Mighty Lakota

(or How not to end up sleeping in your truck with your daughter!!)

1) Most body heat is lost through the head, neck and feet. The most important thing you can do to keep your daughter warm at night is to put clean dry socks on her and have her wear a hood or stocking cap over her head for sleeping.

2) During the day your daughter will run around and perspire which will get on the inside of her clothes. Change her clothes before going to sleep so the perspiration doesn’t lower her body temperature. Make sure you have a clean dry change of clothes for each day.

3) Layer her clothing. She should wear several layers of lighter clothing instead of one heavy layer. This way she can better regulate the amount of insulation. If she gets warm she can take layers off and add some more clothing layers if she gets cold. If your daughter needs a fire to keep her warm she is not dressed properly. If the heat can get to her body, so can the cold.

4) The temperature of her air mattress will be the same as the temperature of the air. The rule is that she needs twice as much insulation below her (between her air mattress and her sleeping bag) as above her. Foam mattresses are different, they are better insulators. Putting a foam mat between the air mattress and the bag really makes a big difference.

5) Put a blanket inside the sleeping bag. Chief’s note: Unless you bought yours at Costco, then you won’t need the blanket.

6) Put an insulating blanket that goes under the sleeping bag and wraps over the top of the sleeping back so she is insulted from the top and bottom.

7) Make sure she goes to the bathroom before going to sleep to avoid that trip at 3:00AM in the middle of the night!

8) Get an area heater. (be careful, these can easily burn fingers, toes and anything else that comes in contact with them!)

Hoya Hoya Guys,

Rocky has pulled together a “Top 10” list of things to bring to your first campout (actually I think there are about 13 plus a bonus section – we call that “Rocky Style”). Thanks, Rocky! I’ve added my comments as well (in blue).

Top ten things that I need to bring to my first Lakota campout?

1) Sleeping bag for you and your daughter. The sleeping bags at REI are better quality and keep you warmer than the ones from Sports Authority or Costco.

I’ve had my Costco bags for 5 years and they work great. We don’t do any sub-zero camping with our daughters.

2) Pillow – bring the pillows that you and your daughter normally use to sleep. Using a smaller “camping” pillow means that you typically don’t get a good nights sleep.

In addition to pillows, bring the “blankies” and a stuffed animal if that’s what she needs to feel comfortable away from home.

3) Air mattress, cots or mat? air mattresses are less expensive but don’t last long. The reason is that the kids step on them or jump on them and blow the seams. Consequently, at some campout in the future, you will end up sleeping on the hard ground. Plus air mattresses contain air, which takes on the same temperature as the ground and surrounding air. If you are cold at night, it is typically because the cold is radiating up from the air mattress below.

Mats are light and provide good insulation from the ground but are not very comfortable. Save them for when you go backpacking.

Cots are my recommendation, the best ones I have found are at http://www.camptime.com/roll-a-cot.htm and can be ordered through REI. Tall dads can get the long version so that they and their pillows can fit on the cot.

This also gives you room to store your bags and “stuff” under the cot.

Rocky is a big spender when it comes to cots. You can find cheaper ones (heavier but still comfortable). Some dads simply use the sleeping pads you find at REI or Sports Authority. Highly dependent on personal preference and how hard the ground is you are sleeping on.

4) Blankets – I like “vellum” blankets for camping because they are good insulators but anything from home will do. I normally put one-half of the blanket between the cot and sleeping bag and then wrap the other half over the top of the sleeping bag so that there is a layer both below and above the sleeping bag.

5) Tent – should you get a two person tent, 4 person tent or larger. It depends. To start, you might only want a two person tent for your daughter and yourself. Later in the year there is a family campout, which includes the wife and other siblings. If you use cots, the two person tent is a little too small. What type of tent should I get? The tents from REI are good quality with good quality poles. The tents from Sports Authority and Costco are cheaper quality and the tent poles start to break after two or three seasons.

I’ve had my Eureka tent (mid-grade) for 4 years and it’s in great condition. Paid less than $150 at Sports Authority. How long will yours last? Depends on how well you take care of it that’s the bottom line.

Also, if you must buy one for your first campout, I suggest buying one you can stand up in. I understand that if you’ve played pro ball, then standing up may not be an option for you.

6) Duffel Bag – you need a large duffel bag to keep all of your camping stuff in: sleeping bags, blankets, etc. However, to start you can use black garbage bags. Bringing your regular luggage on a camping trip is a good way to get it dirty and scuffed up!

$15 at Sports Authority for a military grade large duffel. You can spend more if you are all about the bling-bling bag.

7) Flashlights – you need two flashlights, one for you and one for your daughter. Make sure you get the ones with D cell batteries rather than the AA battery types.

Also, make sure you put your name on them, because everybody else will have their flashlights as well!

Head lamps are helpful. Cheap is fine – just in case it ends up in the porta potty. Oh, it happens.

8) Cooler: you need a cooler to keep your drinks and snacks in. Make sure the cooler has large wheels so you don’t have to carry it everywhere.

NOTE: Each person is responsible for bringing their own drinks and snacks. The girls and dads need to drink lots of water each day to make sure they don’t get dehydrated. A dehydration headache can take all of the fun out of the weekend. However, many of the girls don’t like to drink water, so make sure you have water and drinks that they enjoy drinking.

9) Vest – Stop by Next Step Shoe Repair on El Camino Real and get a Vest for yourself and your daughter. The vests are used to put your patches on. Make sure you get your daughter’s vest a little bigger, so that she can grow into it over the next 3-4 years.

Need a place for all those “stinkeen patches”. Remember, craft glue (brown bottle) from Michaels works fine for putting on the cloth/campout patches. You’ll want the other patches sewn on the front.

10) Package from YMCA – when you sign up for the program / campout at the YMCA you can get the packet which gives information about the Adventure Princess program and a rounder. The girls will be decorating the rounder and putting their beads and bear claws on it in the future.

11, 12 & 13… Clothing: At Del Mar, everybody will be swimming, so bring swimsuits, towels, sun screen, hat, etc.

Make sure you pack your daughter’s bag - not her mom!! Otherwise you will have way too much stuff that you have to lug around.

What I normally have my daughters pack are: Two pairs of shoes, four pairs of socks, three pairs of underwear, two long pants, two shorts, two long sleeve shirts, two t-shirts, one pair pajamas, one sweater, one coat plus their favorite stuffed animal if necessary (make sure it stays in the tent so it doesn’t get dirty).

Other stuff: toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, shampoo and soap.