This is what I can recommend and use.

Jetboil Cooking System, (I have the pan - French Press) compact easy to setup, not that easy to regulate the flame.

Big Agnes sleeping bag, the air mattress makes it feel almost like a bed, you don't roll off of it and the bag doesn't get twisted. - Get the inflatable pillow, it's worth it. I have the Hog Park model

Headlamp keeps both of your hands free to use.

At REI meals in a bag, easy pour in boiling water thats it, taste good too.

At REI Exofficio underware I was able to use just two pairs over a 2 week period, you wash at the end of the day the material drys so quickley that you can reuse the following day or your second pair, great space saver.

 

Thanks for all the input. I figured some folks had some good info to share before I went and wasted some cash. Thanks again.

 

+1 on the ExOfficio underwear..I discovered them about 2 yrs ago and have not bought a different brand since then...they will last years, never chafe even with the hottest of NC weather, and don't ride up like cotton boxers;

 

REI is a good store with a *great* house brand. They also stand behind everything they sell, since they have employees test everything thoroughly before they put it on the shelf.

If you find you know exactly what you want, Campmor sells a lot of the same stuff, for less.

 

Not all of us can afford REI, but they do have stuff no one else does and quality at that. Camping on the cheap, I found MRI's to be expensive (I eat 5000 cals/day) so dried soups, tuna and salmon packs, beans and pastas from the grocery store go further. I used a pool float for a mattress, but it's too small, and a t-shirt covering the plastic pillow still makes you sweat.
I had a "Shamwow" and a 3-pack of similar felts from a Dollar Store. The DS ones outlasted the German-made Shamwow, but they all were the best thing since apple pie, especially after the rains.
Walmart sells a great 3-pack of dry bags - get two.
Tents need a vestibule to put your junk outside of the tent, but put down a piece of plastic to keep it all clean as well as dry. Our man in a 1-man tent can't wait to get RID of the little coffin. Always go for 1 man more than you will sleep and have a vestibule.
Walmart again - $.80 for a rain poncho, fits in back pocket.
The miniature one-LED tent lamp is only bright enough to navigate in and out the door; get a bigger one.
If there are no picnic tables, you're really gonna want a chair, badly. Stadium seat.
Collapsible water jug - nothing like 5 gallons of available cook/cleaning water onsite.
If you're bigger like me, a mummy bag is claustrophobic. You can't turn over in it; it turns with you. Warmer, yes, but this is Georgia.

 

@ Faber - I bought the REI underwear and they had a hole in about 3 mths; the exofficios are still going strong with a couple yrs or more on them with very little wear; now they just need some new colors hahaa

 

3 metal tent stakes and a can of stearno make a REALLY cheap way to cook. i think my mess kit is $10 total.

whenever the boss has food brought in i grab up all the leftover cans of stearno. i have an awesome stockpile of that stuff.

 

REI clothes is good stuff, but I tend to think of their house brand as being an industry leader in gear.

Still, you cold take your holey undies back and they;d give you a refund

 

A tip is try the REI outlet or the attics sales that happen a few times a year. Since they have a lifetime return policy they get a bunch of stuff back from people just cause they kinda don't like it (I have done it myself) and that they sell in attic sales. The outlet is last years stuff (like tents go out of style LOL)

Liz

 

Packed in the Saddlemen TS3200 bag are:
Eureka Pinnacle Pass 3xta tent & footprint
Suisse Sport compact sleeping bag
Thermorest mattress
MSR stove & fuel
2L bottle of water & bags of Mountain House food
Nesting pots/pans
Alite Monarch Butterfly chair
small camp hatchet
clothes for 3 or 4 days
A thousand memories

JR