Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Archive for the ‘camping’ Category
No can opener? No problem!
Monday, May 14th, 2012
Have you ever arrived at your campsite, got a nice cooking fire going, and then realized that you forgot your can opener! No problem! This short video offers a technique that could come in handy some day:
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Caring for Your Sleeping Bag
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
The following is a guest blog from Sport Chalet:
Curling up in warm, comfortable sleeping bag every night is one of the fun parts of camping! To keep your sleeping bag in top condition you must learn the appropriate cleaning and care storage tips. Whether you camp once a month or once a year, a clean sleeping bag is a must for any outdoor adventure.
Washing Your Sleeping Bag
How you clean your sleeping bag will be depend on the size, style, and type of bag you own. Every sleeping bag must be cleaned on a regular basis due to dirt from the camping site and normal dirt and oils from your body. Think of your sleeping bag like the sheets on your bed. To keep your bed and sheets clean you must wash them from time to time and the sleeping bag is no different.
Today, you will find many sleeping bags crafted with down or synthetic materials. Down bags must be treated with care and can often require hand washing depending on the outside materials. To hand wash your sleeping bag place the item in a larger plastic bin or a bathtub. The water should be lukewarm and at a comfortable temperature for your hands. Add an appropriate soap for your type of sleeping bag. The cleaning instructions located on the tag may highlight suggested detergents.
Gently swirl and knead the bag while pushing it in and out of the water. A small soft brush can be used on the exterior to work on any hard to remove stains. Once the bag is cleaned, drain the tub and run clean, warm water all over to remove any remaining dirt or soap. After the sleeping bag is completely clean you can let it air dry or put it in the drying machine. If your standard at-home machine cannot accommodate the item, especially when washing more than one sleeping bag, you can bring take your bag to the nearest Laundromat which will have larger sized washing machines and dryers. Some suggest adding a drying ball or tennis balls along with an anti-static sheet during the drying cycle. Take note of any drying instructions on the bag to avoid damage.
Storing Your Sleeping Bag
Many of the bags available today are sold with bag covers or cases. At home, keep your sleeping bag in a dry and cool area. Many prefer to bundle all their sleeping bags together in one extra-large plastic bin with a cover to avoid any damage from external factors such as temperature or water. The sleeping bag is one piece of camping equipment you will depend on from trip to trip, so ensure its care and storage all year round.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Curling up in warm, comfortable sleeping bag every night is one of the fun parts of camping! To keep your sleeping bag in top condition you must learn the appropriate cleaning and care storage tips. Whether you camp once a month or once a year, a clean sleeping bag is a must for any outdoor adventure.
Washing Your Sleeping Bag
How you clean your sleeping bag will be depend on the size, style, and type of bag you own. Every sleeping bag must be cleaned on a regular basis due to dirt from the camping site and normal dirt and oils from your body. Think of your sleeping bag like the sheets on your bed. To keep your bed and sheets clean you must wash them from time to time and the sleeping bag is no different.
Today, you will find many sleeping bags crafted with down or synthetic materials. Down bags must be treated with care and can often require hand washing depending on the outside materials. To hand wash your sleeping bag place the item in a larger plastic bin or a bathtub. The water should be lukewarm and at a comfortable temperature for your hands. Add an appropriate soap for your type of sleeping bag. The cleaning instructions located on the tag may highlight suggested detergents.
Gently swirl and knead the bag while pushing it in and out of the water. A small soft brush can be used on the exterior to work on any hard to remove stains. Once the bag is cleaned, drain the tub and run clean, warm water all over to remove any remaining dirt or soap. After the sleeping bag is completely clean you can let it air dry or put it in the drying machine. If your standard at-home machine cannot accommodate the item, especially when washing more than one sleeping bag, you can bring take your bag to the nearest Laundromat which will have larger sized washing machines and dryers. Some suggest adding a drying ball or tennis balls along with an anti-static sheet during the drying cycle. Take note of any drying instructions on the bag to avoid damage.
Storing Your Sleeping Bag
Many of the bags available today are sold with bag covers or cases. At home, keep your sleeping bag in a dry and cool area. Many prefer to bundle all their sleeping bags together in one extra-large plastic bin with a cover to avoid any damage from external factors such as temperature or water. The sleeping bag is one piece of camping equipment you will depend on from trip to trip, so ensure its care and storage all year round.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
New website for camping in National Forests
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Old man winter may have made a late arrival in your neighborhood but summer and the family camping season is just around the corner. Camping is known to be a good way for families to reconnect, to help strengthen family bonds, and counter the stressful effects of busy lifestyles. Many national forest campgrounds were designed, developed, and are managed for families, making them outstanding and affordable family vacation destinations. Each year more families are discovering great family vacation destinations in national forest and grassland campgrounds.
