Backcountry Camping Gear Loadout

Over the past month I had finished many of my reviews so had a few days to slip away for some camping. Several weeks before I had been in the market for a new tent that I had planned to use for some backpacking later in the Springtime. After some research and watching a few reviews on YouTube I discovered a company called OneTigris. I reached out and let them know what I was looking for and they were kind enough to send me a bushcraft style tent called the Backwoods Bungalow 2.0. Marley and I were anxious to slip away for an overnight camp to test out not only the new tent but some other gear. Over the past year I have received many request to show some of the gear I use beyond just the Airgun stuff. Marley and I arrived to a new camping spot that is closer to many of the areas I hunt Jackrabbits. Beyond being a decent hunting spot it offered some good flat areas for a tent and plenty of wood to use for a campfire.

The main goal of this trip was to test out the new tent and to see if it would function well for several backpacking trips I have planned in the next few months. It’s always good for me to get myself familiar with new gear and to learn how to set things up efficiently as possible to make sure the product fits in with rugged use. After picking a spot to camp I pulled out the OneTigris Backwoods Bungalow that came in a nice nylon stuff sack.

This is the 2.0 2nd generation version of this tent that comes in at just 3.2 lbs, in my opinion makes it the perfect size for a pack tent. The OneTigris came with guidelines, aluminum stakes and everything needed to set up the tent a variety of ways.

The footprint of this tent when set up is 7ft (L) 4ft (W) 3.8ft (H) that makes it ideal tent for one person and a gear bag. This is a primitive bushcraft style shelter that can be deployed in a variety of terrain.

I chose to set the tent up with a ridge-line between some sagebrush and a large pine tree. I made the front poles for the awning out of some dry yucca that gave the shelter that true bushcraft style. Setting up the OneTigris took some time to figure out but I think the next time may only take a few minutes. The material, stitching and guidelines all looked to be of good quality and attention to detail.

The front of the tent has a bug screen that zips closed for those nights where the bugs are horrendous, definitely an important feature for me. The front awning can be closed for those colder nights or during some wet weather. When the awning is closed down the tent is designed to leave some extra space outside the screen to keep boots or other gear dry and out of the main space. I think it would be nice to have an extra door so the awning doesn’t have to be broken down and closed, the trade-off for this would be extra weight and bulk of the tent when packed.

The inside of the tent had plenty of foot room for my 6’3″ stature, leaving plenty of room for my gear-bag as well. Out back of the tent I was able to use the provided guide-lines to bring the roof out for more space inside.

The OneTigris has adequate ventilation in the back of the tent near the floor to help with condensation that can sometimes become an issue on those cold nights.

The Backwoods Bungalow is not a 4 season tent and in my opinion may not be the best choice for severe wet weather or snow. My use of this tent will be primarily for Spring and Summer months, perfect for that as it does offer some shade during those hot days.

After filming some segments for the enclosed video I started pulling out some of my other camping gear. I keep most all of my gear in vintage metal milk crates, these are excellent for organizing and storage of almost everything I bring.

Enclosed are the items I usually bring on all my adventures:

• LED Lantern
• Butane Cook Stove
• Waterproof matches, Ferro Rod
• Aluminum Pot, Fork, Spoon
• Dog Food
• Canned Goods
• Misc Snacks
• Salt/Pepper, Spices
• Headlamp
• Metal Thermos
• Percolator Coffee Pot
• Extra Coffee
• Dutch Oven
• Cooler with ice

The Dutch oven works very well for cooking a variety of food directly on the campfire such as soups, stews, or to simply boil water. This is a large capacity cast iron dutch oven that has a lid that’s able to be used upside down as a grill. The concave shape makes it great for cooking steak, eggs, pancakes, bacon and a ton of other stuff. The vintage metal milk crate doubles as a table and gives a strong surface for cutting or placing hot objects without fear of melting. These are just a few of the things I carry that are sometimes adjusted depending on the trip or the amount of time I will be camping. By this time it was around 2:30pm with a slight breeze coming thankfully from the back of the tent. When choosing a place for a tent I always like to set up with the back into the wind, especially with this type of design.

I always like to bring a small shovel with me to use for digging a fire pit or for those hikes away from camp to use the restroom. This was one I had found while hiking, it was missing a handle so I just shaped one out of solid oak. Moving along I pulled out my hunting pack to show the contents and to go over the items I usually always bring.

Depending on the hunt I may not always have everything in my pack but these are things I always at least bring with me.

• Alps Outdoorz Hunting Pack
• Kukri Knife
• Buck Knife (for cleaning game)
• Air Venturi 100ci Buddy Bottle
• First Aid Kit
• Extra Ammo
• Leatherman Milti-Tool
• Bandanna
• Electronic Coyote Caller
• Sun Hat/Cold Weather Cap
• Jacket/Extra Wool Socks
• Water with Fold-able Dog bowl

After being in the field several days a week to film my adventures and reviews I have learned what works and what doesn’t work for my trips. These things may not work for everyone and are again very dependent on the weather and the type of hunting I might be doing. Some of these items may be left in the vehicle or added to my pack if needed. The key is to test these items and learn what works best for each situation. The goal of this trip was primarily to test out the tent and to see if it would work comfortably for Marley and I overnight. The last thing I want is to backpack into a location and find that my gear has a failure or just simply wont meet my needs, always important to find this out beforehand.

