Backcountry Pilot

[Fisherman offline]

Howdy!

I don't post much but I do enjoy reading the posts and jumping in once in a while.

Here goes. You're going to the fly-in. What do you like to bring with you? What do you like to eat while there and how do you cook it?

I like to take a couple of Dutch Ovens and start a pot of beans and when they're ready make biscuits or cornbread in the other Dutch oven. Then throw some meat on the fire. Bring some salad in a plastic container. Sodee Pops. That's about it. Pretty simple stuff.

Setting up your campsite. What do you bring? What do you like to have to make it a more comfortable night? Do you bring a guitar? I don't because I can't play one and I don't think the other people around would appreciate me playing my trumpet. LOL

What's your ideal camping weekend like? I'd like to read some of your experiences and tips.

[iceman offline]

Depends what your plane can carry. In my Tipacer I had 175 pounds of camping gear behind me give or take a few pounds. I take my 4 man tent a cot, Propane stove 2 Sleeping bags, 3 coolers, to pack stuff in for the trip, Two fly rods, Tarps for over the picnic table, Two chairs, A portable emergency stove, Pots and pans for cooking, two plates, knives and forks, Rain gear, Emergency gear, A steak and potato for the first nights meal... Anything else I buy there the second day on a supply run. In the Maule I have added a few things cause there's more room and it can carry more.That's about all I can think of off hand.

[Fisherman offline]

Depends what your plane can carry. In my Tipacer I had 175 pounds of camping gear behind me give or take a few pounds. I take my 4 man tent a cot, Propane stove 2 Sleeping bags, 3 coolers, to pack stuff in for the trip, Two fly rods, Tarps for over the picnic table, Two chairs, A portable emergency stove, Pots and pans for cooking, two plates, knives and forks, Rain gear, Emergency gear, A steak and potato for the first nights meal... Anything else I buy there the second day on a supply run. In the Maule I have added a few things cause there's more room and it can carry more.That's about all I can think of off hand.

LOL Just make sure you're carefull with the dry ice during the supply run.

[OregonMaule offline]

Cooler, beer, pop, whisky, water, PBJ, bread, chips, jerky. Sleeping bag, cot, mt. bike, gun, chair. Cheers...Rob

[iceman offline]

LOL Just make sure you're carefull with the dry ice during the supply run.

OH yeah we don't use dry ice any more. But as one of the other guys put it, the tripacer has so many air holes there wouldn't be a problem. I could actually look through a hole in the floor straight down where the bungees were attached and see ground. I did forget gun in my list, but it's there, along with a second small tent, and usually a bottle of at least 15 year old scotch.

[Grassstrippilot offline]

For comfort, one of the best things I bring is my small, battery-powered Coleman airpump for my airmattress. I figure I can bring it so why not.

A little less fancy but good meals are the Mountain House backpacking meals. If I don't want to have a mess to clean up and pack lighter, I grab some of those. They have everything from breakfast to dessert. It makes getting dinner ready a snap and helps to break down camp quickly in the morning. I recommend the blueberry granola cereal for in the morning and the Pasta Primavera for dinner with the Bluberry cheese cake for dessert. They are great for trips where you want to spend more time flying.

[Skystrider offline]

Believe it or not, for years I have been keeping an Excel spreadsheet called "Checklist". Each tab is named for a trip and has a list of what to bring for that particular trip. If I go on a new type of trip, I start a new tab and copy over the list from a similar trip and then modify it. This method has saved me uncounted hours of trip planning fustration and rarely do I end up missing anything critical or necessary or nice or .....

The real secret is post-trip mods. After the trip I go back and update the list if there was something I should have brought and/or I didn't need.

The checklist also helps a lot with weight and balance because I only have to figure it out the first time for any given type trip.

My two cents....

[Fisherman offline]

Believe it or not, for years I have been keeping an Excel spreadsheet called "Checklist". Each tab is named for a trip and has a list of what to bring for that particular trip. If I go on a new type of trip, I start a new tab and copy over the list from a similar trip and then modify it. This method has saved me uncounted hours of trip planning fustration and rarely do I end up missing anything critical or necessary or nice or .....

The real secret is post-trip mods. After the trip I go back and update the list if there was something I should have brought and/or I didn't need.

The checklist also helps a lot with weight and balance because I only have to figure it out the first time for any given type trip.

My two cents....

Excellent idea!

[qmdv offline]

Skystrider needs to email us the spreadsheet.

I like to fix crepe's for breakfast on the first night, thats a thin French pancake. Probably the last good thing that they have invented. Have to have the whip chream and boysenberries. I usually fix enough for whowever is nearby.

Got to bring the hot links for one of the dinners.

A wrist rocket is nice for a pine hen.

Tim

[Grassstrippilot offline]

The spreadsheet is a great idea. I started weighing items individually and keeping their weights on my PDA. That way, no matter what combination of gear I take, I knew the weight and wouldn't have to weigh them again. I got kind of tired doing that.

[iceman offline]

For comfort, one of the best things I bring is my small, battery-powered Coleman airpump for my airmattress. I figure I can bring it so why not.

A little less fancy but good meals are the Mountain House backpacking meals.

