Tips
 

When we fly south we love flying over the hills. We have spotted some great little town on rivers and small lakes up in the hills and even a few little strips right close to the little towns. We are very low maintenance but love small towns and people as long as a decent meal and decent hotel. Any tips for the transient pilots on good overnight stops off the beaten path in the Carolina's? Any camping spots or cute towns would be ideal. When heading to islands we are usually in a hurry to get Canada to Ft lauderdale or Ft Pierce first day, but we always see great places underneath us we wish we x'd for a stop. Any tips welcome. Cheers, Rick

When you look for a tent, consider one sized for one more person. Solo camping, get a two person, two of you will need a three person tent. Buy a quality tent. We use a Big Agnes Copper Spur 3 person tent backpacking for the two of us.
Foam sleeping pads are not thick enough for my old bones. Get a good air pad. Also if you have never used a sleeping bag, get on rated for temps much colder than you plan to encounter. A 10* bag will keep you alive at 10* but you won?t sleep. Don?t get a mummy bag if you like to move while sleeping.

Finding a place to camp is always a challenge and takes a number of phone calls.
Some of the strips I have taken the -9 into would be marginal for an "A". The two lone exceptions are the one where that picture was taken and of course Triple Tree.
Contact me the next time you head this way and I might be able to hook you up.

This is always nice but you have to get permission and the owner has to make sure the cows have dug holes in the middle of the runway. Also, there are a lot of ticks, snakes, wild boars, etc. to be aware of. The on shore breeze can and has push you into the trees, so the landing and takeoffs can be a bit interesting at times.

If it went off in a pack it's probably most likely to some mechanical interaction with the valve and not the pressure, imo

You are right, it was probably the valve that let go as the canister had been used. There is no way to verify if the valve is good or bad on those canisters, there is no way I would ever let one of those ride in my plane and I STRONGLY recommend against carrying one in any plane.

Even the airlines, which pressurize to ~8,000' won't allow them onboard, why would you risk it?

(We were above 11K when her canister let go, which is well within the pressure altitude of our planes cruising at 8,000 feet. I depressurize my white gas stove every time I put it away and double check it when putting it in the plane. Also, of our hiking group, my old white gas stove is the only stove that has worked above 14K feet and below -6*F. Those canister stoves freeze, plug up, or just fail. Very cool idea and work most of the time but I want a stove that works ALL of the time.)

Holy smokes! You guys are awesome! That?s a lot of info to digest. Thanks for all that. Now I?m worried I don?t have enough time to put all this together by May. :eek:

Yes, I have an RV-7, and I plan to go solo.

I have 2 ?Smoke System Helper? aux fuel tanks behind the seats. So my cargo area is about 4? shorter, front to back, than a normal RV-7. That might be a bummer in this case, but I wouldn?t trade my aux tanks for anything. I do have the unoccupied right seat though too.

I?m 45 yrs old. No kids. Unfortunately, my wife of 18.5 yrs passed away back in July. She was a hiker, but very much not a camper. We always did hotels. That?s why I?m starting from scratch with the gear. It?s kind of a new beginning to my new life. A great opportunity to expand my horizons.

I think, to keep things manageable for a novice camper, I?m going to look for airports that are camping friendly with some amenities on the field, like Johnson?s Creek. At least water and outhouse. I want to do some hiking, but more of the ?day hiking? type. May I need to find places that do have some sort of access to rental cars? Not sure how that works in this time of Covid-19. Sounds like food and water will be the heaviest items.

I appreciate your lists of items too! Those are super helpful. So many things you don?t think about. I?m learning just how advanced this whole camping/backpacking thing is. Some of that gear is amazing.

I also appreciate your advice on not getting lost, and preparing for that kind of flying as well. Sounds like I may have to buy some books.

Sorry to hear about your wife's passing!

https://www.campmor.com/ is a good source for equipment. Their prices are reasonable and they have good customer service.

This Coleman Explorer is a good white gas stove and will give you years of trouble free service. Also purchase an extra fuel bottle for it.

For sleeping, I like to use a Z Rest. The reason is they don't pop. While not as comfortable as a self inflating sleeping pad, they don't go flat. (I punctured mine two days into a 13 day hike and replaced it with a Z Rest.)

Good luck and please post about your adventures.

REI.com is a good source for a wide variety of things.

A search for ultralight backpacking will bring up many interesting and useful things, but they are often minimalistic, so be careful.

I prefer the air mattresses to the thinner foam ones, even though the foam ones are often lighter. The extra thickness is a comfort to my old bones. Although I used to be fine sleeping with no pad at all, I seem to have aged out of that.

The dual fuel stove is a good idea. I have an older multi-fuel stove that ran fine on jet fuel or 100LL, but prefers white gas. Look around. Avoid older stoves like my ancient Svea, which works fine but is unrelentingly finicky.

The comment to get a tent one size larger than the number of people in it is an excellent suggestion. So was the comment to get a four-season tent. Look for ease of setting up; this is surprisingly important because you might be tired and it might be close to dark when you arrive. Free-standing is good. Don't plan on using it on the ramp as the hard surface will rapidly abrade the bottom, especially where the poles are. If the tent has provisions for stakes (highly recommended) get an extra one or two, and longer is better than shorter. Titanium is a good stake material.

A vestibule is a good thing for a tent to have. It gets you out of the rain (of course it'll rain at some point) while you're taking your shoes off.

One night I set up a new free-standing tent and then someone offered me the use of a hangar. I spent the night in there, leaving the tent set up but unoccupied, not my brightest move. The next morning, after a storm had passed through, I found my tent 1/4 mile away in a gully, intact but resting on its site. Winds happen.

After rain or a heavy dew, the tent is likely to be wet. Have a plan for that.

Dave

Also consider the thoughts that the tarp tent people offer. Although they may be unsuitable for some of the conditions you encounter, they aren't all bad.

You have wings.... so a custom tarp tent, with a wing for support, might work out.

I've had good luck with solar showers, but then again I have a high wing airplane.

Dave

Friend of mine just went here

https://www.airnav.com/airport/1L7

I haven't been but it sounds like a really nice campground. Power, wifi, a car, sounds first class