The Gear House

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WoodsMonkey has a great article about the Grandpa’s FireForks from Light My Fire. I have sold many of these and have more on the way and believe they are great items. Look for them to be in the TheGearHouse store soon (which will also be getting a MAJOR revamp).

Heres the article from WoodsMokey:

Cooking food directly over the flames is a practice that goes back as far as man has had fire, and the basic practice still hasn’t changed all that much. Take a look around any campground that you happen to be near and you’ll find folks roasting hotdogs and marshmallows on pointed sticks right over the fire. It simple, it works, and it’s fun for the kids to both cook that way and to make their sticks ahead of time.  However, it isn’t always the most efficient way to do things.  It’s not uncommon to lose your food into the fire with the old single prong pointed stick. Multi prong sticks work a little better and you can find metal two tined fire forks at most camping stores. The problem with those is either that the big ones are too long and bulky to take on anything but a car camping trip, and the smaller are generally all metal including the handle portion. They also tend to be rather short and quickly heat up since you have to be closer to the fire–not to mention the fact that the metal transfers the heat to your hands much more than it will with a wooden stick.  Enter Light My Fire and their Grandpa’s FireForks.

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If you are involved in any outdoor sport, whether it be soccer, rock climbing, baseball, or horseballs, you should be considering wearing sunglasses to protect your eyes. When it comes to sunglasses, there are so many different options to choose from so it really comes down to how much you are able/willing to pay and what style you are looking for. While out hiking I have seen people wearing fashion designer sunglasses, sports sunglasses, and all kinds of others.

I think it is a pretty safe assumption to say that your eyes are one of your most valuable assets that you have with your body and you need to protect them. I mean, hell, if your eyes arn’t working properly, then you most likely are not kayaking a major river, climbing Denali, or even just throwing the ball in the backyard. Yet if you protect your eyes while playing sports with good quality sports sunglasses, then you should not have any issues.

Sunglasses these days come in so many styles and colors that you should be able to find something. Whether it is polarized sunglasses for fishing, tight fitting pair for water activities, or tinted goggles for snowboarding. Heck, if you wanted you could even get multiple pairs in different colors and styles so that no matter what the occasion is, you have the right pair and are prepared. The key to keeping your eyes working for you is to be prepared, take preventative measures, and enjoy yourself.

A great website for sports sunglasses as well as many other styles would be the Sunglasses Warehouse and you can find plenty more by doing a search for them and even on eBay. Of course, you could always head to your local Wal-Mart or Oakley store if you wanted to either be cheap or really expensive.

The choice is yours - just get a pair!

When dealing with a backpacking stove or camping stove, there are a lot of different things that could go wrong or be a problem. It is important to keep in mind a lot of differnet things when using the stoves to make sure that you are operating them safely. Here are a list of Do’s and Don’ts to help you keep your stove running season after season without any problems.

Do’s

• Do carry fuel only in recommended/approved containers - Volatiles are best transported in aluminum liter bottles or in their original steel can.
• Do frequently check the temperature of your stove’s fuel tank by feeiling it with your hand. If the tank is too hot to hold, reduce the stove’s heat and or pour cold water on the tank.
• Do carr extra stove parts and tools - An extra pressure cap and leather pump washer are usually enough. Bring a small screwdriver and pliers.
• Do empty the fuel in your stove at the end of each season - Impurities in fuel left in stoves can cause malfunctions. This is the most common cause of long term stove failure.

