Camping in Comfort: A Guide to Roughing It with Ease and Style (INTERNATIONAL MARINE-RMP) - Softcover

Haney, Lynn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071454217 ISBN 13: 9780071454216

Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 2007

Synopsis

Roughing it doesn't have to be uncomfortable...or expensive!

Camping in Comfort is the complete guide to help you enjoy the latest advances in outdoor gearwithout wasting money on expensive, unnecessary paraphernalia.Packed with information on tents, sleeping gear, clothing,footwear, and camp kitchens, it also offers detailed informationon state parks, private campgrounds, luxury camping resorts,backpacking and bicycle camping, kayak camping, RV camping, andmuch more.

About this title

About the Author

Lynn Haney is an award-winning author of 10 books. Aside from sports books (in collaboration with photographer Bruce Curtis), she has written The Lady Is A Jock, Naked At The Feast, and, most recently, A Charmed Life - a biography of Gregory Peck. She was previously employed by Christian Dior―Paris, The National Endowment for the Arts, and The New York Times. Her books have sold more than 100,000 copies.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Camping in Comfort

A Guide to Roughing It With Ease and Style

By LYNN HANEY

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2008 Lynn Haney
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-07-145421-6

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CHAPTER 1 MODERN CAMPING
CHAPTER 2 SAFETY AND FIRST AID
CHAPTER 3 TENTS
CHAPTER 4 SLEEPING BAGS AND PADS
CHAPTER 5 BACKPACKS
CHAPTER 6 CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR
CHAPTER 7 COOKING
CHAPTER 8 BICYCLE CAMPING
CHAPTER 9 BOAT CAMPING
CHAPTER 10 RVING
APPENDIX A: CAMPING CHECKLISTS
APPENDIX B: SUPPLIERS
APPENDIX C: RESOURCES
INDEX

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

MODERN CAMPING

One balmy summer night several years ago, while camping off the coast of DownEast Maine, I sat on a log and twirled a hot dog over a crackling fire. Myhusband and two children joined me in this time-honored ritual.

I wondered: Can a vacation get any better than this? We had just spent a weekhiking, kayaking, mountain biking, swimming, and lazily pitching stones overcool, clear waters. Now it was time to go home. "Where shall we camp next year?"I asked brightly.

"In a hotel," retorted my son. He popped a marshmallow into his mouth andglanced at his sister. She nodded in agreement. They had obviously discussed thematter.

How could such a shocking idea emanate from the lips of my own flesh and blood?Our annual pilgrimage to the great outdoors was a family tradition, our way ofwashing off the dreck of civilization.

As the number-one camping enthusiast in the family, I couldn't help but take thehotel suggestion personally. Had the kids gone soft? Did my children have issueswith Mother Nature or—heaven forbid—their own mother?

"A hotel sounds great to me," chimed my husband. As he spoke, I noted he wasleaning perilously forward on one of our dilapidated camping chairs. The plasticwebbing had shredded away from the rickety frame. Collapse was imminent.

At his feet sat Quincy, our Labrador/golden retriever—a foundling from thestreets of New Haven. The mutt of my dreams was fixing me with baleful eyes.What's going on? I asked myself. Dogs love camping.

"We're just fed up," my husband volunteered. "We come back to our campsite atnight, and we're forced to reckon with this lousy equipment. It's time for achange."

As the evening wore on, the campfire stories revolved around our battles withthe elements, and with our gear. "Remember when our tent blew away in thehurricane?" marveled our daughter.

"It was only a tropical storm," I corrected her.

"Well, my sleeping bag felt like a wet sandwich," groused our son. "And when Iwashed it at home and took it out of the machine, all the insulation had clumpedto the bottom."

With a heavy heart I scanned the scene. Our threadbare tent was suspended fromwobbly poles. Inside it stood four cots with their middles sagging, each cottopped by a thin pad. The gauntlet was thrown. I had to come up with a solutionfast. Otherwise, camping en famille was history. And I regarded this piece ofour lives as too valuable to toss away.

Love of the outdoors was bred into my bones. The offspring of a huntin' fishin'father, I grew up camping high in the Allegheny Mountains of westernPennsylvania. As a student in Paris, I backpacked through Europe on a fewdollars a day, sleeping in haylofts, hostels, and the outbuildings of chateaus.Returning to the States, I pitched my tent at music festivals, politicalrallies, and on coastal beaches.

