[shakes]

jonfromhamilton wrote:

GoLite shangrila-5 of shangrila-3 ftw

The 3 is a contender too. looks like it would be more stable in big winds. but weight is getting up there.

I can see this getting expensive quickly. window shopping for mat's and bags, my old shitty yoga mat and carribee sleeping bag are on the heavy side but work well.

http://www.wildearth.com.au/thermarest- ... -1709.html

http://www.wildearth.com.au/summit-trek ... -1591.html

[Moph]

Anaconda have a 50% off sale on Denali sleeping bags at the moment ... they have some good stuff in their range. We have a couple of the Cocoon 800's (-6* comfort rating) and they are just awesome in cold weather. Have been out in near-zero temps in it and been toasty warm. Have to join the Anaconda Club for the specials but that's free. Linky below:

http://camping.anaconda.com.au/adventur ... ping%20Bag

[royce]

Dont buy this stuff in Australia, we get ripped something stupid, I just bought a down jacket for $92 US plus $50 for 7 days post (had other items with it) that is $400 on sale here, its a joke

http://www.backcountrygear.com/therm-a- ... xlite.html

[foonji]

+1 to Royce, I bought a pair of merrell shoes from USA for $110 compared to $250 here, and a $300 rainjacket for $100.

[bohuler]

My old man goes to china every few months. He has brought back heaps of outdoor gear the best is my 'genuine' columbia goretex jacket that cost him about $30 For a chincopy, its like it came out of the same factory. Works as its supposed to (ie, keeps me dry in torrential rain) and stands up to a flogging. I have a second one that he bought me as a nice clean one for going out in and a murbu stained (building a deck in pissing down rain, gotta love using power tools in the rain!), mud encrusted grotty as shit one for using when camping and working and cost a grand total of about $60.

Dave

[abclarke]

bohuler wrote:

Use this shit, cheap as fuck, easy to wire up and if you add a small (under 40amp hour) deep cycle, will definatly run the lights all night.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5050-5M-300- ... 4aa88bf193
They are the ones that atari used as his porn rock lights. I have 5 meter here that i'm going to light up the new GV with
Dave
p.s speaker wire is the way to go if your running the power to these as in camp site lanter, cheap as and got hte power and earth.
Dave

x2, these are great!

[shakes]

royce wrote:

Dont buy this stuff in Australia, we get ripped something stupid, I just bought a down jacket for $92 US plus $50 for 7 days post (had other items with it) that is $400 on sale here, its a joke

http://www.backcountrygear.com/therm-a- ... xlite.html

Similar situation in alot of retail industry's now. I know a few wholesalers that buy direct from factory's in Asia but still pay more than oversea's stores sell it for... how does that work?

I hate this deciding on things swinging towards something similar to this now http://adventurefriends.com.au/ferrino-nemesi-1

Little more room makes rainy nights a bit comfier for still weighs in at 1.5kg. online reviews say good things. Off to a few stores tomorrow to have a touch and feel and get a better idea of size. Fine line between carrying extra weight to be comfortable and being uncomfortable from dragging that extra weight around....

[Lazysod]

For bike packing I use a borah gear bivy with a gossamer gear tarp. Heaps of room for one person in storms etc. together they weight about 1/2 kg and pack very small. I use my trees to hang the tarp off or have a method that uses my bike when trees aren't around.

http://ulgear.blogspot.com.au/p/side-zip-bivy.html

http://gossamergear.com/shelters/shelte ... -tarp.html

I use them for car camping as well. The tarp is strung from the car to a tree and I use the bivy for bug protection on top of a camp stretcher.

[shakes]

Lazysod wrote:

For bike packing I use a borah gear bivy with a gossamer gear tarp. Heaps of room for one person in storms etc. together they weight about 1/2 kg and pack very small. I use my trees to hang the tarp off or have a method that uses my bike when trees aren't around.

http://ulgear.blogspot.com.au/p/side-zip-bivy.html

http://gossamergear.com/shelters/shelte ... -tarp.html

I use them for car camping as well. The tarp is strung from the car to a tree and I use the bivy for bug protection on top of a camp stretcher.

Good first post

Any photo's of your setup? I've decided on a small 2 man tent to start with as I'm only doing some short trips to start with and to try encourage my better half to do some hiking with me. In 12 months time when I start venturing a bit further I'll go the bivvy/tarp set up.

[shakes]

http://www.vaude.com/epages/Vaude-de.sf ... /155974000

So i got one of these... price was far tooooo good to pass it up. Pack size and weight works. If I dont like it, can sell it on and buy something more suitable.

[Chop]

Thanks shakes, ever since i clicked on that ferrino link above i've copped nothing but their advertising on websites.

[shakes]

Chop wrote:

Thanks shakes, ever since i clicked on that ferrino link above i've copped nothing but their advertising on websites.

