Camping FAIL

[unixronin]

File under EFFETE.

Scroll down.  6.5lb.  Fer crissakes, you're CAMPING.  For that much weight, you could have a week of freeze-dried food.  Toss in a bottle of Camp Coffee concentrate and call it done.  It's good enough for the Gordon Highlanders and the Coldstream Guards, and it's bloody well good enough for ye, laddie, unless you're some kind o' limp-wristed nancy-boy.

Comments

[hugh_mannity]

For real camping, yea.

For SCA camping and especially Pennsic, it's not such a bad idea. Though I've long since settled for a kettle and a French Press for that.

Mind you there are those who'd say I was a "limp-wristed nancy-boy" and certainly I'm not up for much when I'm decaffeinated...

[unixronin]

I can't think of any friends of mine whom the "nancy-boy" tag could be applied to, even as an intentional slur, whom I'd consider limp-wristed. :)


(But in any case, I trust you understood it was meant as humor, not as a slur...)

[hugh_mannity]

Oh yes. I was most amused.

Bringing gourmet coffee and a French press camping is pretty nancy-boyish. Except when it's SCA camping then it's just one more necessity.

[merlinpendragon]

I disagree that the french press is nancy-boyish for camping. In the circles I usually run in, there are as many tea drinkers as coffee drinkers. With a tea kettle and a french press, you can do both and only have one item on the fire!

[hugh_mannity]

Real Men(tm) chew on coffee beans they've roasted over the fire on their entrenching tool :D

I did get a Coleman/Mr. Coffee machine about 10 or so years ago when I used to do weekend camping with a large pagan group. However, it's so slow that two French presses and a largish kettle is a much more effective way to go.

At Pennsic we're divided quiet neatly between tea, coffee, and cold beverages. So the kettle and assorted pots is the way to go.

[unixronin]

Yup. A French press has many uses, even beyond brewing tea and coffee.

[robhansen]

For 6.5 pounds, I'd rather have a good water filtration system and purification tabs.

I wonder what I'd do with my other five pounds.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

course, i started this line of inquiry via:
http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3665546

which is actually practical ;> esp for those freeze dried meals.

for efficiency, drop the food in the hot coffee - heh

though with the gourmet freeze dried food they have these days, that would be a waste

#

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Obviously not back-packers . . .

(Your weight figure didn't include the separate fuel canisters.)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Nor the coffee grounds. But I figured that was a minor detail. :)

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is, we're members of the REI co-op, having joined sometime back in the Jurassic. We have some REI goose-down "mummy" sleeping bags that have lasted us about 40 years, and kept us cosy in Catskills lean-to shelters at -15 F.

I have a hard time reconciling those, or the fleece pants I use for skiing, with your coffee pot . . .

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

I had to laugh. 6.5 # for the one you linked to, and under "related items" at the bottom right of the page, I saw a Colman camping coffee pot that was just as crazy - and over 5 pounds. What happened to the old campfire coffee pots that percolated it for you on the fire, and were solid stainless steel? I remember those making some very serviceable coffee back in my camping days.

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Academy-Broadway-50070-Aluminum-Coffee/dp/B0017GZ934

although, I prefer to avoid the aluminum, and would personally get this:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp;jsessionid=50MR32MQAWATXLAQBBJCCONMCAEFGIWE?id=0006331510164a&type=product&cmCat=froogle&cm_ven=data_feed&cm_cat=froogle&cm_pla=1510203&cm_ite=0006331510164a&_requestid=150264

[mrmeval.livejournal.com]

Percolators make fantastic coffee if the beans and grind are done right.

The aluminum is ok but you should use the pot daily and not clean it but only rince it out. The oils will prevent a metallic taste. If however it's not going to be used for several days it should be cleaned or the oils give a nasty taste to the next few pots. After cleaning it will take a few uses to build up the oils again.

I like enameled pots. Stainless are fine too.

http://www.thefind.com/kitchen/info-enamelware-coffee-pot

Moka pot

[mrmeval.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_%28coffee_pot%29

You can get them in a lighter stainless variety. I've used the smallest one and it works fine. I've had several 'camp coffees' and will pack instant before I pack that.

[jmkelly.livejournal.com]

I have never understood the "all the comforts of home" school of camping. If you want all the comforts of home,why not just stay home?

Camping, and even more, backpacking, give me the opportunity to get away from all the meaningless "conveniences" of normal life.

[lizzibabe.livejournal.com]

For that matter, I'd bring instant coffee & milk powder. I hear that Cafe Bustelo (http://www.amazon.com/Caf%C3%A9-Bustelo-Instant-Espresso-3-5-Ounce/dp/B001E95KUQ) is rather good.

right, camping, not hiking.

[attutle.livejournal.com]

"Fer crissakes, you're CAMPING."

I think you're confusing camping (http://images.google.com/images?q=camping) (most of these images include roads and/or vehicles) and hiking (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=hiking) (most of these images include trails instead of roads, and far fewer vehicles).

For hiking, it would be stupid. That's not how it's being marketed.

Re: right, camping, not hiking.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I was thinking more along the lines of float trips and whitewater rafting, where the "sports" pull up on shore and have gourmet meals after braving the wilds. Catered gourmet meals. The campfire just serves to add atmosphere.

Re: right, camping, not hiking.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I guess I still haven't gotten used to the idea of "camping" as "something you do in a 40-foot RV". My definition says if you go camping somewhere, you pack everything in from the trailhead — and back out again — on your back.

(And on at least one occasion, I and my then girlfriend wound up running out to the trailhead (seven miles and over four thousand vertical feet), putting our packs in the car, then running back to the campsite, picking up the other two campers' backpacks, and packing their stuff out too, after they'd wimped out and "couldn't carry that another step". And we STILL beat them back to the trailhead.)