What's everyone using in a backpack camp situation..?

Dude you can never carry enough water. @ 8 lbs a gallon it's tough
Just two days I used up almost
3 liters in my camel back.
And lugged in 2 gals. Almost gone.
 
I have been researching a 2 man light wieght 3 season tent for back packing. I like the fact I can sit up in it and
Store my gear with me. Keep it safe and dry. It's mind blowning to see the different manufacturers.
Mummy bags that are light and are rated at a low thermal rating.
My thoughts is 15 deg or lower.
And it's comfortable. And it doesn't
Slip and slide every where. LOL.
A lot of good stuff out there.
Basically what it comes down to
Is budget.
Light portable stove. I like the ones that have two cups and enclosed the stove for storage.
Butane. Just my preference.
Backpacks same deal bunch
Of great stuff.
Main thing is stuff that keeps out
The wind and cold.
In the old days we used canvas water proof tarp. Coated with parafin wax. Totally water and wind proof even in snow.
But stuff is heavy. Much to heavy.
But slept in it while snowing with
Wool blankets. Stayed warm all night. at my age I rather ride a horse with packed gear instead of huffing it in. To much dam work.
 
This bag below isn't high quality but is a good deal I found awhile back off an UL backpacking blog. I use it as my main bag (more like a quilt) for D16 until it gets below 40 ish then I swap it out for my North Face, which is a drag since the NF is wayyy heavier than this. I'm the budget sleeper since I don't really sleep anyway haha.

The rest of my sleep system is basic REI gear.. Passage 1-man tent, Thermarest pad, Sea 2 Summit pillow. All have served me well in the woods and at the sea.


ab1f067e1bb04c0519b6bc4336f1e57f.jpg
 
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Oh... BTW... don't get one of those stupid "Life Straws". That concept is dumb, especially in SoCal.

Get the Sawyer Mini-Filter. You fill their lil bag up with water you can scoop out of even the thinnest puddles. Then invert the bag and squeeze the water thru their little screw-on filter part.
I have this one and I hate it with a passion. It's WAY too slow. The stupid bag it comes with is only .5L too.
I've decided I value my time in the field too much to sit around squeezing that stupid thing and plan to replace it with either the normal larger Sawyer or a Katadyn BeFree, which looks to be way faster.
 
That's cool. I can see that motivation for some folks.

For me, for some of those brutal hike-ins, especially the ones where hike-out is all uphill... I like that it doesn't hardly weigh anything, and that with the bag... you can scoop water out of ridiculously thin puddles of water.

That proved very useful for me.

Heat was getting to me when down in there this one time. With the amount of water I had left, only way I could do the uphill would have been to wait until nightfall. But I was feeling miserable and my guts were all torqued-out and I had the chorro goin' on (the Latinos will know what I'm talkin' about) from a stupid dehydrated meal that I hadn't noticed in the ingredients list, like most of them do, they just try to throw bunches of red and green bell pepper and other gut-bombs at the problem of taste (among other things). Some number of years ago I finally figured out that my body DOES NOT like those common ingredients they throw at cheap food to attempt to make it taste better.

So anyhoo... because of having that filter, I was able to fill back up to full water carry, which I would need in order to go back uphill 7 miles in mid-day full-sun no-shade 90+ F heat in Angeles NF.

Got a young friend I've hunted with a few times in the beginning, he had a sterilizing UV pen thing. But only thing there is, what happens when you run out of battery power, ya know?
 
and three gallons of water coming in at right around 26lbs. We should invent ultralight water!

I've done that. 3 gallons on top of my 4 Liters. Did it on 1-day scouting trip when setting up cams so I could leave extra gallons stashed out there before the season began. It is freaking GLORIOUS to have extra water on hand the day you get lucky and it's super hot and you gotta cart back all that weight in meat. To have extra water to rinse your hands and knife properly clean, and pour a lil on your bald head and neck to cool down is beautiful, just beautiful! Plus it's good for showing you how out of shape you are so you get with it and start doing something about it before the season comes.
 
Sorry fellas..im no help..as im a marriot kinda guy and rarley leave the truck and have 0 techy skills..but nice in depth info here..nice...
 
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This bag below isn't high quality but is a good deal I found awhile back off an UL backpacking blog. I use it as my main bag (more like a quilt) for D16 until it gets below 40 ish then I swap it out for my North Face, which is a drag since the NF is wayyy heavier than this. I'm the budget sleeper since I don't really sleep anyway haha.

The rest of my sleep system is basic REI gear.. Passage 1-man tent, Thermarest pad, Sea 2 Summit pillow. All have served me well in the woods and at the sea.


ab1f067e1bb04c0519b6bc4336f1e57f.jpg

Ive got this same bag and it works pretty good down to 50s, few degrees more with a nice liner. I probably saw the same blog you did. Ive done a lot of motorcycle camping off small dual sports and size was a big issue for me with sleeping bags. This bag packs SMALL!

I don't know that I ever dipped into the 40s, but 50s Ive done, and I always had a small fleece liner. I was never uncomfortably cold.



Don't underestimate a good ground pad when choosing gear. Choose the correct R rating for the temps. Depending on the terrain and temps, the ground can suck away heat.
 
