North Face Docking Station

While the North Face draws some scorn from some in the outdoor community (I’ll admit, me included) because of their pervasiveness at the mall and the local high school these days, you have to admit: they do have a way with their design. Â And clearly, they do make quality products.

One in particular caught my eye recently. The North Face Docking Station. It sounds like it belongs in outer space, and with the customizability behind it, you might think it was designed by a future society.

The Docking Station, open for business.

I’m perpetually on the hunt for quality family camping shelters. I don’t really have a family to put in them yet, but I know I will some day and I want to BE PREPARED for that day. Clearly I like the comfort they afford too. And the problem you often run into is, how big, how many people, what if my family grows, what if we invite friends?

The Docking Station appears to answer those questions.

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ENO Hammocks and Accessories are in

What’s next in the new product onslaught? How about some laziness aids? ENO is a company out of North Carolina that makes some really nice, comfortable, durable, and lightweight hammocks. They have all the accessories to go along with the hammocks, including pouches, bug nets, rain flies, etc.

Hammocks are a great way to cut weight and get yourself off the ground and away from the less adventurous critters. I always have my best nights of sleep in a hammock, especially when I couple it with a sleeping pad. You can add under quilts for cold weather, making it a four season sleeping option. The rain flies can be adjusted to not only block the rain, but any prevailing winds.  Mount them up higher on a summer night to catch any breezes that happen to be coming through the area. As long as you have a couple of attachment points, you can use your hammock. Even if you don’t have a way to attach it, being creative enough will still get you hanging.

The ENO Single Nest is, well, for a single person. The Double Nest is their more popular model, since having another person with you is (usually) even better. Just hope it is someone that you want to be in a hammock with, and not some dude that forgot his tent (and his camp soap).

GearPods Modular Survival and Adventure Kits

If you read my blog, then you probably already know that I get excited about my products pretty easily. Such is the outcome of owning a business that focuses on products for activities that you love.

A new line of products has had me ridiculously excited for about a year and I am very happy to finally be able to share the news. The products are GearPods: modular survival, tool, and adventure kits.

The main parts of GearPods are various tubes, connectors, and other pieces that all connect together. You can have your fire tools in one tube, first aid in another, cooking in a third, gear repair in a fourth, etc. Once you have your kits put together, you can connect and arrange them as needed for different trips. The connector and cap pieces have rubber gaskets to keep your gear dry and safe.

The empty tubes and connectors will be available in the coming weeks and months, but for now, very well thought out premade kits are in stock and ready to ship. The Trailhead kit contains basic survival and first aid items. The BackCountry fleshes out the Trailhead kit contents and adds cooking items such as an aluminum cup, stove, and fuel. The Wilderness kit takes all of that and adds in shelter items like an ultralight nylon tarp and an emergency blanket. Covers for the two larger kits are also available.

My new outdoor shelter

OK, so this is not exactly something that I will be taking on a backpacking trip, but it is my shelter in my backyard! I picked up a couple of chair hammocks for my girl’s birthday…two years ago. I finally hung them from a black walnut tree in our backyard about a week ago. I swear I had a really good reason for taking so long, I just can’t remember it at the moment.

These chairs are ridiculously comfortable. They can be found cheap, are easy to hang, and are supposed to handle nasty weather fairly well. I recommend grabbing a couple and throwing them over a tree branch if you are lucky enough to have trees. They just wouldn’t be the same hanging from the ceiling inside or off a deck.

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Review – Hennessy Hammock Ultralight Backpacker

I finally got a chance to use my Hennessy on my trip last week to BNR in Arkansas. The short version is that it is awesome and I recommend it to anyone under 185 lbs. Big-boned folks can get more substantial versions that can handle higher weights.

The long version:
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Car camping – where do you sleep?

So, my lovely girlfriend and I spent last week up in the Smokies. We were going to do some backpacking, but I managed to give myself a gimpy leg the second day there, so we stuck to easy hikes and managed campsites. It poured rain, literally every day. We spent one day on the AT (when I hurt myself) and it rained for 90% of the hike. The day before, it rained the entire hike. The one day with a few nice hours was spent tubing on the Little River, which is way more fun that you would think it should be.

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