ForestCamping.com, the U.S. National Forest Campground Guide website, is a complete and comprehensive guide to developed campgrounds in national forests and grasslands. It provides detailed information to campers looking to experience the great outdoors. In addition to managing a website, Fred and Suzi Dow also self-publish Ebook CDs and downloads of eleven U.S. National Forest Campground Guides, which can be purchased online at their website.
Using ForestCamping.com, with more than 2,400 developed campgrounds in 175 national forests and grasslands scattered across the country in 44 states, families can be assured they’ll find a Forest Service campground with what they want to see, do, and enjoy.
Fred and Suzi Dow, authors and publishers of ForestCamping.com, have devoted 17 years to visiting, personally researching, and providing the public with free, detailed information about 175 national forests and grasslands and more than 2,400 personally surveyed campgrounds.
With up to 55 fields of information in each campground review, lots of camping pictures, and authors who have actually visited the camping locations, this looks to be an extremely useful tool.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
ForestCamping.com, the U.S. National Forest Campground Guide website, is a complete and comprehensive guide to developed campgrounds in national forests and grasslands. It provides detailed information to campers looking to experience the great outdoors. In addition to managing a website, Fred and Suzi Dow also self-publish Ebook CDs and downloads of eleven U.S. National Forest Campground Guides, which can be purchased online at their website.
Using ForestCamping.com, with more than 2,400 developed campgrounds in 175 national forests and grasslands scattered across the country in 44 states, families can be assured they’ll find a Forest Service campground with what they want to see, do, and enjoy.
Fred and Suzi Dow, authors and publishers of ForestCamping.com, have devoted 17 years to visiting, personally researching, and providing the public with free, detailed information about 175 national forests and grasslands and more than 2,400 personally surveyed campgrounds.
With up to 55 fields of information in each campground review, lots of camping pictures, and authors who have actually visited the camping locations, this looks to be an extremely useful tool.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Smokies Backcountry Camping Fee Approved
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012
Well this will surely cause a stir - given the ferocious opposition to the original proposal:
Great Smoky Mountains Superintendent Dale A. Ditmanson has announced today that the Park's proposal to begin collecting for the use of the Park's backcountry campsites and shelters has been approved by the National Park Service. This approval clears the way for the Park to move forward with developing an online system to collect fees beginning in 2013 for reserving and use of the Park's backcountry by overnight hikers and equestrians.
The Park developed the plan in order to improve its trip-planning and reservation services to users and to expand its backcountry Ranger presence to better protect park resources through enforcement of food-storage and other regulations and improved visitor education regarding Leave-No-Trace principles.
The proposal was open for public comment last summer and some 230 written comments and two petitions were received during the comment period. According to Ditmanson, the public comments provided a great deal of constructive input on the concerns Park backcountry users had about the fee plan. "Many commenters were under the misconception that the Smokies is legally prohibited from charging user fees. The Park is prohibited from charging a toll or license fee from motorists crossing Park roads, by language in a 1951 deed under which the ownership of some park roads was transferred from the State of Tennessee to the National Park Service. But, we have long been authorized to collect user fees for specific activities such as front country camping, weddings, and commercial filming."
"There was also a significant amount of concern about our initial plan to utilize the same computerized federal reservation system, www.recreation.gov that virtually all national parks use to reserve drive-in sites in front country campgrounds. We acknowledge that some of the policies, such as the lead time for making reservations and cancellations, are not a good fit for more spontaneous backcountry users. We will not use that system unless we are convinced that it can provide the level of service we want to offer, and are exploring the alternative of developing a stand-alone software program tailored specifically to the Smokies. The system developed will also need to be practicable for Appalachian Trail thru hikers whose itineraries evolve from day-to-day."
"Concern was also raised about the range of fee amounts that were under consideration and that the resulting revenues may be diverted to other programs. We have decided to focus our plans around the lowest and simplest of the fees under study: $4 per night per person. Most importantly, 100% of the revenue from this program will be invested in improving back-country services through extended hours of the back-country office, trip-planning assistance, on-line reservations, and protection of park resources through increased ranger staff. "
Now that the proposal has been approved, Park managers plan to provide periodic updates as plans for the reservation system evolve.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Great Smoky Mountains Superintendent Dale A. Ditmanson has announced today that the Park's proposal to begin collecting for the use of the Park's backcountry campsites and shelters has been approved by the National Park Service. This approval clears the way for the Park to move forward with developing an online system to collect fees beginning in 2013 for reserving and use of the Park's backcountry by overnight hikers and equestrians.