But it wasn't just for my own sake that I wanted to safeguard our family'scamping experience. The values of camping were something I wanted to pass on tomy children. I wanted to instill in them the sense of unpredictable adventurethat comes when you exit the beaten path. And camping was a way to help them seethe country's natural resources up close and convey the importance of preservingthem for future generations.

But their complaints had merit. Like many families, we had purchased our gearwilly-nilly at big-box retailers. We hadn't given much thought to quality ordurability. So it was not surprising that our equipment had not held up well.

The next morning as we wended down Maine's Route 1 and I puzzled over ourmeltdown, I had what I call "my epiphany." If we could avail ourselves of thelatest technological innovations in camping equipment, we could make our outdoorexperiences almost hassle-free. As if by divine intervention, we approached asign for L.L. Bean: gear nirvana. "Pull over!" I barked at my husband.

Anyone who ventures into one of America's great gear emporiums is immediatelystruck by how camping has taken on a bright new look. The venerable old brownboots and drab-looking tents in subdued hues have been replaced by cheerfulcolors.

Much of the new gear is user-friendly, compact, durable, and downright stylish.It gives nature lovers the freedom to enjoy the outdoors without being hamstrungby cumbersome, weighty equipment.

These gear headquarters are vacation destinations in themselves. Companies rentspace in their cathedral-size rooms for conferences, and couples have even beenmarried in these stores (guests are surrounded by gift ideas). Much of thestores' popularity has to do with a resurgence in outdoor pursuits. Camping isthe number-one outdoor vacation activity. According to a recreation executivereport, one-third of the adults in the United States has gone on a campingvacation in the last five years. Since 9/11, camping activities have risen 30percent.

Increasingly, Americans are choosing to bring home amenities to their campsites."We still have diehards, folks who want to rough it and take the minimalistapproach," says Jim Reid, an executive at Coleman, "but the much, much strongertrend is families who want to maximize convenience and comfort."

Returning home from Maine, I donated any salvageable gear we owned to Goodwill;the rest I tossed in the dump. Then I set about mastering camping in the twenty-first century. During the process, I enlisted the help of experts in outdoorequipment, field-tested products and sought honest opinions from other campers.

I soon realized that outdoor enthusiasts want the straight scoop. You're hungryfor accurate information about gear—particularly new merchandise that'slightweight, portable, and practical. You may be put off by the mind-bogglinglingo of technical gear and wonder whether some of this gear is reserved for theoutdoor elite. You want specific tips on how to cut through the feature-intensive confusion and simplify your needs. Most of all, you don't want to beburdened with advertising hype and hearsay.

What's the best way to tackle this book? You can read it straight through, oryou can zero in on your particular interests. The chapters cover gear,activities, and modes of camping. Let's be clear, however: This is not a primeron the basics of camping, nor is it a handbook on the fundamentals of particularoutdoor activities, such as "How to Backpack" or "How to Kayak and Canoe."Numerous books have already tackled these subjects. What's more, this book isn'twritten for campers who are interested in strenuous or highly technical pursuitssuch as through-hiking, mountaineering, whitewater paddling, or transcontinentalbike touring. And it has little to say to no-pain no-gain purists who regardendured hardships as badges of honor. Rather, this book is written specificallyfor fun lovers who simply want to enjoy nature with minimum hassle and maximumpleasure.

CAMPING CHOICES

So what exactly is camping in comfort? For some, getting back to nature means acampground bustling with RVs and barbecues. For others, it is a string ofwilderness days away from the maddening crowds. For many, it is somewhere inbetween—a park, a riverbank, or a sequestered cabin.

Car Camping

If you are car camping at a state park, for example, your site can become avirtual outdoor suite with multiple tents, inflatable mattresses, collapsibletables and chairs, and sturdy kitchen equipment such as a portable range and abarbecue grill.

Many developed campgrounds offer restrooms with hot showers, laundry facilities,picnic tables, tent platforms, trash cans, and electric outlets at the tentsites. Some campgrounds even schedule organized activities for children (to therelief of many parents).

Backpacking

If backpacking is on your agenda, welcome to weight watchers. If your assembledgear is too heavy to move, perhaps you'd better stay home. Backpacking—particularly ultralight backpacking, which has revolutionized the sport—is anexercise in relentlessly minimizing weight in order to be comfortable. To reducewhat you carry, you might search out titanium tent poles, LED (light-emittingdiode) flashlights, and sleeping bags that fold to pocket size.

