Overnight Camping Off the Quad

[d2photo]

SO, I was thinking of heading out to Utah this year (pending Layoffs) and was thinking of the type of gear I would have to have on the ATV without hauling a trailer behind.

I want to take a nice leisurely ride through he trail systems and camp along the way.

So lets say what would I need to be out on the quad for ohhh 2-3 days before going back to town.

Beyond the obvious (fuel and water), packing the ATV for a trip.

Tent(s) how big, is weight/size a large factor - could a bivy sack be just as good?

Sleeping bags, pending the time of year (+35 degree or less)

Food, I know I've tried some nasty backpacker food and Mountain House seems the best so far.

Cooking, Got My JET BOIL and LOVE IT... thought about the group pan, but with maybe 2 people not needed.
so what have you guys tried, liked, despised, loathed, loved..

[DAVE]

I would not use a bivy sack for atv camping, I would get a back packing tent something I could stay in to get away from the bugs and at the higher elevations you could get rained on. the other thing that I started using for storage was dry bags the type they use for river running. (keeps out the water and dust. I use a thermarest to sleep on. If you are going to the piute trail system you could ride into town now and then for some good chow, and if you get layed off from work you can stay longer in utah...........

END

[GrizzlyGuy]

SO, I was thinking of heading out to Utah this year (pending Layoffs) and was thinking of the type of gear I would have to have on the ATV without hauling a trailer behind.

I want to take a nice leisurely ride through he trail systems and camp along the way.

We did a 5-day trip like that in 2005 and a 6-day trip like that in 2006. The nice thing about Utah is that you can ride right into a town and get gas, so you only need to carry enough gas to be able to ride 2 full days without a refill (or maybe less if you want to chance it). So you have plenty of room on the racks for gear.

The basic idea is that you want to pretend you are going backpacking. Buy the gear that they would buy. Then cheer with delight when you realize you don't actually have to carry that 50-ish pound pack on your back!

I know I sent you some of this info via E-mail, but in case anyone is interested, here it is again. I keep an emergency bivy on my Grizzly at all times, but it is much more comfy to have a real tent and sleeping bag.

Favorite tent:

Sierra Designs Sierra 2

Nice tent, the whole thing fits inside the narrow top pocket along the top of my Mad Dog rear bag, along with a tarp. So I always have my tent on board. See picture here, the bulge along the top of my rear bag is tent + tarp:



The 2007's (same as 2008's) were going for $99 on closeout at REI last month, so I bought a second so it could always live on my wife's Grizzly (in case I took it out solo and broke down or something).

Sleeping bag: Down bag, just like the backpackers use. Stuffs small, nice and warm. I like a 20 F bag, but always have long underwear with me, so I stay cozy. Be sure you have a waterproof bag to put sleeping bag, your clothes, and anything else you care about in. The daily thunderstorms in the Utah mountains drop tons of water and hail, and you don't want a wet bag or clothes. Don't be like us in 2006:



A day later, after buying MANY trash bags in Torrey, UT (and drying everything in the laundromat while we motel-ed it) we looked like this as the next day's storm started to let up:



{I have no idea what that blue thing is hanging on his face, it was wet/cold and I think he forgot his balaclava or something like that}

Sleeping pad: Key to happiness on the trail. My buddy and I have been using these round super-cushy pads from Cabelas:

http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0025938516444a.shtml

But they take up a lot of space, see the two big round things on front rack in this shot (from Utah 2005):



So for this year I'm going to try this ruggedized air mattress:

http://www.rei.com/product/763916#prodSpecs

Stove: Can you put a little mess kit type of frying pan on the jet boil? I like to have the option of eating fish, snakes and varmints along the way, so a frying pan is handy. If you're only going to eat the backpacking food, all you need is hot water so the Jet Boil would be fine.

Rain Gear: GoreTex. Only. Learned this the hard way on our 2006 trip when my wife gave me a light parka that I thought was waterproof. Nope, she bought it for me because she said it was "stylish". Here I am in my "stylish" non-waterproof light parka, during a Utah hailstorm with 1/2 inch hail, crouched in the bushes with my helmet still on (BIG hail stones), at elevation of about 10,500 feet:



That smile is FAKE, trust me, I was miserable.

You know that silly yellow emergency poncho you keep under your quad's seat, and figure you'll probably never use? That's all I had left, and it certainly wasn't stylish:



Food: I think all the dehydrated food brands are good. For all brands, figure that 2 people will eat 3 of the 2-person dinners (not just 1 each) for each dinner. Sometimes I even eat 2 of the 2-person dinners by myself.