Don’ts

• Don’t loosen or remove the filler cap of a gasoline stove when the stove is burning. This could result in an explosion
• Don’t refuel a hot stove. There may be sufficient heat still available to ignite he gas fumes.
• Don’t set oversize pots on stoves that have integral fuel tanks. Large pots reflect excessive heat back to the fuel tank, which may cause overheating of the stove. Run stoves at three-fourths of maximum heat output if you use oversize pots.
• Don’t use automotive gasoline in a stove designed to burn white gas.
• Don’t state a stove inside a tent or confined area; the resulting flare up could be dangerous.
• Don’t operate any stove without suffieient ventilation. A closed tent is not sufficently ventilated.
• Don’t set stoves on sleeping bags or tent floors. There’s enough heat generated at the base of the stove to melt or warp these items.
• Don’t run stoves that have integral fuel tanks at full power for extended periods of time. The tank may overheat and cause the safety valve to blow. Stoves with seperate fuel tanks that are connected with an armored fuel line can be run on fuel power indefinitely.
• Don’t enclose a stove with aluminum foil to increase the heat output. The stove may overheat and explode.
• Don’t fill gasoline or kerosene stoves more than three-fourths full. Fuel won’t vaporize if there’s insufficient room for it to expand.

Be safe and smart when using your stove!

When you are deciding what kind of stove you want to purchase for your backpacking or camping trips, there are a ton of different features and different types to consider. Today, I’m writing about a few of the different features that you should look at when you are deciding on a stove for backpacking or camping. they can be expensive purchases, so you want to make sure you get the right thing!

• Stability - There is nothing more frustrating than simmering a big pot of spaghetti on a precarious little ebast that wobbles with every stir of the spoon. Remember that just because it looks great in the store, the stove could tip over in the field.
• Ease of starting - Butane and propane stoves start instantly. Gasoline and kerosene models reqire priming. Some models flare violentl until warmed so be careful! Fast, easy ignition is a plus for any stove.
• Susceptibiltiy to wind - The firs time you have to build a rock wall around your stove to keep it perking you’ll undersand the value of a good windscreen. Avoid stoves with thin aluminum windscreens that burn up, or detachable ones that can be lost.
• Adjustable Flame - If ou intend to fry pancakes or simmer stew, you will want an infinitely adjustable flame - a feature most compact trail stoves don’t have. The Coleman twin burner camp stoves probably offer the best adjustability, however, many backpacking stoves can offer you a great range of flame heights.
• Plastic parts - Plastic is bad for stove parts. Plastic hardens with heat and age and will eventually break. If there is a stove flare up, plastic will melt and burn. Also, stay away from any stoev that does not have a flameproof armored fuel line.

In our next post, we will point out some of the do’s and don’ts for operating your stove and keeping it running as it should!

I was just thinking about what I could do with all of my supposedly toxic Nalgenes. I have about 7 total and 3 of them are the “bad” ones. So, what are you doing with yours? Did you just throw them out? Recycle them somehow? Use them for something else?

I would imagine that I will keep them and continue to use them as I do not use them on a constant daily basis but mostly just when I am on a trip. Even then, I take my newer ones with me (which are good ones) and leave the older ones home. I do this mainly because my older ones were used on trips such as going to Philmont Scout Ranch and had all kinds of nasty water in them which we had to purify, so they are pretty skanky.

I did just sit one aside and threw all of my loose change in it. I usually just leave it on my dresser or throw it in some sort of other container, so I figured that it may be a good use for one of my Nalgenes. Another option, for cavers, would be to use one as a bathroom bottle for when in caves. The wide mouth should be good enough for anyone to pee or poop in. With things such as the Sani-Fem funnel, it should be easy for everyone! Just make sure not to empty it after a trip and then use it as a water bottle again….bad move.

But, the question becomes - what are you doing with your “bad” water bottles?

When you are deciding on what kind of rain gear to buy for your outings, you want something that will last because more often than not, the better quality gear is more expensive. So, raingear is not neccessarily an area that you want to pinch pennies and try to get by with “the cheap stuff”. But, there are a lot of different materials out there that can make picking the right rain gear a bit of a problem for you. So, to help out with making the choice a little easier, here is a small comparison of 3 different types of materials: Gore-Tex, Activent/DWR, and Plastic.

