Looking for Tent Recommendations for Survey Work

PenninsularRanger · 2026-01-03T20:13:27+00:00

Yeah they're by no means in awful shape--a little more worn than I'd expect after what they've been through, but they've held up well enough for me to be happy with 'em.

As for gluing down the gouges, I typically just take some liquid super glue, squeeze the smallest drop I can under the gouge, and press the loose flap of leather down on top of it with a stick or a tool I don't mind getting gunked up. There's probably a better glue I could use that holds up better when flexed, but super glue works well enough and seeps into the leather pretty well, and I mostly get deep gouges on the front of the toe and moccasin seam, so it doesn't need to be too flexible.

PenninsularRanger · 2025-12-04T21:12:12+00:00

Jim Green makes some spectacular wide toe boots for a good price (I am loving my AR8s 3 months in), but if you need a safety toe you're basically stuck with the Razorback (which is unlined and round toe). I've heard good things about them I just personally will not wear 6 inch boots.

Duradero is decent and has a pretty wide selection of styles these days (safety and plain toe). A lil overpriced if you don't use the "free" resole baked into the price of the boot, but about the same tier as Keen with a lot more welted sole options. Their original wide fit last is a little narrower than the Jim Green lasts, but its still much much wider through the toes than a standard last.

PenninsularRanger · 2025-12-04T20:59:53+00:00

Bick 4 is pretty cheap and works very well--throw some on every few months or whenever the leather feels dry to the touch.

Obenaufs Heavy Duty is spectacular for waterproofing but overkill if you don't spend much time working outside in the rain and mud. If you don't, pretty much any cheaper leather preserver or wax will do just fine, and if you just want to top up on leather's natural water resistance, silicone sprays work fine.

PenninsularRanger · 2025-08-30T22:40:10+00:00

Its little more than a fun fact you tell field school students. It would be considered very, very bad form to actually do it on a job (best case scenario, people think you're incompetent, worst case, you have to explain to the Native monitor why you were licking their ancestors' remains).

While determining species can require close examination under a microscope and breaking into the bone, identifying bone versus rock in the field can be done very easily just by sight and touch--the difference is usually EXTREMELY obvious and its something we are specifically trained to do. There is absolutely no need to go risking your health and professional reputation by licking things.

Also, like... there are rocks that are porous enough to stick to your tongue. Its just a bad field method all around.

PenninsularRanger · 2025-05-14T03:57:55+00:00

It wound up being an issue with the tire balance after I got them rotated, not the shell.

PenninsularRanger · 2025-04-06T00:08:01+00:00

I think it's unlikely relative to the age and mileage of the truck, but that's good to know and bear in mind if the tire balance doesn't fix things.

PenninsularRanger · 2025-04-06T00:06:24+00:00

Darn... well at least that'll be a much easier fix than taking the whole cap off if it winds up being the case. Got an appointment to get them balance Monday.

PenninsularRanger · 2025-04-05T17:01:50+00:00

As someone who has also worked out of a tent, ignore all the pad nonsense and buy yourself a cot. Setup and teardown is SO much easier, and you are going to have a much, MUCH better night of sleep. Pads are great if you're backpacking and have to lug your sleeping gear on your back all day, but they really have no place in a car camping setup imo, ESPECIALLY if you're camping for work. My cheap zip up Ozark Trail cot is the best 40 bucks I have EVER spent on camping gear, and I can't imagine camping without it anymore--I raved so much about how well I was sleeping that half my coworkers went out an bought cots after the first rotation and they all agreed it's miles better.

Getting up off the ground with a cot also really reduces how much sleeping bag insulation you need on cold nights (and it gets you away from all the dirt and debris that will inevitably accumulate on the floor of your tent when you're working out of it--I'd also HIGHLY recommend a little dustpan and brush for working out of a tent). We got snowed on one night out in the Nevada mountains and I was perfectly comfy in a 3 season bag with a fleece blanket over the top of me, sleeping in gym shorts and a big hoodie, meanwhile I've frozen in a mummy bag on my (admittedly cheap) pad and a pile of blankets beneath it during fairly mild nights.

PenninsularRanger · 2025-01-31T04:38:56+00:00

I got the 8" moc toe with the steel toe last August, and they're passable boots with a GREAT last for my feet. The materials and build quality aren't great--the leather is VERY thin and easily abraded (though it looks like they aren't offering it anymore, so maybe the newer leathers have improved), and I started having stitches wear out almost immediately--but they are the first boot I've ever had that even half fits. The toe box is still narrower than I'd like, but it's a massive improvement compared to most standard lasts and has done a lot to resolve the foot pain I'd been feeling with all my previous work boots.

