All things Outdoors – Camping like loons!

Batteries: How to choose one that's right for you.

What is better than camping?

Minimal camping at Kawanaka Campground
One of our fave free campsites! We haven’t even set up properly, yet. Just firewood, the tent, and the guitar.

We don’t know. Ice cream on a hot day? Possibly. To answer our own question.

Camping on the cheap? Well, that’s something we absolutely love. We want to share our insights so that everyone can get their Serotonin on.(See our prized article on The Benefits Of Camping.)

See, our big thing is to be useful to our friends.

Let’s put some meat on those bones:

What we aim to do here at Lone Loon Song, is to encourage and inspire everyone to grab friends and family, their camping gear and “Get Out There!™”

Go camping. We have never regretted it. We once got caught in a typhoon on Ebino Plateau. Believe it or not, it wasn’t all that much fun at the time. We got a good story out of it, though. (No photographs survive – which is sort of why we got all excited about How to Get the Best Camping or Outdoor Photographs On a Budget of $0.00 – You won’t want to miss that one. Don’t be like us, get the photos. Preserve your adventures. You might as well. Have you got a smartphone? Have you got a dry bag for it? You’re good to go.)

We once saw a huge bear at Long Beach on Vancouver Island. True story. Ask Dianne and Mike. (Once again, no photos survive. It’s mighty questionable if we would have got any in any event – we didn’t really feel the need to stick around. Nevertheless, the fact remains that we hung out the rest of the weekend. We made sure to make a lot of noise and a big fire, though. It was also salmon season, so he – she? – wasn’t all that interested in us.)

The point is, we dined out on stories like that for years. So, long story short, we love the outdoors. All of it. The good, the bad, and a mix of the two. We reckon it’s a package deal. The smells, the sounds, the beer, the feeling of sleeping and waking up in a tent. The sound of waves crashing on the beach, the wind in the trees, or the river bubbling by. Call us crazy. Take a number. They don’t call us “Loons” for nothing.

Here’s the rub:

We at Lone Loon Song are not independently wealthy. We can fully imagine your surprise. We received an excellent education that is economically not so advantageous. Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped us from starting this blog.

Helping You To Get The Maximum Camping Experience For The Least Investment of Effort and Hard-Earned Cash:

We’ve decided that we are going to focus on helping people get the best possible camping experience for the least possible investment in terms of both cash and effort.

Don’t get us wrong. We love cheap solutions, but only cheap solutions that work better than the more costly alternatives. Sound too good to be true?

Permit us to illustrate our philosophy with just a few useful examples off the tops of our heads:

An image of our 4.15 yen salt shaker we use as a guitar slide rather than the 4000 yen slide they sell at the music shops. Beside the slide is a tuning fork that always works, is way cheaper than an electronic tuner that requires batteries - which are bad for the environment and a pain in the ass. There are also some coins which represent the money saved.
  • Don’t buy ice. Get a 2 litre (Yeah, that’s how you spell it, we’re Canadians) plastic bottle of drinking water. (We just filter ours from the tap.) Put it in the freezer, and wait a couple of days. Walla – Ice until you need drinking water. We have dozens of tips and tricks like this in our article: Camping Tips and Tricks. There’s something for everyone!
  • Use a Tuning Fork to tune your musical instruments instead of battery-powered electronic tuners or a phone app when camping. (Tuners’re cheap, work great, eco-friendly – nary a battery involved – never run out of juice, and are just cool. Think about this: Spend the money you saved on guitar strings, a new harmonica or beer, or whatever, and train your ear while you’re doing it! Sounds like a win-win deal to us.)
  • Use The Can Trick instead of an electronic or otherwise (expensive) gadget to ensure that your solar panel is pointed directly at the sun. It works, and you’re likely to eat the contents eventually. ( Not the panel, the can. We don’t know who needs to hear that, but better to be safe. Just remember to pack it out – leave no trace.)
  • Don’t buy a glass guitar slide at the music store. They’ll hold you up from anywhere from ¥2000 or so to damn near ¥4000. (That’s about $20 to $40 CDN) What you do is you buy a salt shaker (pictured at left) from Nitori Home Centre instead for ¥415. (About $4.15 CDN). You get a much better tone and the damn thing’s unbreakable. (Although we lost one in the dark last weekend. Still, we bought 4 over the years, but 2 of ’em are still just sitting in the studio. We’ll get another one, now, but otherwise we don’t buy ’em anymore. There’s no point.)
  • Use cheap coffee filters from the ¥100 shop and a coffee drip instead of custom coffee presses. As long as you have quality coffee, your coffee’s gonna be good.
  • Get a ¥100 flashlight at the ¥100 shop. (Or the loonie store in Canada.) Church. Our ¥100 flashlight has been working great for over 10 years. (Knock wood) Going out to Kawagata River tomorrow. (BTW, do not buy bar-b-cue lighters at the ¥100 shop. They suck. We used ours twice and it gave up the ghost. Twice as in two fires. Junk. Get one at the supermarket or the convenience store.)

