Hi guys and gals.. Its re-gear season for me.. I always try to add 3 pieces of new gear around now.. I'd like to hear 2 or 3 pieces that kinda maybe were luxuries you were thinking before you bought but now mandatory.. My three are my Fry-bake , Aaero Press and the Back Country Navigator Ap.... Love the aerial view.. so cool.. The Aeropress was the most suprising to me.. The other two you guys told me about so I knew they'd be good.. But the AeroPress is really top notch.. I'd debate all night long about the best coffee maker on trips ... that's it.

These are all luxuries, but were game changers for me.

1. Marchway chair (helinox sunsetter)
2. Expedition Research grill
3. Crescent Saw

The next item on my new gear list is a Toaks titanium wood stove. This will be an upgrade from a cheapie steel wood stove. Twice the price, but half the weight. I like a wood stove for rainy days under the tarp. It's something to fiddle with and it keeps you warm. My cheap wood stove warmed us up from nearly hypothermic on a rainy and cold day in an Adirondak in the Adirondaks. We put a tarp over the open wall, set the stove on a flat rock and warmed up the whole dang shelter.

2 Luxuries I want to mention:

1. Purcell Trench grill - Super light weight, the custom case included is amazing, keeps the soot off my other gear and it looks great. Love it. Might not be bringing canister fuel/stove anymore.
2. Silky Saw Big Boy - Definitely a luxury but it never gets left behind. I sewed my own little custom case for it, keeps it closed, teeth safely enclosed, it's just a monster. I'm branded for life here.

2 Absolute Necesseties that Have 100% changed my Life and I'll never camp without that I added in 2018:

1. Sea to Summit Comfort Lite Insulated Sleeping Mat - This brand is nothing short of impressive, this product is just the beez kneez. I like to sleep on my side, I'm near 200lbs, and I can BARELY feel the ground with my hip. Normally I hate sleeping in my tent since switching to a hammock, but my Wife hated hammocks so tenting it was (when she comes along), we picked up 2 of these and it's the best night's sleep I've had on the ground, ever.
2. Underground Quilts Top Quilt - Constantly a source of praise on our camping trips. Just cant beat the quality, light weight, and warmth.

1) Lightweight chair. Having something with a backrest is important. I have a cheap knock off that I have been using for 3-4 years now and I love it so I don't see brand names as being important. If mine fails then I get a new one when I get back.

2) Second water filter. Filtering water gets old fast. Pumping sucks but setting up the gravity filter can get old too, I like having both so I can decide which one I want to do least. Also going to add water flavoring here just because a little flavor can be nice once in a while.

3) Lantern. Headlamps are all you really need, a torch light is a good idea too, but sometimes you want to light up an area like inside the tent or around the campfire instead of only one thing at a time. So a headlamp is a necessity and a lantern is a luxury.

Big Agnes Buffalo Park Sleeping Bag. This bag is a part of the BA sleeping system that I use with my BA Q-Core sleeping pad. It's the closest thing to a real bed I've ever used.

One bug zapper per tent. No chasing Mosquitoes around the tent and no mess on walls of tent or on hands. Come at bugs from under them for best results.

Cot for my Therma-Rest. Bungy cords to keep feet area of T R from slipping off the cot.

Second gravity filter. A backup if needed and convenience of having lots of water available any time of day or night. If a larger group, I would get and take a third.

Since we base camp, I would never go without my fold up rocking chair.

Added the extra "n" to expedite sending

I never even considered a small portable bug zapper. If i go again in July, i may have to do that....

What type of bug zapper do you use? The fly swatter style or the style that hangs in a tent and also functions as a light? The only downside to the hanging style is that it would need time to attract the bugs and that sounds like a good way to fall asleep with it on and kill the batteries on the first night.

We saw a small portable battery powered bug zapper at Piragis last Spring, but I don't see it in their catalog. I forget the name but it intrigued me as well.

At first I thought these items would be luxuries, but I won't leave home without them now.

