I'm doing some work on the site this week.  I've making it easier to use, and making it look a little better.  I'm hoping to have a different design working in the next few days.  And I'll definitely be adding more useful information to the site.  So check back soon.

I've been away from this site for a while now.  I changed jobs and built a house.  But I've survived that and now I have free time again.  Combined with the warm weather, I've got backpacking on the brain.  And I do love new backpacking toys.  SteepAndCheap.com is one of my favorites web sites to visit right now.  They sell one item at a time until they sellout, with some pretty ridiculous discounts.  They also have some cool plugins to alert you when they start selling a new item.  You can't really shop so much as just wait for something you want to popup.  But, if you're looking to save some money on a new toy, it's worth a look.

This is pretty cool.  The North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation has just launched an online reservation system for their parks.  You can reserve a camp site anywhere from a few days up to 11 months in advance.  The system is only taking reservations for after July 14th.  Check it out at www.ncparks.gov/Visit/main.php.  There a ton of great parks in NC, and this seems like a good idea. 

I've been pondering hammock camping lately.  TrekLightGear.com is a site I stumbled onto the other day.  They have some pretty cool hammocks and accessories.  A one pound hammock (retails for $54 on their site) can save you a lot of weight over a 4-6 pound tent. 

I've never been much for tarp tents; I like something with a little more substance.  I know most of the places I camp are safe, and I know a tent doesn't provide much protection from critters.  Still, a full tent just has that psychological safe effect.  I don't know how "safe" a hammock feels.  I bet its pretty comfortable, but I'm not sure it would feel very safe.  At least you are off the ground.  It gives you some protection from the crawling critters.  Seems like you would be at the perfect height for a bear to investigate though.  One plus is that you do less damage to the plant life with a hammock than a tent.  What are your thoughts on hammocks?  

I had a chance to play with my new pot cozy recently.  A cozy is a light insulator fitted to a container or pot.  I'm using one that came from AntiGravityGear.  The idea is that you heat up your water (or whatever) then mix in your dried food and put the cozy on.  The cozy keeps the pot hot much longer than it would normally.  You can rehydrate food using a fraction of the fuel.

My cozy worked surprisingly well.  I was making some quinoa. Normally, it has to simmer for ~15 minutes. I got the water and quinoa boiling, let it simmer for around five minutes, then into the cozy.   Ten minutes later, I had a hot, fully cooked meal.  A cozy weighs a few ounces at most.  The fuel savings makes it well worth carrying one. 

Just remember, you can't expose the cozy to direct heat.  And they aren't the most durable items; a little caution is a good idea.  If you're interested, AGG has a bunch of cozies for different size pots.  Or, get detailed instructions on making one here.