One of my favorites is Sierra Chicken. I forget who makes it. Don't think I've ever bought one of those dehydrated dinners I didn't like. Then again, I'm happy to eat snakes and varmints, so I guess I'm not all that picky.

You could stop and cook for lunch, but I like summer sausages, nuts, pita bread, dried fruit, and the canned Kraft cheese (the kind that squirts). There are plenty of chokecherries out there too. Ripeness varies depending on elevation and time of year. Most people don't eat them, but I munched a ton of them:



GPS: Must be *submersible*. Garmin 60CSx or equivalent. I learned this the hard way in Utah, when I lost my Garmin eTrex in that same thunderstorm (from water, not hail).

Ham radio: Must be *submersible*. Same argument as above. Several Yaesu models are, several aren't. Repeaters are far and few between out there, but you can usually hit at least 1 from any ridge top. Cell phones? Fuhget about it, unless you are near one of the big towns (I hear they are improving that right now, so this season may be better).

Ziploc Bags - Bring lots of those and keep them handy. You'll forget that your iPhone isn't submersible, then hopefully you'll remember and shove it into a ziploc before it fries itself in all that rain.

Water filter - You need one of these, the pumping kind. It is silly to carry big heavy jugs of water on your quad when you can just filter it along the way. Carry enough water to drink for a day, that's it. Unless you're planning on doing Moab or The Swell.

Collapsible Water Containers - Real handy. I use 2-liter MSR dromedary bags. They fold up to nothing, you filter water into them in the evening when you stop to camp. 4 liters are plenty for 2 guys in camp for one night.

[d2photo]

Well going off of your list, I'm not that far off from being ready.

Sleeping bag.. Just need a good down stuff style.

Tent.. Need one of the 2 man (figuring a 3-4 season convertible as I want something that will be snow worthy).

Cooking. Getting the group kit for the jet boil (frying pan).

Ham (don't have, want to) have my Spot if needed.

Sleeping pad.. no brainer there.

Rain gear. Got good stuff already (AC gear NICE stuff)

GPS: have my Garmin 60CS - need to get the Utah Topo!. If I get from ATVUTAH.com they also incude all of the GPS points for all of the trail systems (BONUS!!:)

Water Filter: have the MSR Sweetwater system, with 2 2liter bags.

Soo.. All in all not that far off.

I do need to add some dry bags as well.

[GrizzlyGuy]

Dude, you're practically all set!

As soon as the snow melts a little more, ping me, and we can go do an overnighter around here to give your gear a shake down. Or a 3-day, if you think you can carry 3 Kolpins along with your other gear (we just carried 2 each in Utah, gas is easy to get).

I've got 2 of the Serius 2 tents if you want to try one, but it definitely isn't snow worthy. Mesh roof is nice for looking at the stars, and the rain fly is fine for rain. But drop 6" of fresh stuff on it... fuhget about it.

Yeah, you need a good down bag. Don't scrimp on that, it can get COLD in those Utah mountains (or these mountains) even in summer. I backpacked out to Paradise Lake once in early July, some kind of cold front from Alaska came through, and it was 21 degrees that night.

[d2photo]

Dude, you're practically all set!

Or a 3-day, if you think you can carry 3 Kolpins along with your other gear (we just carried 2 each in Utah, gas is easy to get).

One of the nice thing with the cats - 6.5 gal tank. I've gotten over 120 miles on a single tank. average around 70 miles per 3 gal of gas.

I've got 2 of the Serius 2 tents if you want to try one, but it definitely isn't snow worthy. Mesh roof is nice for looking at the stars, and the rain fly is fine for rain. But drop 6" of fresh stuff on it... fuhget about it.

Might take you up on that to try before I buy. I'm looking at this Marmot Thor2p

[traildad]

