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CortezBlue
Super Nomad
Posts: 2213
Registered: 11-14-2006
Location: Fenix/San Phelipe
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I have one word for you, Craigslist
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RnR
Senior Nomad
Posts: 836
Registered: 5-1-2010
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Add a SunShower to your list. They heat fast in the Baja sun and are great for washing salt off after swimming, or whatever.
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Curt63
Super Nomad
Posts: 1171
Registered: 3-28-2009
Location: San Diego, Ca.
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Mood: Fish tacos and Tecate
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Coleman gear has been great for me.
No worries
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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| Quote: | Originally posted by RnR
Add a SunShower to your list. They heat fast in the Baja sun and are great for washing salt off after swimming, or whatever. |
Yesssss, sunshowers are just great. My wife and I find that the little 3 gallon one is perfect for both of us-----get wet then turn off the
sunshower----shampoo and soap up with bio-degradable soap (Camp Suds)------then rinse off fast. Makes you feel like a king!!! (or queen, in my
wife's case).  We have a tarp that attaches to the side of our little
camper if you need privacy.
Barry
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redhilltown
Super Nomad
Posts: 1130
Registered: 1-24-2009
Location: Long Beach, CA
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Coleman Xtreme coolers...great bang for the buck.
Block ice from ice company is da bomb (not the crap in the markets). If really going off road for many days I'll pack one cooler with just block ice
and some dry ice plus some frozen veggies/fruit...tape it shut...then use it as needed after day three or four.
Isolated beach camping in Baja means coyotes and they are thirsty for your water...yum...they KNOW what is in your water containers and they KNOW how
to drag them off when you are deep in rem sleep...ask 10 baja campers their coyote water stories and you'll get 50 answers.
I personally hate lanterns and the light for basic camping...too bright and right in your eyes...I use something like this
http://www.ebatts.com/blog/post/duracell-powerpack-450watts-...
And I attached l.e.d xmas lights to our canopy for the best soft lighting and then use a spot light with lower wattage bulb for cooking...plus in a
pinch it has the compressor and jumpers (though I would recommend a better air compressor but these are still better than the cheapie plug ins).
recharge as needed on the road.
I agree on the tents...just a good basic tent...REI half dome worked for me for 20 years
Oh...and wine. Any style but white zinfandel works fine.
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Santiago
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3499
Registered: 8-27-2003
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| Quote: | Originally posted by redhilltown
Oh...and wine. Any style but white zinfandel works fine.
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OK, we need clarification. Are you saying any wine with the exception of White Zin?? or any wine is fine, including White Zin?
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redhilltown
Super Nomad
Posts: 1130
Registered: 1-24-2009
Location: Long Beach, CA
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Santiago
| Quote: | Originally posted by redhilltown
Oh...and wine. Any style but white zinfandel works fine.
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OK, we need clarification. Are you saying any wine with the exception of White Zin?? or any wine is fine, including White Zin?
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Ah yes! I can see how my wording was confusing 
Just messin but White Zin is not one of my faves...then again, if it was the ONLY wine around on a hot day on a secluded Baja beach??? Pour me
another!!!!!!!
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tiotomasbcs
Super Nomad
Posts: 1837
Registered: 7-30-2007
Location: El Pescadero
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And... tear the mattress off your bed & tie it on top of vehicle!! If not, find some type solid, egg shell, Costco, REI, large mattress! Don't
scrimp w/cost cause a comfy nite... know what I mean. You'll have a blast even if you forget the tp?! Very hot in BCS during the next 4 months. Enjoy.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64478
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Think we scared the OP away...? 'Huesos' didn't realize how passionate we are with our camping equipment, eh!?
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redhilltown
Super Nomad
Posts: 1130
Registered: 1-24-2009
Location: Long Beach, CA
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I think DK, the further you go off the beaten track, the more you love your equipment as you really need to count on it!!!
He does mention lightweight stoves and I'm sure some purists will knock me down on this one but if you are just doing light cooking/water for coffee,
you cannot beat the single burner butane stoves that can be found at Sports Chalet and similar places...BUT, to save some money, go to an Asian market
(such as Mitsuwa) and they are usually cheaper (20-25 ish). These stoves are great in Baja in that they are lightweight and simple...you may want to
think in advance of a wind screen of some sort as they don't have anything as such like the typical Colemans.
Butane sucks at high altitudes and in the cold and propane is your better bet there but for most of Baja they are great...just bring enough
canisters!!!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64478
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by redhilltown
I think DK, the further you go off the beaten track, the more you love your equipment as you really need to count on it!!!