So have I, goddamn targeted advertising.

[shakes]

So back to family camping. We will be in bright in september which = coldish.

Trying to work out the best sort of under matteress throwsheet for both us and my little one(more important) she's in one of these Reckon I'd be fine to throw a light blanket over the top of it too but keeping the air vents free? She is astmatic and a little sensitive to the cold so trying to reduce the risk.

[shakes]

^^ the little one has slept on doubled up yoga mat's multiple times now... she starts squirming ALOT when she move's off them and onto the cold ground.
Am on the hunt for a 3/4 length hiking mat for her to sleep on.

Currently also shopping about for a 'pop up tent' for sneaky over nighters or when we are just passing through.

2 real options I've found.

oztrail swift @ $125
or...
oztent @ $169 (delivered from a few online stores)

I think the oztent has possibly sightly better ventilation as well as a small vestibule to put shoes and the like. Not sure if that is worth the extra $50?

[royce]

I'd check out the packed size of those things before committing, I think they end up a huge flat wonky looking thing

[kenn]

Damn you shakes, now I want to go and buy a new tent. I like the last one worth the extra $50 for sure.
I've got a shimnano two man and it packs down flat enough to put under the soft top ontop of the roof console.

[shakes]

royce wrote:

I'd check out the packed size of those things before committing, I think they end up a huge flat wonky looking thing

Yea, they end up packed fairly flat and about the size of my spare tire thats sitting upright in the boot.
Ordered the oztent one.

Trying to encourage my girls to do more sneaky overnighters, if this makes it easier. Then I can tolerate a bit of a pain to pack.

[Bucket]

Just bought myself a hydration pack at the local disposals.

I had been wanting to get one ever since going to Tuff Truck a few years back and kept looking around locally on eBay. Ended up trying a Black Wolf one on and for $80, thought it was a pretty good deal. Should get a workout up in Echuca this weekend, paintballing in the 42 degree weather.

Has anyone tried the Black Wolf camp chairs. They had one for about $160 that looked pretty schmicko.
Is there any camping brands that are GENERALLY really good and what ones are worth avoicing for general camping gear?

I really wanna start gathering some info on camping gear because once the zook is regoed, i'm outta here for a weekend!

[pezz]

shakes wrote:

^^ the little one has slept on doubled up yoga mat's multiple times now... she starts squirming ALOT when she move's off them and onto the cold ground.
Am on the hunt for a 3/4 length hiking mat for her to sleep on.

i cant say enough about my exped down mat 7

[shakes]

Bucket - I really dislike most folding chairs, shit seating position, the cross brace at the front ends up digging into my legs.


Pezz - downmat is overkill. (my synmat is awesome) She can get a synmat 3.5 tops. Will wait till a cheap used 3/4 mat shows up on chockstone/bushwalk forums.

[VitNick]

I second pezz, the exped down mat 7 I have is amazing and worth its weight in gold, unfortunately they are almost priced as if they were gold. Mac Pack for how heigh their prices are their gear is pretty top notch, haven't had a problem with anything I've bought from there and I don't hesitate to go there when I need something that is a bit out of the blue. If you wait until they have a sale on (seems to be very often) their prices are bearable. If it floats your boat kitbag and platatac sell some pretty nice gear as well but is more military gear but again have some nice camping gear.
One thing I can say from camping is water proof your stuff. I had a look at the expensive chairs and I'm happy to sit on my pack most of the time or the ground.
Platatac have some 3/4 length mats for sale, haven't tried them personally but they seem pretty good http://www.platatac.com/platatac-3-4-le ... g-mat.html

[shakes]

oh and the tent showed up today.

Snowy's outdoors in SA. Rad service, literally overnight to Melbourne.

Tent was bigger than I was expecting. setups a piece of cake. Packup is fiddly, but after a few goes and a youtube vid had the hang of it.

[Bucket]

Spent the last hour watching YouTube reviews on swags and tents....Now I'm really unsure on what I want! lol

[pezz]

as soon as this comes on special im grabbing it http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/prod ... 1578#Cross
it will be my "big" tent...

i was chatting to a climber that had one as his msr got stolen whilst set up,
for the cash he was happy with it..
i had a old macpac tunnel tent, it was good, but overpriced in my opinion..

have had a few swags over the years from biker thu to king domes...

for me i like that a tent is able to be broken down into parts to pack up...
handy when hiking as your buddy can carry half the tent too

[shakes]

Swags - big heavy bulky monsters - tough as nails and easyish to set up.

Tents - far lighter, far smaller (pack size is important) only downside is they can't be abused like a swag.

Personally something like pezz suggested is spot on. unless you wanna spend the big $$$ on nerdy stuff.

