been sitting for nearly a year, I decided a short trip of around 5 hours each way for 5 days was a good starting point.
But there was one problem: last year’s problem of full campgrounds has extended and even gotten worse in 2021. To compound this, we wanted to camp the week leading up to the 4th of July weekend. What a mess! Continue reading A Camping “Shakedown” Trip
Fleece insulation has been a staple for backpacking and other outdoor pursuits since Patagonia introduced synthetic pile and then Synchilla fleece decades ago.
Over the past few years I have seen more and more articles comparing fleece to synthetic polyester batting material such as Polarguard, Climashield and similar materials as a better option to fleece.
These batten materials are lighter than fleece with an equal insulation rating, are more compact when packed, and the manufacturers state the material insulates when wet.
Sounds like a winner to me!
Or is it just hype?
Joyce and I don’t buy much “stuff.”
And even if we did, this has been common during the past few months . . .
When we do purchase an item, we do our research, and buy the best we can afford with an eye to quality, durability, and functionality. So the pandemic hasn’t affected us much, other than I would like to buy another telescope, which will probably not be available until next year.
Last summer I read, and friends confirmed, that many outdoor products were not available. Tents, canoes and kayaks, exercise equipment, telescopes, binoculars, cameras and similar equipment were in short supply and often completely unavailable.
Back in August we drove past an Airstream Travel Trailer dealer in Las Vegas, which usually has dozens of shiny new trailers on the lot. At the time there were only around 6 on the lot, and all were used.
Continue reading The Time of COVID: Out of Stock and Backordered
Are campgrounds safe? Can you leave your campsite during the day without worrying about theft? Do you need to secure your camper at night with locks or alarms? Do you need a gun?
These are some of the questions I hear, mostly from newcomers to camping.
With the advent of the Internet and online shopping, the potential to become more informed buyers has lost its promise.
Instead, product reviews have mostly become a for-profit enterprise that only benefits manufacturers and those who make a living reviewing products.
So the title of this site is “Nick’s Excellent Camping and Backpacking Adventures.”
But there haven’t been many adventures to write about in the past year, and zero since Joyce broke her ankle last September.
That is about to change.
Continue reading Where Have the Excellent Camping and Backpacking Adventures Gone?
In my last post I discussed the inaccuracy of an iPhone compass, and I promised to share the results of my Cammenga compass. The task, if you read the previous post, was to align my telescope mount to true North.
The challenge is the top of the mount is angled upward about 34 degrees, so I can’t place the compass on the top of the mount. So, I had to take a different approach.
Continue reading How Accurate is a Cammenga Lensatic Compass?