Gear-Sleeping Bags

Over the years I have accumulated a few bags. The rectangular bag in the center (brand unknown) is great for tent camping when the temperature isn't too low. It opens all the way up and doubles as a blanket that will easily accommodate two. The bag on the right, a Timber Creek 40 degree mummy bag, is a cheap solution if you don't have a bag or want an extra. It was $25 (including a compression/stuff sack)  and will do for the casual, occasional camper. If you are camping a lot, especially in lower temperatures, you'll want something of higher quality.

The bag on the left is my main bag, a Mountain Hardwear Flip 25/40. Considered a hybrid bag as it is a mix of a rectangular and mummy bag, it is extremely versatile. Normally I hammock camp and therefore have a thin base layer under me. The two sides have different temperature ratings which allows me to use the appropriate side for the situation. In very cold temperatures I use an additional layer between the hammock and the bag and put the warmer side facing the top. The fill is burly and provides a good layer of padding against rough ground if there is no place to pitch the hammock. It also opens all the way up if you want to use it as a blanket or zip it into another bag. Dual zippers are a nice feature if your feet get hot or you need to get or keep an arm out.

Selecting the right bag depends on your needs. What type of camping will you be doing? Do you have to have a mummy bag? What features are must haves and which are just extras? The zippered external pocket on my bag is nice but was not essential for me. I would have bought the bag even if it didn't have it. Shopping around and looking for sales at outdoor stores can save you some serious cash. I looked at this bag at one store and was going to pick it up. I decided to check another local store the following weekend and caught the bag at 50% off.

This bag did not come with a compression sack, a must if saving space is a priority as it is in my pack. Sea to Summit has good, well-made bags that are very affordable. Quality materials and craftsmanship come into play here as the bag will be under stress to compress your bag. The bag on the left came with the bargain basement mummy bag and cannot hold a candle to the Sea to Summit bag on the right. The straps do not ratchet and release as easily and the seams are coming apart in a couple places.  

If space is not a concern a carrying strap like the one above is handy to keep you bag closed and provides an easy solution for transport. After time on the road I always let any bag that I take dry in the open for at least 24 hours. I store the good bag open under the bed. You should not store a poly-fill bag in a stuff sack as it will compress the insulation and considerably cut the fill's warmpth. This is not as much of a concern with the older flannel bag, we keep it rolled up but not ratcheted down. I split the difference on the cheap mummy bag: I store it in the bag but not compressed.

Ride 12/23/11

I joined a new forum a couple weeks ago at BamaRides.com. If you are in Alabama and are looking for new folks to ride with, check it out. I had met some members before including the Shovelhead's prior owner who told me to give it a look. In an odd twist, a few days after I joined I was bringing my buddy's KZ home in the truck and one of the moderators who lives near me ended up following me home to check out the bike. We talked for a bit and he looked around before heading out.

I knew the wife and kids would not be coming home until the late afternoon on the 23rd and I had been trying to get back to Twix n Tween before the end of the year. After a couple false starts and colder than expected days, weather was looking warm and clear and I decided this would have to be it. Not knowing what to expect, I posted my plans on Bama Rides. I was surprised at the amount the feedback and the number of folks who said they were coming and actually showed up.

9:45ish at Tip Top Grill in Hoover. $1 cups of coffee and refills served in the parking lot.
At this point we had 12 bikes who were in for the ride including this one, a '68 BMW that was nearly all original and ran like a champ.

We left right at 10am. The ride was good, traffic was light on our route. Once we got through Montevallo, it opened up a bit. As it was my first ride with this group, I kept it at five over but learned later when I followed another member, I could have let it rip. We arrived at lunch and found two bikes waiting on us.

I had said in my post that my organization ended at lunch. We got gas and entertained several ideas before deciding to ride to the day use area in the nearby wildlife refuge. This included some dirt/gravel roads but nothing too bad.

