Luxury Items, what are they and why do you take them?
Notepad & Pen
These luxury items are for the intended purpose of being able to record information to later use while I’m writing about my trips. The original thought behind taking pen and paper was to be able to leave a note at base camp if I ever got lost and needed rescue. In reality, I never remember to pull them out to do that with nor have I ever been lost and in need of rescue, YET. In this digital age, I typically grab my phone and jot my notes down there instead.
I may start leaving this behind on my solo overnight trips because there’s no value to carrying them with me. Of course as soon as I do, I’ll run into that exact scenario that I’d need them for. They don’t weigh much, nor do they take up very much room, so for that unlikely of situations, I just may keep them anyway.
Moccasins/Camp Shoes
I’ve already got shoes on to hike to my camping spot, why in the world would I want to carry another pair? Well the moccasins I take are like slippers, so they are warm and comfy. In addition, they allow my feet room to breathe unlike my hiking shoes that are laced tight enough to prevent them from falling off my feet. And probably most importantly, when I get up to pee in the middle of the night, I’d rather slip on my moccasins than fumble with laces on my shoes.
So for me it’s convince in the middle of the night and comfort before and after along day of hiking at camp that makes them worth taking with me. Do I think you should take an extra pair of shoes to wear around camp? Yeah probably, but that’s totally your decision to or not. I would recommend, if you do, something slipper like, like moccasins, Crocs, or the like. Nothing that’s like the shoes you’re already wearing. Just something that’s going to allow your feet some comfort while providing adequate protection to allow you to walk around camp.
Quadstool
Growing tired of sitting on rocks or the ground as I age, I bought the Quadstool as a lighter weight option to the large camp chairs. This served me quite well for a couple of years. I’ve since upgraded from this stool to a “lightweight” backpacking chair. While I no longer have the 2 stools I bought originally, as they’ve been gifted to new homes, I would not hesitate to buy them again or one similar.
My original purchase was from Sportsman Warehouse online for an approximate price of $7 each plus shipping. As of the last time I looked,I could not find them on that website. It wasn’t lightweight, but compared to a full size camp chair, it was, weighing in at 2.13lbs and more packable in or on a backpack.
Camp Chair
The Phiroop “lightweight” backpacking camp chair has been an amazing upgrade from my camp stool I was using before. I saw a different brand used by my camping buddy on our annual camping trip. His had the standard feet on it. Because of that his chair kept sinking in the ground. When I went shopping for my chair, I knew I wanted feet that would counter that issue as well as hold my hefty weight.
The heavy duty durability does come at a slight weight cost. My chair weights in at 2.33lbs making it a little less “lightweight” in my opinion. However when compared to the full size camp chairs, it’s still lighter weight.
Conclusion
Luxury items can be extremely personal. And as such the weight to comfort value should be highly considered by the individual. As long as you find the value in carrying the weight of the item in question, no one else’s opinion should matter. Take with you what you think will enhance and make your experience that much better. If you find it doesn’t, maybe leave it behind. I take everything here except the stool because they make my time in the woods that much better and, well, I don’t have the stool anymore.
Links
The following links may not be to the EXACT gear pictured, however, will be to what I could find comparable to what I have and use. Some are a generalized search so you can pick exactly what you want or give you an idea what might be found at that retail store if it applies.
- Notepad & Pen (Bought at the Dollar Store)
- Moccasins
- Quadstool
- Camp Chair
The Wandering Leatherneck 