General Gear Discussion

[DaveK]

This thread will be devoted to a discussion of our general gear requirements. This trip will impose some special conditions on us, and consequently, our gear needs to be very specialized.

Initially, I thought I would start with a discussion of our cold weather needs. As you can tell from the weather post, (http://oausa.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=125&t=1821) we will be camping at elevations between 6000 and 7000 feet. Although there is no way to know precisely what the weather will be, it would be wise to be prepared for very cold conditions, and this could well include night time temps below freezing. We can go into a longer discussion of specific needs later, but I want to mention one of the very most important items that you can carry, besides a very good sleeping bag, and that is a good ground pad. The best sleeping bag will not keep you warm if you do not have some insulation between you and the ground.

I have opted for a comfort item that is on every trip I take - a good quality air mattress. Sleeping on hard ground (without even considering the cold) for a week-end trip is one thing, but it is just not acceptable for a 10 day trip like ours. Only one company, to my knowledge, makes a very heavy duty mattress - AeroBed. From their website:

AeroBed Extreme Endura Bed Puncture & Weather Resistant Air Mattress. World's Strongest Air Mattress! The new AeroBed Endura Bed was built with the serious outdoor enthusiast in mind. It will withstand extreme temperatures and the most rustic outdoor environments.

They make two sizes, twin and queen. One note of caution----you will still need some form of insulation between the ground and the air mattress.

For adequate comfort at night and in the early morning, I recommend the following:

1. A good quality 4 season sleeping bag or you can use two or three regular bags, each put inside one another, (like layering);
2. A good ground pad that is at least as wide as the bag(s) you intend to use. Good wool blankets can work here as well. For those interested, we have found a source for some excellent 5 pound extra heavy wool blankets, at a very reasonable price;
3. A tent heater for use ONLY before bedtime and when you wake up in the morning;
4. Depending on the quality of your bag(s), good thermal underwear.

I am sure that I have left out some other important items, so please post 'em up!!

[DaveK]

I will be bringing the following equipment.

1. Zodi double burner hot water shower with shower enclosure. If anyone else has another shower, it would be good to have two running, given the number of people we have. Each person should bring at least 2 one-pound propane canisters for the showers.

2. Coleman double burner stove with all of the cooking gear for the group. We should have two additional stoves and some additional cooking/eating gear, also given the number of people we have. I think Bob will coordinate this in a conference call he is planning.

3. Tables. We can never have too many tables - for meal preparation, eating, gear preparation, etc.

4. Chair. Everyone should have at least one chair. We observed an interesting comfort item on the last trip. Many of the folding chairs that are available in most stores, have a tendancy to seat you kinda low - not really comfortable when sitting at the table.

A pop-up canopy is always nice, either for shade or protection from rain. Canopys are bulky and not easy to store. If you have the space and can manage it, it could be useful.

A telescope, both for land and sky use, would be nice. Bruce, I believe that this is your specialty.

[unwiredadventures]

1. Zodi double burner hot water shower with shower enclosure. If anyone else has another shower, it would be good to have two running, given the number of people we have. Each person should bring at least 2 one-pound propane canisters for the showers.

I'm installing a Helton heat exchanger before the trip.

[NotAMog]

Here is what I plan to bring for general use -

General Camping Equipment -
Zodi two burner water heater
Pa ha Que shower tent
Roll up aluminium table
Folding plastic table with bench seats (if needed, heavy and bulky)
Camp Chef Yukon 2 burner stove with griddle
5 gal propane tank
Coleman two burner folding propane stove
Single burner backpacking stove (mostly to heat water and make coffee in sub freezing temperatures)
Kitchen chuck box with paper plates and disposable utensils
Array of kitchen gear for preparing meals
2 dish washing basins
Variety of small battery and candle lanterns
At least 2 chairs

Additional shade and shelter -
Camo netting and tent poles to make a shade off the side of the Pinzgauer
Utility tarps
tent stakes
tent rope
I have a Ez-up type shelter but I'm not sure if I'll have room for it

Water-
4 20l jerry cans for water (I'm not completely sure about lining in these cans so we may want to save this for washing and showers)
2 2 gal containers for potable water
6 gallons of bottled water

Telescopes -
4" retractor telescope with image erector prism for terrestrial use and computer guided mount
Netbook with astronomy software to point the telescope
Coronado PST solar telescope
6" Newtonian telescope with computer guided mount (if I have time to to replace the focuser)
Celestron Sky Scout

Ham Radios-
Kenwood TMD-700A with GPS and APRS
Yeasu VX-8 hand held with GPS and APRS
iCom T8A hand held
Sony ICF-2010 Short wave receiver

Musical Instruments(?)-
Will we have enough musicians on the trip to consider jamming around the camp fire? I could bring my carbon fiber cello. It's bulky to transport, practically indestructible, and sounds pretty good for what it is. Just don't expect expedition cello playing like that in the movie Master and Commander (that was actually Yo Yo Ma playing in the movie).

