With a jetboil you are cooking in a cup. You aren't going to be doing pancakes or frying eggs. Best for boiling water IMO and eating out of a bag w/ either store-bought or home-made freeze dried meals. If you prepare for eating ahead of time - this shouldn't be too much of a compromise.

Recipe ideas from jetboil:

http://www.jetboil.com/category/2/17

A more traditional stove like the giga power or white gas stove and a small back-packing skillet will be better suited for that.

The Jetboil concept is simply taking the convenience of the isobutane canister stove and adding the insulated cooking cup/pot. I believe they sell a more versatile stove system too. The name is a powerful brand.

You can still enjoy the convenience of the isobutane stove with your backpacking pots and pans. I personally use the MSR Pocket Rocket. Same canister fitting as the Jetboil canisters, so you can use those or the MSR brand canisters.

More info here too:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4776

I guess us Maulers and 180ers are spoiled... I take a two burner camp stove and 4 cannisters which last me for my 10 days at JC.. I also take a grill to put in the fire ring for barbequeing steaks burgers and hot dogs... Pots and pans for spaghetti, sauce, pancakes, eggs, bacon, and coffee..Two 56 qt coolers, Two folding chairs, a couple folding tables,two sleeping bags,(one to fly with one to stay in camp),two fly rods and clothes for 2 weeks... I make a full pot of drip grind coffee every morning and heat two big pots of water for dish washing after every meal although I have been known to wash my dishes in the utility sink at the showers at JC..after camping lightweight for so many years in the tripacer it's why I bought the Maule... I like my comforts, just like Rob..you get tired of crawling around in a tent you can't stand upright in and sleeping on the ground as opposed to my cot..all my camping gear weighs less than 200 lbs although not by much...

On 35s at Sulfur Creek

Don't forget the EZ up and 6 man stand up tent


G'Day

goddam mallers

Remember that this thread was started by a 172 pilot-- weight is much more critical. Maybe he can aspire to buy a Maule someday

looked at easy ups but I just string a tarp from four trees over the camp table.. works fine...I have two tents.. one is a 12x10 other is a 16x10 usually the 12x10 is what I use for airplane camping if I'm alone...I can get all my shit inside out of the weather and still have room to walk around inside...

Zzz wrote:Remember that this thread was started by a 172 pilot-- weight is much more critical. Maybe he can aspire to buy a Maule someday

we just like to brag...

learntolandshort wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYzsqMpIvco

here is some of the stuff we fit in the cub. With the maule we are fairly unlimited, but with the cub we are somewhat careful with what we bring. We do camp in quasi luxury, but have bought somewhat expensive/light backcamping stuff. We only primitive camp, but have never felt short supplied. Hillberg tents are bombproof, big and awesome. Montbell sleeping bags are light and the most comfortable around. We use a lightweight kingsize western mountaineering down comforter unless it is real cold. The biggest thermarest pads are a decent compromise of weight and comfort, Paco Pads from jacks plastic are the most luxurious, but kinda bulky and heavy. We do bring a backup campstove and dehydrated food, but haven't really had to rely on that since we just use a lightweight grate that we throw over the campfire. We did have to learn to drink whisky instead of beer when we just stick to one plane

We are pretty much the same, light compact backpacking gear, plus a couple bag chairs, a roll up table, and a small cooler.
One one thing I can add is we bring our own screw-in tie downs and ropes. Often the better camping areas are not at the established tie downs, or the established tie-downs are in disrepair. Pendleton for the whisky.

iceman wrote:..all my camping gear weighs less than 200 lbs although not by much...

Well hell, that's what my gear weighs when I head to JC in the 170... +420 lbs for me, my wife, and Tieton the dog.

Wow Maules are so amazing!

Thanks to everyone with the helpful tips and tricks.

I guess I don't think of tie downs as camping equipment, since I carry a set (The Claw, with a set of nylon straps) in the airplane all of the time--too many times I've been at airports with no tie downs. But for sure they're necessary when camping.

Cary

Jeredp,

One of my planes is a 1957 C172 and I take it camping quite a bit. O-300A, Stein STOL kit, prop re-pitched to max static, baggage door, 820 lbs useful.

blackrock has put forth a pretty good list to build upon/modify to suit your needs.

Ditto what learntolandshort posted. (BTW nice video!)

Keep it light.

A top quality tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, rain gear, survival kit and 1st aid kit are items where I don't compromise.

Where I make an exception regarding saving weight is with my tent. I've done hard corps backpack stints, but nowadays I like a little comfort and a tent I'm able to stand up in when airplane camping. My tent of choice these days is a Springbar Outfitter 3. I'll live with its 35 lbs as I can usually figure out other places to save weight to make up for it. If I'm flying a Super Cub type aircraft and can't take the weight, then a Northface VE-25 would get the nod.

Ramona Cox, a.k.a. Skychick, has some pretty good tips on airplane camping over on her website
http://www.skychick.com/travels/flying-tips/air-camping

I've come to like a solar re-chargeable LED lantern a lot.

My tie downs are Flyties. They work and I consider them the best available. I always take them with me in my plane.

Jeredp wrote:Wow Maules are so amazing!

Thanks to everyone with the helpful tips and tricks.

I am a Maule owner too...