The Park developed the plan in order to improve its trip-planning and reservation services to users and to expand its backcountry Ranger presence to better protect park resources through enforcement of food-storage and other regulations and improved visitor education regarding Leave-No-Trace principles.
The proposal was open for public comment last summer and some 230 written comments and two petitions were received during the comment period. According to Ditmanson, the public comments provided a great deal of constructive input on the concerns Park backcountry users had about the fee plan. "Many commenters were under the misconception that the Smokies is legally prohibited from charging user fees. The Park is prohibited from charging a toll or license fee from motorists crossing Park roads, by language in a 1951 deed under which the ownership of some park roads was transferred from the State of Tennessee to the National Park Service. But, we have long been authorized to collect user fees for specific activities such as front country camping, weddings, and commercial filming."
"There was also a significant amount of concern about our initial plan to utilize the same computerized federal reservation system, www.recreation.gov that virtually all national parks use to reserve drive-in sites in front country campgrounds. We acknowledge that some of the policies, such as the lead time for making reservations and cancellations, are not a good fit for more spontaneous backcountry users. We will not use that system unless we are convinced that it can provide the level of service we want to offer, and are exploring the alternative of developing a stand-alone software program tailored specifically to the Smokies. The system developed will also need to be practicable for Appalachian Trail thru hikers whose itineraries evolve from day-to-day."
"Concern was also raised about the range of fee amounts that were under consideration and that the resulting revenues may be diverted to other programs. We have decided to focus our plans around the lowest and simplest of the fees under study: $4 per night per person. Most importantly, 100% of the revenue from this program will be invested in improving back-country services through extended hours of the back-country office, trip-planning assistance, on-line reservations, and protection of park resources through increased ranger staff. "
Now that the proposal has been approved, Park managers plan to provide periodic updates as plans for the reservation system evolve.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Introducing the Hexa Pot
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
On the surface this sounds like a great idea. The yet to be formerly launched Hexa Pot is a single-use outdoor cookware pot formed from an ultra-light, 100% biodegradable and eco-friendly paper material to be used for picnics, camping, backpacking, and traveling.
The Hexa Pot can be used for boiling water, or for cooking meals such as pasta, soup, chili and ramen noodles. The disposable pots may also come in handy in the event of an emergency situation when sterilizing and disinfecting contaminated water is necessary for making it drinkable.
Energia USA, the manufacturer of Hexa Pot, pitches these selling points on its website:
Hexa Pot can be a blessing on your hands due to it being a single use product, no dish washing is required. You can save time, water, electricity, and money spent on dish washing detergent. Ultra-light and convenient when carried around. It helps save space and time when on the go for outdoor activities. Safe alternative cookware when compared to your traditional stainless steel pots and pans that may produce harmful health effects caused from iron, nickel and chromium.
The Hexa Pot will biodegrade within 24-36 months, when disposed in the right environment. I take this to mean not in a hole dug next to your campsite, or thrown into a fire. So how many people will actually take it home with them?
Right now Energia USA is trying to raise $25,000 by Friday, January 27th, through a Kickstarter Campaign in order to help launch this project.
The Los Angeles based company will also unveil its products at the ASD Las Vegas on March 25-28, 2012.
Here's a short product demo from the manufacturer:
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
The Hexa Pot can be used for boiling water, or for cooking meals such as pasta, soup, chili and ramen noodles. The disposable pots may also come in handy in the event of an emergency situation when sterilizing and disinfecting contaminated water is necessary for making it drinkable.
Energia USA, the manufacturer of Hexa Pot, pitches these selling points on its website:
Hexa Pot can be a blessing on your hands due to it being a single use product, no dish washing is required. You can save time, water, electricity, and money spent on dish washing detergent. Ultra-light and convenient when carried around. It helps save space and time when on the go for outdoor activities. Safe alternative cookware when compared to your traditional stainless steel pots and pans that may produce harmful health effects caused from iron, nickel and chromium.
The Hexa Pot will biodegrade within 24-36 months, when disposed in the right environment. I take this to mean not in a hole dug next to your campsite, or thrown into a fire. So how many people will actually take it home with them?
Right now Energia USA is trying to raise $25,000 by Friday, January 27th, through a Kickstarter Campaign in order to help launch this project.
The Los Angeles based company will also unveil its products at the ASD Las Vegas on March 25-28, 2012.
Here's a short product demo from the manufacturer:
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
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