For those who want something cheaper and more versatile than a Warn winch on your truck and are willing to sacrifice sweat to get it, you may want to look at this. I haven’t had to use it yet, but it’s far stronger and heavier than the cheap “two ton” $50 winches I see on Amazon.
It only weighs 25 pounds and can supposedly pull 12k. We’ll see when I first use it.
Visited here the weekend of January 19. I highly recommend it for winter car camping, especially if you have kids.
I tried several campsites and all were either officially closed or snowed in. Sugar Pine Point is right on Lake Tahoe and was reasonably plowed, right up to where I could park the truck. Furthermore, it had metal boxes for storing food, picnic tables, fire pits, and was just a short walk to the lake.
We had easily over a foot of snow everywhere, temperature in the morning was 25 degrees and it climbed to 33. About as good as you can get if you want snow.
By far the best budget buy I found for a down bag was the REI Co-op Magma 10. Haven’t used it yet, but will report back.
Report: sleeping bag was comfortable at 25 degrees. Plenty of space, weighs next to nothing, packs down very small too.
Update: Next trip at 25 degrees, I froze. Horrible. I returned the bag.
So I’ve discovered there’s a decent sized community of doing ultralight on the cheap. Links will be stored here.
Just to be clear, I’m not affiliated with any product or company. I make no money here, serve no sponsored links, etc.
I have a few old jackets that were water-proof/resistant in their prime. Currently researching the best products to make them as functional as possible so I can avoid simply donating them away.
Sport Wash Laundry Detergent
… populate …
Gear Aid ReviveX Durable Water Repellent For Outerwear
… populate …
I picked up the REI Co-op Amorphum Utility Parka today for 50% off. Feels very comfortable. About as heavy as a coat as you’d want in San Francisco. We’ll see how well it does.
Update: It did well at Lake Tahoe in 25 degrees dry conditions. I wouldn’t use this for wet, but it was good in the dry, and the removable liner comes in handy when you warm up.
Update 2: Returned the parka because it was just too big. It’s no longer on sale so I couldn’t downsize.
What do people sleep in these days in the snow if they don’t keep separate winter sleeping bags and such? Time for some more research.
Update: The solution is
We don’t get any snow in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I only need winter snow boots when I go winter camping. For that reason, I didn’t do a ton of research and just picked out the Columbia Men’s Bugaboot Plus IV Omni-Heat Mid Calf Boot.
We’ll see how well it holds up.
Update: These were fantastic in 18 inches of snow at 25 degrees. I wasn’t working up much of a sweat, mostly standing around, and my feet were quite warm in wool socks and these boots.
We’ll see how they hold up in wet conditions.
Project Hemingway 