He does mention lightweight stoves and I'm sure some purists will knock me down on this one but if you are just doing light cooking/water for coffee,
you cannot beat the single burner butane stoves that can be found at Sports Chalet and similar places...BUT, to save some money, go to an Asian market
(such as Mitsuwa) and they are usually cheaper (20-25 ish). These stoves are great in Baja in that they are lightweight and simple...you may want to
think in advance of a wind screen of some sort as they don't have anything as such like the typical Colemans.
Butane sucks at high altitudes and in the cold and propane is your better bet there but for most of Baja they are great...just bring enough
canisters!!! |
Indeed... at our age, we are into simple and easy... and while I never want to give up 4WD camping, the easier I can make it on Baja Angel and I, the
better chances I can keep doing this for more years without needing a camper, RV, or motel.
This Coleman Instant Tent is the best thing since sliced bread.
We have a nice air mattress that I plug into to 110v outlet in my Tacoma bed, with an extension cord to pump up.
We have a combo Coleman propane stove with one burner and a grille.
We have 3 battery lanterns... although we only use them if we need to do anything requiring light after dark, and enjoy the stars and campfire
otherwise.
A folding table and chairs.
Two Coleman Xtreme ice chests, one for drinks and one for food or one filled with just ice to replenish the other. Block ice lasts the longest.
If more than 1 day, a Coleman Instant sun canopy... again an easy to set up one.
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MMc
Super Nomad
Posts: 1679
Registered: 6-29-2011
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Mood: Current
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Start off, with the reason a person likes something is the reason another dislikes it. There is not just one answer.
If you have a friend that camps, barrow it, check it out. If you have not camped in a while, are you still up for it? It would be a shame to spend
big bucks on something and never use it twice.
Ice chest: we use 100 qt for most of our food and Ice storage, 50 Qt for drinks. I can pick up a full 100 Qt by myself, bigger then that they are real
heavy. If you add some closed cell foam on top inside the chest it helps keep ice longer. We fill a chest with blocks, cubes in the gaps &
proteins top with dry ice, place the foam on top of all. This ice chest is always in the shade with towels or sleeping bags on it. This is only opened
when we have to. The dry ice makes the ice super cold and will last longer. (refr. ice-house ice vs store ice). Remember to remove tomorrows proteins
today so they will defrost and help keep the food chest cold as well.
The food ice chest, we put the ice in boxes inside the chest this keep the food dry and slows the blocks melting. The less air that moves around the
ice the slower it melts, Water is worse then air for speeding up the melt. If you wrap the veggies in paper they last longer in the ice chest. This
also get a 1' layer of closed cell foam on top of the food.
Drink cooler is the ice eater. If you can get the drinks cool before they go in, the less shock to the ice. We will put drinks in a tide pool to
precool them. You get the idea. The better the chest here, the longer the ice will last. I have not used the electric style. I am very remote when I
camp, so we KISS it.
There are three levels of ice chest.
The standard, ($)They have been around for years. Block of ice by itself will last 18-24 hours.
The extreme,($$) same block will last 4-5 days.
Super duty.($$$$) Same block will last 5-7 days.
We tested in backyard last summer in days that were about 95 degrees.
Stoves, What are you going to do on it?
If are only going to boil water, Jetboil ($$$$) will boil water very fast. It is terrible at just about any other kind of cooking.
White gas. Hot, adjustable flame. Coleman built a company on this. If you want to use "White Gas" it is very hard to find in Baja, However unleaded
works just fine.
Propane. Easy and cheap, easy to find. Most car campers use it. A 5gal bottle will last months. If you are going with the small bottles take extras.
My 2 and 3 burners tend bulky and heavy.
Most sporting goods stores sell some version of these, you want BTUs and plenty of flame control. Mexico sells some super hot propane stoves. My 3
burner is a converted white gas nick named Titan V3. Got the converter in Ensenada.
Lots of backing packing stoves are light but don't control flame very well. The ones that do are a little more dollars. If you have a Jetboil kind of
stove make sure you take plenty of fuel, it will be very hard to find in Baja.
Tents. Lots and lots of tents made these days.
Single wall tents are eather coated nylon or a “Gortex like fabric” they do not breath well. Hot and possibly damp.
Polyester fly don't break down in sunlight like nylon does. They do tend to last longer
A lot of the high end mountaineering use a poly fly.($$$$).
Tents with large areas netting in the tent, they will get more blow sand in them. The tents with less netting will be very stuffy in hot and humid.
NEVER GET A TENT WITH FIBERGLASS POLES, they always break. These are used to keep the price of the tent down. Aluminum are better, Anodized Aluminum
are best. Many will tout the mfg. of the pole (Eaton is one of many).
The bigger the tent the bigger the sail in the wind. The smaller the tent the less living room.
Dome tents are roomy and get be set up without stakes. Flys do need stakes.
Tunnel tents are a hot seller right now. Roomy, great in the wind, need stakes for both the tent and fly.
