Jul
2nd
2016
The most crucial gear. · 8:01pm Jul 2nd, 2016
This morning I received what's certainly the most important piece of gear for our primitive camping trip to the Badlands.
These military-grade water cans together will hold 60 liters, or approximately 15 gallons of water. The general rule of thumb for wilderness camping and hiking is one gallon of water per person per day. So Brady and I would need about 10 for five-and-a-half days in the Badlands.
Apart from that, I've got ten pounds of vacuum sealed beef jerky on the way, which will go into the freezer until departure.
Now we're talking.
What've you got in mind for a tent, lantern, and method of cooking?
4063390 As campfires are not allowed in Badlands National Park, and I have no experience with charcoal grilling, currently we have no plans to cook anything out there. Most of our time will probably consist of hiking and photography. Apart from the water and beef jerky, we're also planning on taking homemade trail mix and dried fruit.
Currently we plan on returning next fall with my mom, who has much more experience cooking outdoors. We'll probably do more cooking then. My main concern is keeping perishable food from spoiling; we will be an hour's drive away from Wall, SD, and would bankrupt ourselves keeping perishable food stocked with ice.
4063390 We have a small two-person tent, and an LED lantern that can be charged with solar power, manual crank, AC, USB, or batteries.
4063390 scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p235x350/13567076_10209415684809933_3531433825425770170_n.jpg?oh=2b676c64284f900698ae747c2bf9ddc8&oe=57F5DA68
Make sure you rinse those out thoroughly. The water can taste pretty bleh in them if you don't.
Also, I'd suggest taking some flavored tablets or something. They make these like, giant alkaseltzer-type tablets you can drop in a camelback or one of those that keeps the water fresh tasting and give it a bit of flavor.
4063407 That did cross my mind today. Does it matter if I rinse with hot or cold water? Because the only place that makes sense to do that is the bathtub faucet.
4063415
Hot always works best. Maybe a drop of bleach mixed in to help make sure there's nothing in them that shouldn't be.
I'm assuming you are going to offload into a day pack or something for the water? You are looking at about 120# of water alone for your trip.
I'd also recommend a thing of powerade/gatorade powder. Gotta replace all the salts and electrolytes you'll be sweating/pissing out over your trip. Otherwise you'll cramp to hell, get the runs, etc.
You can get a basic propane stove for less than $10 on amazon. I'd snag one of them, a couple bottles of propane, a pot, 2 mugs, and a hobotool. That should do all your cooking. Just add in instant coffee and some dehydrated hiking meals and you're set IMO. Cup o noodles works great in a pinch, just not for every meal.
What I recommend for you is to get your hands on some MRE's. They are already cooked, and all they require is heating. The standard Meal Ready to Eat comes with a 'cooking bag' in which the sealed-meal is placed with the appropriate amount of water and water-activated heating packs (which are included in the MRE. Also, they last for years, and are life-savers on the battlefield AND in survival situations. I recommend that you take these with you on your trip into the Badlands.
(Just so you know, this is not copy-and-paste. I have experience using these.)
4063439 Yup. Rinse it a few times with hot, then cold, get it as dry as you can and leave them open to air-dry. Rinse them out with cold water once or twice before you actually go on your trip, and you should be ready to go.
MRE's aren't a bad choice either. Too much jerky can do bad things to you; last thing you want is sudden onset of gout while in the middle of nowhere.
Camelbacks are amazing for hiking, and I'd highly recommend them. http://www.camelbak.com/elixir These tablets are great too. I'd recommend each of you pick out a flavor you like. Plus they have electrolytes, so there's another perk.
And I'd grab a foam sleeping mat. They're very lightweight, but man, there is nothing quite so miserable as trying to sleep on rocks. They have inflatable ones too, but foam is fine and probably cheaper besides.
4063674 Oh yeah, the only reason I didn't get half that much jerky is because the deal on the 10lb bag was insane (5lb for $109 or 10lb for $140). But my #1 priority is a balanced diet while we're out there.