This is a little outside of my usual topics, but that's why it's here at Soil from Stone instead of at American Torah. The sub-header isn't "Bible study, politics, science fiction and fantasy, whatever else I feel like talking about" for nothing. 🤣
I garden, and I fish every couple of years, but I'm not an outdoorsman. However, three factors have peaked my interest in camping and hiking lately. First, our local fellowship has been holding an annual Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) event. God created Sukkot as a rehearsal of the 40 years that the Hebrews spent in the wilderness, and also to prepare us for what will come in the future, part of which might conceivably involve some actual time in the wilderness. Second, camping is a great way to build relationships with friends and family. Shared experiences are the primary catalyst for lifelong friendships and respect. Third, I think it's important to be prepared for disasters. You never know when a wildfire, hurricane, or war could severely disrupt your life. It's better to build the necessary skills and character before you need it.
As a result, I've been researching and shopping for some better camping gear, especially tools that are compact and lightweight enough to be suitable for an emergency pack, preferably even tools that might serve multiple purposes. I'm going to share some of my recent discoveries that I think you might find useful. Please note that the links below are Amazon affiliate links, so I get a very small commission for any purchases you make after clicking on them.
Klymit 2 Static V2 Sleeping Mat
I go camping at least once a year, but I can't sleep on the ground. It's cold in the winter, and my joints hurt no matter what time of year it is. So, I don't sleep well without some padding. I've tried roll-up foam pads, air mattresses, and even a down-filled mattress topper, which--as I'm sure you can imagine--was pretty darned comfortable, but not very practical for emergencies. It barely fit into a large contractor garbage bag and took up a lot of space in my trunk. Can you imagine dragging something like that to a remote camp site? Even the most popular inflatable sleeping mats are much too bulky and heavy for any serious hiking.
The Static V2 comes with 2 styles of air valve. I think the screw-type is older and has been replaced by the flip-type, which has much better air flow for inflation and deflation. I'm not sure you'll be able to specify which valve you want when you purchase, no matter where you purchase from. I bought two from Amazon. One had the old valve and one the new.
It also comes with multiple options. For an extra $30, you can get a model with better insulation. Klymit also sells a matching sheet, in case you're going to lay directly on the mat without a sleeping bag, and an inflatable pillow.
There are a few minor drawbacks.
The Static V2 is made of very thin material in order to make it lightweight and compactable. It seems durable enough though, as long as you follow the directions and aren't abusive. The dimensions are also minimal at 72" long and 23" wide. If you move around a lot in your sleep, you might need to put your pack next to the mat to keep from rolling off. That's really not much different than the standard single sleeping mats, though.
Finally, although inflation is a breeze, deflation is a little bit more work. Once you open the valve, it will mostly deflate on its own if you leave it be, but that's not always an option. The chambered construction means you can't just sit on it to squeeze the air out. I had to fold it in half lengthwise and slowly push the air up from the bottom with my forearm, then continually push the air up again as I rolled it up to the top.
Overall, I give the Static V2 4.5 stars. It's a vast improvement over cheaper air mattresses.
CAMPNDOOR Pocket Chainsaw
I have a hatchet, a pocket knife, and a very big knife--I might talk about all of those in another article--but none of these are suitable for cutting fallen trees into firewood without a LOT of work. So, I looked for a saw that would easily fit into my pack. You can get folding limb saws, but since I already had a hatchet and gladius-sized knife, I wanted something lighter and smaller.
There are uncountable wire saws out there, and if you don't mind cheap and disposable, you can probably pack a couple dozen without adding much weight. That's not really what I wanted though, so I kept looking and eventually found the CAMPNDOOR Pocket Chainsaw.
It's essentially a chainsaw chain with two handle straps. You wrap it around the log you want to cut and pull it back and forth until you have two logs instead of one. It's 36" of heavy duty steel with 48 teeth, and it cut through a log in much less time than it would have taken with my hatchet. A gas-powered chainsaw would have been faster, but also not practical for hiking and emergencies. This pocket chainsaw weighs .5 lb and rolls up into a 4" x 4" x 1" leather pouch.
This is another one I was skeptical about, but it performed flawlessly. Admittedly, I only cut one 7" log and one 3" log, but it seems pretty sturdy. The Amazon description says "4000N testing on this 65Mn manual chainsaw means only a 988+ LB Man could break it from misuse". That's probably an exaggeration--anyone can break a tool with enough misuse--byt I'm confident that this is a good quality tool that I expect to get a lot of use out of.
I'm giving this saw a tentative 5 stars. Tentative only because I don't yet know how long it will stay sharp nor how much continuous use it can take before overheating and breaking. The description says you can sharpen it with a standard file, but I'd rather not have to do that in the middle of a camping trip.
If you're willing to spend a little more and have the room for it, you can also get a 53" saw that comes with gloves, two 25' ropes, and sandbags so you can use it to cut down limbs that would otherwise be too high to reach. I'm not sure that adds much value for the camper, though.
