Eberlestock-Switchblade

Welcome to the Wolf Den, pour a drink, pull up a chair, and hopefully enjoy this review.

Eberlestock new rig initial thoughts.

So I just got in my new backpack setup from Eberlestock.

What I got:

The Switchblade backpack in Mountain camo

The MultiPack Accessory Pouch in Mountain camo

The Padded Hip belt

and two of the Hook up Kits

My first thought once I got it all out of the packaging (no this is not a joke this is literally my first thought): OOOOOOOO it's the really nice smooth feeling fabric. While this may not be important to some or a lot of people, it is important in our household. Nice feeling fabric is awesome and will make us want to use the pack even more.

After my initial ooooo shiny of feeling the nice fabric, I moved on to inspecting each item before assembling my rig. Each piece came free of damage or any apparent blemishes in the construction of items. Which of course made me happy to find.

Now a disclaimer on why I say I need to assemble my rig, no the Switchblade backpack itself doesn't require any sort of assembly. For my personal needs of what it will be used for I wanted a few extra items to go with it.

My main thought behind what I got is that I tend to pack a little heavier for trips and or go hiking so I wanted the Hip Belt, the Switchblade doesn't come with one but it is designed to be used with their line of Hip belts.

The MultiPack can attach to the hip belt like a fanny pack, this should come in very useful for going through airports (wallet, passport, book, etc.) and or hiking or anything else where you want some items close at hand without having to remove the backpack.

The Switchblade also has attachment points that the Hook up Kits can make use of to attach extra items to the outside of the pack and or can be utilized if you get one of Eberlestock's hard frames to attach the Switchblade to.

So after inspecting each item both from making sure no damage and also the OOOO SHINY of my new gear this is my first impression. The bag is well put together and very well thought out, I can see why it didn't come with the hip belt because honestly, it isn't a giant pack but the ability for it to be attached to it is awesome and very useful for me, also the attach point is actually a pass-through low down on the pack, so it doesn't interfere at all with the padding of the pack itself but adds the belt, also since it is a pass-through that belt will not be coming off of its own accord.

The padding on the belt looks great and is of the same quality and thickness as the padding on the pack itself so they will work together great. The molle on the belt along with the molle on the MultiPack is awesome and they attached great. The back of the Multipack has a couple of straps that I was able to use through the molle and seems to have a very firm connection, this will be tested in the months to come as this pack will be traveling with me to other countries. I got the hook-up kits to be able to attach a rolled jacket to the outside of the pack so as to not take up room inside the pack.

So all items do fit together wonderfully, I haven't done much with it besides put it together and test a couple of key items I was interested in, the fit and feel is great on just trying it on empty, also another large plus is a 40-ounce Hydroflask does in fact fit in the side pockets on the outside of the pack (this was important to me because I prefer to travel with my hydro for water).

One somewhat downside, the organization pockets in the back advertised for Laptop transport, they are awesome, but mainly only if you do not have a 17" laptop. I have a couple of laptops, one for work and one for play. My work one is a small one and will fit in there perfectly even inside its neoprene protective sleeve. My 17" laptop will actually fit in there, technically, but only if it does not have the neoprene sleeve on, which let’s be honest isn't great, as the sleeves themselves aren't actually padded.

They are pretty much multi-use sleeves that can be used to transport a laptop, or a water bladder, or files, a folded up rifle really whatever you want, so they are great. Just most likely will not be able to take my play computer on trips with me in this pack. That is ok though, this rig was not purchased with only one use in mind, this is to be my travel, hiking, hunting, daily carry sort of bag, and my first impression is that it will fill all these roles acceptably if not outstandingly.

There will be more reviews to come as it is tested for each of these things.
I will also be buying one for my wife.

-Chris

The Whittens

High Horizons Wolf Den

Denver East/Strasburg KOA Review

Hello campers, today we have a review of the Denver Koa that we stayed at for 1 night on our cross-country trip.  It was nice and clean. It was very full, it filled up overnight. It is a short 45-minute drive from the Koa to downtown Denver.  This KOA is a Holiday.

They have 3 types of KOA: Journey, Resort, or Holiday. A Holiday (Like our Lava Hot Springs or Oklahoma City stay) has KOA patios, premium tent sites, gathering areas, and deluxe cabins with full baths. Resorts offer KOA Patios, Deluxe cabins with full baths and Linens, premium tent sites as well as a resort-style pool and indoor and outdoor group facilities. A journey is usually off of the Highways, have well lit after hours for late check-ins, pull-through sites with 50-amp hookups, and tent sites. These are best for when you have had a long day of driving and just need to rest. You can learn more about the types of KOA here.

