The Deer-Camp Companion You're snowed in or Hurricaned up. the nights are about to get really long—and a few of you are going to grate on the others' nerves. When you're suddenly off the grid, here's what you need to pass the time in style.
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You’re snowed in or Hurricaned up. the nights are about to get really long—and a few of you are going to grate on the others’ nerves. When you’re suddenly off the grid, here’s what you need to pass the time in style.
Pack It In
Get a footlocker that will fit under a bunk and start packing (bestmadeco.com). Jim Golden1. A cross between a Bowie knife and a machete, the Benchmade Clip Point Jungle 154BK has a 5mm-thick tool-steel blade with a sharp tip that will open anything, from the skull of a bear to a No. 10 bean can (benchmade.com). Jim Golden2. The Kestrel Drop D3 environmental logger will tell you just how bad it is out, and how bad it’s likely to get (kestrelmeters.com). Jim Golden3. You think you’re tough until the sun goes down. ThermaCell‘s 50-hour camp lantern burns the new 12-hour insect repellent mats. Jim Golden4. Charge the backwoods-worthy Ivation Rainproof Emergency Radio via wall socket, solar panels, or hand crank. It’s a one-stop information clearinghouse: AM/FM–NOAA radio, SOS alerts, Bluetooth audio, a USB port, and headphone jacks (myivation.com). Jim Golden5. A blue tarp will patch a leaky roof, serve as a makeshift gear sled, and perform admirably as a room divider when there’s a bit too much closeness in camp. Jim Golden6. Why a crowbar? Because five days of snow will cave in the shed where Billy is refueling the backup generator and if you don’t get that 4×4 post off his leg, he could lose his foot. The Stanley Fatmax wrecking bar sports a wide prying edge for maximum leverage (stanleytools.com). Jim Golden7. Power-Up Tip
No reason to arm-wrestle over the last dim bars of camp power. The EnerPlex Generatr 1200 packs 1,231 watt-hours of juice and doesn’t take up much more room than a truck battery. That’s enough to power phones, GPS, a mini fridge, and even a flat-screen TV so you can keep up with the Kardashians even in the midst of the zombie apocalypse (goenerplex.com). Jim Golden8. If the stream freezes and the well won’t pump, the LifeStraw Mission high-capacity gravity-fed water purifier will slake the thirst of a crowd (lifestraw.com). Jim Golden9. Think you’ve got it rough? Dig into Allan W. Eckert’s 600-page The Frontiersmen and stop your whining. A few pages a night will last half of eternity. Jim Golden10. The Camp Chef Stryker 150 boils 1⁄2 liter of water in two minutes, but it’s a perfect soup and stew heater as well. Jim Golden11. A baby wipe draped over the warm handle of a camp lantern will bring a restorative sense of civility to those challenging moments after nature calls. Jim Golden12. Night after night of chain-saw snoring will turn a deer camp mutinous. Cheap earplugs will help, but stop the ruckus at its source with customizable Pure Sleep snore guards. They are miraculous (puresleep.com). Jim Golden13. Keep some canned goods in the kit just in case no one in camp kills a deer. Jim Golden14. A manual can opener. Yeah. You laugh now, but wait till you’re sawing through a can of beef stew with your folding tree saw. Jim Golden15. Dominoes and Pick-Up Sticks are games of great skill and consequence—at least when played with lots of beer. Pack a deck of cards, too. Jim Golden16. When the power goes down for 15 days, old technology might be better. The UST 60-Day Duro lantern runs for two full months (on low) on six D batteries. And you could literally drop-kick it across the floor (ustbrands.com). Jim Golden17. Plain household bleach has a ton of survival uses. Eight drops will disinfect a gallon of water. A teaspoon will turn that gallon into a surface sanitizer after cleaning game or if a camper comes down with the flu. Flooded produce and fruits can be cleaned with a weak bleach solution. Jim Golden18. Pass the time and fill the pot with the Jungle Hunter II slingshot. The high-powered bands and bull-hide pouch mark this as no mere toy (extremeslingshots.com). Jim Golden
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T. Edward Nickens has covered sporting, conservation, and outdoors culture topics for more than 35 years. His work has appeared in Field & Stream for more than two decades, and includes features, his regular column, “The Total Outdoorsman,” five Field & Stream books, and the anthology The Last Wild Road.
