GEAR REVIEW: REI Base Camp 6 Tent

I've been car camping/canoe camping for longer than I can remember. Though I'm branching into backpacking, I'll always enjoy having the means to establish a strong base camp. This tent goes a long way towards doing so, it's right there in the name! My impetus for buying the Base Camp goes back to the worst storm I can ever recall weathering in a tent. I'd borrowed the old Gander Mountain family tent from my Dad, and as I was setting it up one of the aging carbon fiber poles (easily 20 years old at that point) chose this trip to give out. When carbon fiber anything breaks, it starts to splinter apart. Fortunately it wasn't a complete destruction, and I was able to use a combination of ducttape and spare tent stakes to brace the pole.

Had I known what a storm I was in for that night, I might not have forged onward at that point, but I saw no reason to quit. Now, a slack tent is far less waterproof than a taut tent, and even in it's repaired state, it was less than taut. So, my night wound up a bit more moist than I was prepared for. I'd attempt to improve the repair a bit, but ultimately I decided it was time for a new tent, one of my own. I'd recently begun using Reddit, and discovered /r/Camping, one of their camping related boards. I got a lot of good suggestions, but the one I liked the looks of best, was the REI Base Camp 6. Bob (My Dad) had mentioned a number of times, the REI store down in Madison, suggesting that we could probably get a replacement pole segment for the tent there when all the locally available repair kits turned out to be the wrong size...

I wound up getting the 2013 model Base Camp 6 tent, a membership, AND some replacement pole parts from REI. This wound up being a cascading repair in which Bob and I rebuilt the Gander Mountain tent pole, using the wrong-size-kit, I fixed a pole for a more modern coleman made tent owned by my friends Jim and Lindsey, and I used some old pieces from the tent pole that we had rebuilt to repair a pole for my cheap screen octagon.

But on to the Base Camp 6! This is a very spacious tent. Now, REI rates it for 6 people, but that's people-only, no gear, and you had best be pretty close to these six people. More realistically, it's a tent for 3-4 people who take up a lot of room, 5 people who are fairly close to one another, or 6 people who don't move much in their sleep and/or who might be okay to cuddle with one another. It's also possible that REI intended you to stack these people vertically, because the base camp has a ton of headroom. I'm 6'2" when I stand up straight and I can walk a small circle in the middle of the tent. I really enjoy that, not having to worry about hitting the walls/ceiling when I move around inside the tent.

The poles on the Base Camp are aluminum, and feel very sturdy to me. They are perhaps a bit heavier than carbon fiber would be... but for car camping, weight is a low priority to me. They have full pole sleeves rather than split sleeves, so there's no having to lean over, kneeling on the tent itsself as you're raising it. and you can raise it solo, at least I could, if you need to. Two main poles provide the primary support, and two secondary poles fully extend the tent, giving it it's full size and structure. One final pole extends the rainfly over the end of your choice, creating a small vestibule. Now, the rainfly is very thorough, covering the tent right down to its toes. It does an excellent job of keeping interior dry, even though high speed wind and rain. Those poles do a great job of keeping it upright even in adverse conditions. This was one of my primary criteria when I asked for suggestions, a tent that can weather any storm I have any business being out in. It's a 3 season tent, so not intended for the winter (and I have no intent to camp in wintertime) and realistically there's only so much weather a tent can take, but if things are THAT bad, I should probably be taking cover in a far sturdier structure.

That very thorough rainfly is also excellent at trapping warmth in the tent. There are a pair of vents at the top, and the front and back of the rainfly can be unzipped and rolled up in good weather to let air in. Great thing about the vents is that they can be opened from inside, through a pair of zippered apertures. No need to go outside just to shut it if the weather changes. Protecting the tent from below, is a fitted footprint intended for use with the Base Camp 6 Tent. I am SO glad that I bought the footprint, it is far more convenient than trying to fit a tarp to the right size. Makes teardown more convenient (I have a clean place to pack the rest of the tent up from) and keeps the bottom of the tent clean. Super happy with buying the footprint. And speaking of packing up not only is there room in the tent bag for the footprint, but also that bag has a pair of shoulder straps that allow you to wear it like a backpack. Nothing I'd want to wear for more than ten to fifteen minutes, but more than enough to easily reach a site that I couldn't park directly in.

