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MC Camping on the Cheap

I'm still using the backpacker stove I bought back in 2011. Only one I ever owned. I paid $10 for it, new, on Amazon. Brings water - or a can of stew - to a boil quickly, easy to regulate, and runs 3-4 days on one of those little butane canisters.

For those who haven't read this thread all the way from the beginning - One trick I've learned along the way is to shake the canister before each use.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YLU6O6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Can't remember how much I paid for it, but I'm using the SVEA 123 I bought in 1975 or so. It uses the same fuel as the bike and sounds like a jet plane taking off, but it's pretty much indestructible. Not as convenient as the cartridge type.
 
Good review on the tent, Downs. I am using the 3 man cheap Walmart tent and notice that the one man is not that much smaller when packed. $30 is a great price compared to other 1 man backpacker tents. I only know fiberglass so I have no way to compare to aluminum.

Tim - one stove, are you kidding? I likely have eight and it's hard to choose. Why are the canisters so much more expensive than the larger green propane bottles?

In the last month I have cooked meals on alcohol, green propane, and the tiny gas mix stoves. Cooking pots have been a coffee can, a Stanley kit, a folding handle teflon pan, a Sterno folding stove frying pan, and an aluminum BSA mess kit. Lots of choices and I let the food drive what I cook with. Eggs and bacon work best on the green bottle propane stove and the teflon frying pan but it's also the largest to pack and carry. Same setup works best for stir fry.
 
What does this do? Never heard of it before except for butane lighters when they get at their very end.

Allows the fuel canister to double as a field workout to keep in shape

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I have no earthly idea. But it helps when a canister is maybe half or more empty. You can screw on a 3/4 empty can & get a low flame. But take it off, shake it up, put it back on, and it'll burn better. I'm sure some of our chemical engineers can explain it.
 
"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV." I'm not a chemical engineer, but I did pass the management course required by the Texas Railroad Commission for every business that pumps Propane, including small refillable tanks and Propane fueled vehicles. The tank holds liquid. In order for it to escape as gas, it has to boil. You add a little energy to the liquid when you shake it. The extra energy makes it boil a little faster and more liquid escapes as gas.
 
I like the exercise girl better. I wonder why they never used a man in that commercial?
 
"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV." I'm not a chemical engineer, but I did pass the management course required by the Texas Railroad Commission for every business that pumps Propane, including small refillable tanks and Propane fueled vehicles. The tank holds liquid. In order for it to escape as gas, it has to boil. You add a little energy to the liquid when you shake it. The extra energy makes it boil a little faster and more liquid escapes as gas.

Ha! I knew it did some good. I do the same thing to my big outdoor tank when the flames start getting a little yellow.
 
Loaded an Action Packer (not cheap) on the back of my CT90 and headed south on Padre at the National Seashore near Corpus a couple weeks ago. The bike and I made it 22 miles down, about 17 miles past the 4x4 only sign. It was a fail (to reach the San Luis pass) but it was a free fail as camping is free and so is admission with my national parks pass.
 
My wife & I used to go down there all the time in the Jeep. About 20 miles down, there's an area marked on the maps as Big Shell Beach. You know when you're there because you can hear the crunch under the tires. I wouldn't try it on very many bikes, though. Although most of the 4WD area is quite easily driveable, you do hit those patches, usually about 100 yards long, when you find yourself in about 6" of loose, churning sand. In the Jeep, the recipe is to just keep your foot down, keep the tires churning, and point the front end generally south. On the VStrom - well, I'd rather not find out. :duck:
 
Loaded an Action Packer (not cheap) on the back of my CT90 and headed south on Padre at the National Seashore near Corpus a couple weeks ago. The bike and I made it 22 miles down, about 17 miles past the 4x4 only sign. It was a fail (to reach the San Luis pass) but it was a free fail as camping is free and so is admission with my national parks pass.

No way to reach San Luis Pass from PINS but I know what you mean...

Mansfield Cut btw...
 
My wife & I used to go down there all the time in the Jeep. About 20 miles down, there's an area marked on the maps as Big Shell Beach. You know when you're there because you can hear the crunch under the tires. I wouldn't try it on very many bikes, though. Although most of the 4WD area is quite easily driveable, you do hit those patches, usually about 100 yards long, when you find yourself in about 6" of loose, churning sand. In the Jeep, the recipe is to just keep your foot down, keep the tires churning, and point the front end generally south. On the VStrom - well, I'd rather not find out. :duck:
Having ridden a Strom in Deep sand in death valley and other Califorina locales. I see it as having two options. Pick up a bunch of speed and risk binning a 500+ lb. Bike at speed in the sand. Or 2 deploy the "outriggers" to maintain a lower speed but still stay on the gas. If you fall the speed are survivable lol.

Airing down helps a lot. I usually go down to 18 psi. That's as far as I've had the guts to go in fear of tacoing front rims.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
50 mph is not an option on a ct90.

I was a bit disappointed in the crowds. We never made it to the isolated, one campsite per mile, open beach. When I was young, that started about one mile in. So many people now, and like Downs mentioned, so little Texas open spaces for riding.
 
Hmm. I don't see much camping beyond the 5-mile mark. But I usually see fishermen every half mile or so, down to around 15 or 20 miles. Time of year has a lot to do with that - we go in November when it's cool, and the place is largely deserted except for a few snowbirds.

Though rare, there are occasionally hazards that can come with all that solitude. We were once parked way down beach with no one in sight in any direction. The Jeep rear hatch was wide open, and we were lounging on the shady (north) side of the vehicle. Two guys in a 4WD truck came roaring by northbound, then suddenly did a doughnut and pulled up maybe 50 feet beyond us, and just stared at the Jeep for several seconds. I realized they couldn't see us in the shade & were thinking about easy pickings for a car burglary. So I stood up. They sat there and kept staring at me, and I didn't like what they might have been thinking. So I reached over & picked up a trenching shovel, and just stared back. They took the hint & moved on.
 
I was bored this morning while waiting on the squid to wake up, so I started weighing my camping gear. My Helinox Chair One $89-100.00($124 on their site!) vs my no-name Amazon knock-off $19.99... China knock-off wins by one gram and about >$60.
 

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I'd like to see how you mount an antenna for that 40m, along with the receiver and power supply - all on a bike...
 
I just run a HT with external antenna on the bike. Vhf/uhf only though.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
I'd like to see how you mount an antenna for that 40m, along with the receiver and power supply - all on a bike...

Simple. Just drag a random wire antenna behind the bike! :eek2:

Seriously, the whole enchilada (including a USB brick battery and antenna) fit into a decent size zip lock bag. I made my first CW contact on it last night. The rig is pretty popular with a group called SOTA (Summits on the Air). SOTA operators get points by making radio contacts from summits that they hike to.
 
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