Flys will wick water into the tent if the fly and the tent are touching.
Always use a footprint under the tent. If car camping I use a heavy vinyl as a footprint. A footprint helps slow rocks from wearing through the floor.
The footprint must be smaller then the tent and fly. The water will run off the tent and fly, under the floor and will wick inside.
When you get a new tent always reseal the seams. The guy that sealed it in China or Vietnam never cared about you drowning in your tent during that
big storm.
Most of the time we take a 4 person, 3 season backpacking tent with a fly for the 2 of us weight is 8#. We leave the fly off a lot. I have 4 season
tents for when it might be bad.
Cots, We don't use as my tents are to low for them. We use Therm-a-rest pads 2+? inches thick. Very Nice!! ($$$$). We stay on them in the tents so we
don't put holes in the tent floor.
There are a lot of factors that go into the right system for you. How much space? How much weight? How much cost? Only you can answer. Barrow and pick
up used when you can.
Sierra trading and Campmor both have Special Deal Sections.
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/
http://www.campmor.com/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=ppc...
Cabelas have some different big tents and gear.
http://www.cabelas.com/
Backcountry also has some different gear.
http://www.backcountrygear.com/. Barrow and pick up used when you can.
Sorry I went on so long.
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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MMc
Super Nomad
Posts: 1679
Registered: 6-29-2011
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Mood: Current
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I forgot, Go to a hardware store and replace your tent steaks with the 12" nails for 18" rebar. Something big buried in the sand also works as a
steak. Called a dead-man.
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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redhilltown
Super Nomad
Posts: 1130
Registered: 1-24-2009
Location: Long Beach, CA
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by MMc
I forgot, Go to a hardware store and replace your tent steaks with the 12" nails for 18" rebar. Something big buried in the sand also works as a
steak. Called a dead-man. |
THIS...is a great post. 90% of the stakes that come with tents are utterly useless. Toss em and upgrade.
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Tents
Tents for baja winter camping are very different than summer camping. For the summer you are looking for something airy that basically provides shade.
A tent for the winter needs to stand up to some pretty strong winds. Staying cool is usually not an issue.
I've used this geodesic dome tent from cabelas with aluminum poles in 40mph gusts and we were totally comfortable. The Alaska Guide Tent. The wind was
so strong it flipped my aluminum boat and motor completely over.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Camping/Tents-Shelters/Family...
It's 4'8" tall, almost large enough to stand up. At $350 it's less expensive than most of the REI 2 man tents you have to crawl into.
Check the ratings. 4.8 out of 5.0 with 350 reviews on the website.
Before buying this tent I purchased a $99 dome tent through amazon that was well rated. The wind was so strong that the tent poles bowed completely to
the ground leaving the walls flat on top of us. Then it would spring back up. This went on all night until the poles just bent and stayed that way. It
had been a fine summer tent through several sierra and oregon trips. But baja winter winds can be really strong at times. If you've ever driven
through Mojave you can get an idea of how it can be.
I bought this tent for Alaska but it did very well in baja. It's constructed from ripstop nylon and will last for years. It's not a backpacking tent
but it's fairly light.
The winds are very fickle and vary in intensity throughout the peninsula. You may get lucky and not have a single windy day and curse yourself for not
buying a coleman standup tent. If you're in the upper Cortez in late Dec, Jan, Feb you will likely encounter some strong winds on some days.
There have been many good suggestions here. Get those really large 12" nails at the hardware store. In sand you will need to dig a hole before driving
the nail in and cover hole with sand. Sometimes I roll rocks over the buried nails to keep them from coming out.
Sleeping in that tent is more comfortable than the camper for me. Just place a large thermarest inflatable bedding on the floor and you're good to go.
Good luck
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Kgryfon
Senior Nomad
Posts: 624
Registered: 1-27-2009
Location: East Bay, CA
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Check out the Burning Man festival pages for tips on how to survive in desert conditions. I made a portable swamp cooler from plans I found on their
website. Solar powered. Used the melted water from my ice chest to feed it. Used solar panels to re-charge a battery, hooked the battery to a
computer server fan attached to the top of a 5 gallon bucket and a submersible water pump, added tubing, etc. Worked pretty good, but was probably
overkill as we were out and about most of the time, but was a nice respite from the burning desert heat. Anyway, they have plenty of tips on desert
survival and self-sufficiency that would translate well to Baja camping.
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MMc
Super Nomad
Posts: 1679
Registered: 6-29-2011
Member Is Offline
Mood: Current
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what would those Burning man guys know... They are just highly creative people that think outside the box. They couldn't come up with anything
original 
By the way, their art is amazing. Cool people as well.