You really want to look for something that is comfortable, that is breathable, durable, and fits your price range. Like mentioned, a plastic poncho can be very cheap and it may work for you if you just want something “in case it rains” and are not too worried about it. But if you are going to be doing a lot of hiking, backpacking, or other outdoor activities, investing in a higher quality mostly waterproof rain gear set is a good idea!

Finding the right tent for you can be a very long and difficult process. It is important to know what you want to get out of your tent and what you are going to be using it for. Here are a few things to consider when trying to pick that perfect tent for your trip.

• Most modern tents usually have a large vestibule or extension of the rain fly that can be used for cooking in a downpour and to store muddy boots and other gear. Look for a spacious and sturdy vestibule.
• Aluminum or carbon fiber poles are the lightest
• Are there enough mesh doors and windows for adequate ventilation? Camping during the summer months can be horrible if you can not get some air flowing through.
• Avoid single-wall tents
• Is the tent large enough for you, the people you hope to take with you, and your gear to comfortably spend the night?
• Are there inner pockets to hold your flashlight, change, contact lenses, or other small items?
• How much does it weigh? Can you carry it all day on your back? If you are just going to be car camping, weight is not as much of an issue.

Hope that helps you find the right tent for you! Good luck!

State of the art dressings, wound closure tapes, and nonprescription medications allow the construction of a very useful first-aid kit for general outdoor use.

Very often treatments can be improvised with items on hand, but prior planning and inclusion of key items in your kit will provide you with the best that modern medical science can offer.

Most outfitting stores carry prepackaged first-aid kits. Outdoor Research, REI, and Adventure Medical Kits offer great ones. You can also make your own with the following items:

• Non latex surgical gloves, several pairs
• Cover strip closures (2 packages)
• Moleskin
• Spenco Second Skin
• Bulb irrigating syringe
• Gauze pads (5 packages)
• Gauze dressings (2 rolls)
• Elastic bandage (roll, Ace bandage)
• Tape, hypoallergenic
• Triple antibiotic ointment
• Antimicrobial skin cleanser
• Medications (laxative, anti diarrhea, allergy, decongestant, antihistamine, aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.)
• Sterile Swabs
• Safety pins
• Extra vials and resealable plastic bags for packaging the above items
• Black sharpie marker and paper
• Reference cards or packable first-aid guide
• Extra supply of any special medications necessary to treat known conditions of any members in your party (inhalers, epi pins, etc.)

Of course this list is just suggestions and some of the most common items you will find in any first-aid kit. If you are not sure that you want to create your own, there are plenty of kits that you can purchase that have everything that you would need for a normal trip.

Remember, the equipment is no good if you do not know how to use it properly. I strongly encourage you to check out different websites on wilderness first-aid, look at taking courses, and reading as much about it as you possibly can. I mean, you wouldn’t want to screw up providing aid to one of your friends when they really need it would you?

I just finished watching the final episode of The Alaska Experiment on the Discovery Channel and was thinking about the different gear that you have with you when backpacking that can help make you warm. The main challenge that one of the groups faced while hiking out to the rendezvous point with a pilot was that they could not keep warm in the -20 degree temperatures. Although they were hiking as much as they could, they still needed to stop a few times to try to warm up their bodies, especially their fingers, so not to get frostbite.

The main technique that they used was building a fire to use for warm, however, here are some other different options based on the gear that you may have with you on a normal backpacking trip to help you get warm and stay comfortable! (more…)

Planning for an upcoming backpacking trip? Not sure what kind of gear you should take with you? Use the list below as an outline for things to consider carrying on your trip, but be sure to adjust the list to fit your needs and include the gear that will be necessary for your trip.

When you are putting together your personal packing list for a backpacking trip, experience is your best guide to go by. Backpacking is probably the only activity where the efficient packer is rewarded with a light pack and the over packer gets punished. Below is just a guide/outline for items that you should consider taking on a backpacking trip.

The Basics
Backpack
Sleeping bag
Tent
Sleeping pad (more…)