Tent Shopping update...

So, I've been hunting around for a new tent to suit my camping needs and you know what they say... bigger is better! I started my search at the Army & Navy store here in Calgary. Lots of selection, plenty of big tents, and very decent prices. However, most of their tents still use the "sleeve" style for securing tent poles. I just find that waaaay to cumbersome to work with, making the whole process for setting up your tent a little more time consuming.

So I sauntered over to Newfie Speed and Sport (Canadian Tire for those that have never lived in McMurray) and had a look at their selection. Unfortunately they don't have anything set up so you can see what it looks like. I perused their selection and made some notes. They have a few tents that are in the size range that I'm looking for (5-6 man) with the sport hub pole system for setting up the tent.

Next I made my way over to campers village. Lots of expensive stuff just like Mountain Equipment Coop and then a few things that are more in my price range. They had a nice tent with a vestibule that also slept 6 people that was in my price range. Still - no sport hub tent pole system with the clip on's rather than the sleeves.... decent tents... but they might be a bit troublesome to set up.

I ended up going back to Canadian Tire and picked up a 6 man tent they had there since it was the last one and I wasn't sure if they would be bringing in any more tents. $240.00 bucks.... there goes my budge ($150.00) but at least I have a tent I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with. Took it home and was going to set it up but it threatened rain and I wanted a couple days to have it up to air out and "season" so to speak.

Then a colleague of mine at work told me about the great deals that Costco had on so I zipped over there to take a look. Not much for selection but they did have a 5 man tent with vestibule for a hundred bucks. Nice! It doesn't use the sport hub system, but the tent poles do clip on instead of going through the sleeves. I zipped back home with the tent, returned my Canadian Tire jobbie and set up the Costco version in my back yard.

I made it about 1/2 way through, cursing the whole time I was setting it up. This motha was a b!tch to set up. And Lordy... does it take up real estate. Good Gawd... the foot print almost sucks up my whole back yard!!! Man... this is almost a 2 person job.

When I got to the fly, the instructions said... "slide the pole through the sleeve in the fly (how did I miss that? Sleeve? There's not supposed to be any sleeves on this thing), then bend to fit in the ferrule and then peg down to secure. This is quite dificult and may require a bit of strength to accomplish"

It actually said that.... "may require a bit of strength to accomplish"..... oh oh.... warning bells start going off in my head. This does not bode well.

I figure what the hey... lets give it a shot. at first glance it looks like the pole will work out ok. Then as you feed it through the sleeve it appears to be too long. Wtf? So I start creating an arc, trying to bend the pole to fit in the ferrule. Sonofa.... bloody thing just doesn't want to arc anymore. The sleeve is holding it back. Ok... maybe I'm just not doing it right. I re-thread it through the sleeve and try again. Nadda.... still too long. So I re-read the instructions...

..... "may require a bit of strength to accomplish".....

Ok... I'm not Mr Universe, but surely I'm not such a pussy that I can't set up a tent and bend a pole to work in the fly. So I keep trying... bending .... bending.... bending.... Jeeez---us... this just doesn't want to work. Well, I may be a wuss, but I'm not stupid, I know how to use leverage to my advantage. I prop the pole up, and use my foot to create a leverage point and start bending it... .ahhhh much better.... bending.... bending... bending.... just a little bit more.....

"CRAAAACCCCKKKK" .... SONOFA GAWDDAMN MOTHAF@CK3R piece of sh!t tent!!!!!....

I'm sweating my bag off... I've had enough... I can't finish setting it up. So I toss the fly and all the rest of the gear inside the part of the tent that I already have set up, close it up and leave it. I'm taking it down and returning it. A couple of days later I finally get around to taking everything down and rolling it up.... bloody thing doesn't fit in the bag it came in either. Grrrrr... yet another reason to give it back. Well, time to find my receipt and take it back.

In the meantime, a flyer came out from Canadian Tire marking down the tent I originally bought and have already returned. 100 bucks off!! whoo hoo. So I hustle accross to their store and go looking for one. The only one they have left is one that looks like someone had already opened it and tried to stuff it back in the bag. Yikes. The bag is ripped and I can't say for sure what the condition of the tent inside is like. So I ask a friendly clerk to see if she can get one from the wharehouse for me (11 left in stock according to their computers). The wharehouse guy can't find any, and she figures that their computers just haven't caught up to the till reciepts for the tents that have been leaving the floor. Nuts. Luckily she offers a comprimise. I get myself a "rain check" and now I get to wait till the end of the month when their next shipment comes in. I sure hope they get some more in.

