SUMMER GOLD CAMP STUFF

[mendoAu]

I mentioned in another thread the other day about starting a thread about what you need for a summer (extended stay) gold mining camp. I've had several summer (three month dredge season) camps thro the years and have fine tuned some stuff and wished for other stuff. I'll add on to my list if this thread continues and hope we all learn a thing or two and can pass some recipes (perhaps with non-spoilable ingredients), cheap high tech stuff ( like do they make underwater "walkmans" or similar that are 12volt rechargeable), things that I really missed that I forgot from the front porch, things I didn,t miss that I forgot on the front porch, how to set up a nice simple working camp site that takes good advantages of sun and wind, what to do around your tent site just in case of that mid-summer rain storm...wet sleeping bags are no fun, how to go above and beyond just to placate the local sheriff deputies and blm officers etc., what expenses kinda shocked you without a means to order off of e-bay....or hit the big discount stores. Things like "dang, this ice melts really fast in this heat", wonder what other guys do... Me and my buddy enjoyed play video golf on my laptop.(and the time I checked and double checked, good to go, hopped into the 4-Runner and returned 6 weeks later to discover I'd left the front door wide open, ...HA! all was good. what do you do if no internet, cell phone or TV reception...and I think we all have had that experence of gazing at the moon and stars thinking...dang, I don't miss any of that crap. Doubt that I have a picture but I take a little pride in setting up a simple kitchen/cook area. Use a nice flat 4 by 6 foot piece of plywood spread across three stacked plastic milk crates at each side for a stove/prep and serve unit. The milk crates, on edge, open part facing you, serve as shelves and also have held everything on the journey in an orderly manner. Used to use an old white gas two burner stove but have since upgraded to a cheapy two burner propane stove. Multi-purpose uses for that propane tank, but that's for later. Anyhow....if some of you guy's want to pass a few things along (thread not really for "hiking into the wo-beyond....more like pulling your unit into the area and basecamping from there).
I'll start this out with a picture...

 

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[mendoAu]

...boy, I really seem to have screwed the above post up...will try to fix it soon, but anyhow you get the point.

 

[63bkpkr]

HI there mendoAu, this is an interesting thread you've started (yeah ok it is a little messed up much like a few of mine). It will be interesting to see how it goes! Quite a picture, one heck of a lot of gear there!......................63bkpkr

Being able to setup a base camp and leave it out would be SO Nice! I really dislike going through the back of that Bronco over and over!

 

[mikep691]

Labor Day weekend was my longest trip so far at my claim. Six days, and only one passerby. If this site will let me post the camp pic, This all fit in the back of my '92 Toyota 4WD pickup:

 

[wildminer]

 

[okbasspro]

Depending on which location we are headed to determines how we’re loaded.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Trying to find a decently cheap pop up camper I can lift to follow behind my lifted Powerstroke.

But for the most part, a toilet, food, and water are kinda the necessities.

 

[mendoAu]

Here is a question, how do you keep your "refrigeration needed" food cold. Ice chests suck and ice is usually a long ways away on a every three or four day cycle. I'd like to convert an old propane frig with a mini freezing area that I've had stored into something much smaller and lighter weight. This unit requires no electrical source, just a small propane flame. Don't know if you guys have priced a new propane frig like in RV's these days...sticker shock.
mikep691's site is well thought out and simple and covers the rain and hot sun issues. I have a real small dirt cheap tent for setting up away from camp a bit for storage, food, kitchen stuff, extra stuff you don't need to get to daily. And hopefully the first stop for bears before they get to mine...HA! Bears it won't stop but all those other critters that like to nest in your paper towel rolls or eat the bottom corner of your breakfast food boxes have a tough time opening the zipper of that tent. I'll be honest with you...I'm frugal. And one of the things that no matter where I go the price of gas is always high. Hard enough having enough for the dredge and just hate to buzz back and forth to civilization for stuf that should have been acquired all at once. So here again the storage thing pops up. I'm also spoiled when it comes to some things like food. If I am going to cook I want some tasty stuff and those instant camp food pouches are quick but usually to small for a second nite leftover meal. And spendy. I do like those .99 cent instant mash potato pouches. And if I see a deal on chicken breasts I'll fry a bunch (olive oil and when almost done a good drizzle of honey) for one nite and use the rest in a big kettle of noodles, powdered cheese and hopefully butter and milk, thus the propane frig idea to keep things fresh and safe for many days and really only cook every few days, heated leftovers the other days. What is it about living in a tent out in the woods that makes food taste so much better? And it's O.K. if the dishes aren't squeeky clean.