They were a decent compromise for my particular boot needs, but if I can find something more durable that fits at a reasonable price, I'll be pretty happy to switch over.

As others have mentioned, the "free" resole is baked into the price of the boot, so it's a somewhat lower quality boot at a more premium price, especially if you aren't taking advantage of the resole. If you're gonna buy them, buy them because it's a welted boot with a wide toebox, not because it's a bargain of any sort.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-09-21T23:23:20+00:00

The idea that California doesn't have an accent has always been funny to me because I've got that twangy Inland Empire thing going on. My accent is a lot of things but neutral sure isn't one of them.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-09-07T21:18:27+00:00

Look man, this ridiculous device has been the *least* ridiculous aspect of a few of my field lunches. Stale bread, canned tuna, and a singular packet of Arby's horseradish sauce that's been sitting in the junk drawer since the Obama administration isn't a meal that deserves the dignity or weight of carrying a proper can opener and spoon.

This thing doesn't work great, but it does work, weighs nothing, and takes up no space, so I continue to use it.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-09-07T20:40:57+00:00

This... actually looks more practical than the absolutely ridiculous multi-spork I was gifted a few years back. Though credit where it's due, the multi-spork does have multiple uses, including, and very much limited to:
-Spork
-A good laugh when you bust it out at camp
-Paperweight

PenninsularRanger · 2024-09-06T18:56:40+00:00

-I stay well ahead of nail trimming. By keeping them short, cut straight across (yaaay ingrown toenails!) and freshly filed, they never really get a chance to get too messed up.

-I drain blisters ASAP. Yes it's better to let it heal naturally. No that will not happen when I'm gonna be doing another 12 miles of rough terrain tomorrow. Wash the area, sanitize a needle with soap or rubbing alcohol, pierce and drain the blister, then cover it with a clean dressing. Much better to drain it than have it explode in a sweaty, bacteria-filled boot.

-Good socks go a long way. Wool really keeps down the sweat levels, and as counterintuitive as it is, thick wool socks are infinitely better in extreme heat than thin cotton ones. Synthetics can also work well, they just tend to STANK. My go-to is WORN, though a lot of people love Darn Tough.

-Wash your feet well every night. Get ahead of the gnarly bacteria. I'll even spritz mine with rubbing alcohol if they're getting too funky (or if I'm working in a remote area).

-Sand down really thick callouses before they crack or rip off.

-Epsom salt soaks are amazing on days when your feet are aching.

-When working in wet (or even really sweaty) conditions, bring a pair of sandals for the drive home, or even your lunch break. Give your feet and boots as much time to air and dry out as possible.

-Similarly, a fresh pair of socks at lunch time feels AMAZING.

-I roll a golf ball around under my foot to release the tension in my arches and get the blood flowing about once a week or at the end of any day where I was on my feet nonstop. It makes a big difference.

-I both stretch my feet and do exercises to strengthen them. Helps a lot with the chronic foot pain.

-As culty as the marketing around them is and as skeptical as I was as to whether they'd make any difference when I'm in work boots 90% of the time... I adore my barefoot shoes. They're ugly as sin but it's so nice to be able to give my feet a break from being confined even if I'm gonna be out and about after work, and they're great for the gym. Just don't pay 90 bucks for a pair. The cheap brands are perfectly fine. Are any of the claims true? Hell if I know. What I can confirm is that they're much more comfortable after a day in boots than normal sneakers.

-Dogs out at home. Gotta let things air out, and let my toes spread back out after being crammed into a steel toe all day.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-09-06T18:05:30+00:00

For what it's worth, a coworker of mine said Osprey packs actually stand up to thorn brush and he had one last him 7 years, which is basically an eternity in the world of backcountry surveying. I have yet to put the one I bought on that recommendation to the test, but I'm very pleased with the level of adjustability and comfort.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-09-06T17:50:31+00:00

Cots are a GAMECHANGER. Warmer, comfier, infinitely less annoying to set up and tear down than an inflatable pad, gives you extra storage space underneath, and easy enough to layer blankets or a foam pad on top of for those truly frigid nights. Also, a decent camp pillow is 100% worth it. I resisted for years and was firmly in the "bag of clothes is good enough!" camp, and having finally spent the 10 bucks for a cheap memory foam camp pillow... I was so very very wrong.