This KOA was genuinely nice, they had someone for after-hours to help check us in. Their bathrooms had been remodeled and were nice and clean. They followed CDC guidelines for social distancing by having signs posted for numbers of people allowed in a certain area. For the bathrooms, it was 3 people in at a time.

               They have plenty of food options within their vicinity, as well as the road that they are on having a lot of different options. We got there later (around 6:30 pm local time) so most were closed, but we did order Dominoes and it got delivered to our camp spot. They also have Hunt’s Brothers Pizza for delivery to your spot, as well as a Breakfast truck for the weekends.

               We only stayed for the night as we needed to head out for Oklahoma City the next day, but overall, our stay was wonderfully comfortable. With it being off the road, we did not really hear anything from our spot. It really was a relaxing and restful night.

We genuinely enjoyed our stay, we hope you do too!

The Whittens

Pictures of the Denver Koa from their website

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You can learn more about the Denver East/Strasburg KOA here

If you do stay here, let us know how you liked it! It is on our “Stay Again” list.

Have you been to Denver East Strasburg Koa?

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Lava Hot Springs East KOA

While this has not been our first visit to Lava, it is always a welcome visit in our family.

Between the actual KOA and the hot springs, we really do love coming here as often as we can.

The KOA is genuinely nice, they have done a lot of upgrades including adding in new tiny houses, a new area for Rv spaces, as well as upgrades to the bathhouse.

We usually stay up on top of the hill for our visits, but this time we decided it would be worth it to stay in RV spot 11. My oh my it was amazing. Having the river right outside the door was fantastic, Furgus loved it as well. Sadly, I think previous people have fed the ducks (The KOA has signs saying not to) because we had a pair of ducks who kept coming around. They became kind of a nuisance because they would stay underfoot when cooking and, they would lay under the chairs and the camp chef burner/cooktop we have. I was more concerned for their safety above all else.

Our Duck friends

Regardless of where you stay in the KOA campsite, you have direct access to a trail that leads directly to Hot Spring as well as the cute little town it is nestled in. On this trip, we stayed a total of 4 days, 3 nights. We made a point of walking through the town and seeing what was there. We do not have children, and we do not really care for the water park; but if you do have children or just like water parks, they have a big park as well as pools. You can even rent innertubes to go river rafting. We have yet to do that, but hopefully next time!

We stopped in their grocery store in town, and it was nice. They have a small deli and such for those on-the-go cravings as well as a small section with small needs. It has quite a few random stuff you may need such as tape to fix floaties and first aid kits and such. There are a lot of food places to choose from, so whatever you may be craving they probably have it. Small shops and such dot the main road, along with a few bars. There is also a new bar/hangout lounge in town, and it is nestled into the mountain. The trail that leads to it also leads back to the KOA.

We stopped in an ice cream shop called “Sweet Stuff” and it was such a treat! They have traditional flavored ice cream, and the fun part is that they are square scoops! I had 2 scoops of Moose tracks and it was delicious. Chris got a 160z berry smoothie that he enjoyed.   

Chris and I love the hot spring, we try and stop by as much as we can when we go up to visit his parents. They have a few different pools, each varying in temperatures. The closer you are to the inlet, the hotter it is. The further the coolest. We tend to stay in the 2 hottest, simply because the cooler ones are usually full, but also because we really love soaking up to our necks. Chris loves going under the water, I have gone a few times but choose to stay above. Just remember to drink plenty of water. You will be sweating a lot and not realizing it.  We feel it is best to go in the winter when the snow is still on the ground. It is a genuinely nice soak, and the cold air makes giant steam clouds that cover the entire area. Most people enjoy it better during this time, but Chris and I go even in the summer. We simply increase our water intake.

Overall, I say we had a wonderful time, and look forward to going back. We love it here, and we hope that if you visit that you will too.

The Whittens

You can find out more about the Lava Hot Springs East KOA Here.

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Sante Lakes

Floating Cabins at Sante Lakes

We are all #hitched up and ready to go! Goodbye #SanDiego until next time!

This trip we stayed at #SanteeLakes for a week. And let me tell you, it was actually a really nice stay.

We were only in town for the week; but in that week we had a lot of fun. It was also the maiden voyage for the Airstream so that was super exciting in itself.

...Lets get into it shall we?!...