 

[mendoAu]

I've never really had good results with loaves of bread in camp. It seems to either get squashed or moldy. Here's my simple solution... https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/homemade-tortillas/
Breakfast (fill with couple of spoonfuls of scrambled eggs and some home made blackberry jam) Lunch ( fill with peanutbutter and Blk berry jam and roll and wrap tight with alum foil. They don't get all sqished like sandwiches do and they travel well) Dinner (fill with dang near anything, or, you guessed it, leftovers) Flour and olive oil are really easy to keep stored at a campsite and tortillas seem to stay fresh alot longer than bread. And you don't need an oven. It is fairly quick to spin out a couple dozen. They stack well and it's O.K. to forget and stack something heavy on them...can't do that to bread.

 

[mikep691]

Here is a question, how do you keep your "refrigeration needed" food cold. Ice chests suck and ice is usually a long ways away on a every three or four day cycle. I'd like to convert an old propane frig with a mini freezing area that I've had stored into something much smaller and lighter weight. This unit requires no electrical source, just a small propane flame. Don't know if you guys have priced a new propane frig like in RV's these days...sticker shock.
mikep691's site is well thought out and simple and covers the rain and hot sun issues. I have a real small dirt cheap tent for setting up away from camp a bit for storage, food, kitchen stuff, extra stuff you don't need to get to daily. And hopefully the first stop for bears before they get to mine...HA! Bears it won't stop but all those other critters that like to nest in your paper towel rolls or eat the bottom corner of your breakfast food boxes have a tough time opening the zipper of that tent. I'll be honest with you...I'm frugal. And one of the things that no matter where I go the price of gas is always high. Hard enough having enough for the dredge and just hate to buzz back and forth to civilization for stuf that should have been acquired all at once. So here again the storage thing pops up. I'm also spoiled when it comes to some things like food. If I am going to cook I want some tasty stuff and those instant camp food pouches are quick but usually to small for a second nite leftover meal. And spendy. I do like those .99 cent instant mash potato pouches. And if I see a deal on chicken breasts I'll fry a bunch (olive oil and when almost done a good drizzle of honey) for one nite and use the rest in a big kettle of noodles, powdered cheese and hopefully butter and milk, thus the propane frig idea to keep things fresh and safe for many days and really only cook every few days, heated leftovers the other days. What is it about living in a tent out in the woods that makes food taste so much better? And it's O.K. if the dishes aren't squeeky clean.

I bought a Coleman Extreme Marine 100 quart cooler that has a six day ice statement. Happy to say after that six days, I still had ice from the 20 pound bag I bought. Stuff that I don't want to get wet went in a Rubbermade sealable container that fit inside the cooler.

 

[mikep691]

Trying to find a decently cheap pop up camper I can lift to follow behind my lifted Powerstroke.

But for the most part, a toilet, food, and water are kinda the necessities.

2013 Rockwood tent trailer
$5,000
Susanville, CA

Selling my tent trailer. I’ve used it once, it’s now winterized and covered. Comes with cover, propane bbq for outside. I’m firm on the price. It has a king bed, queen bed and it has shower with toilet inside. Kitchen set up, dining room turns into twin bed also, couch turns into twin bed, and AC and heater. It also has an outside shower too. I just registered it in my name, I did not want to pay for paper title but it can sell with a Bill of Sale.
Image may contain: sky, house, tree, outdoor and nature
Image may contain: outdoor
Image may contain: indoor
No automatic alt text available.
Image may contain: indoor
+4
Sorry it didn't copy the pics

