Gearing up for camping

I've been reading your thread and share your joy and fun in the wintertime, planning for the spring trip(s). I was looking at your picture of your packed horse and you comment that all extra you needed was extra clothes and food. You'll need a fuel bottle for your stove. Sewing kit and spare clips for when (and not if) the plastic clips attaching your saddlebags breaks. Or spare “rope” or leather”reins” for the same need. Are the saddlebags waterproof? If only water repellent, you'll have to pack up everything in plastic bags or what do you name it in English, pack bags? You'll need fishing gear for the trouts you are planning to catch. First aid kit for you and the horse(s). Toiletries.

How are you planning to camp the horses at night? In a portable corral? It takes up quite a lot space on the horseback too and adds weight. Highline? Picket? Are your horses used to be hobbled? Picketed? Are they shod or will you use boots or let them be barefoot? If they are shod you'll need an extra front and back shoe and tools to put on shoes. Or a spare boot.
My point is that it all adds and takes up a lot of space and it isn't easy to fit everything onto the horse even if you plan all the meals to be instant and don't even bring a single bread!
I do absolutely not mean to dis encourage you, go out there, camp and have great fun, you will learn from experience and it is fun to go camping with the horses. One just has to rethink and plan a little different than when you are going backpacking. Lightweight and multipurpose things to bring is the clue to go horse camping with one horse.

Have you made a pack list?

Horse camping is great fun either with good company or by yourself. I too do all the dreaming during the wintertime and go to the mountains with my horses in the summer. The snow doesn't leave the mountains here before mid June. But I am never happier at any time in my life than when I go for a trip with the horses.

Izz, thanks for all the good comments! Yes, I know I need to take some rather special equipment/supplies because I'm going on horseback. I might have to skimp a bit on the human creature comforts to get it all loaded without looking like a circus--but it'll fit. Mostly it'll be a matter of creative packing!

I'm figuring on picketing the horse for foraging and highlining at night. Picket line can become part of the highline.

We're unshod and will probably wear boots--but I'll still need a spare boot, just in case.

Most of the other stuff is cross over gear between back packing and horse camping, except perhaps a few specialty first aid items for the horse (the Mrs. Will have to help me with that).

With any luck we'll have an early spring and get out in April!

Just for fun I tried to translate my pack list to English. Perhaps you can compare it to your own. This one works fine for me when I go to the mountains. I've added a few comment down below.

Pack list:

I wear: Aussie cowboy hat
Sunglasses
Wool bra and panties (if cold weather also long wool underwear top and bottom. If not wearing it, it's stored in my sleeping bag)
Cotton shirt(long sleeves)
Jeans
Belt, with my knife and multitool
Chaps
Socks, wool
Army boots
Oilskin duster

I pack: Turtleneck wool sweater (easy accessible if not wearing it)
Balaclava (helmet liner)
A spare pair of socks ( stored inside my sleeping bag and only worn in camp and when sleeping)
Headlamp
Pack scale, small
Tent
Sleeping bag
Inflatable mattress
Map
Compass
Mapcase (all three items on my inner pocket or inside the shirt).
Matches (in small waterproof box)
Stormproof lighter
Foldable cup (in my pocket for easy access when I pas a creek or river)
Small 1 liter coffeepot (for all cooking)
Small alcohol stove, (Zen stove) and fuel
Spoon
Insect repellent (in my pocket or easy accessible)
Sun block (small bottle ot tube)
Wallet (containing: driving license, address and name/phone number of a close relative in case of emergency, a note of my blood type and that I’m not allergic to anything).
Mini first aid kit (also containing a few painkiller tablets and wet tissues)
Cell phone (full charged, off and only for emergency calls)
Travel toothbrush
Travel toothpaste
Duct tape/Scotch, 2 needles and thread (suitable for sewing in leather)
Drybag containing 3 instant meals a day (and for 1 day longer than I plan to stay) instant coffee, salt, and a small bag of sweets, chocolate or nuts.


For amusement: Telescope fish rod and gear, bait, paperback book, playing cards, yatzy game, notebook, pen and camera. (I alter what I bring from time to time).

For the horse: Rope halter, leadrope hobbles, spare boot, sponge (to clean a sweaty or dirty horse) ,portable corral (in the mountains there’s no place to put up a highline).

This is my basic list. You’ll notice that I didn’t mention toilet paper. I don’t bring it, I use what’s available in nature, like leaves, mash or moss. (I do however bring a tiny amount of wet tissues if necessary).

I also use mash, moss or sand to clean the coffeepot and spoon, I don’t bring soap for anything at all and I can wash my hair when I get home.

I do not necessarily bring an alcohol stove and fuel either, it is allowed by law to lit a fire in the mountains in Norway when not being in a wooden area. A mountain campfire is never big either, you only have access to small twigs or branches.

I always do bring a tent and never sleep in a tarp only because of the amount of bugs in the mountains, insect repellent or not!

Water filter is not necessary in Norway, the rivers and creeks are clean and pure to drink from and there are usually so many of them that there’s no need to carry extra water in the mountains. That’s why I keep my foldable cup in my pocket so it’s easy to access when I come to a creek. But, it’s important to remember to stop and drink a lot of water.

I use my multitool to clean the horse’s hoofs.


　

I've tried twice to respond, Izz, and both times Bill Gates decided to make my computer take a dump. Grrrrr.

Let's just say it's a great list--but I'll skip the wool bra and panties and wear lycra compression shorts, instead!

Now, time to quit talking and go riding!

I converted over to hammocks this year. They pack much smaller than a tent and IMO are more comfortable than sleeping on the ground.

Some of my hammock observations:

Some type of insulation is mandatory least you freeze your tuckus, but.. for us enlightened horse packing types, a saddle pad works great and is one less thing for the horse to carry.

Take a bug net along - I string a second line above my hammock and hang mossie net from it, seems to work fine for me.

Take a lightweight tarp as well in case of rain, hang as above. I tried the goretex bivy sack with the hammock but it didn't work so well. Too many layers twisting in the wind so to speak.

BTW - Painted was right on the money about Outfitter Pack Station - Great folks to deal with.

Merry Christmas!