Drying Gear in the Backcountry - HOW???

[LBES]

Interested in hearing how you dry gear during a backcountry hunt, especially hunting in areas with lots of brush/huckleberries. I hunt North Idaho, and this fall was one of wettest on record. My buds and I packed in with good, light weight, quality gear, but it was no match for the amount of water that we experienced pounding wet huckleberries. As you know, even after a day or 2 of no rain, the huckleberries are still wet. Some days even our boots were wet. So, just interested to hear what your approach is to hunting the backcountry and keeping dry. Do you pack an ultralight stove? TP? How can we minimize putting on wet gear each morning?

 

[justinspicher]

Definitely a stove for those conditions.

 

[LBES]

Definitely a stove for those conditions.

Details?! What shelter are you running and what stove. Much of what I'm doing is spike camping, so I need to keep weight to a minimum. Are you hanging everything in shelter? Do you have to keep the stove going all night, given that most smaller stoves don't put a lot of BTU's out?

 

[Mad Mountain Mike]

I use a Seek Outside's BCS II. The shelter weighs around 3 pounds as does the titanium stove. Hang wet clothes inside during nasty weather and they are dry within a couple of hours. You don't need to keep the stove burning all night. By the time a guy eats and does camp chores things are usually dry. It's a luxury I rarely do without anymore on backpack hunts.

 

[Mad Mountain Mike]

Over the past few years there has been some nice new light weight shelters come out by Seek Outside , Kifaru and I'm sure others. There are some stove threads in the sleep systems catagory that are worth a read. When my old box stove burns out I'll be looking towards a Ti-goat's WIFI stove.

 

[LBES]

Over the past few years there has been some nice new light weight shelters come out by Seek Outside , Kifaru and I'm sure others. There are some stove threads in the sleep systems catagory that are worth a read. When my old box stove burns out I'll be looking towards a Ti-goat's WIFI stove.

Thanks Mike! Exactly the info I'm looking for. My buddy has been sending me links to those stoves and shelters for a while, but I've never run across them personally. And as you say, lots and lots of options. I can see your setup working well, and would have been great to have this year!

 

[justinspicher]

I run a GoLite SL5 with a stove jack, medium box stove by Kifaru. I have a cord to hang wet stuff as well.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I often use a Kifaru Sawtooth with most any variety of stove. As far as the BTU's put out by a stove I have no clue, but I can get a small box stove hot enough to drive you out of the Sawtooth in temps well below freezing. Clothes/gear take a couple of hours to dry. Be careful not to dry out your boot leather.

 

[yhc]

At my base camp I usually set up an Arctic Oven tent with a wood stove inside.

Alaska Tent & Tarp :: Arctic Oven, Wall Tents, Portable Buildings, Secondary Containment

If and when my clothing get wet, I hang them up in the tent and run the stove for an hour or two before going to bed. By morning hours they are bone dry. Since the tent is so heavy this won't help so much in the back country though.

Regards,

 

[GoatNuts]

I hunt similar conditions. Being wet is just part of the fun and it does become unavoidable, eventually, even with the best of the best gear. If it's wet, but not raining I always at least start off wearing my rain pants and gators. I find myself wearing rain pants on top of my normal pants 90% of the time my whole hunt. Obviously I live in my rain gear if it's actually raining. As for drying out clothes and gear, I rely on mid day fires, evening fires, and any bleak chance to hang clothes in trees if the sun comes out. Last year I upgraded to a tipi with a stove and that basically guaranteed dry clothes in the AM. I also rely on tarps for both in camp and out of camp. I always have a good stash of dry wood back at camp under a tarp. I've also learned to spend the majority of my hours glassing from under a well pitched tarp instead beating wet brush.

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[LBES]

I hunt similar conditions. Being wet is just part of the fun and it does become unavoidable, eventually, even with the best of the best gear. If it's wet, but not raining I always at least start off wearing my rain pants and gators. I find myself wearing rain pants on top of my normal pants 90% of the time my whole hunt. Obviously I live in my rain gear if it's actually raining. As for drying out clothes and gear, I rely on mid day fires, evening fires, and any bleak chance to hang clothes in trees if the sun comes out. Last year I upgraded to a tipi with a stove and that basically guaranteed dry clothes in the AM. I also rely on tarps for both in camp and out of camp. I always have a good stash of dry wood back at camp under a tarp. I've also learned to spend the majority of my hours glassing from under a well pitched tarp instead beating wet brush.

