Camping Gear

Updated April 20, 2012 to reflect gear that has been excellent and gear that has failed so far on the trip.

In our article Blue Gets a Bit More Junk in the Trunk we covered the modifications we made to the rear storage area of our Toyota 4Runner. After a dozen test packs and three trial runs we've finally (with one week to spare) figured out how to make the most of that space.

The whole point in adding a two-tiered storage system in the back of Blue was to fit all of our odd-shaped camping gear. Most of this stuff isn't stackable, so it has to go somewhere out of the way. If there's one thing we hate, it's having 16 things fall out of the back of our truck every time we stop at a campground.

1. Sleeping mats - We used inflatable mats for years but switched to foam for the convenience of not having to inflate/deflate them every day.
2. Jessica & Kobus' tent - The original Kelty Gunnison 4. It's been around. Replaced in Baja for the Sierra Designs Lightning HT.
3. Jared's tent - Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 - A tiny two person backpacking tent that I can setup myself without swearing... much.
4. Jessica's sleeping bag - Western Mountaineering Antelope 0 degree down bag. Notice how it's twice the size of my tent? Yeah, it's fluffy.
5. Folding grill rack - We made a folding nylon case with velcro to keep the grill schmeg off our gear. This thing has been worth it's weight in gold.
6. Camp chairs from GCI Outdoors - Great space savers, although we're worried about durability.
   
   

1. Fishing case.
2. Boots x3.
3. Kobus' sleeping bag - North Face Mammoth 20 degree synthetic bag.
4. My sleeping bag.
5. Le Handpresso - Jessica's heroin. (A portable espresso maker with cups and thermos) Note: We sent this home on Baja. Too hard to find correct ground coffee, and too much effort in the morning.
6. Aerobia AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker - Delivered with family in Baja to replace the Handpresso. Works great with all types of coffee.
7. Fleece sleeping bag liner. We sewed them ourselves.
8. (Not pictured) Fishing waders and folding shovel are behind the boots. Also our folding table that usually sits on top of the board.

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