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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Kgryfon
Senior Nomad
Posts: 624
Registered: 1-27-2009
Location: East Bay, CA
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Yes, they are, and yes, the art is amazing, and the people watching is beyond belief!
I finally stopped taking pictures because if you tried to take a picture of everything that deserved a picture you would never stop! Everywhere you
turned was a feast of imagination, art, and just plain old wierd/fun/unusual stuff of going on.
I think I will go at least one more time before I retire and head down to Baja. It was an amazing experience the last (and only, so far) time I went
in 2011. Except for the music. That was crap. I did find some onclaves of Blues, jazz, and rock and planted myself, but most of the art cars are
pumping out that technobeat crap at an incredibly loud volume. Did I say technomusic is crappy? Well, it is.
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Whale-ista
Super Nomad
Posts: 2009
Registered: 2-18-2013
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sunny with chance of whales
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sunshade/canopy+tent
Great advice here. Having used and sold lots of gear at various times over the years, at REI and A-16 in San Diego, I've acquired lots of stuff and
learned what lasts, and what ends up in trashcan.
KISS is so true. the pleasures of camping fall away when you have to deal with lots of stuff.
Also, look at boating shops for ideas on storage, e.g., string hammocks to hang gear in vehicles, tents or under canopy. they take up No space during
transit, then you can fill with camp gear and fruits, veggies, etc. you buy at final mercado before you get to camp.
Bring carabiners or other hook-type items to quickly hang hammocks, lanterns, wet clothes etc. to loops on canopy or inside tent. Bring lots of extra
line to tie down tents, canopies and string lines for drying towels, wetsuits etc.
North Face tents are great, and pricey. I have used REI geodome tents (4 person size) for 20+ years; one was stolen but the 2nd has been very sturdy
and, as mentioned, can be returned for replacement or service if/when it fails.
Look for ones that come with Aluminum shock-corded poles, full rain fly (not just a little piece on top- rain blows sideways!). and definitely use a
good tarp underneath, and an old rug on the floor, to prevent rips/tears.
As mentioned: keep tarp tucked under edge of tent so water doesn't flow under floor. And agree re:tent stakes. get big yellow plastic and/or metal
ones, and bring small nylon stuff bags to be filled with sand and buried for added anchor.
Obviously pack a good shovel, hammer, axe (for firewood) for pounding poles, digging up stakes etc.
Recommend using tent along with a sturdy canopy to protect from sun and provide a good outdoor patio/kitchen/living room area. Sun is a blessing in
the winter in baja, but a curse in the summer. Bring a good canopy to get out of elements when you want to sit around and not bake to a crisp.
Don't count on one-piece pop-ups; good for day at beach, and easy set up, but not suitable for a windy baja weekend (or week long) camp-out. Get one
with sturdy aluminum poles that can be replaced individually if damaged by wind/careless setup/transport. With the onesie popup, once one leg is
damaged the entire assembly has to be trashed.
I bought one at Costco many years ago that is built like a tank, can be staked out well, and has survived many stormy trips. But... I don't think they
make them like that anymore, so not sure what to recommend. It takes 2 people to set up, but has never failed us in extreme wind. In fact, we anchor
the tents to the poles for added security during stormy weather.
tables depend on your activities. If you want a full kitchen set up, bring a big one, or a small one with a piece of plywood to set on top. Agree the
rollup tables are good, sturdy, compact... and pricey. I had one for years, lost it somewhere, and now use simple plastic fold ups from CostCo or
target.
I place wood on top to protect from heat of Coleman or Primus gas stoves. If others bring tables, we place plywood inbetween to act as additional
counter/table space.
I have a Primus propane, a Coleman white gas, and a Coleman multifuel: gasoline or white gas. Heck, tequila might work in it for all I know... I look
forward to trying it one day in a pinch.
I also like to bring inexpensive plastic bins (Big Lots) with lids to store, carry and organize gear, then use them for low "coffee tables" in camp,
and/or to store things outside and keep safe (mostly) from dust, wind, critters. get same size/model, different colors to organize. then, As you empty
them out, just stack them together for transport home.
Label them if you get several. leave one packed with kitchen gear for easy packing for future trips.
Don't forget a plastic dishpan to store/dry dishes, carry water for various purposes. Should fit into kitchen box.
And finally... bring friends, toys, and the intent to have fun! nothing like sitting back and enjoying the quiet,the view and a cold drink with
friends around the campsite.
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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huesos
Nomad
Posts: 149
Registered: 6-24-2013
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Thanks for the input
Thanks to everyone who replied to this post. All of my experience was with the least expensive type of equipment. All of it worked but it was good to
read about better grades of basic gear. Not much has changed with Baja truck camping for surf except for the shear thrill of discovery in being one of
the first at a perfect break. Now I am getting closer to taking on the trip again. I look forward to running into some of you on the peninsula.
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