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Take canned goods and evaporated milk, instant coffee, things like that. Dont take a cooler on a 6 day unless its carrying canned food. The old timers didn't have ice chests. And they dug a hole to poop in. It will take the city right out of ya! Hehe

 

[ProspectorALEX]

Here is a question, how do you keep your "refrigeration needed" food cold. Ice chests suck and ice is usually a long ways away on a every three or four day cycle. I'd like to convert an old propane frig with a mini freezing area that I've had stored into something much smaller and lighter weight. This unit requires no electrical source, just a small propane flame. Don't know if you guys have priced a new propane frig like in RV's these days...sticker shock.
mikep691's site is well thought out and simple and covers the rain and hot sun issues. I have a real small dirt cheap tent for setting up away from camp a bit for storage, food, kitchen stuff, extra stuff you don't need to get to daily. And hopefully the first stop for bears before they get to mine...HA! Bears it won't stop but all those other critters that like to nest in your paper towel rolls or eat the bottom corner of your breakfast food boxes have a tough time opening the zipper of that tent. I'll be honest with you...I'm frugal. And one of the things that no matter where I go the price of gas is always high. Hard enough having enough for the dredge and just hate to buzz back and forth to civilization for stuf that should have been acquired all at once. So here again the storage thing pops up. I'm also spoiled when it comes to some things like food. If I am going to cook I want some tasty stuff and those instant camp food pouches are quick but usually to small for a second nite leftover meal. And spendy. I do like those .99 cent instant mash potato pouches. And if I see a deal on chicken breasts I'll fry a bunch (olive oil and when almost done a good drizzle of honey) for one nite and use the rest in a big kettle of noodles, powdered cheese and hopefully butter and milk, thus the propane frig idea to keep things fresh and safe for many days and really only cook every few days, heated leftovers the other days. What is it about living in a tent out in the woods that makes food taste so much better? And it's O.K. if the dishes aren't squeeky clean.

Get a Yeti cooler.

 

[mofugly13]

I run an OLD Servel propane fridge at my hunting cabin. It’s awesome lighting a fire underneath and inside it gets cold!

Anyway, Dometic is the maker of modern propane fridges. And you are right, they ARE pricey. But maybe you could find someone’s old travel trailer that is ready for the junkyard and liberate the small built in Dometic inside. Someone on the ranch I hunt dragged an old travel trailer to the “dump” area on the ranch, and the mini Dometic inside looks like it’s in great shape. I’m going to talk to the owner about grabbing it before he crushes the trailer.

This particular fridge will run on propane or electric. But it would probably be something to keep stuff actually cold. I don’t know how much propane you would need to run it for three months, you would probably need a 20# tank and might have to run to town to fill it three or four times. But it beats running for ice every week, I think.

The fridge has a freezer section small, but would make ice. It’s about 36” tall, maybe 18” deep and 20” wide...

 

[russau]

To keep my frozen stuff frozen I used to use dry ice in three containers. #1 for keeping it frozen for the long haul , #2 I'd move this to start it's defrost and then # 3 is for the food that I'd eat that day. this way NOBODY keeps opening and going theough the coolers to give it a look-see as what there is to eat ! This way I can stretch out my dry ice to make it last. I also buy broken pieces of dry ice rather than full slabs to reduce the cost. AND I keep cardboard over the top of the stuff that I want to stay frozen . This will keep the loss to a min. When I went out dredging , I went out for a 2 week trip and never was disappointed with using dry ice to keep the food cold.

 

[mikep691]

To keep my frozen stuff frozen I used to use dry ice in three containers. #1 for keeping it frozen for the long haul , #2 I'd move this to start it's defrost and then # 3 is for the food that I'd eat that day. this way NOBODY keeps opening and going theough the coolers to give it a look-see as what there is to eat ! This way I can stretch out my dry ice to make it last. I also buy broken pieces of dry ice rather than full slabs to reduce the cost. AND I keep cardboard over the top of the stuff that I want to stay frozen . This will keep the loss to a min. When I went out dredging , I went out for a 2 week trip and never was disappointed with using dry ice to keep the food cold.

