OK, so a long time ago I posted about my Vango tent...

Well, what I didn't say was the big reason I was shopping for a backpacking tent was I had a dream.  A dream of my son and I getting a chance to go to the Boy Scout's Philmont ranch in New Mexico. A dream to spend 2 weeks backpacking in the mountains with just a few friends.   Well, that dream became a reality last summer.

Two years of planning, saving, training, and testing gear all culminated in a life changing experience.  Me, my son, and a group from the might BSA troop 179 got our chance.  This video does a far better job of what we experienced then meager words could ever do.  

I'm not lazy. just busy...But i'm still here

and hard at work.   One of the things that has take up the most of my free time (what little I actually have) is my camping trailer.  I get out and camp in it. I modify and work on it.   According to my wife, "I'm just a big kid and I play with it".

Its gone through a lot of small improvements since I picked it up.  Vanity got the best of me so it got a wrap to match my truck.  it got the off road lift kit to better match the ride hight, and the off road capabilities of the truck.   I lot of little inside stuff to make it more livable when camping, and better serve as a bug out trailer.


The roof top tent was a huge addition.  The CVT Mt Shasta gives me room for 2 plus on top, and the annex creates a lot of enclosed room off the back.  With the read barn doors open, it all works together as one big space.

I upgraded the onboard battery to a 200 amp hour deep cycle, and with my solar gear, I can run indefinitely off grid, and that includes running the fridge.

I added a bike rack up front to carry my trail bikes.  I already talked about how they fit into my plan in another post.  The trailer has been my biggest investment to date,  and I must say in extremely happy with how it fits into my recreational life, and my bug out plan.

My next level bug out trailer

Ok, I finally am sitting still long enough to put some details on this new trailer up.  I already talked about the how and why I landed on the Intech, and now that I have used it a few times I have begun to tailor it to my needs.   In theory if the SHTF day ever came, this is my "hook up and go" giant bug out bag. But lets be honest, the SHTF on a regular basis all around the world on a local basis.  From California wild fires to hurricanes battering the coast, to any number of regional events, things happen, people need to evacuate, and a lot of times lives get lost.  The faster you can vacate a danger zone, the better.   Sometimes you get a lot of fore warning, but not always, and my new trailer upped my readiness and survivability.

Of course the trailer is a transport method for my gear, and I keep it loaded and ready.  Yeah, some of this is my camping gear that I use anytime i'm out, but a lot of it is emergency and survival gear that is just stored in the trailer instead of on a shelf or in my basement. I have to unload it before a recreational outing, and thats a complete reversal of the norm by unloading to go, but it keeps me in a constant state of readiness.  

I still keep my totes loaded like previously wrote about. They stay in the basement ready to be loaded in the truck bed, but things that are not temperature sensitive, I store in the trailer.

This trailer is not just a gear hauler, it also serves as base camp.  With its 270 degree foxwing awning, attachable tent, and wind breaks, it gives my family ample shelter from the elements.  On TV its marauders, or aliens, or zombies, that are the enemy, thats fun and glamorous but in reality weather, exposure, and the environment will and has killed more people then anything else.

If I ever have to evacuate my home, I don't want to be sleeping on the floor of some school gym, or a FEMA camp.  If anything was ever to be learned from New Orleans and the response to Hurricane Katrina, its you do NOT want your fate to be in the hands of the government. Thats not to say they may not have the best intentions, its just not how I roll.

Now this piece of gear also has a huge impact on me in another way.  It allows me to get out and enjoy THIS!  You can not overestimate the value of recreation, and recharging your mental batteries.  Being able to comfortably get away and enjoy this view does more for my mental stability then all the prozac at the nearest pharmacy.  The joy this brings me is immeasurable, AND at the same time it stands ready to shield me in case I have to evacuate.  

A huge investment, or a new toy...

I'm not sure which this is classified as?  I think investment, prep gear, recreation, even mental health. My wife says "toy".

Ok, so if you've seen my previous blog posts, you've seen my camping/bug out trailer, and how I keep it staged and loaded with all my gear. Its basically my bugout bag, because I can hitch it to my truck almost as fast as I could grab a backpack if there were a crisis.   Well after many MANY hand wringing sessions and late nights of research, I made a significant upgrade.