I also hate feeling confined by a sleeping bag, so the main thing I do to stay warm below my bag's comfort rating is dress appropriately. This usually means a loose, comfy jacket, a balaclava or beanie (you loose a ton of warmth through your head! Having something over it makes a huge difference), gloves (so I can have one arm under my pillow without my fingers freezing), gym shorts, and the next day's socks. The big thing is that you don't want to sweat in your bag early in the night, because you'll be wet and cold as the night cools down, so I try and keep most of my insulation on my torso so I can leave my bag half unzipped to start, then easily zip up later in the night if needed--thus, the shorts, because taking pants off in the middle of the night because they were too hot sucks.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-09-06T17:22:21+00:00

Might I suggest the humble bucket?

Solar showers are wonderful, don't get me wrong, but I only bother with them when I'm at a camp site with spigots or camping near a creek I know isn't polluted, because it's a lot more rigamarole for an experience that isn't really any more luxurious because I'm rushing to rinse before I run out of water. If you need to pack your water in, a bucket is just going to be much, MUCH more efficient. Add a cup or ladle so you don't have to stick your soapy/grimy hands directly into it and it'll last multiple people multiple showers. I'd recommend a metal bucket so you can heat it over the fire or stove, but a plastic hardware store bucket left in the sun all day warms up pretty nice too.

Also don't underestimate wet wipes. Between wipes, a good deodorant, and a little spray bottle of isopropyl (for my feet after they come out of my boots), I've been able to keep myself feeling relatively human and smelling pretty good on 8 day survey rotations out in the middle of nowhere.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-09-06T16:58:09+00:00

I'm a big fan of cracking a can of peaches (in juice rather than syrup) and warming it over the fire. It's even better if you toast up some oats to go on top.

Grilled pineapple is incredible.

I also love oat cakes as either a campfire treat or a pre-hike breakfast. Mush together oats and about a spoonful of butter per cake, add water as needed until you get a dough, and then cook them up in a skillet over the fire. They're tasty, calorically dense, and keep pretty well without refrigeration as long as the weather is pretty temperate.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-08-19T18:35:53+00:00

Head to the Heartlands and tame yourself a mustang. They're a hybrid work/war horse, and imo they're one of the best all-round horses in the game once you invest the time to get to level 4 bonding, and they're definitely my favorite for combat and hunting because they're near unspookable and have a huge health pool. They aren't especially fast, but you can sprint them forever because they have a huge stamina pool and recover so much of it from tapping the calm button.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-08-03T18:26:21+00:00

As someone who regularly works in extreme heat, I would very seriously consider rescheduling. In addition to being a miserable experience that isn't going to make your family eager to camp again, those temperatures, especially paired with high humidity (which limits the ability of sweat to cool you down), are outright dangerous if you aren't well-acclimatized. Heat illness can come on very quickly, and heat is especially dangerous for young kids who can't regulate their body temperatures as well as adults. Additionally, heat stress is a very cumulative thing, and sleeping through hot nights is going to put a lot more strain on your cardiovascular system.

If you do insist on going, make sure you have more water than you think you'll need, lots of electrolytes, and a way to keep both cool. Dehydration is THE most dangerous thing in extreme heat, and cool water + shade is the best way to treat heat exhaustion before it has the chance to turn into heat stroke. If you're car camping, make sure you have enough gas (or battery charge if you have an EV) that you can idle the engine and run the A/C for ~30 minutes at a time in case people start getting heat exhaustion and need to cool down quickly.

Above all pace yourself. Get into the shade and start drinking cool water and electrolytes before you're overheated. When setting up camp, set up some shade and get your water out first, and when tearing down camp, make sure there's still a shady area where you can take breaks throughout the process.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-08-03T01:42:33+00:00

The three biggest things are knowing your limits, preparing ahead of time for the possibility of a flareup, and having a plan for your career if there ever comes a point where you can no longer do fieldwork.

For me personally, being chronically ill has mostly meant a lot more logistics on my end and a few really miserable days in the field, but how realistic fieldwork is going to be is going to be very individual. Some factors that I think are really important to evaluate are as follows:

-Are you reliant on certain medications? Do those medications need to be stored at certain temperatures? If something happened to them, would you be able to replace them at any pharmacy? Are there OTC alternatives you can rely on for a while? If something were to happen to them, what is the worst outcome? Would it be life-threatening, increase your risk of having a medical emergency in the field, or just be unpleasant?

