Forgot your tent? Rent a yurt

by Josh Lew on

Want to find the biggest collection of yurts outside of Mongolia? Head to Oregon’s state parks. Since the early 1990s, the state park system has installed 190 yurts in its campgrounds. 170 of those are in coastal areas where the weather can get nasty, especially during the winter. The sturdy, circular, canvas-covered structures provide a more comfortable experience than the average tent. Rental costs run about $30 per night.

Yurts remain an extremely popular option long after the novelty should have worn off. More than 15 years in state parks and still in high demand. In fact, the main problem with the Mongolian tents: they are usually booked months in advance, meaning that a spur-of-the-moment yurt excursion is out of the question. Oregon has been building cabins at some coastal state parks in an effort to draw more campers who don’t want to pack a tent. However, the wooden structures cannot compete with the canvas ones in terms of popularity.

[Via Seattle Times]

Gadling goes camping (win free Coleman stuff!)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Every once in awhile, when the writers over at Gadling get tired of the same old motorcycle rides across Asia and space flights, we just want to travel “simple.” And that’s when a camping trip can be great. Most of us, no matter how large or small the city we live in, are within a few hours’ drive of some great unspoiled wilderness where we can pitch a tent, get a nice fire going and spend the night gazing up at the stars.

With that instinct in mind I set out on a camping trip of my own last month to the great New England state of Vermont. But it also goes without saying that I am not really the camping type – leave me alone in the woods for a day or so and I would probably end up squatting in a ditch with nothing but a few strategically-placed leaves to wear as underwear. It soon became clear that I would need some good camping gear for my trip. But how does one pick appropriate gear for camping? If you work for a travel site, you just make a few calls. Soon I was chatting with Dawn at Coleman, who generously provided me with a few products to test out during my trip.

How did these products hold up in the wilderness of Vermont? Would my camping trip end with me trapped up to my neck in a sleeping back unable to get out? Read on to see what happened…Coleman Propane Grill Stove
Don’t get me wrong, sitting around a roaring campfire represents the quintessential camping experience. But when it comes to cooking, camping novices are not going to want to waste their time with anything more than hot dogs or s’mores on a big open flame. The fire either burns everything to a crisp or doesn’t cook it well enough.

That’s where a portable stove like Coleman’s unit came in handy on my trip. Combining an open stove-top burner with a grilltop, it’s just what you need to make yourself a halfway decent meal out in the open. I was quite pleased with the stove’s open burner, which quickly boiled water and made short work of sautéing some vegetables. But the grilling side? Forget it. It barely ever got hot enough to burn my hand. It’s best to keep to simple easily cooked items – so leave the soufflés at home.

Coleman Dynamo Lantern
I live in New York City, so the concept of total darkness is quite foreign to me. Out in the woods though, when the sun goes down, forget trying to find your way around by the light of the moon. You’re going to need a flashlight or a lantern. The nice thing about the lantern I brought was it was powered by hand-crank – you just pull out the handle and crank it around a few times to give it a charge. That’s both a positive and a negative – any time I needed it, I would crank my lantern for a good minute or so and be reward with a small match-size flickering beam. It’s enough to find your way back to your tent but don’t count on it to read Call of the Wild.

Interestingly enough, Coleman’s lantern has another feature – it apparently charges cell phones. My problem with this? Neither me nor any of my friends was able to find a compatible phone among the 5 of us. Best check your phone model before counting on this baby to give your handset some juice.

Coleman Cool Zephyr Ceiling Fan with Light
Perhaps I’m just naïve when it comes to camping (the answer is yes) but this little unit was a godsend. Clipping easily to the roof of my tent with a magnet, this hanging unit not only provides a powerful light beam to illuminate your tent interior – it also has a built in fan to keep things cool. Trust me, when the sun hits your tent at 7am, and the huge down sleeping bag and nylon tent you’re inside turn you into a human baked potato in a convection oven, you’re going to want some ventilation. This unit is fairly small, inconspicuous but still highly useful.

Wrap-Up (and a contest!)
So did I discover any truths about the universe while I was out communing with nature and my new camping gear? Not really, unless you count the 20-30 mosquito bites I got as some sort of perverse, itchy knowledge.

What I did learn however, is that we like to give things away here at Gadling. Want to do some camping of your own? How about a portable stove, hand-crank lantern or light/fan unit to get your trip started right? Just leave an entry telling us about your favorite camping experience in the comments below and we’ll draw a lucky winner by Friday, August 29th.

Now get out there and commune with nature!

  • To enter, simply leave a comment below telling us about your favorite camping experience.
  • The comment must be left before Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 5PM Eastern Time.
  • You may enter only once.
  • Three winners will be selected in a random drawing.
  • Three Grand Prize Winners will be randomly selected to receive one of the following: a Coleman Propane Grill Stove, Coleman Crank-Powered Lantern or a Coleman Interior Tent Light/Fan
  • Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
  • Grill-Stove is valued at $79.99, Dynamo Lantern at $34.99 and Ceiling Fan with Light at $19.99.
  • Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Idaho State Parks Plug In

by Josh Lew on

Idaho State Parks are seeking to redefine camping. The places where Ernest Hemingway used to pitch his tent and cast his fly rod is going wireless. At least, some of them are.