The zipper broke on my old sleeping bag so I got a new "sleeping system" from Cabela's. It's supposed to be good to 0 degrees F but if we are expecting very cold temperatures I should throw in my mummy bag as well to use inside the new rectangular bag if it's really cold.

I also plan to bring my porta-potti but I expect to reserve it for personal use. It doesn't have the capacity to accommodate a big group of people.

[toms]

Bruce,
I thing you have all of use beat on the amount of water you are hauling. I have a another porta potty you can have so you can take care of rest of us.

Dave, do we know if we need to haul out human waste any where on our trip?

[DaveK]

Bruce,
I thing you have all of use beat on the amount of water you are hauling. I have a another porta potty you can have so you can take care of rest of us.

Dave, do we know if we need to haul out human waste any where on our trip?

Disgusting topic! YUCK!!!

I am not aware that we will have to be doing any such hauling. The accommodations will be exactly as they were in the Parashant - dig and bury. I will be bringing a shovel, but you cant borrow it!

[Chazz Layne]

Well if we do end up needing to haul doo-doo, I do have a trash-a-roo...

[diverbob]

I will bring:
eight foot long folding table
twenty gallons of water (potable)
thirty + gallons of gasoline
extra sleeping bag
heater w/fan for cold nights
butane stove, single burner
porta potty w/disposal bags if needed
firewood for a couple of nights (depending how late the party goes on)
recovery gear w/winch(10,000lbs winch cap)
winch can be mounted on the front or rear of my vehicle
Jumper cables
portable jumpstart/combo inverter kit
Power Tank 10lb
Large First aid Trauma kit

We need to think about extra items such as:
oil
transmission fluid
spare parts ???
Coolant
Brake fluid
auto trans fluid
spare tires
and any other special needs for you vehicle
We can decide who brings what to prevent everyone having
to carry everything that my be required in an emergency.

[DaveK]

GENERAL GEAR/EQUIPMENT NEEDS

We need to coordinate the following:

Auto fluids.
These should include:
1)motor oil - 4-6 quarts
2)brake fluid (we need to know what types are needed, so post up) - 4 cans
3)gear oil, (probably 90w) 2-3 quarts
4)trans fluid (which can also be used for the t-case in some vehicles) - 4-6 quarts
5)coolant - 1 gallon
6)power steering fluid - 1-2 quarts.

We will need to each bring one of these items so that we all don't need to carry everything.

Firewood
While we should have enough wood to gather up for a fire each night, it would be wise for us to have at least two nights worth of wood that we carry with us, just in case.

Personal items (everyone needs to bring the following)
1)shower items including towels
2)soap
3)daypack
4)trash bags
5)TP

Cooking gear
I will have much of the cooking gear that we will need but having an extra set (or two) is never a bad idea. With this many people I will need to get an idea of just what we are bringing. One thing that comes to mind that I do not have is a large griddle - pancakes, french toast and a tortilla warmer.

Water and gasoline
Although we may be able to refill our water cans during the trip, we should do our best to bring what we will need (I will check and report back on water availability). If you figure that each shower will consume about 2.5 gallons of water and we will be away for 10 days, you will get a pretty good idea of how much to bring. I can assure you that with a little conservation, you can reduce the amount by at least half a gallon.

Gasoline is another matter. We will have opportunities to refill at least at Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley. I am checking on Red Rock Valley and the road to Betatakin. I would recommend at least 3-4 cans (5 gal each).

General Gear
We will need the following (and for the most part, except where noted, only one will do):
broom (I will bring)
Soft rake for clearing campsites (I will bring)
hard rake for clearing campsites(non flexible teeth)
leather gloves
full size shovels x2-3
lanterns (one per vehicle)

[Chazz Layne]

If anyone cares what they might be getting, all of my fluids are Valvoline MaxLife.

I already have:

1) motor oil - 5W40... I'll have a gallon of this on board. I also have a gallon of 10W30 I can bring if that better fits the group's needs.

3) gear/transfer case - I need to run at least 75W90 in the transfer case and differentials (75W140 was recommended, actually). If this is an oddball weight I'll make sure to bring it.

6) power steering fluid - I got this covered... I have 4 quarts sitting on the shelf



Other fluid needs:

2) brake fluid - surprisingly, it isn't picky about this one... any DOT 4 will do fine for me

4) trans fluid - Dex III

5) coolant - the manual says "...any ethylene glycol based anti-freeze (containing no methanol) with only Organic Acid Technology corrosion inhibitors..." - not sure if this is odd or not, if so I can bring it.