Camping

bluebuddygirl · Post by **bluebuddygirl** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:15 pm

Holy Moly that is a lot of gear! Definitely not backpacker friendly, but I'm glad you were able to take everything you needed. I bet you got some stares from other motorists.

BuddyLicious · Post by **BuddyLicious** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:26 pm

If you plan on scooting & camping for years to come,something fairly cheap and very useful like the Scootboot trailer would be a big help.I assume your speed is reduced some when fully loaded down with camping gear,so the scootboot would be ok speed wise.Scootboot is made for the smaller scooters thus is lightweight.I'm not affiliated with scootboot in anyway.Just saying is all.

http://www.scootboot.com/index.html

jijifer · Post by **jijifer** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 6:13 pm

so what I brought:

my sleeping bag - rated to 40degrees and it got below freezing- brrr! that's in the compression sack on the front.

deluxe sleeping mat - that's the lite green thing across the back of my seat. It self-inflated but didn't really deflate. It's 3.5ft wide so that's nice on the ground but wide on the scoot

two person tent - should have got for person since you have to crawl over 1 person the way my tent was set up. It's the skinny dark green thing on the back

a latern + batteries - that's in the red bag on the back.

clothes + warm stuff - that stuff is in the saddle bags.

Northface down Tent Slippers - those were a godsend! with wool socks and those, my tootsies were toastie in my sleeping bag when no other body part could say the same

a towel & soap - though there were no facilities so I didn't need a full size towel.

bug repellant and bug spray - in the saddlebags

water - saddle bags

My back pack was emptied into the saddle bags but it's my computer bag so I needed to get it home so I could get back to work. It fit on my back so that's cool.

I got the saddlebags, front rack and Michelin S1s put on the night before the ride because the stuff just wasn't fitting on my scooter without it. The other 2 buddies that came managed with top cases and stuff strapped to the seat. I don't get why my stuff was SOOO big. oh well. it was an adventure and I wish I could have figured out how to fit my full length hooded fleece robe because I'm sure that would have made the difference with my sleeping bag when it got below freezing.

I needed: a better hat, some coat OTHER than my armored one for wandering around camp. blankets or SOMETHING for additional sleeping warmth and better "winter" clothes. But hey! those are only 2 days out of 365 so do I really need warmer clothes? It would have been nice, though.

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 6:40 pm

Snuggie?

bluebuddygirl · Post by **bluebuddygirl** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 8:32 pm

Seems like that sleeping pad took up a bunch of space, but that is always worth it.

siobhan · Post by **siobhan** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:51 pm

jijifer wrote:...it was an adventure...

EXACTLY! And I'm sure you had a blast and will be telling stories for donkey's yonks. Each trip you get better at bringing less stuff and more spot on stuff. Can't wait to read your next hijinks.

n2tattoos · Post by **n2tattoos** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:01 am

btw, here are some pics of the trip taken by Clever of the Royal Bastards.

i'm the body jijifer had to crawl over. when you got frustrated by my snoring, think about how warm your anger kept you!

http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh31 ... =slideshow

sunshinen · Post by **sunshinen** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:28 pm

Awesome!

I do more backpacking than scooter camping, so I pack pretty light... as noted by others compression sacks are great. As are some of the smaller mattress pads (I use a half-size one, but I'm short to begin with ... You double it over to roll it up, so it ends up packing really tiny.) And I take one of those camping chairs that is really just straps that wrap my mattress pad into a chair position. Also small and lightweight.

For scooter camping, I essentially use two duffel bags to secure everything.

I have an open top basket on the back and use bungees to hold one medium duffel bag in there. Then I strap another wider duffel bag in front of the rear rack.I use more bungees to wrap it back around the basket/rear rack, nice and tight! (I love this, because it doubles as a back rest if you can get the soft squishy stuff to bulge out where your lower back is!)

Word to the wise: Plan where your heavy things are going to go. At least with me, getting the weight distribution right is harder than getting everything secured onto the scooter. Think low and center for the majority of the weight.

bluebuddygirl · Post by **bluebuddygirl** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:09 pm

Got back from my Appalachian Trail hike. I started in Harpers Ferry WV and headed north into Maryland. I went about half the distance I had intended. Lack of endurance and lots of heat and sun contributed to the changed itinerary. I posted a few photos on my blog and some details, if anyone is interested. It is trailmapping.blogspot.com