Only changes I'd make are that I would enjoy some manner of side window option, and that I find myself resorting to using a set of Nite-ize Gear Ties to secure the rolled rainfly door , which otherwise is a bit reluctant to stay where I tell it to remain. a bigger vestibule wouldn't be bad, but as it stands, there's more than enough room to don/remove shoes, even sit in a bag chair to do so, maybe store some minor gear. If you remember to only zip one side of it, and rely on the velcro on the other, you can easily respond to things such as driving off a meddlesome nocturnal raccoon, or the call of nature in the middle of the night, without much entry/exit fuss.

Well-built, spacious enough to acommodate a family or a small group of friends on a trip, the base camp 6 will be my wilderness shelter on many an adventure to come. I highly recommend it.

With the screen hexagon, Van Buren SP, Michigan:

Inside, with my LL Bean Synthetic bag:

Airing out in the yard, no rainfly:

Rainfly on, but not guyed:

Inside, Empty:

Back of the tent, Wildcat Mtn SP:

Front of the tent, Wildcat Mtn SP:

GEAR REVIEW: Xada 302 Nylon Hammock

$30 seemed like a suspiciously good deal on a hammock. Whilst in the grip of cabin fever and fervently scouring the various outdoors/camping/recreation subreddits I prowl, I saw a post on /r/hammocks advertising a sale from a company I'd not heard of, Xada. They were advertising their model 302 hammock, complete with whoopee slings and a set of straps to hang your hammock for only $30. It seemed too good to be true, but I felt that I could gamble with $30 and come out alright whatever the outcome. My interest in a hammock to take camping had been steadily growing, due in part to the antigravity chairs that a number of my friends had begun bringing on car camping trips. My own Bag Chair grows a little tiresome on extended trips and it would be nice to have the option to recline without retreating to my tent. Problem was, those reclining chairs, while comfortable and sturdy were (a) heavy and bulky, a seeming nightmare to transport in an already heavily loaded car, and (b) quite expensive, on the order of $75 a chair when I looked.

So I was rather enticed by the prospect of a $30 hammock. It would get me started. And boy did it. The hammock arrived rather promptly, long before I could make use of it outdoors. Soon as it was warm enough though, I started looking for excuses to go hang in the hammock. I was hooked from the start. Though, it swiftly became evident to me that there were far better hammocks on the market than this one. First off, though Xada bills it as "everything you need" the included straps are far from adequate. On something like my fifth hang, though I only mass 55% of the hammock's 400lb rated weight capacity, I was just beginning to settle in to place when I heard a sound like veclro un-meshing. Before I could determine the source of this sound, my head rapidly plummeted and collided with the ground beneath. Fortuantely, the ground at Plamann Park was somewhat moist with spring runoff and I was not hurt bu the fall, just a little dazed. Unfortuantely, the ground at Plamann Park was somewhat moist, and now, so was I, and so was my hammock. The stitching on the strap holding the head-end of my hammock up had torn out.

Immediately, from my phone I shot an email to the company... really, a single post-college kid who'd started making these hammocks to rent out at school, to see if they had any interest in making it right. And I packed up and headed for home, since I no longer had a setup capable of holding me aloft. I gave him a week to reply, nothing. So I posted to /r/hammocks about my unfortunate experience, and one of the kind redditors there sent me a set of extra ENO Atlas Straps he had around. the community there is awesome and I'm so thankful that I was paid that kindness. My thread must have shamed Xada into a reply, because I finally heard from him... but just the once. He asked a couple questions about what had happened... and it's been about a year with no further word from him.