This sharing of what we’ve learned because we sincerely want to be helpful. Isn’t that what you do for your friends? Of course, you do. That’s just the way we’re wired. (Not just us, people in general.) Who wouldn’t want to turn our friends on to a good thing? Save ’em a few bucks? Or steer ’em away from junk? Because that’s what people do for their friends. “(Later on, we’ll tell you a true story about helping a friend buy a slide – or a salt shaker like the one on the left, above – for their guitar.) Here’s an example: We always tell people : “Get a tuning fork instead of an electronic tuner for camping”, for example. (Gigs are a horse of a different colour.) Paying customers deserve not to hear you tune up.)

“Do this, get a better result and save a few bucks.”

So, when the opportunity presents itself, we offer up our thoughts. We’d be pretty surprised if you didn’t do this too, whenever your friend asks you for advice about a piece of gear, or whatever. You just do, right? If you know, why not help someone?

We’ve come to realize that’s our Lone Loon Song mission statement:

“We aim to help people get the most out of their camping adventure for the least possible investment in both cash and effort. The maximum benefit for the least output.”

It’s taken a while, but yeah. That sounds about right.

If we can help our friends save a few bucks, have a great time, and get their Serotonin on, we’d be mighty pleased. Delighted in fact. (Speaking of Serotonin, we have an article on The Benefits of Camping of which we are unjustifiably proud.)

Therefore, over the years, and there have been many, ( Don’t ask, but we turned 60 in 2024, and we’ve been camping since we were 9, so you can do the math) and as a result we’ve learned a thing or two about camping and being in the great outdoors. As a result, we decided to share this with our readers.

God love us, That will have to do.

If you think this might hold some value for you, then we’re mighty glad to welcome you to our space. So, Welcome, Bienvenue, Irrashaimase. Pull up a camping chair, help yourself to a cold beverage, and take a load off. (Feel free to pick up a guitar, too, if you’re so inclined. Feel free to throw in a harmony.)

We test and review outdoor stuff. This is all either stuff we like or not. We intend to be as honest with you as possible because we want to be useful and earn your trust. If you purchase something through our links, we’d be honoured, but please know that we will earn a commission, at no cost to you.

“A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again.“

ALEXANDER POPE

Why are we writing about camping?

To begin with: We would be happy to be useful to our friends, whether they are just beginning, or avid campers. (If you are just camping curious, be sure to check out our cheapskate camping blog.) Secondly, everyone has something to offer, so if you’re feeling so inclined, drop us a line and include your best camping hacks. Nothing would make us happier than to have a community of like-minded outdoors folks like you. We’ll give you credit, and list your email if you want. If you prefer to remain anonymous, we’re down with that too.

This camping thing, what’s in it for me?

I’m glad you asked. Thirdly, and quite possibly most importantly, the benefits of the outdoors are pretty widely known; mentally, physically, and even spiritually. For instance, a quick Google search reveals that time spent outdoors is quality time – in countless ways. Therefore, while we cannot be sure how much we can add to that learned body of work, we will just …

Hey Loonies, How about a few personal favorite reasons for grabbing our gear and going camping?

Deeee- Lighted.

Here we go:

  1. We find it extremely satisfying to be self-reliant, therefore when you create your own shelter, food, and warmth something great happens.
  2. It’s good exercise. Or not. It’s entirely up to the camper. All things in moderation, especially moderation.
  3. It builds relationships and helps to bring people together. It’s fun, damnit!
  4. We can’t explain this one, but we firmly believe that food tastes better outside. Call us crazy. Take a number. But seriously, we’re not alone. It could be those serotonin rascals. (See The Benefits of Camping link below.)
  5. We get a great sleep. Something about being away from electricity and screens resets our body clocks. (We’ve expanded considerably on this in “The Benefits of Camping.”)

