My Favorite All Purpose Tent

Although I dearly love my Eureka K2 three person tent as it is bomb-proof (see side story below), I can't get over how good the Eureka Zeus 2 is.

The Eureka Zeus 2 is lightweight, approximately 3 lbs., compared to the Eureka K2 which is a little over ten pounds. The Zeus 2 is very easy to setup - two poles, attached on the outside with plastic carabineers.

Although it is single walled, the Zeus 2 has vents which allow air to flow into and out of the tent and we have found minimal condensation after sleeping during a rainstorm. The shell proved to be waterproof.

Barring a heavy windstorm, we prefer to hike with our lightweight, easy to setup, waterproof Eureka Zeus 2.


Side story: The Eureka K2 is indeed bomb-proof. I think most cats are "skittish" and my cat is no different. Cats also don't like loud noises.

One night, I decided to try my new Eureka K2 in my yard while a raging storm was occurring. The winds were blowing 60 mph (which is common here) and the rain was coming down in buckets...sideways. Once I had the tent and the rain shell pitched, I attached lines and stakes from every available point built onto the tent.

Then, I brought my cat out with me and went to sleep for the night. Although a storm was throwing things around outside, the inside of the tent was calm and warm. The tent walls barely moved and my cat slept soundly through the entire night.

If weight is no concern or you are expecting extremely bad weather, I recommend the Eureka K2. If weight IS a concern, the wind is not blowing over 35 mph., and it is not below 35 degrees Fahrenheit, the Eureka Zeus 2 is my favorite all-purpose tent.

Highly Recommended Hiking Boots

I bought a pair of hiking boots sometime ago, from Dick's Sporting Goods I believe. They were beige, mid-height hiking boots by Ecco. I have never felt anything more comfortable and as light as these boots and, on top of that, they are waterproof and breatheable. The soles were flexible and have good insoles.

My wife was tired of hearing me comment on how great they were every single time I put them on. I couldn't help it, they were that good. It felt like I was wearing a good pair of sneakers that were tough and waterproof.

It wasn't until a few years later that I convinced her to try a pair on. She was sold immediately and finally understood all the comments I had been making all these years.

Be sure to buy the right size of any boot so that you can fit warm, or wool socks while wearing your boots.

I highly recommend Ecco hiking boots to anyone.

How to Choose the Right Rain Gear

I was pleasantly surprised when my order of lightweight raingear from Campmor arrived. I ordered inexpensive, or cheap, raingear that rolled up into a little sack that was meant for emergencies and light hiking.

The raingear was alot better than I expected. It was indeed small, lightweight, and waterproof. There are many camping trips we go on when we don't know for sure if it will rain or not. We used to lug our heavy raingear with us but now we don't need to anymore. And this lightweight raingear, consisting of rain pants and a rain jacket, doesn't snag as much as a poncho would. In my mind, there is no more reason for ponchos except for emergency shelter, perhaps.

The pants and the jacket were no more than 20 dollars each, so the cost was right for the job we wanted the rainwear to perform. Keep in mind that these are shells I am talking about. If you expect chilly or cold weather, you will need some sort of liner. We use fleece jackets and long johns. Dressing in layers is always a good idea and works well with the lightweight rain shells.

If you need to do some heavy hiking through thick brush, however, you can do no better than Gortex raingear. This raingear is breathable, comfortable, rugged and durable, and fits well. I ordered a good set from Cabelas but have seen knock-offs for half the price. Now, you should be able to find a set of Gortex raingear (pants and jacket) for $150 total.

There will always be trade-offs between weight, durability, and price for anything you are looking for. For slim chances of rain on a hiking trip that doesn't include thick brush, I would go for the $40 set of lightweight raingear from Campmor. This set of raingear can easily be stuffed into a side pocket of your backpack. For more demanding trips through thick brush or when you would encounter torrential downpours, I would suggest Gortex raingear that is comfortable and durable.

Mountain Camping

One of my favorite camping trips was when my wife and I hiked up a mountain near our town. Many people would consider it a hill with the peak elevation around 2,500. Also, we didn't need any mountain climbing equipment - it was just regular hiking...uphill.