Whew... what a rigamarole huh? Who knew tent shopping could get so complicated. :)

Time for a new tent...

I did it. I survived my first foray into the woods for the summer camping season of 2007. Yaaaay and there was much rejoicing.

It was very good to get away from the city even if it was for only a couple of days. There were 5 of us that ended up camping for the weekend. Darren & Lori, Myself and Marc & Alison. There were supposed to be a few more, but alas, sometimes life just gets in the way.

I managed to get the Friday off and despite my best intentions I didn’t make it out to our campsite till about 2:30pm or so. I had originally planned to be out there for Friday morning. I was worried that the campground we had planned to go to, would be full in short order. They don’t take reservations for the Interlakes Campground in Kananaskis so you have to take your chances and go out early if you want a spot. I didn’t have anything to worry about though. The original forecast that predicted beautiful weather for the weekend, gradually turned sour. So I think that kept a lot of people at home that might otherwise have been there.

When I showed up at 230, all the lakeside spots were gone but there were still lots of other spots left over. They were actually pretty big sites too, so we had room to accommodate 3 or more tents and a truck with camper (plus all the other vehicles). Coincidentally, it was the last of the side by side spots as well. I think we did pretty good finding the spots although the next time I’m there I’ll try to get a spot on the lakeside with perhaps one directly across from it along the road.

Despite what the forecast had planned for us, the weather actually cooperated for the most part. There were moments of rain (that lasted all of about 20 mins) but the rest of the time it was pretty sunny. I don’t think anyone would have gotten a suntan from the exposure mind you... but it was still quite enjoyable. We ended up going for a stoll along the beach, checked out other campsites for potential spots next time, and we even managed to play a bit of Yahtzee too! The beer was cold, the company was good and the scenery was beautiful... what more could you ask for?

Well apparently we don’t get enough snow in our lives. Saturday night I went to bed and it was raining, but by Sunday morning the rain had stopped, but was replaced by Snow! I thought I had heard one of our tarps falling down earlier in the night. I was too lazy to get up to fix it though and didn’t pay much attention to it. Then at about 6:30am, I suddenly found myself pressed against the roof of my tent. At first I thought it was one of my friends playing a joke on me, and I assumed they had pushed the tent down on me. When no one replied or responded to the stream of curses that were emanating from me, I knew it must have been an act of God. I pushed the ceiling off of me, and knew right away that something was different when the snow started sliding off. Even after the snow was gone from the roof of my tent, something was still wrong. It didn’t flex back into place and that’s when I was sure that my tent was broken. Crap. It was a tent pole that broke under the weight of the snow. It would have to be a custom tent pole configuration too. Which meant either pricey repairs or not replaceable at all.

Looks like I have an excuse to buy a new tent. It really is too much effort to try to save the old one and I’ve been meaning to get a new one anyway. I lost a tarp out of the deal too. There's a nice big whole in it where one of the support sticks ripped through it. So I ended up just leaving the both of them behind for the trash. I just couldn’t justify it till now. When you have one already, a second one doesn’t necessarily make sense. I think I’ll get something bigger this time... perhaps something I can stand up in. If you have any suggestions for brand or style, feel free to let me know! I have a feeling it will just end up being another Canadian Tire special for a hundred bucks.

On a somewhat related note... My experiments with heating my sleeping bag went pretty good. I filled a hot water bottle one night and tucked it into my sleeping bag. The bottle was still warm (just a touch) when I got up in the morning! The next night I tried running a heating blanket off an inverter I brought with me. That also worked really well. Especially since the heating blanket actually has an auto shut off, I didn’t wear down the battery unnecessarily either. That might be worth a second try. The water bottle trick is worth revisiting too, but I need to find covers for them, ‘cause when they first go in, they’re almost too hot to the touch. I’d also need to get a second one, since the first one just warms a small area. The other problem with the bottle is that it requires some advance planning and you have to make sure (even in a drunken stupor) that you heat some water before going to bed. Of course the heating blanket means you have to remember the inverter and battery (and not to go crazy with it either – you need the juice! Be conservative). The last experiment I want to try involves some lava rock (the BBQ kind) and a pouch to hold them. The rock should be able to be heated by the campfire and then put in a pouch of some kind. Used much the same way as a hot water bottle, I expect to get similar results.