I have always wondered how those meals were. We usually go pretty fancy when we go to JC every summer. I mean Steaks, baked potatoes, Good wine, Sometimes, Spaghetti with home made sauce sausages and meatballs, I do brownies in a makeshift oven I sometimes bring... It's easy to do. I go to where supermarkets throw away cardboard boxes and pick out one with very thick cardboard, about one and a half by one and a half in size. Line the inside of the box with aluminum foil and use one side of the cube as a oven door, also lined with aluminum foil. I then place charcoal brickets in a disposable aluminum foil pan about 9 by 9, after they are glowing. Figure each brickette as about 50 degrees. You need about 8 or 9 for brownies. Place the brickette pan on 4 small rocks on the bottom of your oven, so the pan is raised about 1 to 2 inches off the floor of the oven, and put your pan of brownie mix on four empty beer or pop cans over the coals. Hot chocolate brownies in about 30 minutes. You can also use the cardboard oven to pack stuff in to put in the plane. Sounds like a lot of work now that I read it back but sure goes well around the campfire after dinner. I immagine we could do a whole nuther thread on camp cooking. Sorry I "Jumped the Shark" as Zane would say. I bring lots of extra rope. the cheap kind that u could use for about a week and throw away rather than bring home. Comes in mighty handy for clothes lines and to hang food away from the critters.

[mtv offline]

Holy Guacamole!!! Organizers galore. I'm guessing some of you guys couldn't figure out the directions to the airport without a PDA .

Let's see, what does one really need for airplane camping:

1) An airplane.
2) A sleeping bag
3) Maybe a tent
4) In my aged state--an air matress
5) A folding chair
6) Three boxes of granola bars, some Pop Tarts and a can of Planters Mixed Nuts (extra large can)
7) A really nice Merlot to go with those granola bars (okay, sometimes I substitute Moose Drool for the Merlot, but that then requires:)
A cooler for the beer.

Do not, under any circumstances, clutter up that cooler with food items. Cooking?? Criminy, this is supposed to be fun .

MTV

[iceman offline]

Do not, under any circumstances, clutter up that cooler with food items. Cooking?? Criminy, this is supposed to be fun .

MTV

OK MTv no brownies for you then!!!!!!!!!!!

[N18NV offline]

Depends on who I'm going camping with but if it is my wife, I keep is very simple:

Small cooler with beer
A taxi cab to the Ramada
Waffle House for breakfast

This by her standards is considered roughing it.

[Mr. Ed offline]

A while back I saw a post that mentioned a camp stove that will burn 100LL. I'm looking for a new stove and would like to have one that will burn airplane gas. Do any of you have any suggestions, recommendations or warnings on any of the multi fuel stoves out there?

[iceman offline]

I usually use a half cup of av gas to start my white mans fire. You know.....WHite man fire..... heat both sides of canyon...

[Hammer offline]

Do any of you have any suggestions, recommendations or warnings on any of the multi fuel stoves out there?

There are several small backpacking stoves (one made by MSR comes to mind) that will burn anything you can put in them from diesel fuel to rubbing alcohol. They work very well, though all the ones I know about are very small and somewhat challenging to use. Heat settings are generally full-on or full-off...no gently simmering omelets unless you have a heat sink to put between the stove and the pan. I have one I used extensively in asia over the past 11 years and it's still running strong after burning a steady diet of gasoline, diesel and occasionally fish oil.

The only issue with burning other-than-whitegas is you get a lot of soot and you have to pull the jets and clean them every few hours of use. It's not a big job. Burning 100ll is no problem, other than the soot.

[Kenny Chapman offline]

I use an MSR Whisperlite International stove. The International burns gas, diesel, Jet A, 100LL, etc. You do have to clean the jets but it's worth it. I carry a small (11oz.) bottle and drain the fuel off the sump. When I leave I empty the bottle so there is no fuel stored in the cabin. Works great.

[Zzz]

I use an MSR Whisperlite International stove. The International burns gas, diesel, Jet A, 100LL, etc. You do have to clean the jets but it's worth it. I carry a small (11oz.) bottle and drain the fuel off the sump. When I leave I empty the bottle so there is no fuel stored in the cabin. Works great.

I second Kenny's suggestion on the MSR. I've had a regular white gas Whisperlite for 17 years, and it's bombproof. It puts out some incredible heat too. I'm going to pick up one of the multi-fuel versions though the next time they come up on Steap and Cheap.

[Grassstrippilot offline]

Do any of you have any suggestions, recommendations or warnings on any of the multi fuel stoves out there?

There are several small backpacking stoves (one made by MSR comes to mind) that will burn anything you can put in them from diesel fuel to rubbing alcohol. They work very well, though all the ones I know about are very small and somewhat challenging to use. Heat settings are generally full-on or full-off...no gently simmering omelets unless you have a heat sink to put between the stove and the pan. I have one I used extensively in asia over the past 11 years and it's still running strong after burning a steady diet of gasoline, diesel and occasionally fish oil.

The only issue with burning other-than-whitegas is you get a lot of soot and you have to pull the jets and clean them every few hours of use. It's not a big job. Burning 100ll is no problem, other than the soot.

I have the MSR International (I think that is what it is called). I love it. Easy to set up and will burn anything. True, you do have to clean the jets if you use different types of fuel frequently. I haven't had the problem with adjusting the flame, although I will admit that the dial is a bit sensitive. But then again, I'm not doing any gourmet cooking out there either.