....but don't let us/those guys encourage you to try hauling too much weight. As I read this entire thread I worried about you and your little family. Keep it light, very light. Good advice, as some have suggested, is to treat it like a backpacking trip. Minimal stuff. We have bought thousands of dollars worth of REI equipment over the years. Great stuff. Highly recommended. Forget the cooler etc. go with dry foods. The pastas, bean and rice dishes are really pretty good. Just heat in water. Instant oat meal, creame of wheat,peanut butter and jelly, fruit and crackers, fig nootens,nuts, jerkey, trail mix. All are light and pack a lot of calories. Only carry as much water as needed. Kool aid for the kids. Many places you could camp will have drinking water. Or stop and get a couple of gallons to carry for and overnight or two. To really leave the water behind....buy a quality backpacking water filter and filter water from local streams,ponds whatever. I have even filtered water out of cattle ponds filled with slime and goldfish. Works great. Water in the airplane gets really heavy.

The MSR stoves work great on avgas. I have been out for 4 weeks at a time using avgas to cook with. Never had a problem. I don't like the idea of carrying flamable fuels within the airplane. Easy to just drain avgas from the sumps.

Have fun. Stay light. I've seen our Maule, with minimal fuel, two adults and 200 lbs. of camping gear/food/water really sucking wind when density altitude has been high. Be safe with your precious family and yourself as well. As other's have suggested...try some easy camping airports at first. Long runways, lower elevations and just for a night or two.

have fun,

Bob

z3skybolt wrote:
Forget the cooler

How will you keep the beer cold! I agree with everything else though.

here's a bit of advice you might take seriously from experience... check the pitch on your 172's prop.. if you have a cruise prop think seriously about repitching it to climb prop specs... I repitched my 57 inch tripacer prop to 53 inches way back and the increase in climb and get off the ground performance was spectacular.. another friend of mine took his 172 with a cruise prop up there one summer and followed me to a couple strips the second day we were up there.. after nearly clipping trees on two of the strips we departed from, the next day he flew to Boise and had his prop re pitched to climb specs.. no problems after that... with all my camping gear, half fuel and me I left the ground before 500 ft of runway went by when leaving for home... when empty with a small cooler and fly rod and lunch I could go to almost any of the smaller strips in Idaho and was limited only by surface roughness...RPM is everything when taking off and I could get red line at Johnson creek routinely...you'll lose a little cruise speed but seeing the end of the runway coming and wondering if you'll clear the trees at the end isn't worth the 5 or so mPH you'll lose...and if u want to do mostly Back country flying speed is not your first priority...

The shopping list is getting bigger but I get the idea with gear. I guess my beautiful bride will be taking me to REI for my birthday in the spring.

As far as the prop goes, I think I'm pitched at 53 or 54(I'll have to look again). The TCDS allows for 76/52, 76/53, or 76/54. I sent a message to NW propeller in Puyallup to get a quote for re-pitching. Does anyone have recomendations on where to have this done and how much it will cost? I have also read about guys putting the 80" seaplane prop on the 172's with a chunk of rubber banded on the nose strut but I worked hard for my A&P and IA so I would like to keep them

What iceman said is spot on! As I mentioned in my previous post, I re-pitched mine to max static rpm.

The TCDS will state something like:

"McCauley 1C172/MDM 7652, 53, or 55
Static rpm at maximum permissible throttle setting:
Not over 2350, not under 2250
No additional tolerance permitted" (From 3A12)

You may re-pitch your prop to get the static rpm to within the limitations set forth in the TCDS for the installed prop.

I had mine done to max static years ago in New Mexico for about $150 and it resulted in an huge improvement in the take-off and climb performance. I only lost a couple of mph on the top end, but that's a trade off well worth it to me. FWIW - I made an appointment, flew in, removed the prop, carried it to the shop, shop re-pitched the prop, I re-installed the prop, dynamically balanced it, made the appropriate record entries, and took it for a check flight. Helps being an A&P/I.A. Checked good, so off I went. Never looked back at that old climb/cruise pitch.

Along with the prop re-pitch, one of the best things you can do to your model of plane is to add a Stein Aviation Sportsman STOL kit to it. I flew mine a couple hundred hours one year, then added the kit - turned it into a new airplane! Expensive mod, but well worth it!

Tom

How will you keep the beer cold! I agree with everything else though.

I don't carry beer, but I tried a few airplane camping trips sans cooler to save weight--didn't like that limitation, at all. I really like having OJ and milk and other perishables on camping trips, other than back-packing trips. I've tried a number of smaller coolers, and I always seemed to run out of ice before heading home. So I sprung for a Yeti cooler last Fall, and it's great--bulky for the amount it holds, but still has ice in it after several days. Only problem was getting it through the baggage door--has to be on its back and then put upright after inside.

But saving weight makes sense, to a degree. For instance, I have a nice Coleman multi-fuel camp stove--and for tailgating or car camping, it's great, but it's unnecessarily heavy (and bulky) for in the airplane. The MSR stoves work just as well, and they're super lightweight.

But I also like comfort, and when I'm flying alone or with my dog, I can afford the extra weight of a large tent vs. a back-packing tent, a cot vs. sleeping on the ground, a heater vs. putting up with cold, etc. A lot of that could be pared down, obviously, and it should be, when you're carrying the family. Especially as you get into higher density altitude situations, the less weight, the better.

That brings up a warning point: If your high density altitude experience is minimal, don't learn about it with a grossed out airplane. It seems as if performance decreases exponentially with increases in DA--don't know if that's exactly true, but it seems that way. So learn what your airplane will do in high DA situations a little at a time--nothing worse than climbing out with your tires scraping the trees as you can barely maintain 50 fpm!

Cary

Can you rep itch a prop at max static at high elevation? If I pitch my prop here at 5000ft won't it be over max rpm at lower elevation?