Not so long ago, backpacking tents were little more than crude shelters. Now,with the advent of superlight, waterproof, ripstop fabric, you can have aluxurious tent that weighs a mere two or three pounds. Today's packing tents arewell built, rugged, easy to store, and simple to set up.

Minimalism for backpackers also extends to clothing. A wind shirt, for example,allows you dress in lighter base layers during active exercise in coldconditions. Footwear, too, is lighter. There is a saying that "a pound on thefoot equals five pounds in your pack." For this reason, many people have movedaway from full-blown boots and now hike in low-topped hiking shoes.

Boat Camping

Compared to backpacking, canoe camping and kayak camping are outdoor luxuries.Boats can easily transport you, your family, and all of your gear across thelake to your favorite campsite in the woods. Think of these boats as floatingpieces of luggage.

See Chapter 9 for more on boat camping.

Bicycle Camping

Bicycle camping brings other joys and challenges to creating a comfortablecampsite. Like backpacking, biking is noteworthy for its self-sufficiency. Bikecampers, however, can carry more gear.

If you are a cyclist making overnight stops, camping in comfort means being wellequipped for the demands of your particular sport. You'll want to carry toolsand spare tubes and tires. Lack of preparation in this case could mean you'llspend a night camping on the roadside.

Like backpackers and kayakers, cyclists are focused on weight. They can packmore volume than a backpacker but not as much as a boat camper. Biking with aheavy load in panniers or a trailer, even on flat, well-paved stretches, is alot more strenuous than day biking. For minimalists, tents are available assmall as a pound and a half for one person and three pounds for two people. Forthe more comfort conscious, an extra tarp ensures protection from cold, wetground, although it adds a pound of weight.

Well-equipped camping cyclists also give special attention to their clothing andequipment. Safety gear is of particular concern to bikers.

See Chapter 8 for more on bicycle camping.

RV Camping

At the far end of the camping spectrum is RV camping. RV owners carry theirliving quarters with them. They have comfortable beds with innerspringmattresses. Showers. Closets. Couches for lounging and tables for dining andplaying games. A clean bathroom that's always nearby. What else could you want?Well, toys are nice—specifically ones that fit into the confines of your rollingcottage. That's why inflatable boats that pack down small, and lightweight bikesthat fold up, are so popular with RV vacationers. These campers also appreciatetraveling with their laptops, entertainment systems, and plenty of food to cookin the built-in microwave.

See Chapter 10 for more on RV camping.

Cabins

My favorite way to camp in comfort is to hole up in a solid structure, say in acabin, yurt, or tree house. Click on www.reserveamerica.com, agovernment-contracted reservation service, and you'll discover a world of options. Morethan fifteen hundred public-use cabins pepper the nation's state and federallands. Some are rustic tent cabins; others are more like a home away from home.Full-service cabins offer queen-size beds, private bathrooms, electricity,kitchen utensils, and outdoor grilling areas. The park system also lets you rentdecommissioned fire lookouts atop Colorado peaks, surplus forest-guard stationsalong Rocky Mountain rivers, and Mongolian-style yurts facing the Pacific. Yurtcamping is on the rise and is also available at many private campgrounds.

Luxury Camping

For those who think the call of the wild should be answered by room service,we'll even take a look at luxury camping. Glamorous camping, or glamping, isgrowing steadily both in the United States and abroad. The idea is to cultivatean atmosphere as nice as a hotel but retain the sights and sounds of camping.Think of the cushy amenities provided by safari camping outfitters on theSerengeti. You'll learn about places such as El Capitan Canyon Campground inSanta Barbara, California, where for $285 a night you can chill out in anelegant canvas tent with a handcrafted willow bed, linen service, maid service,and massages.

Flashpacking

Like luxury camping, flashpacking is also on the rise among outdoor travelers.These campers like to take to the woods with accoutrements such as digitalcameras, cell phones, laptops, battery chargers, batteries, power adapters, andflash cards (hence the name flashpacking). The proliferation of internetwireless is abetting this trend.

GETTING THE GEAR

This sourcebook is by no means the last word on all the equipment that's outthere. There's simply too much of it. Instead, consider this book a startingpoint and a navigating device to steer you through the vast array of gearavailable, and as a means of streamlining the selection process.

But lacking the latest gear shouldn't keep you from camping. Equipment is easyto find and can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. All you need are a fewbasic items, such as a tent with rainfly, sleeping bags, sleeping pads,flashlight and/or lantern, cook-stove, mess kit or individual place settings,matches, and—very important—a good first-aid kit.

