CampingBlogger

Win an Olympus Stylus 1050 SW Ruggedized Camera

Roy Scribner — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:39:58 +0000

Win an Olympus® Stylus 1050 SW at CampingBlogger!

Last month we gave away a great little GPS receiver, a Garmin™ eTrex Summit® HC, and this month CampingBlogger is back with the camera that was on of my Top 5 Christmas gift recommendations, in November. I’m a little more frugal with your money than I am with mine, however, so I’m giving away the top-of-the-line, 10.1 Megapixel model 1050!

I won’t bore you with all of the technical details, which you can find here, but this is the best compact camera, for outdoor use, on the market. It meets military standards for shock-resistance (5ft. drop to a hard surface) and cold temperature operation (-10°C/14°F) and fully submersible to 3m/10ft. Whether you are camping, hiking, or mountain biking, you good equipment that’s built to take abuse, and this camera is built to take it.

So how do you win? If you are already receiving new CampingBlogger posts via email, then you don’t have to do anything. If not, then simply read the contest terms and conditions here, and if you are a resident of the United States who is at least 18 years old, sign-up for free email delivery in the box on the right, and be sure to confirm your request by clicking the link in the confirmation email that will be sent to, automatically. Note that you may have to check your email’s SPAM folder for this confirmation email, depending on the sensitivity of your service’s filter. If you have any problems or questions, just shoot me an email on the About page.

The contest will run through 12:00 PM on February 27th - good luck!

Post from: CampingBlogger | Camping Gear Rentals | Quality Kid's Gear at UpsideOver.com | Camping Cookware at Pans.com

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Outdoor Links for January 2nd

Roy Scribner — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:28:31 +0000

Skiing the Backcountry – Gotta Get Up to Get Down!

When I was a kid, I learned to ski at the Hoodoo Ski Area and the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort, in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. Skiing is also a popular family activity here in Silicon Valley, and we have several friends who make the trek to Tahoe or Sierra Summit, east of Fresno, on a regular basis. Skiing the Backcountry covers all things skiing with articles, gear reviews and resources to make your next backcountry skiing adventure safer and more fun.

Nature for Kids – Fun Family Outing

Nature for Kids is a great resource for parents who want to get their kids outdoors. Shawna and Damon cover a lot of ground, with topics ranging from camping and hiking, to fun crafts for kids. Be sure to checkout their recent article on winter wear for infants and toddlers – lots of good information!

Sectionhiker.com – Lightweight backpacking for beginners and experts

When Tom Mangan stopped posting to his Two Heel Drive blog last month, in order to launch a new financial blog (CAT Stock Blog), I needed to come up with another hiking-related blog to link too. Philip Werner’s sectionhiker.com was the obvious choice, as he really covers a lot of good topics, there. Lest you think sectionhiker.com is just about hiking, I highly recommend reading Philip’s recent article on synthetic-filled sleeping bags.

10 Things to do on your next camping trip

Roy Scribner — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:37:07 +0000

Biking is a great camping activity for the entire family.

Go for a hike

Hiking is a great and healthy activity that leads to a lot of the other outdoor activities talked about here, like photography, fishing, treasure, geocaching and treasure hunting. You don’t need a lot of money to get into hiking; a decent pair of tennis shoes and a water bottle will serve you just fine.

Take the bikes out for a ride

Bicycling is a great way to extend your sightseeing range over hiking, although you may be relegated to the road system, or trails specific to bikes and horses. Don’t think that everyone has to have a fancy mountain bike, either. My daughter’s first trail ride was on her Barbie® bike and it worked just fine.

Chronicle your experience in pictures

Photography is a great way to record memories of your camping trip and share them with others.

The backcountry is a great place for astronomy.

Look at some stars

There is no better place to gaze at the stars through a telescope, than out in the middle of nowhere, unencumbered by light pollution from civilization.

Catch a fish

Fishing is one of those classic outdoor activities that goes with camping like marshmallows go with graham crackers and chocolate. Fishing can be fun and challenging for the entire family.

Play games

Because we have three young children, we always take a lot of games with us on camping trips. These usually consist of Uno® cards, a ring toss set and a Frisbee® golf set.

Geocaching / Scavenger hunt

Geocaching, using GPS to locate a “cache” that someone has hidden, is a new and popular pastime that can be a lot of fun. If you are camping with young children, you can setup your own little scavenger hunt around the campsite. Plastic Easter Eggs are great for this, just be sure you don’t forget where you stashed them!

