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Gear Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Want to know about the gear we use? It’s all right here.

On the Road Again

Willie Nelson has been going through my head the last few days. Darned ear worms. We’re sitting at our campsite near Donald B.C. relaxing for a bit. Saturday we set out on our three week tour through the Canadian Rockies and into the Prairies. The weekend was spent with family in the North Okanagan which always involves good company and good food. We’ll be back to visit them again towards the end of the trip.

Today took us along Hwy 97 north through Enderby and past Mara Lake. The ride was beautiful; I regret not putting the camera on my helmet for that stretch. We rolled on to the interchange with the Trans Canada, making our way east to Revelstoke. We were told about a great little coffee shop there called The Modern Café so, like the good west coast coffee snobs that we are, we made our way there. The Modern did not disappoint. They serve one of the best Americanos either of us has had! 
From Revelstoke we headed east. Our goal was to get to a place called Donald. NMBL had done some research and found a free B.C. Forrest Service campground called Waitabit Creek. This meant that we weren’t riding for as long as we had for most of our days on the road last year. Spending six or seven hours on a bike is hard work, especially when you go for two weeks straight. This year we decided to shorten our ride time each day. It’s so much better. Today was an enjoyable day of riding, going through the mountains and over the Rogers Pass. The campground was relatively easy to find and we got in at 2pm… that left us plenty of time to set up camp, have dinner, go for a walk, and meet some fellow campers. No stress! We didn’t go pillar to post leaving little time for anything else.

Continue reading “On the Road Again” →

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Loco Libre and Mosko Dry Run

This past weekend was kind of nice. Just the kind of weather you want for a bit of a ride and to play around with some new hammock gear. No pressure, no time constraints, and no “get this right or you’re going to have a very uncomfortable, sleepless night”. Those suck so it’s best to avoid them. Continue reading “Loco Libre and Mosko Dry Run” →

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Loco Libre Underquilts: The Unboxing

On Friday we received a very exciting email: a parcel was ready for pickup at our US post office box. Why was it so exciting? Simple. We only had one thing on order. Our Loco Libre Cayenne Pepper underquilts and Jalapeno Pepper topquilts! I can hear all the “Whuuuuut?”‘s. Lemme ‘splain. No. Lemme sum up. If you’ve read our review of the ENO Ember 2 underquilt (and other kvetching), you’ll know that I was less than happy with its performance AND design. NMBL wasn’t particularly enamoured with hers either. It’s just not a well thought out product. While ENO does have more robust offerings for underquilts, like the adjustable Vulcan, we decided to go with the made-to-spec Loco Libre offerings. They are well reviewed by other hammockers for their design and warmth. With a custom fit cost of only $10US more per underquilt compared to the Vulcan, we took the plunge. Continue reading “Loco Libre Underquilts: The Unboxing” →

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Snow on the Mountains

And eagles in the trees! Plus almost all the weather you could think would ever happen in March.

This weekend marked our first overnight trip of the year. We were invited to go camping at Porteau Cove Provincial Park with our neighbour and her four year old son, so of course we said yes. It’s a quick jaunt from home so we didn’t have to push ourselves through bad weather and, if the elements got really nasty, it was only one night. Continue reading “Snow on the Mountains” →

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NMBL and I have a bunch of electronic devices for touring that gobble up electrons at a rapid rate. Most important is our helmet-comm system. We like to be in constant verbal contact as we ride to communicate hazards, hunger, and just the absolute beauty of the countryside we’re riding through. We’re also keen to put up blog updates and keep in contact with family when necessary. Like many people we do like our electron consuming devices.

Plugs don’t grow on trees. So how do we keep everything charged and happy while we’re riding around and camping in areas where there aren’t any electrical outlets? Well, read NMBL’s review of our charging gear for some insight. She’s got a rundown of our stuff and a bit on how we use it. We’ve definitely got some good stuff but could you imagine a light weight, flexible solar option that can be integrated into riding gear? We can… any solar cell engineers out there want to take up the challenge?

DES out.

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Wow! We’re really going gangbusters with the reviews. Check out my review of the ENO Ember 2 Underquilt in the latest post. NMBL has another review written and ready to put up. We’ll likely do that next week. Thanks for reading.

DES out.

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It has been a while since our last blog post or site update. Winter does that to you when you write about motorcycle hammock camping. It’s been cold here on the West Coast of Canada… shut up Prairie people. We know it’s bloody cold out your way. We’ve had cold  weather by Vancouver standards and we haven’t been able to ride, let alone hang. NMBL and I just don’t have the gear for long term sub-freezing camping. And we’d like to keep the rubber side down. It’s a thing.

All teasing aside (we love the Prairie folk) NMBL has had a few gear reviews ready for the site so we got one posted today. She’s done a great job, putting in a few diagrams as well as crafting a fantastic description of the gear reviewed. Want to know what straps we recommend for hanging your hammocks on those big grow-y things (a.k.a. trees)? Then read her review! Here’s your hyperlink-y-thing: ENO Atlas Straps v Kammock Python Straps.

Just a quick housekeeping note: we’ve decided to do reviews as web pages rather than blog posts since we feel that they are reference material rather than consumption postings. If there are updates to reviews we will let you know through a blog post and link you to the changed page. I think that’s it. Chime in and let us know what you think.

DES out.

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You Brought All That on Two Bikes??!

It’s not all backwoods and adventure roads for us (although there’s tons of that too): sometimes we get on our bikes and take our hammocks out to party!

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NMBL enjoying a chair hammock

Every year we go to a small, invite-only festival on beautiful Sasamat Lake, just outside of Vancouver.  At this annual three-day festival, pirate costumes and fairy costumes are de rigeur.  And what could be more pirate-y (or fairyish) than hammocks?!

 

 

This year, we didn’t just bring our two camping hammocks: we brought every hammock we owned, and turned our little “The Gallows” hang-site into a six-bed Hammock Village.  With the exception of the volunteer skeleton (see our image gallery), we brought the whole camp’s contents on two motorcycles, in one trip.  So many people who stopped by to check us out exclaimed, “You brought all this on two motorcycles?!?”   We must’ve heard that at least ten times over three days.

Continue reading “You Brought All That on Two Bikes??!” →

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Pac Northwest Day 3: Highs and Low Temperatures

March 27, 2016, DES reporting.

Oh, what a good nights sleep; hurray for N’s Hang Calculator! We were both comfortable and cozy overnight and we woke up to a lovely sunrise over the ocean. I even took a picture of my morning view from the hammock. Just a little peek over the water. Bliss!

Continue reading “Pac Northwest Day 3: Highs and Low Temperatures” →

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