Put your Camping tips here

[AirCooledNut]

The drop in caffeine and acidity depends on how long you let the solution sit. I let mine go for the full 12 hours, some times a little longer. If there is a caffeine drop then my body wasn't aware of it, however, I don't drink coffee all day long and thus try to keep from getting too addicted to it

The flavor is smoother. I've used the big, bulk bags from Costco to boutique grinds and you still get the flavor. The nice thing is, it can actually make cheap coffee taste good Of course, I do like the occasional "original" coffee; hot-brewed with the oil slick on top

I will admit, the downside is that you need to monitor your level and when it gets down you should brew a new "pot". It sucks when you want coffee and realize you drank the last yesterday and now have none.

Another thing I do is make two batches with the same grounds. First batch as per the instructions. Once drained, use 1/2 the amount of water and brew again for 12 hours. That gets drained into a different container as the concentrate isn't quite as concentrated. That 2nd batch generally gets a dilution mixture of 1:2 (concentrate to water) instead of the normal 1:3.

[AirCooledNut]

For my first post...

I was wondering if you were going to show up around here sometime. Not that I've been teh best about keeping in touch with you (or anyone..) since I had to split from the DDB shop.

There are soooo many forums out in internet land that I can't be in all of them. I liked this thread about camping and so far there is a good camaraderie in the group. TheSamba.com is my main hangout (Air_Cooled_Nut is my handle) but for camping I'll use this forum, particularly since there are a lot of locals (PNW).

[IFBwax]

forgot to say.. WELCOME!!!!!

[twinfalls]

AGAIN : Travel light.
Sure a Westy can carry tons you cannot carry on a canoe trip.
But,
It is mostly enjoyable to travel light.
I bet you carry way too much. Spend time to shuffle useless stuff. Look at what you've carried with no use.

On a 2 weeks vacation in Northern Italy, I and my friend did fully enjoy Italy and my 74 Westy, thanks to her and I, used to travel light.
It takes seconds to settle wehrever a nice place occurs, and move again at a better opportunity.

BTW, In Europe, DO NOT camp at remote places, This is UN SAFE. Beware of weirdos, the police knows and do nothing, about.
With a Westy; Do camp at lighted parking lots, at bus stations, church fronts, market places. May be the police will bug you, BUT answer them, you want to stay there to make sure they do work for your safety.
French toll way, rest areas are NOT SAFE.

[Gypsie]

Funny you should mention this. A friend once described a scam in Europe which some sort of gas was pumped into the heater exhaust or other vent to knock out theinhabitants and then the scalawags would have free reign for whatever...'shiver'

Part of why I prefer to be further out than in campgrounds. More people means more potential for bad bidness.

[twinfalls]

So far,
I had no bad experience in the US, Canada, Ireland, England, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Tunisia, Marocco, may be more.

But, I use to sleep with my axe or my bowie knife.

I heard of that gas stories. I don't know whether that's fact or rumor.

The thing, I sure stay far away is : Drug schemes. Dealers and junkies.

[hambone]

I'm a lite camper too. Have to be with the weekender. Used to camp in a Ranger with milk krates.
You can't camp in wilderness? what the hell is the fun of that? especially if it's there...

[twinfalls]

You can't camp in wilderness? what the hell is the fun of that? especially if it's there...

I like and look for wilderness; However Europe is over populated....There is about no wilderness left.
On my last trip, I was visiting small towns in Italy, here I started, looking for remote places;
Got aware about un-safety at a second stay; Then, I switched to NO wilderness camps for convenience and safety.

[AirCooledNut]

Prefilled salt and pepper grinders that come as a pair. You can get them at a grocery store. The salt unit has rock salt in it and the pepper unit has pepper corns in it. You pop the cap off and turn the black plastic collar to grind the salt/pepper. The cap covers the grinder section so you don't get stray salt/pepper over your camp gear. It just tastes better ground than the pre-ground stuff I use a brass grinder for sea salt at home and have it on a medium grind and I've found the salt sticks to food better this way -- it doesn't just roll off like normal salt from a shaker. The only downside about them is that they are made of glass. It is thick glass and can take a tumble and we haven't had an issue with them.

What's nice about them is that they're less messy, even if the cap should somehow pop off (never our experience); the salt sticks to the food instead of bouncing off onto the plate; you can see in them so there's no guessing how much is left; and the flavor is fresher.

Grinders are in the background:
[albumimg]2522[/albumimg]
Eggs fried in bacon fat, topped with freshly ground pepper and salt....mmmmm. Thank goodness I'm healthy so I can eat this gunk

[Ritter]

Prefilled salt and pepper grinders that come as a pair. You can get them at a grocery store.

Nice tip.

[twinfalls]

A carrot slice in the salt.
An oldy suppose to keep the salt safe from moisture.

So what.
Who cares at the price of salt ( To day, the container costs 10 times more than the salt inside ).
Salt is very bad for your heath. It will rot your kidneys, give you high blood pressure, help you to a diabete condition.
Salt was important 200+ years ago as a major food preserver.
To day, switch to celeri.

Reject salt, substitutes, glutamats other taste boosters.
These are what the food industry wants you, for their profits.
This fits with : No taste foods.

Real food ( away from lobbies and profits ) was tasty.

Why do we eat trash ?

[twinfalls]

A carrot slice in the salt.
An oldy suppose to keep the salt safe from moisture.

So what.
Who cares at the price of salt ( To day, the container costs 10 times more than the salt inside ).
Salt is very bad for your heath. It will rot your kidneys, give you high blood pressure, help you to a diabete condition.
Salt was important 200+ years ago as a major food preserver.
To day, switch to celeri.

Reject salt, substitutes, glutamats other taste boosters.
These are what the food industry wants you, for their profits.
This fits with : No taste foods.

Real food ( away from lobbies and profits ) was tasty.

Why do we eat taste less trash that will give us cancer ?

[RSorak 71Westy]

salt only effects the blood pressure of 10% of the population. So for most of us salt has NO effect on blood pressure.

[deschutestrout]

I figure if salt kills me, I will wish I'd ingested way more of the other stuff that people told me was harmful to my body I'm not much of a salt user either. Pepper, garlic, a tiny bit of salt on certain things and I'm good to go. I love those grinders too..don't leak all over, and seem to be more resitant to moisture.

[tristessa]

salt only effects the blood pressure of 10% of the population.

I'm part of that 10%, and I salt a lot of what I eat. Diagnosed with borderline hypotension (*low* blood pressure) in high school; salt is much cheaper than meds and a lot easier to remember. 109/78 at teh doctor last month...

Carry on with the camping discussion.