Baystate Jeepers

Since Baystate just had the first camping trip of the year, I thought before Fall Crawl and some other trips, I could compile a bunch of reviews of camping gear that you absolutely can’t live without. I’ll put all of the reviews in the newsletter.

If anyone has any products they love, I’d really like a review, pics, prices and a write up. It doesn’t have to be long. Anything from a flashlight to a certain cooking stove, sleeping bag, socks, anything. You can always write more than one review if you have a few items you like to take camping. Food you like to pack that’s easy to cook. Best coolers/ice packs.
Favorite way to store food/gear.

Might be helpful for others in the club who want suggestions for camping gear.

Send them to BSJnewsletter@gmail.com

Thanks in advance!

Id like to say you cant go wrong with Coleman products. My stoves , lanterns , and bug repellent are Coleman . No issues , parts are available at any store that has camping supplies. All my gear is at least 20 yrs. old. I have nothing but cast iron pans , skillet , and a percolating coffee pot After using the cast iron while its hot put back on fire/stove with water. It boils , dump , wipe it out or use stiff bristle brush (Not metal) , Oil pan (cooking oil) . Again my two pans and dutch oven are old but easy to cook with and clean if maintained. My tent is inside of 10 yrs. old. Its nylon , with external strung poles. Its only 7w x 6 deep. Its called a two man but my air mattress is 7' long and just about 30" wide. So half my tent is bed , the front half allows me to change and store stuff. A product called "Camp Dry" is used as a spray to do all seams every year. Still no leaks ! Works on shoes and boots also. Ive gotten broken over the years so Ive progressed to a slide in camper that now replaces all tenting supplies. As for TICKS , a product called "Permethrin" made by several Cos. Its not meant to be sprayed on you , rather you spray it on your clothes. It last up to 4 washings --- they say. What I can say is if you spray your jeans , it dries , you wear them , You wont have ticks on you ! They die before reaching your waist . I dont use deet anymore , and have yet found a tic on me. In the way of heaters , I only would caution you to make sure it has a depleted oxygen sensor built in. A sleeping bag is usually rated for a temperature . I find them to be on the forgiving side of the rating. If they say 30* , Id say 40*. Just my opinion. However , I have a bag called a mummy bag . Its tapered to the feet. Its expensive but the best Ive ever owned. Mostly its to lay on , not so much in. Its rated to -20 and I have to say once you get used to the taper (like when you turn over) you will see the difference . Hopefully this helps you pick some better items in the camping world. Thanks Frank

I Second the Coleman Gear. Been using it since I was a kid, Always reliable...

Decided, after Dave Coye made a comment about it, that I'm going to sandblast and repaint my 30+ year old Coleman 2 burner stove. Still works great, just has some surface rust. I love using it and have another one that is newer but has a regular burner on one side and a grill section on the other. I almost always opt for the regular 2 burner one.

For ice packs I use Dunkin' Donuts Box o'Joe bags. Rinse the coffee out of the Mylar bags that are inside the box, fill with the bag on a flat surface until the water is just about to come out the fill spout, freeze on a piece of cardboard so that the bag doesn't meld into the grates of the freezer shelf. Filled the cooler on Wednesday morning with the ice packs and all the frozen foods as well as the cold foods before leaving and still had ice in the bags when I got home Sunday afternoon. Proper cooler discipline helps too. Don't keep opening the cooler.

On that note,Dave is bringing up camping edict . If your going into the cooler , ask whom ever if they need anything also as it would only have to be opened one time .
I always look to see the track of the sun and try to keep the cooler out of direct light.
You have a small spare tarp , cover your coolers during the direct sunlight times.
All ways leave a camp site cleaner than you found it.
Check camp ground rules as many are no requesting for you to buy wood there , not bring it in.
FjR68

Expanding on what Frank said, cooler discipline starts the night or even days before. When loading a cooler for a multiple day trip, items should be frozen or refrigerated prior to being put into the cooler, so you don't waste the ice trying to cool down those items. The cooler itself should have a sacrificial ice bag put in the night before to pre-cool the cooler. I prefer to load frozen and refrigerated items next to each other one frozen, one cold, one frozen, etc., so that the item being defrosted cools the cold item.

Of course, if you are just loading up for a day trip, none of that matters.

I am headed to Otter River State park Friday & Saturday night (doing Brookridge Saturday). It's going to be 3 people and a dog, in a 2-door JK. After reinstalling the back seat, reality set in and it was clear that there is not enough cargo space to support 3+ people for 2 nights.

To remedy that, I bought hitch-mount gear basket which it adds at least another trunks-worth of space. It comes with a matching waterproof. Enough space for a cooler, tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, and more. It's fine for road travel and it can stay at the campsite while offroading. I can update after this weekend but it seems like a winner so far.

https://www.quadratec.com/p/quadratec/l ... iver-hitch

All great info. But I think Lisa was asking if you guys would do a write up for the newsletter.

Yes. That was the idea. I’d love some write ups.

I’ll add to my request to include tips/tricks since there’s was some unique ideas.

Please send them to BSJnewsletter@gmail.com

YER killin Me ! FjR68

Looking at getting one for a Christmas present to myself and looked at the measurements of them to see which will fit.

Looking at a few and would love to get a dual zone but the only one I can find that I think will fit is the Techni Ice 60L Dual Zone.
71.5L X 45.5W X 52.5Wcms

Any one using one on a slide in a JK?

Or any others I should look at?

Techni is 6 year warranty at present and I have a few of their eskies and thought they are pretty good for the value.
__________________

Here's a post with some photos of how I installed a very cheap and quick mounting system for a fridge slide in the back of my JK:

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/ ... ck.184396/

Hope this is helpful - let me know if you have any questions!