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so i use what i used to use in the army. during air assault ops wed stay out 5 days at a time. i used this guy you can find them at local suplus stores. its pretty much an all weather bag. down here i just use the green part and the outer shell and use a blowup pad i got from big 5. worked fine in the service and out when im doing some over nights

https://www.allamericansurplus.com/camping/army-sleep-system-individual-parts


I can also vouch for this system. Was a navy corpsman with several marine infantry units and had the same system. Sleeping in holes for days on end was the norm. Not the smallest or lightest, but super versatile. All three layers together, Ive slept warm and woke up to all our water being frozen more than a few times.

add a poncho liner and you're set for the next ice age.

121woody.jpg
 
That's cool. I can see that motivation for some folks.

For me, for some of those brutal hike-ins, especially the ones where hike-out is all uphill... I like that it doesn't hardly weigh anything, and that with the bag... you can scoop water out of ridiculously thin puddles of water.

That proved very useful for me.

Heat was getting to me when down in there this one time. With the amount of water I had left, only way I could do the uphill would have been to wait until nightfall. But I was feeling miserable and my guts were all torqued-out and I had the chorro goin' on (the Latinos will know what I'm talkin' about) from a stupid dehydrated meal that I hadn't noticed in the ingredients list, like most of them do, they just try to throw bunches of red and green bell pepper and other gut-bombs at the problem of taste (among other things). Some number of years ago I finally figured out that my body DOES NOT like those common ingredients they throw at cheap food to attempt to make it taste better.

So anyhoo... because of having that filter, I was able to fill back up to full water carry, which I would need in order to go back uphill 7 miles in mid-day full-sun no-shade 90+ F heat in Angeles NF.

Got a young friend I've hunted with a few times in the beginning, he had a sterilizing UV pen thing. But only thing there is, what happens when you run out of battery power, ya know?

If you double fist and squeeze the hell out of the mini it takes about 90 seconds to filter that little .5L bag. But realistically you have to go slower because you have to make sure the water you are filtering goes into the bottle or bladder your trying to fill without spilling it etc. 2 mins just to filter is a more realistic time to filter. Then the time to refill it with water, etc. First time I had to filter 6L for food, myself, daughter, I kid you not I was there squeezing that dumb little bag for what felt like a half hour.

The regular sawyer has the same style bag except it is a full liter and the flow rate is much better. It's is only 1 oz more.
The Katadyn Befree also has a 1L (or 3L) and only .3 oz more but the flow rate is 6x what the mini is.

Don't get me wrong the sawyer mini works but it is way too slow. I will say though there is a substantial weight savings with the mini in that your going to filter less water then you would otherwise because your going to get sick of squeezing that dumb thing and try to go with less.
 
I can also vouch for this system. Was a navy corpsman with several marine infantry units and had the same system. Sleeping in holes for days on end was the norm. Not the smallest or lightest, but super versatile. All three layers together, Ive slept warm and woke up to all our water being frozen more than a few times.

add a poncho liner and you're set for the next ice age.

View attachment 38068
only reason i use my system is because it went around the world with me and had worked. the wobbie is the best!
 
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I can also vouch for this system. Was a navy corpsman with several marine infantry units and had the same system. Sleeping in holes for days on end was the norm. Not the smallest or lightest, but super versatile. All three layers together, Ive slept warm and woke up to all our water being frozen more than a few times.

add a poncho liner and you're set for the next ice age.

View attachment 38068
From what I see, l like this setup.
Gives one options.
 
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Ive got this same bag and it works pretty good down to 50s, few degrees more with a nice liner. I probably saw the same blog you did. Ive done a lot of motorcycle camping off small dual sports and size was a big issue for me with sleeping bags. This bag packs SMALL!

I don't know that I ever dipped into the 40s, but 50s Ive done, and I always had a small fleece liner. I was never uncomfortably cold.



Don't underestimate a good ground pad when choosing gear. Choose the correct R rating for the temps. Depending on the terrain and temps, the ground can suck away heat.
Yeah it's marginal when in the low 40s so I usually add another baselayer on me. I bought mine for $50 and now it's $75 but still a decent deal for an extremely light packing down bag. Except I last used it during duck season and now I can't get the Salton Sea funk out of it...

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Camping set up.ILBE ruck, Cheap $40 tent, 9x12 tarp, old OD green bed roll, 2 3liter bladders. Cheap Titanium stove works great, one stainless cup, change of underwear for each day. 1 mountain house per day, trail mix w/ M&Ms, flash light, headlamp, cheap 25 degree bag, TP, body wipes. 1 garbage bag for trash (my trash and What ever other trash I find). It's all heavy jajajjajaja!! Oh yea a very small cooler with a few beers. Only if I'm hiking less than 5 miles. Jajajjajaja!!
 
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Just 1 Mountain House per day!?!? Wait... what size are you?
I'm short and on the rounder side. I like a mountain house for dinner. I eat trail mix and fruit sometimes jerky. When I go out to camp I am relaxing. Not burning calories. Hunting that's a different story. MH breakfast & dinner, trail mix, fruit, candy bars, Gatorade packets
 
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