When my almost 10-year old son asked to go backpacking to celebrate his double-digit birthday, I was ecstatic. Our location was decided upon and reserved, and our checklist was defined and ready to tackle. Between REI, Cabela’s and Walmart, we had many options and fulfilled our gear needs.
I first scouted Walmart to get an idea of their inventory and prices,
knowing that it would be cost effective. Then, with Cabela’s within
relavitely short driving distance, I set out to find the more specialty items…namely
a tent (critical) and backpacking stove (also critical).
I researched a few tents, but went with my dad’s favorite brand,
Eureka!, with the Amari Pass Two-Person tent (4 lbs, 9 oz., $140). There was a
helpful blog discussion on tents on www.backpacker.com
and discount prices (they referenced www.backcountry.com
and www.steap&cheap.com). I
set up the tent in our living room and it’s easy to set-up and roomy. The front
part of the fly confused me (it’s supposed to be for equipment storage), which
we could do without.
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| Pedernales Falls, Eureka! Amari Pass tent without the fly |
In the Cabela’s bargain barn, I found a MSR MICROROCKET backpacking
stove for $38 (it normally runs around $65). It truly is light weight (2.6
oz.), so easy to set and fold up, extremely user friendly, compact, reliable, sturdy,
comes with a flameless igniter, connects easily and seamlessly to the gas and
is a CINCH to start. I paired it with an 8 oz. MSR ISOPRO fuel. Note: My next stop
was REI, who carries MSR, but also another brand of trail stove called Primus,
which is much cheaper at a nice $19.95. The camping expert there told me it’s a
great stove.
I splurged (space and weight wise) with a compact single person hammock
($20), which was really fun for Niko to set up the next day. Other items I purchased
at Cabela’s: 2 headlamps (Princeton Tec, on sale for $15 each, really
comfortable band, fantastic quality), carabineers, Mountain House brand freeze
dried beef stroganoff and breakfast skillet (around $9 each; one packet can
feed a mom and son perfectly; REI and Wal-Mart carry this also) and dried ice
cream sandwiches, lantern, 2 aluminum cups (they served as our cup and bowl)
and first aid kit.
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| Our Mountain House breakfast skillet with handy aluminum cup and spork |
My next stop was REI, where I was expertly advised on what type of container
to boil water on my MSR stove. Note: Wal-Mart has a minimal selection of camp cookware
and while I found a very practical small pot that carried two small aluminum
cups inside, it was impossible for me to fold down the handles (cheap doesn’t mean
better and always try it out!). At
REI, I also picked up a 32 oz. water bottle.
My final stop was Wal-Mart where I purchased two water bottles, a small
dry box, two whistles, water bottle holder (these are hard to find), a cheap
backpack for Niko ($30, and the sternum strap broke 2 minutes into our hike,
although I didn’t regret the cheap purchase our first time out), sleeping bag, hand
wipes and bungee cords.
With all the gear purchased, we laid it all out and began to pack. I
found my old Coleman backpack that I used during my year junior year in college
studying abroad in Madrid. My sleeping bag didn’t fit in the sleeping bag
compartment in the bottom. We packed and re-packed with the help of a great resource from REI (video and text) on how to most efficiently
pack your backpack, and walked around the house trying out the weight and
balance. Finally, we were ready!
So, in summary:
-
The good gear:
o
Niko’s backpack: Even though the sternum strap
broke, it carried all of his gear (sleeping bag, sleeping pad, food, clothing,
shoes)
o
Tent: Great quality, kept us dry from the
condensation; didn’t like the front fly set-up
o
Hand sanitizing wipes: With no extra water
supply, these served to clean our hands and clean out our cups
o
Garmin GPS watch: This is my running watch, but
was great to see how far we had walked (and how much longer we had to go)
o
Cooking pot: Multi-purpose, sturdy, light
-
The fun gear:
o
Hammock: Compact and really comfortable (we had
a perfect tree canopy to hang it!)
o
Freeze dried ice cream sandwiches
o
Tea and hot chocolate warmed us up when the weather
got cool after the sun went down
o
Playing cards: A game of rummy in the tent was a
fun activity
-
The bad gear:
o
Sleeping pads: Super uncomfortable…heard there
are self-inflatable ones; used the same kind I used when I was camping with my
family as a little girl…there must be a better alternative!
-
The critical gear:
o
MSR camp stove
o
Headlamps: Who needs a flashlight when you can
keep your hands free?
o
Extra water: Not a convenient water source
nearby
o
Aluminum cups: Used as a cup and bowl and light
Resources and next steps
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Blog post on our 1-night back-country adventure
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