Compulsions and Addictions…

It’s funny how human behavior sometimes plays out isn’t it? What is it about humans that make us want to exploit a weakness in other people? Recently I participated in a “Fat Bastards” competition to lose weight. I don’t consider myself too far off the mark, but it makes good sense to lose the weight and move closer to an ideal state. I’d be healthier, have more energy, and will probably live longer with a few less pounds around the middle.

Unfortunately because it was a competition, you could not expect support from your fellow competitors. What you could get from them was sabotage. Yup… those unscrupulous bastards had no compunction against using temptation to entice their opponents into putting on weight rather than losing it. There was no team camaraderie. There was no desire to help someone reach their goal and give them the support they needed to succeed. It was every man for himself. Sheesh.

It definitely tested your discipline and strength of willpower. Those who really wanted to drop the pounds did succeed. I managed loose a few pounds and I’ve been able to keep it off, but I didn’t win the competition. I know that I need more discipline and character to truly be successful. I can do it on my own, but I will do much better when I am surrounded by a support network. What makes this kinda funny is the fact that I’ve turned into one of those bastards. *cringe*

One of the girls at work has decided to kick her “energy drink” habit. She’s hooked on Rockstar Burners and wants to cut back on the amount of caffeine she takes in on a daily basis. She has made bold claims about how she has gone cold turkey and is not looking back. Her addiction was pretty strong though, and sometimes she’d have more than one of these things during the day… the can even has a warning on it not to exceed more than one a day. She couldn’t go camping without bringing along a ½ dozen for the couple days. So it was no surprise when one of our other colleagues said… “I’ve got 5 bucks that says she’ll have one before the end of the week”.

Why am I the bastard? Well, I kinda agree with my colleague, I don’t think she will be able to last out the week before succumbing to the cravings. To further my claim, I’ve taken it upon myself to entice her into having a Burner to end the “cold turkey” abandonment of the energy drinks. I’m such a bastard. How can I do this, when she really needs my support and not my counterproductive machinations? I don’t know… but it is kinda fun, and it does stretch my creativity.

I started out by buying her a Rockstar Burner during our afternoon break on Monday and offered it to her. She refused. I then proceeded to tempt her senses. I poured my own beverage into a glass filled with ice. The sounds it makes – fizzing, ice clinking against each other in the glass, and the sound of the container filling up rising in pitch as it nears the top. I displayed what the carbonated beverage would look like sitting on her desk, still fizzing. The site of the frosty glass perspiring from cold liquid inside did nothing to tempt her. Of course I had to “talk up” the Burner, explaining in detail, how good it would feel to drink it, to feel the cold, dark, liquid cool you off as it slips down your throat. I tried to paint a picture of how wonderful it would be to have such a tasty beverage and the small little adrenaline rush she would get from the Burner after she drank it. Still - she resisted! She was going to be one tough little cookie.

I was not to be deterred. I stepped up my campaign. Next I took the rockstar, found a container and filled it with ice, and then nestled the blue can in amongst the cubes, almost like a bottle of wine chilling. The imagery is priceless. Soon the can cooled and droplets of moisture started to condense on the outside. As the cubes melted, the can sank lower into the container, settling in and making the visual even more powerful. And yet…. She still held her ground and kept away from temptation. I think had we started earlier in the day, we might have had an affect, but the day ended too soon and she was out of our realm of influence.

We tried the “ice bucket” scenario again on Tuesday. I think it was starting to make some headway too. I managed to prep it even a little bit earlier and had it cooling just before lunch. All afternoon it had been perched on top of the cubicle wall that separates’ us. She looks up to see her nemesis and the craving builds. For added effect, when I went for break today, I made sure to get a second Burner for her to drink. The down side to that is now she looks at this with renewed determination to hold out. She does not want to be “beaten” by us and our nefarious plans to make her crack. I gently reminded her, that she can easily outlast us… and yet she doesn’t have to beat *us* per se… but she must outlast the Rockstar and her craving for a Burner. Her battle is with the energy drink.

Next we will try a new tactic. Doug (my accomplice) thinks that we can tempt her even more by pouring a Rockstar into a glass. She cannot resist an open container of the sweet nectar! She cannot resist her “precious” lol. It calls her name! I don’t think it will be much longer and she’ll indulge. I am such a Bastard…