Let’s talk glamper trip gear

[Guest]

Comfy folding chairs, cooler chest, big tarps and day hammocks of course, maybe a table. Got any glamping oddities?

We sometimes being inflatables on trips; an old Coleman inflatable “raft” on summer base camping summer trips. The floor is ripped out, but the air chamber still sound. Some inflation required.

IMG001 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

But once inflated that raft tube is too much waterplay fun.

IMG024 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

And a challenge to straddle-paddle

IMG015 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

We are four water lovers in the family, and so sometimes we bring two inflatables.

IMG011 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

What’s your glamper oddities?

 

[alsg]

Big double burner Coleman stove! And that's salmon (that we did not catch) being cooked. Total glamping meal with asparagus and rice. I like to eat well on trips when there are few or no portages, but to tell the truth my buddy and I did this meal to taunt our favorite guide, who cooks great meals but always insists on cooking one night of kilebasa and beans that leaves a bit to be desired. We recommended salmon and he gave us the stink eye. So we decided to do it on a self guided trip and sent him the photo.

 

[yellowcanoe]

A trailer.. Now bobbing and ducking.. Very handy for basecamp and day trips in the North Maine Woodsl.

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

I guess it depends how far and how many days, but I usually try and stuff a few beers in the pack and a mesh bag to sink em. Cookware/food and tent/sleep system depends on distance and amount of portages. I like the luxuries, but not always willing to carry them.

Bob

 

[sweeper]

Sounds like one of our Allagash Heavy Trips with a 16 x 20' Tarp and enough gear to make it a four carry around the falls
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The last tarp we took
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[Glenn MacGrady]

I once brought two titanium sporks . . .



. . . but decided that was piggishly excessive.

 

[scoutergriz]

alsg; a "Total glamping meal" is right up my alley! I've done Turkey dinners with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, gravy and stuffing, complete roast beef striploin, with roast potatoes, corn, gravy, hot biscuits and even a bithday cake for desert, and on and on.
we even have annual "get fat" camps!

 

[Chip]

One February, Steve and I went camping at False Cape State Park. I like winter camping, but I get Reynaud Syndrome in my fingers, so I do like, maybe even need, a little fire to warm up the fingers and toes. False Cape has a rule prohibiting open fires, so I decided to make a stove out of a steel drum to take to False Cape. Our Canadian friends with their hot tents won't be impressed, but I felt like the barrel stove was a nice work-around to the no open fire rule.

I guess somebody must have spotted the stove going into the canoe at the launch near park headquarters. Almost as soon as we landed a ranger came busting down the camp road in a 4wd vehicle, jumped out and announced, "nope, nope, no fires, you can't use that!" But, sir, I say, the rule says no open fires, and this is an enclosed stove. Apparently, "stove" was the golden word. "Is this what you brought for cooking?" he asked. Steve and I looked at each other before replying, "yes, sir." I actually had an MSR with me, but why quibble? So the ranger tells us, "okay, but keep it down."

An hour later, there flames were shooting out the flu like a jet engine. Were we "glamping?" I was unfamiliar with the term back then.



We kept a pot of water on the stove so that if the ranger returned we could offer him a cup of tea. We were just cooking. Should have put some sand under the stove to prevent leaving a pronounced burn mark on the turf. Live and learn.

 

[lowangle al]

I'm not sure this was glamping because I don't see any chairs, but it felt like it at the time.

 

[jefffski]

No portaging ever for us (west coast ocean paddling) so we bring a double burner suitcase stove, 10" frying pan and cutting boards to prepare veggies. Of course, lightweight folding chairs. I'm thinking about a telescope to find galaxies in the night sky.

 

[ppine]

George Sears (Nessmuk) was one of the first people to talk about the philosophy of camping around 1900 and a little before. He is remembered for the concept of roughing it. Until recently people have forgotten about his concept of "smoothing it." Now it is all the rage. I have been seeking comfort in the outdoors for 6 decades, but I do not like the concept of "glamping." It smacks of urban people that pay $300 a night to sleep in a fancy tipi or wall tent.

I do not glamp, but I like great food, good liquor, furniture, and plenty of other things on an outdoor trip. It takes more finesse on a canoe trip to do it. With a raft or a drift boat there is always room for extras and it is part of the joy of camping out of those craft. It is easy to move around on the water.

On western rivers and big lakes we rarely portage, so we tend to like big canoes and bring more stuff than people in the lake country with several portages every day.
Do whatever makes you happy. You never really know what that is until you try it. I have taken a cooler in a wheel barrow on a backpacking trip and pulled a little red wagon with a cooler a couple of times. On short hikes with good trail and hot weather, there is nothing like having a couple of cold beers by a lake with no one around.

If you have tried some whacky stuff I would like to hear about it.

 

[Guest]

I forgot an important group trip glamper item, the Roll-a-table. For the 2-burner Coleman stove and food prep, but used even more for family card games.

The Missus and sons three can become quite animated, often too noisy for me. We sometimes bring a dedicated card table, a folding fabric-top ALPS table with drink holders, unsuitable for cooking but great for card play.


IMG025 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

If you have tried some whacky stuff I would like to hear about it.

Maybe not whacky, but we do like playing games.

All terrain bocce, using old croquet balls and a golf ball.

PA040042 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

And horseshoes, specifically night horseshoes, using Cyalumes on the shoes and stakes. We used to bring real steel shoes and stakes but have switched to plastic one. Less dangerous on errant night throws.

PA040063 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

And of course, if it is near Halloween, Ed K will have a pumpkin to carve.

PA030030 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

PA030028 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

(Photos by Conk)