Friday, January 3, 2014

what do my husband and I need to go camping?

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KimberlyJ


I haven't been camping since I was a kid. What equipment do I need? I don't want to spend a fortune on camping equipment, but I need to be comfortable. I am five months pregnant and feeling very sick. I think the outdoors would help me quite a bit. Any advice would be helpful thanks.


Answer
#1 most important thing.

Be comfortable.

Pick out a tent at Walmart/Kmart/Target that is large enough for one of those Coleman (or off brand) air mattresses to fit inside it. Twin size at least. The air mattress should come with (you may have to buy it seperate) battery operated blower/pump, to blow it up for you. If it rains...the 6" thick air matress will keep you up off the ground and dry...even if you have an inexpensive tent.

Try to find a shadey spot, wherever you set up your tent. Tents can get hot in the morning with the sun shining on them.

I'd say the rest ...keep as simple as you can. Setting up and taking down your camp should not the a "big" chore. If it is...your making it too hard on yourself.

My favorite time saver? I gotta have coffee in the morning. I don't mess with a perculator anymore. I buy those big pre-made coffee/filter bag things. Drop one or two in a camp pot...boil...coffee! No mess to clean up.


Keep the "camp" part of it simple. You will have more time to relax, explore or goof around.

Just my two cents...


Have fun!

How do I make hoop tunnel for dog agility?




Brooke A


Currently, I'm using a construction-type ditch pipe. I'd also like to know where I can purchase some nylon for the tunnel cover.


Answer
Bad idea. A good agility dog comes out of a tunnel faster than he went in it (and he went in it fast). That's because they can use the cloth of the tunnel for purchase. And they can run on the walls using centrifugal force. And the tunnel has give.

Your construction pipe will be slick inside and therefore difficult to get purchase on. The dog will have trouble running on the sides. Most importantly, when the enters at an angle and hits solid pipe, he'll learn to slow up. Your pipe will be teaching the dog to SLOW up when entering the tunnel. Totally wrong approach.

A stiff cardboard box is a far superior alternative. Dog's don't perceive the world the way we do. You see a pipe as similar to a tunnel because you're focusing on shapes. A dog sees a stiff card board box as similar to a competition grade tunnel because his experience running inside is more similar than it would be running inside a construction-grade pipe (that is more similar in shape to a competition-grade tunnel). Don't think like a human, think like a dog!

As for making/acquiring a tunnel:
--Look at Affordableagility.com and you'll find a competition-grade tunnel for $150.
--If you really want to go cheap, go to Target or JC Penny and buy a plastic kid's tunnel for $20. That is less than the material you'll spend MAKING a tunnel.
--If you insist on MAKING a tunnel, than the key is the piping that provides a secure but flexible tunnel frame. Almost any cloth that is stiff nylon or rip-stop will do keeping in mind that without any kind of rubber treat, your tunnel will develop rot and mold very quickly and will probably last less than 12 months (unless you can move it inside).

However, I suspect you aren't really trying to make a tunnel but a chute. In which case your approach makes more sense.

1. Go to affordable agility. Buy "agility in a bag." For $150 you get 6 PVC weave poles, 2 PVC adjustable jumps, a worthless pause box, a mediocre tire, and a perfectly useable chute (short tunnel with very appropriate cloth chute). It's worth the time and money you'd spend making the darn thing to just buy the kit. It even comes with a travel bag!
2. If you insist on making a chute, I still wouldn't use the construction ditch pipe. The challenge with the chute is to get material that isn't too light or too heavy. Too light and it becomes easily tangled, your dog will panic and you've trained them not to like the chute. To heavy and a small dog can't push it's way through. Some tent tarps or extendable covers (at a Target or camping store) might be appropriate as long as they aren't heavy duty material. Often times, tents or sunshades will have an extendable awning--that's the kind of material (and probably in an appropriate size) you'd be looking for. But the catch is--that will probably cost you more than it would to just buy the chute from Affordable agility.




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