The yellow bag on my rear rack contains a Therm-a-rest Dreamtime XL sleeping pad. Also it holds my "layers", light jacket, rain suit, heavy coat, snow gloves and knit hat. The bag itself is a dry bag made by Ozark Trails. We got it at Walmart. It is a roll closure with straps. We have been using them since April of 2005 and they are great at keeping the dust and water out. The purple bag is duffel bag and is also a roll and strap closure. In that one I keep clothes and toothbush. This is the duffel we use. http://www.rei.com/online/store/Product ... DDLING_TOC
I also have a dry bag to keep my sleeping bag in. I use cambuckle straps to keep them on the rack. All the bags strapped on to the rear rack also make a good backrest. I have a cheap 5x7 tent and a 7x9 tent. Both of them pack into a pretty small package, When we first started we had one man back pack tents. They are very small and you have to drive steaks into the ground to put them up. It can be hard to find a place where you can get a steak into the ground. I like the tents that stand up on their own. Not to mention that you pretty much had to lay on the ground and then slide into the tent. If you are going to eat dehydrated food you can keep it pretty simple in the kitchen area. If you are going to camp in campgrounds along the way it is easier. If you want to camp along the trail you might want a camp chair. You also might want something to use as a potty chair. We got one of those flimsy folding ones. This year I made my own. I got the business section of a real toilet seat. To the bottom of that I attached metal pieces that are made to anchor threaded pipe to a wall or floor. I then made some PVC legs with pipe thread couplers so I can put them on for use, and take them off for storage. I used 1" thick wall PVC so the legs are nice and sturdy. Dig your hole and you're set.

[GrizzlyGuy]

Sounds like Dave and Traildad have great solutions for wetness: dry bags. I'm definitely going to upgrade to those.

Traildad's right about the camping chair too, I use one of these:

http://www.crazycreek.com/interior.cfm? ... il&item=11

You can see it in my picture of the hailed-on Grizzly, in plastic laying across the Kolpins. It is long enough that it could double for a sleeping pad, although I prefer a bit more cushiness for sleeping. I have one of their original chairs too:

http://www.crazycreek.com/interior.cfm? ... ail&item=1

You can see that one in the picture of me standing there with the FAKE smile.

One more thing I forgot to mention: Ski gloves. See that same picture, notice I have no gloves on and I'm trying to warm my hands in my armpits. Why? Because my riding gloves were soaked, and I forgot my ski gloves.

You can almost see my teeth chattering in this shot without the fake smile:

[hellcat650]

Hey traildad, noticed the boom mike. what is your 2way radio setup?

[traildad]

Hey traildad, noticed the boom mike. what is your 2way radio setup?

We have been using a GMRS radio. I would love to go with something hands free but I can't seem to make the switch. The GMRS radios are pretty inexpensive and have good range. We have used them since day one and I really like having them.

[TimberRider]

d2 if you go to: www.atvtv.com you'll find a section on the far right on the home page called, "Adventure Prep". The host goes into an in depth show and tell of how to prepare for a camping trip on your quad. You'll find lots of great info. I bought the bed roll and can tell you it's the best thing since sliced bread...lol. Check it out and let me know if it helped.

[BruteForce]

It really will depend on where in Utah you go and the time of year.

My 10 year old and I have done a few of these ATV/Camping trips (the last one w/an ATV trailer).

Essentials:

- Fabric tarp (10'x10') (we use it as a makeshift tent)
- Sleeping bag (smallest but warmest you can pack) with a bag
- Portable multi-fuel stove (those back pack style)
- Canned soup and other canned foods (fruit cocktail, etc) (that are easy to carry and can be cooked right in their container)
- Fuel/Water
- Dehydrated pack food (Scrambled eggs, etc)

Try to stay away from anything that needs ice or refrigeration.

We were able to carry everything we needed for 3 days on both our ATV's and back packs. The trick is to avoid bulky items (cooler, tents, etc) and minimize on anything easily crushed or bulky.

[TimberRider]

To save space I carry MRE's. ( meals ready to eat) You can get them at any military surplus or camping store. They are high fiber and keep you full and there also pretty tasty. The military mre's have a full meal, crackers, cookie, coffee, fruit drink , and a piece of gum. There light to carry and easy to pack. They run $ 5:00- $ 6.00 each. All you'll need to heat them is a small pot and some water. I use stream water so I don't waste my drinking water.

[Ken]

To save space I carry MRE's. ( meals ready to eat) You can get them at any military surplus or camping store. They are high fiber and keep you full and there also pretty tasty. The military mre's have a full meal, crackers, cookie, coffee, fruit drink , and a piece of gum. There light to carry and easy to pack. They run $ 5:00- $ 6.00 each. All you'll need to heat them is a small pot and some water. I use stream water so I don't waste my drinking water.

The best place to get them is on eBay. There's a guy in San Juan Capistrano, CA who sells them non-stop. You get like 13 for 30 bucks.

[The Modfather]

There's a guy in San Juan Capistrano, CA

You wouldn't have a link or his ebay ID per chance, would ya?