It has 7 lakes, 5 of which are for day use (if you do not want to camp, but you want to hang out for the day fishing, paddle boating etc) and 2 exclusive lakes for the campgrounds. Note that they do stock the lakes, but I do not know how to fish...yet...(Chris will teach me).

**Please note though that they are kind of strict on the appearances of the #Rv’s coming in, which is honestly for everyone’s benefit.

The atmosphere was amazing, the ease and comfort given just by it being a gated community was relieving for stress and such which is not something you find in San Diego( as the opinion of someone being stationed there for 5 years). They also have a lot of camp hosts who also work there, to answer questions and help out as it is a bigger #campus altogether.

There are a lot of full timers at the camp grounds, but due to the parks strict adherence to the look and upkeep of Rv's and trailers, it does not look like a run down #trailer park.

The #pool showers are nice. In our opinion the separate shower facilities that have their own doors were a lot nicer, even if you had to walk further depending on where your spot is( in our case a short distance to walk, it maybe took us 5 minutes to get there).

There are groceries stores and such nearby. The community store that is on the property did not stay open late but that was not an issue as the amenities that were close covered that minor inconvenience.

They are rather inclusive with the amount of activities that they have. They did host a breakfast for one of the days as well a corn hole tournament which looked like fun, even though we did not participate as we where loading up that day.

The pet areas were nice Bandit really did appreciate the grass and room to walk around (she is a 16 year old dog so walking is more her speed). Meanwhile Furgus was very content and happy in the Airstream window watching and napping.

The playground is right in the middle of the campground for all of the children and with it being in that location it is easy to see them if you do have small children.
The pool and spa area was really nice, they have 2 pools and a hot tub spa, which makes for a lot of room for children to swim as well as the adults to sunbathe and such if they wanted.

There were a lot of trees and that helps with the SD heat.

They do provide #wifi for guests which you can pay to upgrade if you would like.

Our campsite was very nice, we had a huge tree that really helped add to the ambiance of the whole site itself. It helped keep the #airstream cooler during the day as well.

We were also able to use the paddle boats, and go out onto the lake and be around the cute little ducks (100% would recommend if you like being on the water itself or if you are like me and sqwee at cute animals). I may have gone a little overboard with the cute squeals once I was able to see the ducks. Or as Chris says "uber sqwee, unlike normal people who squeal maybe once or twice." LOL Love you too Mr. Whitten

Overall our stay was very nice and we would definitely recommend the campsites, as well as the day use area. Chris and I felt it was a very nice place to stay and if and when we are in the SD area it would be our #1st choice to see if they have #openings.

We hope you guys have as much fun as we did if you get the chance to stay even for just the weekend or a few hours. It really was a very nice time, and we got to take the Airstream out for the first time and that helped us figure out a lot about the layout and what really did or didn't work for us( all of which we will talk about in the blog so that you guys can be apart of that journey as well).

Let us know in the comments some of your favorite places to camp out or boon-dock. We are making a list of places we want to visit, so any help you guys want to input we greatly appreciate.

-The Whitten's-

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Bearing Packer Review

Howdy campers,

Today is the day we talk about the #BearingPackers that we used for our #Airstream.

We did use 2 different styles, and that is simply because the first version broke.

The first packer we will call WHITE, and the second we will call RED. This is just for ease of reading and reference. The exact names and brands will be listed as the title of the breakdown for said part, as well as the end of this review along with other pertinent information.

Performance Tools Bearing Packer $8

White was very cheap. To say the least, it was more our fault for trying to take the cheaper route. However, we already had the other needed items such as the grease gun it would attach to and the grease, so to us this seemed like the smarter purchase at the time.

Red was $30 which is not exactly expensive, but keep in mind we have a budget we are working with. Even though we have said budget, we are still going to be living in the Airstream and would do what needs to be done to accomplish this goal.

Let's break it down shall we.

Here is a glimpse at our setup we had while doing this job. Link to this post at the end.

Bearing Packer (WHITE shitty one) Brand Name #PerformanceTool #BearingPacker

This $8 version (pictured below) required a grease gun (which we had) simple design with 2 cones and the gun. The cone was plastic, but the middle of the cones where metal and the part that screwed onto the #greasegun was also metal. He put the 1st barring in the gun, the grease went into the barring fine. The problems came when unscrewing the cone to take out the barring. He cleaned off his hands and tried to take it apart, he did not cross thread but the other part was basically glued down and wouldn’t come off. It took about an hour to try and get it to come off, even after it was cleaned off and such. At $8 it was a waste of money, simply because it required a lot more cleanup(used an unnecessary amount of grease), it broke after the 1st barring, and it wouldn’t adjust to fit the inner barring.