One last thought (Before you “De-camp”)

(See what we did there? We’re not above a few cheap yucks. You can get away with “Dad jokes” around the campfire. You just can.)

We realize that camping may be a little intimidating if you are starting out, so we are here to help. If we can help you or even inspire or entertain you please don’t hesitate to contact us, ask a question or suggest topics for future articles. This is really helpful for us. We will add content at least once a week. It is our fervent hope our friends will find this useful, or at least entertaining.

Here are some of our articles that we hope you might find useful:

Lone Loon Song is an organic thing, not static. If you like it, tell your friends! If you are an experienced camper and we got it wrong, tell us! Thanks for being here, and we hope to see you again soon!

From time to time, we will have the opportunity to pass along great deals from companies we like.

An image of the Anker USB-C Car Charger, a special deal for our readers.

Here are a couple of sweet deals for our readers from Anker Solix, a company we love:

The Anker USB-C Car Charger, 167.5W Max 3-Port Ultra-Compact Type-C Fast Car Charger, for MacBook Pro/Air, iPhone 15/14 / 13 Series, Samsung S24 / S23, iPad Pro, AirPods, and More. (20% off for our Friends.)

Anker Car Charger 167.5W Max 3-Port Ultra-Compact Type-C Fast Car Charger

Check the price at Anker.

Anker Car Charger 167.5W Max 3-Port Ultra-Compact Type-C Fast Car Charger, for MacBook Pro/Air

An image of the Anker Desktop Charger, A Fast Charging USB-C Charger, 112W Max 6-port Charging Station.

The Anker Desktop Charger, A Fast Charging USB C Charger, 112W Max 6-Port Charging Station, for iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Samsung and More (Cable Not Included) (22% off for our Friends.)

Check the price at Anker.

Best Solar Panel Deals (For Our Readers):

GRECELL 100W Portable Solar Panel for Power Station Generator, 20V Foldable Solar Cell Solar Charger with High-Efficiency Battery Charger for Outdoor Camping Van RV TripDOKIO 160W 18V Portable Solar Panel Kit (ONLY 9lb) Folding Solar Charger with 2 USB Outputs for 12v Batteries/Power Station AGM LiFePo4 RV Camping Trailer Car MarineALLPOWERS SP027 Foldable Solar Panel 100W, IP66 Portable Solar panel kit with 18V Output, 22% Efficiency Module for Outdoor Camping, Portable Power Station, Laptops, Motorhome, RVEF ECOFLOW 110W Portable Solar Panel, Foldable with Carry Case, High 23% Efficiency, IP68 Water & Dustproof Design for Camping, RVs, or Backyard UseJackery SolarSaga 100W Portable Solar Panel for Explorer 240/300/500/1000/1500 Power Station, (and others, See our article on How To Choose The Perfect Portable Power Station for your Solar PanelFoldable Solar Cell Solar Charger with USB Outputs for Phones, Ideal for Rooftops Outdoor Camping and RVs
An image of a GRECELL 100W Portable Solar Panel for Power Station Generator, 20V Foldable Solar Cell Solar Charger with High-Efficiency Battery Charger for Outdoor Camping Van RV Trip
An image of a DOKIO 160W 18V Portable Solar Panel Kit (ONLY 9lb) Folding Solar Charger with 2 USB Outputs for 12v Batteries/Power Station AGM LiFePo4 RV Camping Trailer Car Marine
An image of an ALLPOWERS SP027 Foldable Solar Panel 100W, IP66 Portable Solar panel kit with 18V Output, 22% Efficiency Module for Outdoor Camping, Portable Power Station, Laptops, Motorhome, RV
An image of an EF ECOFLOW 110W Portable Solar Panel, Foldable with Carry Case, High 23% Efficiency, IP68 Water & Dustproof Design for Camping, RVs, or Backyard Use
An image of an EF ECOFLOW 110W Portable Solar Panel, Foldable with Carry Case, High 23% Efficiency, IP68 Water & Dustproof Design for Camping, RVs, or Backyard Use