1. CCS tarp

2. Helinox chair

MSR Reactor, LLBean screenhouse, sunset chair

Bug zapper is the tennis racket shape, just shorter. Available from Harbor Freight from around 4.00 plus. Also have seen them at Home Depot and last year at walmart. Shop on line for your favorite destination and you should get them. If you take one during bug season, you will not regret that . Do keep very dry at all times. A rain shower got moisture into the bag mine was in and it did not function one year. I bag them in separate plastic garbage bags and take an extra, just in case.

Dan that is more of a bug swatter though right ? We have those stashed all over our house.. Dang ... i really thought you found a true lite weight bug ZAPPER.. Now that would be cool. Solar recharge. Nurse paddler. Please refrain from posting about the Purcell trench grill. Its silly and no one needs to spend that kind of money on a grill... I keep teling myself this over and over and over again. For the past 6 months.

Sea to Summit waterproof compression sacks

Helinox Cot One
Helinox Sunset Chair = Great back & head support.
Won't consider camping without them, now.

The REI Flexlite chair will come with me on any trips longer than 2 nights. It's so much more comfortable than a log, especially if you've been paddling all day. My friend brought one on the June trip this year (borrowed from his girlfriend actually) and said a few times throughout the trip that he was so glad he brought it. It's great for not only relaxing but cooking as well, as it's no problem to sit forward around a fire or burner.

The Silky Gomboy 240 medium tooth folding saw chews through wood and is quite compact (can fit in cargo pockets). I have thought about not bringing it on hiking trips but it's so handy that I might as well. I cut some 8" wide birch and cedar with it this summer, which took some time for sure, but it was totally do-able, and I only had to cut off 4-5 big rounds to split and turn into a full night's worth of firewood (~2-3 hours, not 6-8 though). I'm considering getting the Agawa Canyon Boreal21 saw since it's not much heavier and will more easily process large logs.

I've got a titanium double-walled Snow Peak cup that I use for coffee, even at home. It keeps coffee hot for quite a bit longer than ceramic (not that I'd bring ceramic canoeing) but also much longer than thin titanium or aluminum. It was $50 but I had $20 off at REI and I think it was well worth the money. I have the H450 specifically. It really is an excellent item and beats drinking out of a big pot or even my nesting canteen cup which doesn't keep stuff hot for long.

I don't think I really brought many other luxuries... sure, my Gransfors Bruk Wildlife Hatchet isn't really necessary for limbing or anything else if you have a splitting axe with you, but it's fun to use, and, to be honest, having it near the hammock/in the tent with me when sleeping gives me just a little more sense of security. :) Also, in the quite unlikely event of a SHTF scenario, a hatchet is useful for shelter building and processing game, not just personal defense. I think I want the Mini Hatchet/Small Hatchet though, to get even lighter. I keep it in my day pack so all weight savings help.

wvevans: "Dan that is more of a bug swatter though right ? We have those stashed all over our house.. Dang ... i really thought you found a true lite weight bug ZAPPER.. Now that would be cool. Solar recharge. Nurse paddler. Please refrain from posting about the Purcell trench grill. Its silly and no one needs to spend that kind of money on a grill... I keep teling myself this over and over and over again. For the past 6 months. "

I would not consider the bug zapper a swatter. This is very light weight and battery powered. All you do is to bring the head under the bug and contact fries the bug. A little bug stench goes away pretty quickly. Mine has two "D" batteries which seem to weigh half as much as the zapper itself. I have seen one which uses smaller batteries.

That is brilliant .. And yes thats true that all the have to do is get near it they land on lt.. I would have never thought to use it like that.

Not sure you have the entire concept in mind. The bugs do not actually land on the zapper as much as you lift the zapper to make contact with the bug. There is no attraction for the bugs to be drawn in. The head is a criss cross of thin wire surrounded with plastic to hold them in place. Much like a tennis racket holds the hitting surface in place in a rigid fashion. The shape is much like the head of a tennis racket. When you push the on button, a charge is sent to the surface of the racket which shocks (zaps) the bug when you make contact with it.

If you test it with a finger, you will get a mild shock. Bugs die, larger animals such as yourself will get shocked. If you want to test it personally, I suggest using a knuckle as opposed to a sensitive finger tip. I now test mine by dropping a small drop of water on the surface to see if it gets zapped.