The Fall Camp Review
I just made it back from a great camp out with my Cub Scout pack—that is it will be great for us campers in retrospect. Kids will say to Mom and/or Dad, “Remember when we went camping in Cub Scouts and it rained all night—what a great memory.”
Our October in Illinois came and went hardly with any rain. Our schedule camp out in November? Rain! The good news is it didn’t rain during the day, so the pack was able to get in a little fishing, hiking, & games. One boy remarked during the day, “This is the most fun I’ve ever had!” Mission Accomplished.
Our menu for the weekend was a simple menu for clean up purposes for these new campers: Lunch-hot dogs & chips; Dinner-tin foil dinners; Breakfast-pancakes & bacon. I did make enough dishes after breakfast to employ the three-pot method for camp dishes to teach the pack.
During dinner, the rain began to fall and it rained for the rest of the night…
The camp site had a great shelter for the rain which did at least make dinner possible. The shelter was designed with a fire ring in the middle of the shelter with a vent up through the roof that still kept us dry and warm. The limited movement at night though with the rain made the kids restless, so we made it a short night which meant no camp peach cobbler or fire program with awards.
Cub Scouting has a family camping aspect, so I had my whole crew with me. I brought my limited edition Alps Mountaineering Merit used at the 2023 National Jamboree. I bought it from the neighboring council at a discount. For the most part, the tent kept us dry inside except for a few spots that may have been from the door opening and pooling water inside. The Merit faired better than the rest of the crew, so I suppose I can’t complain too much. And I would say it’s a usable tent under normal conditions. Alps Mountaineering is a great company who supports Scouting.
I did let my wife use my Alps self-inflating air mattress, but a couple of weeks ago I stopped into a Bass Pro and bought a Nemo Switchback. I will say for what is the Switchback, a light weight foam pad, it’s likely the best on the market with the price point too. I was able to tell when I shifted off of the pad in the night the floor of the tent was considerably colder. The Nemo’s R-value of 2 holds up, but it’s still about as comfortable as you could only imagine a foam pad being comfortable.
I am really impressed with my Kelty Cosmic Down 20 sleeping bag. During Spring 2024, I camped a night with a 50 degree bag with a blanket in a warmer temp, and I was still cold! The evening was cool with the rain and the Cosmic Down 20 kept me toasty warm.
And finally, I will review a superb product that I was skeptical with its price point and that’s Kuju Coffee.
I’ve seen the brand previously advertised but at the time the price point seemed too steep. I tried other devices while bringing coffee with me; sadly the coffee tasted poor every time. The company is founded by two Eagle Scout brothers. So, a couple of weeks ago during the same Bass Pro visit I came across the camp pour over coffee designed for having a great tasty coffee treat in the woods. My wife is a coffee connoisseur—she drinks it black. So, I showed my support of my fellow Eagles with the purchase, but she was skeptical too.
I used my MSR PocketRocket 2 to heat up some water for the pour over. I asked my wife “what do you think?” She said, “This might be the best part of the camp out.” She enjoys her coffee, so well done Kuju! I will be purchasing for future camping trips.
The camp out was a wet experience, but no doubt will be remembered by some of these first time campers. It was also nice that I really got to try out some of this gear in some challenging weather.
You can leave me comment below & let me know some of the gear you like to utilize when it’s a wet camp.