I had a very specific criteria. I wanted a larger trailer, but I didn't want a "project" like building out a empty equipment trailer.  I wanted it to use it for camping, like a teardrop, and sleep in it, but it had to have full open access so I could easily and quickly load all my totes of gear in an evac situation. It needed to fit in my garage otherwise it was useless.  You can't have bug out gear, then store it away from your primary residence where you would be bugging out from.  I have been to a couple of years of RV shows looking a Popups, and all sorts of travel trailers and none of them fit the bill, then I found it.  The perfect trailer, perfect, perfect, PERFECT!   an Intech RV Flyer!

Its absolutely PERFECT!  Well its almost perfect, but its absolutely checked of every box I had, and gave me stuff I didn't even know I wanted, and its a blank canvas for additional upgrades.  

You can go to Intech's website to see all the specs if that turns you on, but IF i had a magic wand, THIS would be what I would create.   

Anyway,  This has improved my camping game tremendously, but just like the previous trailer, its the fact that I keep it at home, fully prepped and loaded with all my survival gear, that makes it a prep.  Its a giant bug out bag! I can literally hitch up and go, and never look back.     I watched family and friends in North Carolina struggle over if they should leave.  You never know what way these storms will go, and the expense of an evac can be daunting to say the least.  I can wait longer, to make that final call to evacuate because I've prepaid the expense.  (yes, the old preping is time shifting thing again)

Ok, there are a lot more details to come, but this has been a game changer.

Its been a crazy year...

Work has kept me from getting any keyboard

time.  My new position over facilities and operations at a long term acute care hospital gives me no free time, but it has "professionalized" my prep game.

Quarterly fire and life safety drills, FEMA manuals, active shooter drills, emergency response training.  Even though we aren't a level 1 hospital, we still are listed as a triage response location so if there were an explosion at any of the near by factories or a tanker train derailment and chemical spill at the local rail yard, we would be where authorities would set up shop.  I got two whole rooms of FEAM supplied decontamination gear just in case.  Talk about being ready for zombies...


Think I was excited to get my 2200 watt Ryobi generator for camping? imagine the grin on my face standing in front of a Caterpillar 750,000 watt diesel generator, powered by 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel in my own storage tank.  I've got a round the clock security team, 72 camera digital video security system, an armory with full emergency response gear (i know right!), a morgue...  

I've been in prepper "fat hog heaven" my friends.  I've also had to learn a crap load of Hospital Joint Commission and Commission of Accredited Rehabilitation Facilities rules and regs, no fun and no free time.  BUT, I did get a discount on my MREs and canned water by adding what I needed at home onto the order when we rotated inventory.so that was nice

Anyway,  Its taken months, well actually a couple of years, but its finally settled down to where I can think about other things creatively.   I never stopped prepping, camping, or training,  I just didn't have time to put it into words (and there is some stuff I had to go through and learn that I'm not suppose to share.  So.... I'm back.

Ok, I cracked! The Photobucket bastards beat me

The Photobucket bastards beat me into submission.  I completely capitulated and paid their blackmail so my links are active again.  I feel so dirty...

Anyway,  I'll be back to sharing my mental wanderings, purchases, and gear tests.

My deepest apologies...

If you have been reading any of this, because I have been extremely negligent.  A huge project at work has sucked up most of my spare time, and i didn't want to give up my other activity so my post have suffered. BUT, I have continued my prepping and my gear tests and evaluation, so i have a ton of info, just no time to write.  I also have been rather depressed about the whole thing because Photobucket decided to go to this fee based system and block everything.  it just ruined my whole blog.  I'm looking for a replacement or alternative, and i will have to go back and redo every single post and link.  Bastatrds! Wait, can i say bastards on the internet? Yeah, its my private blog so... You Photobucket BASTARDS!.  

Quick update to a product I love, and you saw me rave about.  The Slumberjack Sleeping bag.  Well, I had my Ronin, and i ended up getting a Lapland on close out.  Both are -20 with the same design, just one is more synthetic fill, and one has down.  Anyway, my son and I were camping this weekend (first weekend in February) in mid Michigan.  Military Bivy sack covers in improvised lean-to shelters and single man tents, no heaters, no luxury "Glamping" stuff, low teens at night.  These bags were amazing.  I actually had to vent with the bottom zippers inside the bivy in 14 degree weather to stay comfortable. And again, pop you arms out the arm holes and stay warm while you make the first "cup of joe".  Money was well spent on these Slumberjack bags.

Anyway,  I did a big investment in my gear, after i find a image site to host, i have some amazing things to share.