The whoopie slings included use a... I'm not sure what the right descriptor for this rope is. It's very grabby. It has a tendency to trail on the ground when i'm packing it up, or adjusting the length. It has a habit of picking up various wilderness detritus in the process. dry leaves, bits of moss, dead grass, stuff like that. They work alright, but one of these I'm probably going to go through the process of making my own slings out of Amsteel Blue, which looks like it'll be far less grabby and less prone to some of the bunching up issues the white rope used by xada. But I've got to study a bit before I go and do that.

"everything" you need is also stretching things a bit. Sure, it comes with the straps, the built-in slings, and the nylon hammock big enough to fit two people... But that's not EVERYTHING you could need. I picked up a Closed Cell Foam Pad from wal-mart for $9, to lay upon in the hammock when the wind beneath me was too cold. The airflow really does cool you off, and sometimes that's desirable. Other times, it's not that great. It also doesn't come with any sort of tarp, which you'll need for hammock camping with anything outside of perfect weather. I picked up a cheap tarp from harbor freight for $10. It's a lot noisier and bulkier than what some people use, I've seen a lot of people using materials like tyvek to make lightweight, low-space tarps for their backpacking setups. Using a couple of gear ties I'd had on my pack, I was able to seal the harbor freight tarp around my hammock, creating a tranquil sheltered pocket around me.

In the time since I originally began penning this review, I've found another way by which this hammock has failed me. The carabiner on one end of the rope has begun to deform. I went to set it up at the park, and noticed that one of the gates wouldn't close. It was ever so subtly mis-aligned, and I believe the gate must have worked itsself open. There are few things more enjoyable than a nice rest in a hammock but there are also few things more frustrating than thinking you're going to get a chance to hammock, and having your equipment let you down. I'm going to pick up a couple of wire-gate climbing grade carabiners to replace the cheap included ones. with the $7 apiece replacement 'biners I'm eyeing, this ridiculous $30 thing has required $45 worth of replacement parts to remain operational.

My warning to you is to stay away. Stay FAR away. Do NOT let the price tempt you. You'll wind up spending 150% of the purchase price just to stay hanging. You may as well invest in a better hammock to begin with. Let my suffering serve as an example. Even the entry level ENO hammocks are a better option, and with my additional expenditures, not all that much more expensive. I'm still researching what I would replace it with, if I decided to. Fortunately for me, all the replacement parts I've had to obtain so far will enhance another hammock as much as they serve as repairs for this one.

Hanging in my accommodations at Flint Ridge, near the Klamath River in California:

Laying inside with the tarp closed:

From the outside, tarp closed:

Caught by the wind, High Cliff State Park:

Foot Selfie at Plamann Park, testing the Atlas Straps:

The aforementioned Atlas Straps:

Wrapped up in the hammock itsself:

Empty:

Ways the hammock has failed me -The Broken Strap:

Carabiner won't close:

Bottom Line? Don't buy Xada. I'm not sure you should even take one for free if they want to give it to you, not unless you're ready to spend $45 to preemptively repair it.

TRAIL MEAL: Mushroom Rice With Salmon

Cooked some lunch out at High Cliff State Park today, decided I'd try a cheaper alternative to the Mountain House Bag Meals. I'd heard that the Knorr Pasta Sides and Rice Sides were a popular "trail food on the cheap" option. Most of the pasta ones talked about using a small amount of milk as well, so I figured I'd go for the rice, which didn't require any. I just don't feel right though, if I don't have some meat in a meal, and I've had good luck with single serve packets of tuna in the past, but I was curious how the salmon packets were. So I decided today, I'd mix the Knorr Mushroom Rice Side with a packet of Salmon after cooking.

The Rice called for 16 ounces of water, and I eyeballed it. I actually put a little more in than I think was needed, and I dumped the rice packet in as it called for bringing the water to a boil with the rice already in. Turns out that this titanium pot is just the right size for this serving, Lucky Me! I wondered if I was going to have to halve the serving or not.

