We had a great time at the 2025 Spring Campout. This was the smallest turnout I have seen over the past eight years, but the experience and the people who came made it worthwhile. To break it down, we only had four campers this year with six day trippers on Saturday which was great.
We had some scheduled presentations this time which turned out to be quite fun and educational.
• RWS made a presentation on basic solar setups and talked about the costs vs the benefits of using solar in different scenarios. He also covered the use of batteries in a solar setup. I always enjoy his solar presentations and several people said they learned something new.
• RWS also showed everyone how to infuse an oak log with mushroom spore to grow another edible.
• Farside went through his “traps bag” showing us various methods of survival trapping. He discussed and then demonstrated how to use different types of small traps, some were commercial purchases but most are easily made with commonly available materials. His discussion of calories used vs calories gained when foraging for food in a survival situation was very instructive. RWS also brought some larger traps which Farside used to show how they work and talked about how they are used. Farside, who is an avid fisherman, also discussed survival fishing and demonstrated his mechanical Yo Yo Fishing Reels.
• VoodooMD talked to folks about the local prepper meetings that he conducts monthly in the Macon/Warner Robins area. There is definitely an interest in prepping in the Middle Georgia area!
At lunch time my wife and I made our version of a one-pot meal that we picked up from a fellow prepper last month that he called “cowboy beans”. It is made with baked beans, ground beef and a variety of other easy and quick ingredients which is quite tasty. It seemed like a big hit with some folks eating more than one bowl.
After several hours of presentations and discussions, a weather front moved through the area in the afternoon. This cut the presentations short. When people heard thunder in the distance many of the day trippers decided to leave to beat the rain that was forecast. This was disappointing but understandable. It was disappointing because nj_m715 was about to demonstrate the use of a drone for security and recreation, but the weather threat precluded this. Hopefully, he will be willing to bring it back and demonstrate it at the Fall Campout.
As it turned out, we only got a few drops of rain all afternoon. Another front came through just before midnight with a LOT of thunder and lightning, but little wind, fortunately. It rained for about 3 hours but quit around 0200. Sunday morning was clear and sunny which made it easy to break camp and head home.
We all appreciated the Port a Pottie that Farside arranged. I want to thank everyone who came. It is always great to get together with old friends and new. The camaraderie of the campouts really is the best part of these gatherings.