But don't load the beer cooler with dry ice and beer the night before. Found my ice chest frozen to the kitchen floor and all the beer frozen rock solid. Had to put the beer in the creek to thaw it out enough to drink.

 

[63bkpkr]

Be careful with dry ice, I used it once to just keep the contents of the cooler 'cool'. It carbonated everything, butter, milk, bread, fruit, meat everything and none of it tasted right! Just an FYI........................63bkpkr

 

[N-Lionberger]

Here is a question, how do you keep your "refrigeration needed" food cold. Ice chests suck and ice is usually a long ways away on a every three or four day cycle. I'd like to convert an old propane frig with a mini freezing area that I've had stored into something much smaller and lighter weight. This unit requires no electrical source, just a small propane flame. Don't know if you guys have priced a new propane frig like in RV's these days...sticker shock.
mikep691's site is well thought out and simple and covers the rain and hot sun issues. I have a real small dirt cheap tent for setting up away from camp a bit for storage, food, kitchen stuff, extra stuff you don't need to get to daily. And hopefully the first stop for bears before they get to mine...HA! Bears it won't stop but all those other critters that like to nest in your paper towel rolls or eat the bottom corner of your breakfast food boxes have a tough time opening the zipper of that tent. I'll be honest with you...I'm frugal. And one of the things that no matter where I go the price of gas is always high. Hard enough having enough for the dredge and just hate to buzz back and forth to civilization for stuf that should have been acquired all at once. So here again the storage thing pops up. I'm also spoiled when it comes to some things like food. If I am going to cook I want some tasty stuff and those instant camp food pouches are quick but usually to small for a second nite leftover meal. And spendy. I do like those .99 cent instant mash potato pouches. And if I see a deal on chicken breasts I'll fry a bunch (olive oil and when almost done a good drizzle of honey) for one nite and use the rest in a big kettle of noodles, powdered cheese and hopefully butter and milk, thus the propane frig idea to keep things fresh and safe for many days and really only cook every few days, heated leftovers the other days. What is it about living in a tent out in the woods that makes food taste so much better? And it's O.K. if the dishes aren't squeeky clean.

My mom's old claim had an old propane fridge on it, old kitchen size fridge I always marveled at the thing we'd light a fire and it would freeze the beer, we had to prop the door open to keep it from freezing everything the thermostat was buggered up.

 

[N-Lionberger]

I run an OLD Servel propane fridge at my hunting cabin. It’s awesome lighting a fire underneath and inside it gets cold!

Anyway, Dometic is the maker of modern propane fridges. And you are right, they ARE pricey. But maybe you could find someone’s old travel trailer that is ready for the junkyard and liberate the small built in Dometic inside. Someone on the ranch I hunt dragged an old travel trailer to the “dump” area on the ranch, and the mini Dometic inside looks like it’s in great shape. I’m going to talk to the owner about grabbing it before he crushes the trailer.

This particular fridge will run on propane or electric. But it would probably be something to keep stuff actually cold. I don’t know how much propane you would need to run it for three months, you would probably need a 20# tank and might have to run to town to fill it three or four times. But it beats running for ice every week, I think.

The fridge has a freezer section small, but would make ice. It’s about 36” tall, maybe 18” deep and 20” wide...

Thats the same brand of fridge, it was a beast!

 

[mendoAu]

HI there mendoAu, this is an interesting thread you've started (yeah ok it is a little messed up much like a few of mine). It will be interesting to see how it goes! Quite a picture, one heck of a lot of gear there!......................63bkpkr

I pack well, considering there is a clear water pump and a Keene twin 5inch dredge in there somewhere.

I'll add a couple of things...chainsaw and ax (mauls tweek my back). And hope that campfires are permitted. Double check that "permitted" thing. Also a spare 12volt deepcycle with a small inverter to charge the batteries for this https://www.ebay.com/itm/ZOOM-20000...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 ( note: this light comes with NO batteries but you can get a four unit charger with eight batteries for about 10 to fifteen bucks and once you use one of these you'll throw that AAA battery light away) and camera and laptop. I do have to upgrade the solar charger for the 12volt battery.