Park officials are looking closely at an experimental program that currently connects five state parks to the internet. The parks in question are Bruneau Dunes, Harriman, Henrys Lake and Ponderosa.

So far feedback has been good; though purists are obviously a bit miffed at the combination of nature and tech. After all, state parks are one of the last remaining places where you can go to get away from those who compulsively check their email or MySpace friends list.

A survey conducted as part of the pilot program shows that most people are in favor of campground WiFi. Campers claimed that they would use the service for practical reasons like checking weather reports, contacting family, looking up information about the park, and making arrangements for future camping expeditions.

But who are these survey respondents? If you are thinking that most are the type who consider camping parking bus-sized RVs somewhere with lots of trees, you’re right. Kind of. Many of those in favor of the WiFi were representing the old school: tent campers. So, like it or not, it seems the marriage of tech and nature is going to go ahead in Idaho.

Daily deal – up to 50% off outdoor gear at Amazon.com

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for today is for a large clearance event at the Amazon.com outdoors store. With summer slowly coming to an end for many of us, Amazon clearly need to make room in their warehouses for Halloween costumes and Christmas toys. Their loss is your gain, because there are some very nice deals to be found.

Some of the highlights include this heavy duty flashlight for $5.50, this highly rated Teton backpack with internal frame for $57.17 or this Columbia 3 person tent for just $51.58.

There is something for everyone in the discount aisle, including some pretty sweet discounts on Victorinox Swiss Army knives.

All purchases over $25 ship for free, and as always, Amazon Prime members can benefit from free 2 day shipping on most products.

For an overview of all the deals, check out their various discount departments:Cycling and wheeled, Camping and hiking and Exercise and fitness

Galley Gossip: The mini motel for the commuting flight attendant

by Heather Poole on

See that guy over there, the one wearing a business suit lying on the floor inside an orange tent at the airport? The first time I saw that picture on The New York Times website, I laughed, and then I thought to myself, genius, absolute genius. The Mini Motel, a one-person tent complete with air mattress, pillow, reading light and alarm clock, that’s what Frank Giotto, a business traveler, created after an unscheduled stay at a German airport.

There’s one problem with the luxury tent, and it’s a pretty big problem. Simply put, it’s a tent. Personally, I can’t see too many passengers interested in buying a tent. I mean who in their right mind wants to lug that thing on the airplane – just in case there’s a delay, or cancellation, or something that would cause one to set up tent? Nor do I see the airlines purchasing it. Not when they’re getting rid of things – namely employees – in order to save money. So who do I see desperate to get their hands on a luxury tent aimed at stranded people at the airport? Flight attendants of course!

According to Wikipedia, Commuting is the process of traveling between one’s place of residence and regular place of work. For most people, normal people, commuting means getting in the car or hopping on a train and taking an hour long ride to the city where the office is located. Commuting for a flight attendant is a whole other animal. We cross cities, as in several cities, in order to get to work. Yet it’s what a lot of flight attendants choose to do, particularly the ones based in New York – like me! Yes, I am a commuter. I commute from my home in Los Angeles to New York where I start my trips at one of two New York airports. I know I know, it’s a little crazy, but it works.

Just to be safe, and well rested, I always fly to New York the night before my trip. But some commuters travel up on the same morning of their trip. Haven’t you ever wondered why the crew looks so worn out? Why they look as if they haven’t slept in days? Chances are they haven’t. Chances are, if they weren’t working twelve hours a day for three days straight (with short layovers), they could be commuters.

Now I know what you’re wondering: where do commuters stay at night when they’re not on a trip and laying over at a hotel in a strange city? If they do not have family or friends they can “visit”, they’ll stay in one of three locations…

  1. The Crash Pad: If they’ve got the money to spend (about $150/month), you’ll find commuters living in crash pads not too far away from the airport. My first crash pad, located in Kew Gardens, also known as Crew Gardens, was a three story house that was home to so many flight attendants I couldn’t begin to count them all. Seriously. I don’t even know if I met everyone who lived in this particular crash pad during my first three months as a flight attendant. All I know is “my room” had six bunk beds lining the walls, and each bunk bed had a different flight attendant (who brought along their own set of sheets) sleeping in it each and every night.
  2. The Airport Hotel: Sometimes a few commuters will get together and chip in to share a cheap hotel room near the airport — though this doesn’t really happen often, not anymore, not since we took a pay cut after 9/11. However, I do still see quite a few commuting pilots waiting for the hotel shuttle outside the airport.
  3. Flight Operations – Besides a couple of computers and a few sofas and maybe a television, there’s usually a little “quiet room” located somewhere at the back of ops. The quiet room is always dark and filled with reclining chairs. This is where you’ll find a majority of the New York commuters. But ONLY if ops is located on the outside of security, which isn’t always the norm at most airline terminals. But if ops is an option, rest assured, that’s the place to be.

Which brings me back to The Mini Motel, a $39.95 luxury one-person tent that comes complete with a mattress, pillow, reading light, alarm clock, and, most importantly, a bit of privacy when you’re stranded at the airport far away from home. Tell me this isn’t the perfect gift for that commuting flight attendant in your life! After that commuting flight attendant FINALLY stops thanking you over and over and over for the wonderful gift, you tell me that thoughtful gift is just a tent and not a luxurious crew condo.