Also look into the Exped range of sleeping mats, I'll slap you if you buy anything else.
and colder isnt better when it comes to sleeping bag ratings.

[jono165]

All my camping gear is very compact, it would double as hiking gear if I need it to.

I have one of these tents http://www.blackwolf.com.au/product/Was ... ategory/22 its brilliant, light, compact, strong. Its been used in heavy rain, snow and in the middle of the summer and works great theres plenty of ways to open it up for ventilation or to seal it up for warmth. Its also able to be setup without pegs if you are on rocky or hard ground which is handy.

[shakes]

shakes wrote:

^^ the little one has slept on doubled up yoga mat's multiple times now... she starts squirming ALOT when she move's off them and onto the cold ground.
Am on the hunt for a 3/4 length hiking mat for her to sleep on.

Currently also shopping about for a 'pop up tent' for sneaky over nighters or when we are just passing through.

2 real options I've found.

oztrail swift @ $125
or...
oztent @ $169 (delivered from a few online stores)

I think the oztent has possibly sightly better ventilation as well as a small vestibule to put shoes and the like. Not sure if that is worth the extra $50?

So I went the OZtent malamoo 3 person.

Sets up and packs up damn easy, overnight is was a little over 20°c I had it closed up and it got a little warm inside but no condensation to speak of
Second night had the windows open to let a breeze through and it was great. It was true to size, easily fitted 2 hiking mat's and a full size single matteress in there, me, my daughter and my partner no drama's at all.
Still to be tested in bad weather, it looks reasonably waterproof but we will see. Has a bucket floor which is nice so other than not being seam sealed it should be fine...

Next on the list is a doormat of sorts.

[Built4thrashing]

shakes wrote:

shakes wrote:

^^ the little one has slept on doubled up yoga mat's multiple times now... she starts squirming ALOT when she move's off them and onto the cold ground.
Am on the hunt for a 3/4 length hiking mat for her to sleep on.

Currently also shopping about for a 'pop up tent' for sneaky over nighters or when we are just passing through.

2 real options I've found.

oztrail swift @ $125
or...
oztent @ $169 (delivered from a few online stores)

I think the oztent has possibly sightly better ventilation as well as a small vestibule to put shoes and the like. Not sure if that is worth the extra $50?

So I went the OZtent malamoo 3 person.

Sets up and packs up damn easy, overnight is was a little over 20°c I had it closed up and it got a little warm inside but no condensation to speak of
Second night had the windows open to let a breeze through and it was great. It was true to size, easily fitted 2 hiking mat's and a full size single matteress in there, me, my daughter and my partner no drama's at all.
Still to be tested in bad weather, it looks reasonably waterproof but we will see. Has a bucket floor which is nice so other than not being seam sealed it should be fine...

Next on the list is a doormat of sorts.

I wonder where you got the idea for the Malamoo tent

Ive been rocking ours for 4+ years now and the only issue ive had is the pole joiner has split. Easy $5 fix when I get around to it. Duct tape and the stick I dummied it up with last year is still holding.....

Best thing about the Malamoo is they are a double skin tent unlike the cheap ones.

[JAYZUKI]

I only just noticed this section.
for years ive been into building big campsites with big heavy gear that takes ages to set up (just for 1 person )

obviously i no longer have that car

but now im doing a 180 and starting to head in the direction of backpack camping with lightweight gear

In true zooker fashion im doing this on the cheap
I bought a cheap $50 tent off ebay. 1.8kg, 145x15 pack weight

Then i bought a chinese knockoff bag of the maxpedition (and a cheap sewing kit for repairs)
I bought some nikwax solar and water proofing spray for the fly for added protection
I bought the trangia mini stove set
Im still undecided on what sleeping bag i will use, cheap usually means BIG!
also undecided on what method of water purification ill go for(tablets, filters etc)
And then stuff like, knives, first aid kit, paracord, water bottle, Fuel bottle, compass, and probly a Basha

[shakes]

JAYZUKI wrote:

but now im doing a 180 and starting to head in the direction of backpack camping with lightweight gear

In true zooker fashion im doing this on the cheap
I bought a cheap $50 tent off ebay. 1.8kg, 145x15 pack weight

Then i bought a chinese knockoff bag of the maxpedition (and a cheap sewing kit for repairs)
I bought some nikwax solar and water proofing spray for the fly for added protection
I bought the trangia mini stove set
Im still undecided on what sleeping bag i will use, cheap usually means BIG!
also undecided on what method of water purification ill go for(tablets, filters etc)
And then stuff like, knives, first aid kit, paracord, water bottle, Fuel bottle, compass, and probly a Basha

anaconda's home brand does some smallish down bags . Denali I think? Then get a s2s reactor liner which will bump up the rating in the cold, or double as a summer bag.

Water sawyer squeeze seems to be all the rage at the moment.