After taking a short lunch break and filming for a few segments of the enclosed video I pulled out the New Brocock Sniper XR in .25 caliber that I had previously reviewed for Airguns Of Arizona. HERE This is a rifle I have personally beat the heck out of in the past few months and is one I never hesitate to carry into the field. It has a very strong barrel system that holds POI and is extremely accurate with both pellets and slugs. This efficient rifle is about as durable as they come and one of my favorites offered by Airguns Of Arizona.

About a year ago I met with Felipe the owner of Accu-Tac and offered a suggestion to make some leg extensions for his high end line of bipods. The Accu-Tac bipods are a teir1 one product used by military and law enforcement to aid in long range accuracy. I love using bipods but have found that we can’t always shoot from a prone position, hence the need to get up higher. These leg extensions now make it possible to shoot from the sitting position and allow the rifle to be adjusted in a wide range of terrain. Bringing the rifle up off the ground we can now see over bushes and sit comfortably while long range varmint hunting.

Marley and I took a short hike away from the camp around 4:30pm looking for the elusive amber eared Jackrabbits that call this place home.

Marley was eager as usual to get out and do some hunting, she was on full alert as she scanned the sagebrush for movement.

After hiking for close to mile we came to an overlook that gave a nice panoramic view of the valley floor below us.

It was so nice to be out with my little friend and enjoy a few days of camping and hunting. Over the past several months I have encountered some tough hunting, through this I have learned to taking in the entire experience more gracefully. Many times I come out to do a review and feel as though I have to get a kill to be able to show a products ability.

This stress can sometimes take the enjoyment out of the adventures and is really not at all what this is about. Learning this has made me much more focused on the entire experience and have since then tried documenting other things in my videos. Beyond the hunting I enjoy the camping, cooking and time I have with Marley. The goal is to document my adventures and to hopefully encourage more people to get out and enjoy nature. After spending some time on the hill and only spotting one Jackrabbit at just over 200 yards away we headed back to the camp to situate it for the night.

This location had lots of dry sagebrush that was thankfully easy to collect for firewood. I spent about 15 minutes gathering as much as I could as it’s always nice to have enough through the night.

I had dug out a nice size fire-pit with high wall on the backside to reflect some of the heat into the tent. Depending on the situation I will not always have a fire close to the tent for safety reasons.

Beyond being able to cook a fire brings some comfort and from my experience keeps large predators away. This particular area has Lions, Bears and Coyotes that do travel through and around the camp. Here the Lions are my biggest concern, I usually keep Marley no more than a few feet from me at night. She has on occasion let me know when we have intruders in camp and for the most part is very aware during dark hours. I had placed a good size flat stone in the middle of the fire-pit to have a place to set the Dutch Oven.

I would tend the fire for awhile and get a good bed of coals to be able to cook with. I brought half of a tri-tip roast that I had planned to cook for dinner along with a can of chili.

Earlier at home I braised the meat with some olive oil and would add some pepper to the outside just before cooking. I have found that Whole Foods always has some very good meat, very reasonably priced as well.

After I was done cooking the roast I pulled the entire Dutch Oven off the fire with the shovel and placed it on the metal milk crate to eat.

Part of coming out into the wilderness to hunt and camp is cooking on an open fire, one thing I enjoy very much. Everything taste better when camping, especially on an open fire such as this. The tri-tip roast was soooo good paired with the campfire chili beans, doesn’t get much better than this in my opinion.

That evening Marley and I ate like royalty and enjoyed the warmth of the large campfire, thankfully it wasn’t very cold out.

After dinner I set up the tent for bed as Marley was looking pretty sleepy after a long days work. The Backwoods Bungalow felt very much like home and had that funky kind of charm to it. I really like the awning, makes the tent feel much more spacious being able to store most of my gear outside.

That night I built up the fire and decided to leave the screen open as there were no bugs flying around. I’m sure in the next month or so the flies and mosquitoes will be out in force. That night it really wasn’t very cold and even from about 10′ away I was able to feel the warmth of the fire being reflected in.

The following morning we slept in late till about 8:15am, was a solid nights sleep and was very comfortable in the OneTigris.

The wind had picked up pretty heavily and I could see some dark storm clouds coming in from the West. Marley and I headed out for what would be a very short hunt before heading back to pack up the camp. We ventured to the same spot from the night before where I took one missed shot on a Jackrabbit around 70 yards.

Before the weather got to nasty Marley and I headed back to camp to pack up the tent and all the gear. I had a great time getting out on this short trip and getting to try out some new gear as well as camping in a new location. The next few moths we have plenty of amazing trips planned into some very rugged terrain, should make for some great adventures to share. The OneTigris Backwoods Bungalow worked out very well for us and look forward to using it on future trips. I want to thank Airguns Of Arizona for providing the Brocock XR and Accu-Tac for setting me up with such an awesome bipod. Enclosed is the video documentation of this trip that I hope some may enjoy, I had a great time and hope you all enjoyed coming along as well. We appreciate all the support and thank those of you who have subscribed to our YouTube Channel.

Cheers,

Dana