 

This area is limited use, not for camping, but was cool as a spot to just relax and shoot the breeze. Normally the road's "end" is passable by dual sport across a shallow creek bed but as the rain was pretty heavy earlier in the week it was not happening today. After warming up, we head out again and eventually split up at a crossroads into a group of four, then to two and a couple miles from the house I was alone. The high was 56 degrees, I covered just over 100 miles. This was most likely my last ride of any real distance for 2011.

 

Merry Christmas!

Friday Night Beer Menu

Gear- P38/P51

 
Possibly the cheapest yet most useful piece of gear I own. A few years back a google search for a camping can opener turned me on to this tiny tool. Basically it is a metal hook with a metal handle that has a lip that allows for retention and puncturing leverage. Repeat the motion while rotating the can...a simple, utilitarian design that is time tested by our Armed Forces and outdoors enthusiasts alike. Developed by the Government in 1942, these were once a part of standard issue rations but became obsolete with the coming of MREs (meals ready to eat) in the 80's. Also known as a "John Wayne," the P38 is supposedly named for the number of punctures it would take to open cans in a C-ration.

The larger version, the P51, is supposedly easier to use though I have never had a problem with the 38. I keep a 51 in my wallet, a 38 in my pack, a couple in the garage, one on the fridge...any time I am in an Army/Navy store that carries them I usually get a couple to stash or give away. If you look around the net you will find not only numerous sites devoted to the many uses but also many stories from Veterans and their fondness for P38's.

Simple, cheap and useful. No reason not to have one...or five.

Houseguest/Mail Bag

Tom's KZ650 has arrived. Bike will run and ride but needs a little work: a battery charge, carb cleaning and syncing, and the starter clutch needs to be rebuilt.
The bike is FOR SALE, includes tons of stock parts as well as parts to do the starter job. It has been sitting for some time and I am trying to coax it back to life. If you are interested, hit me up.

Stickers from the Netherlands! Check out Toxic Garage here.

Show Class #4 and the 2012 Calendar are here, good stuff.

Friday Night Beer Menu

PS: Mailbag
Stickers from Fashion Serial Killer!
Go here...

Gear- Fire Starting Kit

Some seem to be naturals at starting a fire while others...well it doesn't come so easy. I'm no expert and I won't claim to be. I've started my fair share and have also over built and burned through wood too fast and woke up cold to dying embers in the middle of the night. Either way, having a few simple items with you will get you going. Keeping it going is up to you.

I am a huge fan of the re-purposing of durable containers like Altoid and Band-Aid tins. When you are packing a few small items like these, it helps to keep everything together.

 A Firesteel fire-starter, cotton balls, and hand sanatizer. The best way I have found to start a campfire...learned to me by my buddy Joshua.

I first met Joshua at Garage Company in Pelham at a bike night. It was quick and we didn't say much to each other. Later I saw him again to look at purchasing his Shovelhead. In addition to the Shovel I got from him, he is the former owner of the Weed Steed. About a week after we took care of the paperwork, he met me for shots and beers. Afternoon turned into evening and we ended up back at my place drinking more, exchanging parts, swapping stories and generally bs-ing around.

Raised in the country, he is no stranger to the outdoors. Still living in rural Alabama, he is raising his kids the same way he was raised and we talked a lot that night about camping and gear. Since he was delivering me some additional Shovel parts, he was in his truck and had some of his stuff on him. I grabbed my pack and we looked it over. Rummaging through his, I saw the above items in a little bag and it caught my attention. When I asked he told me that was his fire starting kit. I pressed him about the sanitizer and he said it was multipurpose: clean your kids hands or start a camp fire.

A few seconds later there was a flaming cotton-ball on the ground in my garage. Now, cotton balls burn pretty good alone but go out pretty quickly. Add a few drops of sanitizer to the equation and the burn time turns into a couple minutes.

Joshua gave me his firesteel that night and since then it has been in my pack with the cotton and sanitizer. Simple yet very effective.



PS- Sightings!
You may recognize my handsome ass here.
If you don't read "What I See," get with it...

This and that...

Did some nickel and dime stuff on Saturday. It was cold in the garage and time was limited. Got some new grips on.