Want to find treasure? First locate an old CCC camp.

Hunt for treasure

Finding gold has never been easy, despite our romanticized historical view of the gold rush in the western U.S. That doesn’t mean that it’s not fun to try, though! A more lucrative way to hunt for treasure is to scout for old trash dumps. Many of our state and federal parks began life as Civilian Conservation Corps projects in the 1930’s and, using old maps and a metal detector, you can sometimes locate the old trash dumps from these CCC camps. One man’s trash is another’s treasure and vintage tin cans, and other objects, can be worth some money.

Make s’mores

Graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate – a campfire marriage made in heaven!

Practice survival skills

The recent popularity of the TV shows Man vs. Wild and Survivorman has reignited an interest in survival skills and it can be a lot of fun to practice these on camping trips. Learning and practicing survival skills builds confidence in children (and adults!) and teaches them the importance of using available resources, instead of relying on technology, to solve problems.

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Hiking is a Great Family Activity

Roy Scribner — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:19:39 +0000

Hiking is a great way to get everyone outdoors and into nature.

Hiking is a great outdoor activity that parents and children can enjoy together. It’s also a good way for kids to learn about nature and the environment and maybe some wildlife too, if you can coax the kids into an early start.

Of course, you might have to do a bit of coaxing to get the kids to go hiking, at all! Our three children encompass the entire spectrum of motivation, when it comes to hiking. Our oldest daughter (8) actually bugs us to go hiking, while her younger sister (7) would never go hiking, if it were up to her. It’s too soon to tell which side our son’s (4) motivation will fall on.

Hiking with kids goes a lot smoother when there is some kind of destination, such as a waterfall or a lake, instead of just an out-and-back loop. At least for our younger ones, telling them that we’re “going to the waterfall” gets them a lot more motivated than telling them that we’re just going for a hike.

To date, our kids have been hiking in their regular clothes, which have worked just fine. Our oldest daughter is starting to do three or four miles with me, though, which is starting to justify some better, more breathable, clothing. Buying specialty clothing for kids is always expensive, since they grow so fast, but in this case it’s justified. When kids are just learning to enjoy hiking, the last thing that you want to happen is a bad experience from chaffing against damp clothing.

From a cost standpoint, though, hiking is relatively low-cost compared to other outdoor sports. A child can be up and hiking for the cost of a water bottle and maybe some new socks or shorts. All of our kids hike in their regular tennis shoes, which seems to work just fine.

Hiking is a great way to introduce your children to the outdoors and develop their curiosity about nature and wildlife.

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Family Camping Resolutions for 2009

Roy Scribner — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:48:49 +0000

Now is a great time to focus on family camping plans and goals for the coming year.

More camping

One of our family goals is to go on a camping trip at least once every month. We did not achieve that in 2008, mostly due to my wife Lisa’s commitments in her Master’s program, so it’s a good time to refocus on family time for 2009 and start planning more monthly getaways.

Our typical camping trip is a Friday and Saturday night at some reasonably local location. Luckily, we have a lot of nice places to choose from, here in the San Francisco Bay Area, from beaches to forests in the coastal mountains. For short weekend trips, like these, it does not make much sense to spend a lot of time driving, so we limit ourselves to roughly a 2-hour radius around our home.

Organize our summer camping trip

Each summer we take one big camping trip with our friends from Oregon. Unlike our regular camping trips throughout the year, our big summer trip is geared more towards a destination. The first get-together was at the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park in the northwest corner of California, while our last two trips have been to Oregon locations, including Crater Lake National Park.

I think for 2009 we’ll come back to California, possibly to Lassen National Park, or Shasta Lake. We like to choose places that offer a lot of family activities, like hiking and sightseeing, so either of these two places would make great destinations.

Spend less

Yes, it’s a sign of the times, but we’re going to have to spend less in 2009. Luckily, that does not mean less camping, which is still one of the great low-cost activities that families can participate in. Spending less next year will probably mean fewer home improvements and fewer sporting events (sorry, Sharks and Raiders!).

Spending less doesn’t mean there won’t be any new camping gear purchases, though! There are a few items that I would like to get, including a few cast-iron cookware pieces and some hiking gear for the kids. To date, the kids have been hiking in their regular clothes, but our 8-year old is starting to go longer distances with me. She could make use of more breathable clothes and some kind of hydration solution.

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