You can also cast a wide net with friends and relatives to see what you canborrow. Or rent gear from a local outfitter; most rental places have all theitems available, from tents and sleeping bags to lanterns, cook stoves, andutensils. And don't forget the secondhand market, virtual as well as real-world(check out sites such as geartrade.com, ebay.com, and craigslist.com).

Just keep in mind that function is the key to happy camping. So don't cutcorners on quality. Unreliable equipment can ruin a camping trip as quickly asfoul weather. This doesn't mean you have to take out a home equity loan tooutfit yourself for the great outdoors. With the checklists, shopping tips, andwebsites listed in this book, you'll be able to take advantage of the manybargains available.

Whatever kind of camper you are, durable equipment that you enjoy is a centralpart of creating a pleasurable outdoor experience. A little upfront research canprevent hours of frustration at the campsite and on the trail. If you outfityourself with the appropriate gear—then plan your trip, prepare well, and packcarefully—you are ensuring a successful camping experience.

CHAPTER 2

SAFETY AND FIRST AID

Now that you've had a taste of modern camping, are you ready to give it a try?Perhaps you're hesitating because you fear a camping trip could result in brokenbones, poison-ivy rashes, snake bites, or water-borne illnesses. Take heart; afew moments of education and preparation can help ensure your health and safety.

Most minor camping setbacks are no different from what you might encounter inyour backyard: your husband trips on a downed branch and sprains his ankle; yourdaughter puts her hand on the hot barbecue grill; you get overzealous carving awatermelon and take a small chunk out of your thumb. If you can handle any ofthese problems at home, you can handle them while camping, too, as long as youare prepared.

FIRST-AID KITS

Educate yourself in basic first aid and bring a well-stocked first-aid kit. Beprepared to treat cuts and scrapes, bee stings, or allergic reactions. (If youplan to venture into deep wilderness, miles from the nearest ER, consider takinga first-aid course with an organization such as the Red Cross.) Even if youhaven't taken a first-aid course, many prepackaged kits include a first-aid bookwith step-by-step instructions to help you manage minor injuries.

If you choose to assemble your own kit, consider the following basic items:

* exam gloves

* sharp knife/scalpel

* tweezers

* scissors

* iodine

* self-stick bandages

* gauze

* waterproof medical tape

* blister pads

* topical antibiotic

* anti-diarrheal pills

* pain relivers

* antihistamine pills and cream

* EpiPen

Other safety items include maps, a compass, flashlight, pocketknife, waterprooffire starter, personal shelter, whistle, warm clothing, high-energy food, water,and insect protection.

INSECTS

Creepy crawlies are probably the biggest threat to camping comfort. Be preparedto face mosquitoes, ticks, flies, blackflies, deerflies, redbugs, hornets,yellow jackets, and wasps.

Far from being just an itchy annoyance, mosquitoes are disease carriers. Inrecent years, West Nile Virus has become a problem in North America. Thankfully,the chances of contracting West Nile Virus are very slim, according to theCenters for Disease Control. For the most part, mosquitoes are just a nuisance,but take precaution and use bug spray.

Ticks are disease carriers, too; namely, Lyme Disease. If you're camping in tickcountry, inspect your family every night and have someone inspect you.Inspections are particularly important if you've been walking in tall grass.Ticks like to hide on scalps, behind ears, in armpits, and in the groin area.Regularly check pets, too.

If you find a tick, remove it. Using tweezers, grasp the tick as close to theskin as possible. Do not grab the tick in the middle part of its body. Ticks maycarry harmful bacteria, and squeezing their abdomen may inject the bacteria intothe wound. Once you have a firm grasp of the tick, pull it straight out. It'slikely that the tick's mouthparts will break off during the removal process andremain under the skin. If so, should you dig them out? There are two competingopinions on this. On the one hand, the embedded mouthparts can cause a secondaryinfection, and should be removed like a splinter. On the other hand, you mightdo more harm by digging out the mouthparts with a needle, and the mouthpartswill eventually slough off anyway. To avoid this dilemma altogether, carryspecial tick tweezers that are designed to remove the tick completely.

Contrary to popular belief, you should not smother the tick with Vaseline orburn it. These methods are not effective in removing the tick and may forceinfected fluid into the bloodstream.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Camping in Comfort by LYNN HANEY. Copyright © 2008 by Lynn Haney. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071454217
• ISBN 13: 9780071454216
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160