Another Guiding camp this weekend! At this one, I'm visiting a Pathfinder camp that the unit I used to work with is hosting. The girls are under minimal supervision as it's what we call a Gold Camp. That means a third year girl getting ready to move on to Rangers has to plan and lead the other girls at her own camp. The leaders are pretty independent during this weekend so we're going to test out aluminum can stoves and experiment with our hammock set-ups. Not to mention eat really well since we only have adult mouths to feed. Fun!
A couple of weeks ago, I posted my camp packing list for when I go to a Guiding camp. I figured since I was packing up again, I'd take some pics and show you how it seems like so much yet packs up into a duffel! Once again, I have to warn you that it's not a lightweight list. Also, since it's not winter, I just crossed that whole section off! Also... this is a long picture-intensive post!! I've warned you!
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I love crossing things off that I don't need, adding things I do, and ticking the items off as I pack! You can see I still need to add my water bottle, hiking poles, and a few odds and sods. In the Notes section, I always put what the camp is for, where, and the date. That info is hidden under my sticky note for privacy reasons. Sometimes I write down the weekend weather forecast so I know if I can cross the rain coat off or not.
First thing I usually pack for some reason is my bedroll. It's easy to pack and I feel like the big things are out of the way! It all goes in to a compression sack and gets compressed just before I put it in my duffel or backpack.
This isn't a winter camp nor is it a cabin camp so I'm just taking a -7oC mummy bag and my Thermarest Prolite. I also no longer take a pillow as my sleepwear stuff sack doubles as one. It has a fleecy interior so I just turn it inside out and stuff it with whatever is handy. Last camp it was my hoody. My earplugs now go in a little interior pocket in my sleeping bag! Handy! And that fancy sleepwear? It's a medium weight base layer with funky fleece socks and a thin sleeping hat that actually stays on my head. It's the little things that make me happy!
Speaking of clothing... I don't actually take a lot of it! It looks like it's a lot but considering I'm wearing an outfit when I arrive, it turns out to be just a few spare items and my outerwear!
I usually arrive prepared for a cool evening so I wear pants, long sleeve shirt, my lightweight fleece sweater, and a hoody. I'm also wearing one of the undies and one of the pairs of socks! Not listed on my packing list is a laundry bag... which is that little orange stuff sack in the picture. My stuff sacks are either orange or blue so it's hard to figure out what is what! I really need a labeling system.
The next day's outfit gets all rolled together so the only other items going in the clothing stuff sack is a pair of base layer boot-length pants, and my socks and undies for Sunday as I just toss on the shirt and pants from Friday night. I'm not fussy about what I wear to go home!
See how small it all packs up! Little blue roll-top sack of clothes and the orange sack is outerwear... puffy vest, camp hat, and gloves. Add my tiny (size 5!) pink Crocs for camp shoes and I'm set! Ta da!
Depending on what type of camp it is and the location, I often wear two things on my belt... my PSK (personal survival kit) and my multi-tool pouch which also contains a small light (MEC's turtle light) and my whistle. I make sure the things in that pouch are also securely clipped (yet detachable so I can use them!) to a belt loop as I once lost all of it, along with a set of lat keys that was clipped on with a cheap carabiner, at a winter camp. Deep snow is not fun to look through especially when the trail was a good length! Lesson learned that day!
I think I'll do a PSK post on another day as what was once a travel wallet with a belt loop is now my small but mighty outdoor survival kit! Love that thing and I think I'll cry if the case ever kicks the bucket as I can't find another like it!
Next I pack my eating and cooking things. Guiding camps have communal cooking so the cooking gear is group gear. I just take a minimal set of dishes and my little cook set (pot, lid, thermal sleeve, stove, fuel, gripper, and sparker) for morning coffee as I'm usually the only one who drinks coffee. I also bring easy-to-make coffee (Starbucks Via is the best but I'm getting lazier in my old age as it needs powdered cream) and I usually toss in a LaraBar to eat in case I start to feel "off" and shaky.
As my only eating items are my mug (which doubles as a bowl), a small deep dish plate (which can also double as a shallow bowl!) and my spork, it all packs up pretty small into my mesh drying bag. The soap, scrubby, coffee, and bar are in a tiny separate mesh bag so I can put it in a food bin at night. I'd be pretty ticked if a raccoon ate my precious coffee... although that would be kind of amusing, too!
Which brings us to the things that keep you clean and able to go near people... personal care items! I'm a contact lens wearer so I have to bring a little kit with my case and solution. I also need to bring glasses for night time! I once forgot them but didn't realize it until I had my contacts off! My friend had to guide me back through the dark to our campsite as I was blind as a bat minus their sonar! It's one of those things we laugh about now... and a reason I now have my checklist!
This is one area where I really like compact so I can fit in other things like mascara (shhhh) and my spare set of contacts and spare earplugs. So my towel is only face cloth size, my toothbrush/toothpaste is all in one tube container, my deodorant is a chunk in an old pill bottle! I also bring tp and hand sanitizer... just in case! I want to make one of those fancy camping tp holders that I see on Pinterest but I'm just too lazy. My ziploc works perfectly well right now!
All packed up... until I need something! I seem to stuff everything in like I'm putting the pieces of a puzzle together and can never get it all back in the same way!
Now I'm almost done my packing! Just my shelter, my day pack, and any extras! We're sleeping in hammocks at this camp so I'm packing my hammock and my shelter kit, but won't need my little two person tent. Often the leaders will share a larger tent but sometimes I like to bring my little tent if I'll be the only one sleeping out or if we're all tenting and I have my daughter with me.
My shelter kit is a silnyl tarp with elastic cord tied in the grommets, an adjustable ridgeline ready to go (if I can untangle it!), some guy lines I can attach where ever, and a handful of lightweight tent pegs. It goes nicely over my DD hammock. My hammock has diy whoopie slings attached and I also made a set of tree huggers out of ratchet straps to go with it. Love it!
And it all packs up nicely into a small package with the yellow shelter kit just going in the hammock's compression sack!
Speaking of small, my day pack and hiking things are not! Actually, it's not too bad... it just seems like so much when it's listed and out on the bed!
It all packs up nicely in it's categories... the navigation things (binocs, compass, map, headlamp) in a ziploc, first-aid and repair in the first aid kit bag, health and hygiene in another ziploc, and the rest sorts itself out! Ziplocked things go in a tiny roll-top stuff sack and some things go in dry pouches.That silver thing is a dollar store windshield reflector. We use them as our sit-upons and sometimes under our sleeping bags! It works really well to reflect your body heat back and when folded gives a bit of cushion. My Buff knock-off (which I actually like better than the original) goes in my day pack instead of my clothing sack since it's completely random as to whether I wear it or not!
So that's it! The whole list (minus the extra add-ons and what I'll be wearing) winds up looking like this pile of gear:
Not bad as it all fits in my big black duffel with room to spare! I love my duffel for "throw it out of the car when you get there" camping... of which is this weekend's camp.
And what about the clothing I'm going to have to dive into as soon as I get home from work? I bundle it all up like this:
so it's grab and go!!
Now I just have to go throw the other things, like the materials for the stoves and the ingredients for my assigned meal, in a small bin and I'll be all packed!
Life is good when you're outside!!