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Thanks - good perspectives. I hear ya about the rain - I'm not a fair weather sportsman, far from it. But it can become borderline dangerous heading back to your spike camp in the rain, in wet clothes, high 30's temps, and crawling into an tent for the night - and then waking up to put all that gear back on. Gloves, socks, pants, etc. It all adds up. I wear good gear, but between raining and sweating, I can be soaked in a few hours. So, I'm kinda wondering if you guys just change your hunting style much when these conditions develop, because I don't... in fact, I'd prefer to chase elk in the pouring rain as it cuts down the scent and noise. But you have me thinking about caching more gear in a spike camp location, perhaps tarps and ready cut fire wood - that would have gone a long way for me this year.

 

[tommymo]

I use a Seek Outside's BCS II. The shelter weighs around 3 pounds as does the titanium stove. Hang wet clothes inside during nasty weather and they are dry within a couple of hours. You don't need to keep the stove burning all night. By the time a guy eats and does camp chores things are usually dry. It's a luxury I rarely do without anymore on backpack hunts.

Mike,

Looking to get a Cimmeron, wondering how you hang your cloths in your tipi?

 

[kellytc45]

Kifaru 4 man tipi and medium stove with condisation liner. Good for 2 comfortablely 3 is a little crammed
It has changed my back pack hunting. 3 yrs haven't looked back.

 

[Clarktar]

I hunt similar conditions. Being wet is just part of the fun and it does become unavoidable, eventually, even with the best of the best gear. If it's wet, but not raining I always at least start off wearing my rain pants and gators. I find myself wearing rain pants on top of my normal pants 90% of the time my whole hunt. Obviously I live in my rain gear if it's actually raining. As for drying out clothes and gear, I rely on mid day fires, evening fires, and any bleak chance to hang clothes in trees if the sun comes out. Last year I upgraded to a tipi with a stove and that basically guaranteed dry clothes in the AM. I also rely on tarps for both in camp and out of camp. I always have a good stash of dry wood back at camp under a tarp. I've also learned to spend the majority of my hours glassing from under a well pitched tarp instead beating wet brush.

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Some good advice in this post.... I should glass more and beat less brush. Just hard to do in coastal WA...

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[KJH]

I bought a stove for this exact reason...

Without a stove, one thing I've taken along is two wire clothes hangers. I've rigged up a rod to hange them on near the fire when it wasn't raining. It's not perfect but it worked and they didn't fall off like when using a branch. Plus you have some heavy wire along if you need it.

 

[Mad Mountain Mike]

Mike,

Looking to get a Cimmeron, wondering how you hang your cloths in your tipi?

There are ties sewn into the inside of the shelter ( I'm sure the Cimmeron would have them but might be worth checking ) for one end of a clothes line the other end I tie to the centre pole.

 

[LBES]

Thanks for the ideas guys. The stove looks like a great way to manage the elements. It's on the list.

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[DFB]

I've been thinking about a stove and tipi lately but I have what may be a dumb question. If you pack in a stove do you still carry your jetboil? Can you just boil water on your stove?

 

[colonel00]

I've been thinking about a stove and tipi lately but I have what may be a dumb question. If you pack in a stove do you still carry your jetboil? Can you just boil water on your stove?

Depending on the stove, it can take a long time to boil water. Plus, depending on where you are, you may want a meal when you don't have the stove setup or you aren't in camp. I'm sure it works for some folks but I'm fine with packing in a cook stove.

 

[colonel00]

There are ties sewn into the inside of the shelter ( I'm sure the Cimmeron would have them but might be worth checking ) for one end of a clothes line the other end I tie to the centre pole.

The Cimmaron doesn't come with any interior ties or loops. I have no idea why. I even asked them when I stopped by their shop and they just didn't seem to think it was important. I do plan on adding some loops of my own though.