Started to clean the pipes. Wenol is miracle shit, look above the clamp. That is what the whole pipe looked like pre-polish. Still have a ways to go but for a few minutes time and a little elbow grease, the results are pretty solid.

Speaking of shiny stuff, all the talk about the Build Off last week made me want to take a closer look at OCC stuff. I couldn't afford much but I did pick up this sweet skull-themed kicker pedal. It was on clearance, $800.00 (a steal)! Had a little trouble with the installation, it didn't come with instructions...

Also read up on my hipster motorcycle fashion. Make sure you are up to snuff with this handy primer.

Friday Night Beer Menu

Gear- The Pack

My recent post about Buck's Pocket and a running conversation with a friend has inspired me to start a weekly post about motorcycle travel and camping and the gear that I use and some that I want.

Where to start required some debate but I narrowed it down to my choice of pack. More times than not I over-pack for a trip. The down side of this is that it can be tougher to get to the gear you need or keep up with what you have in your pack. It also makes the bike heavier and carrying your gear a pain in the ass if you are going to be camping off the beaten path and away from your bike. The plus is that preparedness means you will rarely be without something you need and may be more comfortable. Once laughing at a friend who packed a thermarest matress, I understood his choice better after a night on the ground when a lack of trees rendered a hammock useless. If you have back or other physical problems, something like this may be a priority on your list while it wouldn't even be on mine.

On my first cross-country bike trip (9 days to California and back) I traveled with a Kelty Redcloud 5000. The 5000 indicates 5000 cu in. of storage. Looking back now, it seems nuts that I tought I would need that much space. As bad as I still am now, back then I went way overboard on packing. I took twice the amount of clothing that I needed, a huge dopp kit with items I never used and random items (like a shovel for burying feces) that I somehow envisioned I would need. When you plan to camp at a site you have never seen other than on a map, thinking ahead is wise but my imagination ran a little crazy.

Colorado with the Redcloud 5000

The Redcloud 5000 is a hiking and excursion pack with features I would never need, like a detachable pack for away from camp hikes and a removable waist belt. Don't get me wrong, it was a great pack and it served me well but it was WAY more than I needed. I eventually sold that pack and used the money for my new rig.

Preparing for my next trip (9 days to Canada and back) I knew I would be taking less with me. I wanted a bag that was smaller and had a narrower profile. Thoroughly impressed with the Kelty gear I had used so far, I really dug the way their packs were compartmentalized and loaded with exterior pockets. With stringent organization methods and needs, I had my system down to a science and wanted a smaller version of what I had: less capacity, less bells and whistles.

I looked at the clearance section of several popular camping websites and found the Kelty Redwing 3100 at a great price. I really dig this bag. 1900 less cubic inches, no detachable top pack, exterior side pockets fitting  my existing packing method, easy access front pocket, side mesh pockets with retention loops, compression straps...this is exactly what I needed. Great for long trips or winter trips where you need extra clothing or blankets, it would be a bit much for day or even weekend trips in warm weather.

A rough breakdown of how I pack:
left pocket: cooking gear
right pocket: hammock and straps
interior: clothes, sleeping bag, dop kit
front pocket: food+drink, emergency supplies
exterior front pocket: fire starter, essentials, more emergency supplies
mesh pockets: water bottle, waterproof bag for electronics
Map or atlas bungeed on the back

I have a small travel bag and a backpack for short trips but I am in the market for a "day bag" that will allow for just the necessities and some type of organization.

Beer, Mail, Progress

 Publix's build your own 6 pack wall...I count over 90 options. Not bad for a supermarket.

 Mail call, all three arrived on Saturday. Now if Show Class 3 would just get here...

Cut the fender mounts off the springer and tried to clean up the "warts." 

As you can see, I am a little heavy handed with the file. I tried a couple different polishes, this is about as good as it is going to get as I am not going to get them re-chromed.

The difference is pretty crazy, they stuck out like sore thumbs. I just need to do a better job with finishing up the cut areas. Thankfully it doesn't look too bad...and this is not a show bike.

Friday Night Beer Menu

Back in Business

New coil, the Shovelhead lives!