Lisle Handy Packer Bearing Packer $30

We did not like this one, but someone may like it or not have these problems. However, we do not recommend buying this.

Barring Packer (better one RED) Brand Name #LisleHandyPacker #BearingPacker

The $30 one was completely made of plastic(pictured below). It was a thick-walled plastic cup that has a rubber sealed floor pan that pushes into it coating everything in grease. First, you put the grease in the cup, put in the barring, then push in the sealer. This pushes grease into all parts of the barring, and takes out the old grease (that was difficult to get out from cleaning). This was very useful because the old grease collected on the top of the container to make easy cleanup. This packer also stores the new grease in the bottom of the cup, as well as has a top to keep it airtight(red cap).

In our opinion and experience, this is the packer to get, especially if you will be doing this more than once, have multiple trailers, or you know you will be doing it more than just the one time for your project( in our case we are doing all for the work whether mechanical or not on the Airstream) so it is definitely worth the $30.

Overall, we should have just gone with the more expensive one as it was less of a headache overall and did the job #efficiently.

After making the mistake of buying the WHITE version we realized that we shouldn’t have tried to skimp on a very important job. But you live and you learn and you regroup to get things done.

So, if you take anything from us, it is do not skimp and just get the RED version.

Both or our packers were bought at #Oreilly’s Auto Parts Store

The White Version is called: Performance Tools Bearing Packer $8 (white cones)

The Red Version is called: Lisle Handy Packer Bearing Packer $30 (hard plastic cup)

Grease we used: #LucasOil #XTra heavy duty grease (green tube)

-The Whitten’s-

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Stanley Rivet Gun

To begin lets go over what a rivet is and how it works.

The gun is fed over the rivet's shaft and the ball at the end of it goes into your pre-drilled hole. When the gun is squeezed, that ball on the rivet's tail is drawn towards the hole to secure, compressing the metal sleeve between the ball and the head. This forms another "head" (the flat part that has a tiny hole) on the opposing side to the work piece, drawing the work together and holding it securely in place. The shaft breaks, or "pops" when the rivet is in place.

Now that we have that down lets get into the review.

We REALLY like the #Stanley #Swivel head #Manual #rivet gun.

Here's why..

Like most people about to purchase anything for long term use, we did our due diligence in #researching. Out of all of the research, the Stanley hand held riveter with a swivel head, was better to get than the #Milwaukee version which did not swivel making it harder to reach cornered areas.

As with any of the #products that you read #reviews on, there will always be that one person that just happens to get a bad one or complains about it regardless of its performance. A few people complained that the hand held version made their arms and hands fall asleep. We however, did not have this problem. Chris does have strong forearms to begin with, however I could use the tool just as easily and I am half his size.

We have done a smallish project (our couch) and a few here and there fixings. Update- We have since used it for the entirety of the Airstream reno, and it has held up tremendously. No complaints!

We used over 150 rivets alone for the couch, we did have a couple of bad batches of rivets, but we did use the #ACE brand version.

Since we are in an #Airstream our rivets where aluminum. (fun fact: steel and aluminium can not be joined together as the steel will corrode the aluminum). Some of the rivets did break and not end up being flush how it was supposed to.

The swivel head on the Stanley was very useful, which was one of the reasons we got this one specifically. There wasn’t really a problem with the #tool itself other than sometimes the stem of the rivet would get stuck in the head of the tool, but it did not interfere with the actual work ability of the tool itself. It would either slide out before putting the next stem in or the next stem would make it move. So not exactly a problem, unless you are impatient. But if you are impatient they make pneumatic versions as well.

Please remember that when using the riveter, DO NOT jerk at it or be timid about putting pressure on the tool itself to get the rivet to smash into itself and become flush as well as break off the extra stem. This tool is meant for pressure, that is how it makes the rivet to begin with. We are not saying, however, to be excessively rough with it either. Just fluid motions and you will be on your way with the project you are doing.

Again, to reiterate we are using all #aluminum rivets and do not know how the #steel rivets would react to the riveter itself or if there are any problems with that.

Overall We do recommend the Stanley Swivel head riveter, especially since we will be using it a lot in the repairs and updates of our home.

Please feel free to comment about your own experience with the Stanley or any of the other brands of rivet guns. We are curious and would love to know what did or did not work for you as well as any tips you may have in the renovation process.

-The Whitten’s-