The Stove did a great job of heating it, and as we'd seen previously, the heat goes straight through the titanium pot, and into the water. It wasn't long at all before we had a nice boil rolling

Most of the time, I actually had the lid on, to help hold heat in. The instructions called for it to simmer for 7 minutes while covered.

The rice DID foam up, and while I was reading on my kindle it actually did push the lid off, but after adjusting the heat down to the lowest setting, it remained in place after that.

Put my Kleen Kanteen Water Bottle ontop of the pot to hold the lid down tight while it sat for two minutes. After that I took a couple test bites to make sure the rice was done. It was pretty good by itsself, even without the salmon.

Adding the Salmon:

All mixed in:

Devoured! Cleaned the pot out with a splash of water, and then drank the dregs:

And then, for dessert as I walked the muddy trails, a Carrot Cake Clif Bar:

My verdict? Delicious. The salmon taste was pretty strong, but I liked that. I like salmon. It took a lot more fuel than boiling water for mountain house would. I'd be more comfortable cooking this over the BioLite where I can scavenge fuel for it, rather than my gas stove where I'm reliant on being able to find gas cannisters. Price-wise, even with the fuel consumption the Knorr+Salmon meal is still ahead of Mountain House, since most of those run $7-8, and this was less than $2 for the side and less than $2 for the salmon packet. Mountain House has the edge in speed, weight and fuel efficiency, but I could afford to buy a new gas cannister every two knorr meals and still come out ahead.

GEAR REVIEW: Harbor Freight Firestarter

I've always been a big fan of preparedness, it's the main thing that stuck with me from my time in the scouts. I also distinctly recall a whole wilderness preparedness phase around the same time after reading a book about a plane crash in northern Canada, where the protagonist had to survive on their own in the wild for some time. Don't really know when I was going to get stranded in Canada, but I wasn't going to let that get in my way. I remember being given a magnesium firestarter as a christmas present at the time. I liked that, it seemed a good way to start fires in the absence of matches. Don't know where that first one got put though, I'll probably stumble across it some day.

They still sell them though. Any sporting goods place or general purpose store with a camping section, or outfitter such as REI will sell you one for $8-10. This struck me as a bit expensive for something so simple. I did some looking around, and it turns out that Harbor Freight, the cheap tool store has them for less than $3. That's cheap enough that I'd buy one for my hiking pack, one for my car, and one for my car camping supply bin.

They come with a little serrated striker tool. At first, I appreciated that, thought anything that saves my knife from wear was a nice inclusion. But in today's field testing, it didn't really hold up well. Yeah, you could make sparks on the flint strip, but it was awkward to hold and didn't strike them very well. It also sucked at trying to bite into the magnesium. Actually, everything I brought today had a hard time with that. After giving up on the little green striker they included, I tried a small multitool I had with me, figuring it was better to wear on that blade than my good knives, but even that proved difficult to strike good sparks from. It didn't want to shave off much magnesium either. Finally, I just gave up and resorted to using my Buck Pathfinder 105, which worked far better than either of those. I should have just used that to start with.

Fortunately, the dried beech leaves we harvested to catch our sparks caught very readily, and the magnesium part wasn't necessary. Now, I could swear that the block I owned two decades ago gave up magnesium very readily. I'm not sure if they changed to a harder material for all the firestarters, or if it's just the cheap harbor freight ones, but be prepared for the magnesium to be very reluctant. it may take some time preparing before you have a pile ready to catch sparks. Or bring some dryer lint instead.

Despite the very solid, even reluctant, magnesium block I would in fact recommend these. It's hard to beat that price.

Starting the fire:

Clearing at Plamann Park where we built our fire:

Boiling some water in my snow peak pot:

Video of the firestarter in action

Available from Amazon.com or at a local Harbor Freight Tools.