We exercised heavily for two weeks before the trip and it paid off. Instead of 6 hours to reach the tops as I estimated, it only took us 4 hours with full packs. I also overestimated our food requirements by one meal but I figured that wasn't so bad.

The most difficult part of the trip for us was carrying all of our water. The mountain was pretty rocky and there is no water to collect and filter on the way up, so we had to bring it all the way up with us.

At the top, the view was spectacular as we could see our town and the surrounding ocean and islands for miles around. Also interesting was the fact that even though we were so high above our town, we could still hear dogs barking and cars driving.

The next morning when we woke up, the fog was heavy and I was slightly worried about safely traversing down the mountain. We took our time and cooked a hot breakfast with coffee and hot chocolate and by the time we were finished eating and packing our gear, the fog had lifted and the morning was gorgeous.

Coming down was easy - it took us about 3 hours. The whole trip was amazing and I can't wait to do it again!

I Forgot the Poles

During our very first camping trip as a married couple, my wife and I were excited to go to a campground and setup our tent. We pulled out the tent, the groundcloth, and the rainfly. Then, my wife asked, "Where are the poles?"

I couldn't believe I forgot the poles! We took them out of the tent bag the last time we used them to arrange the tent in our backpacks and I forgot to put them back in before this trip.

If there weren't a chance of rain we would have slept out in the open because it was a warm summer day. There was a chance of rain, though, so we had to think of something else.

Luckily we had purchased a large blue tarp for something else and had it in the trunk kof our car. I was used to using a tarp in place of a tent but my wife wasn't. For an easy anchor, I tied the tarp to the picnic table and we had a comfortable night under the tarp during our first camping trip as husband and wife.

We still laugh about that trip to this day!

Exercise makes camping more fun!

Everytime we workout and we're getting tired and sore, I remind myself that we are exercising so that our camping trips will more enjoyable. The better shape we are in, the longer we can walk and the less sore we will be on the trails and mountains.

Almost any exercising that you do will be beneficial for camping. There are also a lof of specific exercises you can do to target different types of camping and hiking. In a pinch, if we need to get into shape quickly, we do three main types of workouts:

1) Jog every other day. This will help with your cardiovascular fitness. We usually jog three miles a day.

2) Do stairclimbers or mountain hiking every other day that you don't jog. We start out with a light stair climbing workout so we don't overuse our muscles when we're first getting back into shape. Then, the next time we do this type of exercise, we hike up a steep hill (about 500 feet elevation). The next workout we do is the same mountain hike while wearing our backpacks.

3) The third workout we do every other day is shoulder presses. We lift a light dumbbell (the weight depends on your own strength and size) straight up above our heads ten times and do three reps for each shoulder. This type of exercise really helps avoid shoulder soreness from wearing your backpack.

It is always best to maintain your fitness at all times. However, like us in the real world, we tend to get out of shape now and then. When that happens and we need to get in shape quickly, we follow the above routine with pretty amazing results. One time we did a hike that took us three hours. The next time we attempted that same hike, we followed the above routine for one week and then the hike took us only one hour!

Internal vs. External Frame Backpacks

Which is better? External or Internal frame backpacks?

This is a personal answer to a question about comfort. I like external frame backpacks because they seem more rigid to me. When I walk, it seems the pack says firm.

My wife likes the internal frame packs. To her, the frame says rigid and is compact and softer.

I still don't know how an internal frame pack can be rigid. It seems that an external frame is wider and by it's nature is more stable.

Please let us know your opinions.

Breakfast on a hill in Alaska

Here I am eating oatmeal on a rocky hillside near our tent. It was a foggy morning, August 12, 2005 at 8:00 am. The weather was unusually hot during the day and unbearably quiet. We would have normally been awakened by deafening birds but because the weather was so hot, all animals must have been hunkered down somewhere.

This is true wilderness camping, which is what my wife and I love best. There are no trails, no park rules, no other people for miles around. The environment is unspoiled and we leave it as we found it.

For this particular camping trip, we canoed for about 2 miles and hiked only about 50-100 feet straight up to this location. We live in Southeast Alaska and, so far, this is mainly where my wife and I have camped. We hope to camp and hike everywhere eventually.