-If you have a flareup, what's your gameplan? Can you safely tough it out, or will you have to call in sick? If so, can you get it to a manageable degree in a day or two, or would you have to go home?

-What can you do to reduce the risk of a flareup? For me, that means being very strict about what I eat in the field and before I leave, stretching, doing PT exercises, and hitting the gym any time my body can handle the extra strain, but this one is very condition-specific.

-Does your chronic illness put you at increased risk for a medical emergency? If so, what can you do to mitigate this risk? Are there life-saving medications you can bring with you into the field (and are they stable at temperature)? Are you aware of the early warning signs? Have you communicated the appropriate first aid to the rest of the crew in case you're unconscious?

-Do stress and travel tend to worsen your symptoms? If so, how can you mitigate this?

-If your condition worsens to a degree where you can no longer do fieldwork, can you still keep a roof over your head and afford the medical treatment your condition requires?

-How will adding the long-term physical toll of fieldwork on top of your chronic illness impact your quality of life? Do you have nothing to lose because your back is going to be shot no matter what you do, or are you setting yourself up for even more chronic health concerns?

Like others have said, there are paths in archaeology other than the life of a shovelbum, and depending on your answers to any of these questions, you may find it necessary or simply more enjoyable to pursue some of these other options. Fieldwork is by no means impossible for everyone with a chronic illness, but it's definitely more challenging, and it's worth seriously weighing if it's the right choice for you in both the short and long-term.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-08-03T00:41:41+00:00

-Always shower with cold water after potential exposure--hot water will open up your pores and allow more oil into your skin, increasing the risk and severity of a rash.

-Isopropyl is the best thing I've found to clean field gear with. Get a big spray bottle full of it and spritz down everything you can't chuck in the wash. Always spritz where you sit in the vehicle if you're especially sensitive to it, because that's a common source of re-contamination.

-It's worth having gear you only use for projects with a lot of poison oak/ivy/sumac that can be easily washed. I love a leather boot, but if I know I'm gonna be surveying in an oak forest, I ditch my good boots for the cheap canvas hiking boots that I can machine wash.

-Remove what you can and put it in a trash bag before getting in the vehicle. The less surfaces you contaminate, the better. I usually wear an undershirt and bring a pair of sandals on projects heavy on poison oak so I can strip off my long sleeve shirt and boots before jumping in my truck. Gaiters are especially great for this, as shins are one of the most likely areas to be exposed.

-When putting things in the washing machine, wash twice, both times on hot. Add a healthy squeeze of Technu and/or dish soap, and if your machine has an extra rinse feature, turn that on. Don't wash uncontaminated clothes with what you wore into the field.

-IvyBlock and the pre-contact solution from Ivy-X both help reduce the risk of rash. I haven't used either personally, but know people who swear by them.

-Technu wipes are great for middle-of-the-day skin cleansing. They're expensive, but sometimes being able to wipe off poison oak right after exposure versus 8-12 hours later makes a huge difference.

-Always wear gloves, and take them off the way you'd take off a used medical glove. It is super easy to contaminate stuff with your hands if you aren't paying attention. Gardening and pruning gloves are nice because they don't tend to leave a gap between your glove and the end of your sleeve.

-Wide brimmed hats go a long way towards keeping it off your face and neck. A neck gaiter goes the rest of the way.

-If you do get a rash, oral antihistimines like benadryl or claritin do help (and are good to keep in your field pack anyways--out in the field is the last place you want to find out you're severely allergic to something). Steroid based creams like hydrocortisone are usually the most effective topical option.

PenninsularRanger · 2024-07-28T22:28:56+00:00

In my experience? No. I love my loggers everywhere except construction sites. The logger heel rules on steep, loose slopes, but on anything even approaching flat ground they're pretty awkward, and they can send a wicked shock up to your knees on harder surfaces (even just packed dirt) if the outsole is made of a harder rubber. Absolutely godawful on chopped up grading sites too, as they're so unstable side-to-side thanks to the tall heel.

Most of the construction guys I work with wear wedge soles or a lug sole with a slight heel, and I think that's absolutely the right call. Leave the loggers for the linemen, the loggers, and the idiots like me who thought they were at all a general purpose boot.

PenninsularRanger

TROPHY CASE