I was thumbing through the Friday newspaper ads and our local sporting goods store was advertising some $20 tents, which left me to wonder what you really get for that kind of money. Dimensionally, the tent is in pretty good shape, with a 9×9 foot floor and a 72-inch vertical center-height. The walls are fairly vertical, so much of this floor-space is usable, though the ceiling tapers over quickly so most of the vertical height is really about five feet – which is still not bad.
Propane Camping Stoves for Family Camping
Although 16oz disposable canisters are the most popular fuel source for these stoves, adapter hose are available to work with refillable propane tanks
In my last post I talked about the Coleman liquid fuel camping stoves and how that relatively simple and durable design has proven itself for several generations of family campers. Today I’ll take a look at the propane camping stoves, which have largely replaced liquid fuel stoves in popularity. Propane stoves are self-priming, which is a big advantage over liquid fuel stoves, and their propane tanks are sealed which eliminates spill and smells.
In my experience with several of these models, they are not quite up to the construction standards of the Coleman Model 425 liquid fuel stove, which has a heavier-gauge steel construction and higher-end burner assemblies. Even if you won’t be passing these camping stoves down to your children, though, they’re still good stoves that will give you years of effective service.
Coleman Liquid Fuel Camping Stoves
Liquid fuel camping stoves are available in small, single burner backpacking configurations and large two and three burner tabletop models that are suitable for family camping. Coleman is currently the only manufacturer of liquid fuel, multi-burner, camping stoves for family camping. The advent of disposable propane canister stoves has greatly reduced the interest in these liquid fuel versions, but Coleman continues to support four models.
Camp Cooking Strategy
Camp cooking is a popular topic and there are a myriad of recipes available on the Internet covering every conceivable style of outdoor cooking, from dehydrated meals requiring only hot water, to extravagant dutch oven meals made from scratch and cooked over a campfire. Camp cooking can be a lot of fun and, owing to its popularity, a lot of people must find it enjoyable. It’s important to remember, though, that if you are camping with your family for a weekend of “getting away from it all†and destressing from a hectic week, keeping your camping meals as simple and easy as possible might be more inline with your goals.
June is Kern River Rafting Month
I was talking with Will Volpert of Kern River Outfitters, this weekend, and he said that they just finished-up their staff training sessions on the river, May 14th. June is the best month to raft the upper Kern (above Lake Isabella) because it is fed entirely by snow-melt from the Sierras and the water-volume through the Forks of the Kern will drop-off significantly through the summer. Checkout Will’s blog for a cool video on some of their Forks of the Kern action.